Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, at present our thoughts cannot but be with the people of Iraq being slaughtered by the British and American invaders, under the complicit gaze of the European Union, which is only interested in how to acquire a share of the spoils. However, we are required to take a stand on other issues, such as the issue we are examining. The proposal for a decision which we are debating introduces the Masters Course of the European Union and, secondarily, funds access to it for students and teachers from third countries. The first, in blatant violation of Article 149 of the Treaty, is yet another step towards the imposition of a specific higher education model, which is none other than the notorious Bologna model. The programme has not been opened up to third countries in order to help them develop their manpower. It is being used as a cover to push through the Masters Course and as a mechanism for cultural penetration by the European Union, as the prerequisite to economic penetration and the strengthening of its political influence at international level. Typically, the text states that Europe's political and commercial success in the world depends on a better understanding and the ties which future decision-makers in third countries will have with Europe. The basic objective of the European Union in the field of education is to supply the European monopolies with cheap labour which, rather than knowledge, merely has the skills required at the time. That is the reason for the need for convergence in the structure of studies on the basis of the Bologna standard, with three years' undergraduate study for the large mass of students, two years' specialisation for the select and a three-year doctorate for the crème de la crème. In Greece in particular, which has still not officially assimilated undergraduate degrees with three-year degrees, adopting the proposal which we are examining would speed up the relevant reforms. In addition, the European Union is trying in the proposal for a decision to promote the European higher education market within the framework of competition with the United States. This, of course, depends on the creation of such a market and the adaptation of European universities to its laws and priorities. The result will be the complete commercialisation of education, a sign of which is the quality mark for courses referred to in the text, as if they were cars or oranges. The quality assurance and evaluation mechanisms under consideration are merely mechanisms for education to respond to the needs of industry. The Communist Party of Greece is categorically opposed to the proposal for a decision because it interferes with curricula, it strengthens the privatisation and commercialisation of higher education and it promotes the splitting of undergraduate studies into two cycles, in accordance with the Bologna model, and the subjugation of post-graduate study to the demands of the multinationals, contrary to the interests of students, lecturers and the people of the European Union. The least we demand is for action one, the European masters, to be removed, and I have submitted a proposed amendment to that effect.

Political group: GUE-NGL