Over the last few decades of construction of the European Union, the use of the regional geographical designation "Southern Europe" resulted more from an attribution by political groups and personalities in central and northern Europe than from an eventual political or social homogeneity of these countries. Globally, in educational terms, southern European countries have made a significant progression since the 1970s that brought them closer to the European average of qualifications, a fact evidenced by European statistics or international comparative studies. However, identical results do not necessarily reflect the existence of similar historical and political models and processes. With this communication we will try to highlight some of the specific characteristics of the development of the schooling process in Portugal, namely the positioning of Portuguese political elites after April 25, 1974 in relation to educational policies and the distinctive permanence of social selectivity as a structural characteristic of the Portuguese educational system. It will also be discussed how these policies fit into the EU's educational objectives and simultaneously relate to the work of international agencies, namely the OECD, in a background of global inequalities.

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Educational policy,Social inequalities in education,Europeanization