The 2025 Eurydice Network Heads of Unit meeting brought together representatives from across Europe in Brussels to exchange on ongoing work, plan future activities, and strengthen collaboration.

This year’s edition carried special significance, as participants also took the opportunity to celebrate 45 years of the Eurydice Network, a milestone in its long-standing contribution to European education policies.

Hosted at the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)’s headquarters on 13-14 October, the event brought together 51 participants from 36 National Units. In his opening remarks, Frédéric Fimeyer, Head of Department Erasmus+, EU Solidarity Corps (EACEA.A), reflected on the evolution of Eurydice since its creation in 1980. As an additional remark, Florence Mondin, Head of Unit for Platforms, Studies and Analysis (EACEA.A6) –that manages the Network– celebrated how Eurydice has grown into “a true family” and congratulated the National Units for their significant contribution.

Stefaan Hermans, Director for Policy Strategy and Evaluation (DG EAC.A), strongly praised the network’s long-standing work and delivered a comprehensive overview of the policy priorities currently driving the EU agenda.

Throughout two days of rich and fruitful discussions, participants exchanged about progress made over the past year and explored future directions for the Network. Sessions focused into the latest publications and thematic reports, new web tools and data visualisation, enhancements in data collection, and dissemination.

Showcasing the dynamism of the Network, representatives from Slovenia, Slovakia, and Türkiye presented inspiring examples of how Eurydice’s findings are being used to engage stakeholders and inform debates at national level, demonstrating how European knowledge can translate into local impact.

Looking to the future, Peter Birch, Head of Sector at EACEA.A6, presented Eurydice’s priorities for the coming year, including the upcoming comparative reports and the roadmap towards the 2027–2028 work programme. His intervention emphasised Eurydice’s ambition to continue innovating and responding to evolving education policy needs in Europe.

“The work of Eurydice remains as relevant as ever. Our mission is to provide the data and analysis that empower evidence-based policy making. We believe that sound evidence is the foundation of better policy, and we’re proud to contribute to that vision every day”, says Peter Birch.

As the Network celebrates its 45th anniversary, the meeting was both a moment of reflection and a forward-looking dialogue. It highlighted the strong commitment of the Eurydice community to deliver high-quality, comparable, and timely data, a cornerstone of evidence-based policymaking in education.

Florence Mondin shares this perspective: “Eurydice has been connecting knowledge and people for 45 years, helping to make education more transparent and comparable across Europe. This anniversary reminds us of our mission: to keep supporting evidence-based policies for future generations.”