EUROPEAN DIMENSIONS OF ADULT EDUCATION POLICY

The article defines and analyzes the leading factors, mechanisms and tendencies of the Eu-ropean adult education policy formation. It is determined that the leading factors of the European adult edu-cation area formation are processes of globalization, integration, democratization, and informatization. It has been revealed that international conferences on adult education (CONFITEA) have a special significance in shaping the strategy for the development of adult education. International and European documents and programs are the main mechanisms for the implementation of European education policy. It has been shown that although European documents on the development and functioning of adult education systems are advi-sory, each country has an opportunity to relate them to national traditions and adapt to their needs. The trends in the context of the European adult education area formation are identified, which include: the grad-ual transformation of adult education into a key factor of sustainable economic and social development in European countries; strengthening of the European dimension and integration of educational systems; con-vergence in adult education, which provides «mitigation» of the influence of megatrends and the develop-ment of mechanisms for the preservation of the national component and national specificity of adult educa-tion systems; glocalization which enables to optimally harmonize the global and national needs for ensuring the competitiveness of the national economy and education; complementarity, harmonious coherence of adult education systems in European countries. It is shown that the European dimension in national educa-tion policy is able to provide an adult individual with equal opportunities and competitiveness in the Europe-an labour market. Therefore, it is advisable to form the Ukrainian education policy in the field of adult educa-tion in accordance with European approaches that should be considered as a necessary measure which is able of responding to current challenges and ensuring the entry into a single European educational space.