Description: In recent years, the ongoing development towards a knowledge-based society - associated with globalisation, aging population, new technologies, and organisational changes - has led to a more intensive analysis of education and learning throughout life with regard to quantitative, qualitative and financial aspects. In doing so, the concept of lifelong learning when compared with basic education and training, plays an increasingly important role. This research project focuses primarily on the question of adoption and implementation of the concept of lifelong learning as forced by international (OECD) and supranational (EU) organisations within national systems (Germany, Finnland, Greece). The aim is to reconstruct the concept of lifelong learning with respect to its political and empirical aspects and to examine its implementation into national and international data collection and reporting systems on education and training. In order to reconstruct the societal developments and to examine the implementation of educational policies, theories originating in political science seem to be applicable. Therefore, the preliminary theoretical ideas based on the approaches of path-dependent development and actor-centred institutionalism both emanating from political science are taking into account. These theories come into operation against the background of globalization in education and the European process of integration. Methodology: Comparative analysis based on: a) Document analysis in order to describe phenomena of adoption as well as to analyse institutional structures and the processes of implementation (e.g. Policy strategy papers, Memoranda, Communications of EU, OECD and national governments) b) Expertinterviews with key actors in order to take their actions along with intended and unintended consequences into account, to reveal the respective national and international policy activities and to address policy priorities (experts from the Policy and Statistical Divisions of EU, OECD and National Offices) c) Meta-analysis of national (if available) and international surveys/studies on adult and continuing education and training in order to explore analytically the effects and changes occurring as the concept of lifelong learning is implemented into national models of data collection systems and to reveal the influence of the concept of lifelong learning on the evaluation and steering of differently structured educational systems (e.g. EU-Adult Education Survey, OECD Education at a Glance, Finnish Adult Education Survey, German Berichtssystem Weiterbildung) Conclusions: The findings of this study could pinpoint the effects of a modified data collection strategy on the evaluation, designing, and steering of educational systems. It is assumed that altering the instruments of data collection on education and training and emphasising cross-country educational standards and output indicators would result in a wide range of shifts within educational systems: efficiency criteria would come to the fore of educational systems, standardised benchmarks would be demanded and core competencies would be defined. Such a modified data collection strategy and model of reporting on educational establishments and learning achievement would place the learner in the center and would affect not only the work of educational service providers, but also the distribution of financial resources among key actors of the system. Lastly, such an alteration would re-define the normative demands of society on the educational system.