In this article we address the question of the influence of European educational actions and benchmarking on educational systems, their segmentation and the diffusion of particular normative discourses. Before discussing the 2020 indicators, as well as international comparative statistical studies and their indirect consequences for national public policies, we take an analytical and historical look at European public programs on education, that first focused on higher education, before moving on to other educational segments and levels. Studies on the Europeanization of public policies serve as our framework for analysing the use of indicators and statistics that lead to a convergence of discourses at the level of the member states. In doing so, we attempt to answer the following question : Can the neo-liberal character of the European guidelines, expressed through quantitative objectives behind to the 2020 indicators, nonetheless be read in a progressive way?