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COMMON POSITION (EC) No 28/2004

adopted by the Council on 21 October 2004

with a view to adopting Decision .../2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of ... on a single Community framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences (Europass)

(2004/C 321E/01)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 149 and 150 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Subject-matter and scope

This Decision establishes a single Community framework for achieving the transparency of qualifications and competences by means of the creation of a personal, coordinated portfolio of documents, to be known as ‘Europass’, which citizens can use on a voluntary basis to better communicate and present their qualifications and competences throughout Europe. The use of Europass or of any of the Europass documents shall not impose any obligations or confer any rights other than those defined in this Decision.

Article 2

Europass documents

The Europass documents shall be:

Article 3

Social partners

Without prejudice to the procedure referred to in Article 4(2), the Commission shall consult the social partners and other relevant stakeholders at European level, including education and training bodies.

Article 4

Committee procedure

1.   For the purposes of Article 2(c), the Commission shall be assisted, depending on the nature of the document concerned, by the Socrates Committee and/or by the Leonardo Committee, established by Decision No 253/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 January 2000 establishing the second phase of the Community action programme in the field of education ‘Socrates’ (17) and by Council Decision 1999/382/EC of 26 April 1999 establishing the second phase of the Community vocational training action programme ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ (18) respectively.

2.   Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

Article 5

Europass-CV

The Europass-CV shall provide citizens with the opportunity to present in a clear and comprehensive way information on all their qualifications and competences. The Europass-CV shall be as set out in Annex II.

Article 6

Europass-Mobility

The Europass-Mobility shall record periods of learning attended by its holders in countries other than their own. The Europass-Mobility shall be as set out in Annex III.

Article 7

Europass-Diploma Supplement

The Europass-Diploma Supplement shall provide information on its holder's educational achievements at higher education level. The Europass-Diploma Supplement shall be as set out in Annex IV.

Article 8

Europass-Language Portfolio

The Europass-Language Portfolio shall provide citizens with the opportunity to present their language skills. The Europass-Language Portfolio shall be as set out in Annex V.

Article 9

Europass-Certificate Supplement

The Europass-Certificate Supplement shall describe the competences and qualifications corresponding to a vocational training certificate. The Europass-Certificate Supplement shall be as set out in Annex VI.

Article 10

Europass in the Internet

In order to implement this Decision, the Commission and the relevant national authorities shall cooperate in setting up and managing a Europass Internet-based information system, which shall include elements managed at Community level and elements managed at national level. The information system supporting the Europass framework shall be as set out in Annex VII.

Article 11

National Europass Centres

1.   Each Member State shall be responsible for the implementation of this Decision at national level. For this purpose, each Member State shall designate a National Europass Centre (NEC), which shall be responsible for the coordination at national level of all activities referred to in this Decision and which shall replace or develop, where appropriate, existing bodies currently carrying out similar activities.

A European network of NECs is hereby established. Its activities shall be coordinated by the Commission.

2.   The NEC shall:

3.   The NEC shall act as an implementation body at national level in accordance with Article 54(2)(c) and (3) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002.

Article 12

Commission's and Member States' joint tasks

The Commission and the Member States shall:

Article 13

Commission tasks

1.   The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Member States, ensure the overall consistency of the actions implemented in pursuance of this Decision with other relevant Community policies, instruments and actions, in particular in the fields of education, vocational training, youth, employment, social inclusion, research and technological development.

2.   The Commission shall secure the expertise of the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) in implementing this Decision, in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No 337/75. Subject to the same conditions and in the relevant areas, coordination shall be established under the auspices of the Commission with the European Training Foundation as set out by Regulation (EEC) No 1360/90.

3.   The Commission shall regularly inform the European Parliament and the Council, as well as other relevant bodies, and in particular the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training, on the implementation of this Decision.

Article 14

Participating countries

1.   Participation in the activities referred to in this Decision shall be open to acceding States and to non-Community countries of the European Economic Area in accordance with the conditions laid down in the EEA Agreement.

2.   Participation shall also be open to the candidate countries for accession to the European Union in accordance with their respective Europe Agreements.

Article 15

Evaluation

By ... (19) and then every four years, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council an evaluation report on the implementation of this Decision, based on an evaluation carried out by an independent body.

Article 16

Financial provisions

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial perspective. The expenditure resulting from this Decision shall be managed as set out in Annex VIII.

Article 17

Repeal

Decision 1999/51/EC is hereby repealed.

Article 18

Entry into force

This Decision shall enter into force on 1 January 2005.

Article 19

Addressees

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Strasbourg,

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

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(1)OJ C 117, 30.4.2004, p. 12.

(2)OJ C 121, 30.4.2004, p. 10.

(3)  Opinion of the European Parliament of 22 April 2004 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 21 October 2004.

(4)OJ C 371, 23.12.2000, p. 4.

(5)OJ L 215, 9.8.2001, p. 30.

(6)OJ C 162, 6.7.2002, p. 1.

(7)OJ C 163, 9.7.2002, p. 1.

(8)OJ C 13, 18.1.2003, p. 2.

(9)OJ L 79, 22.3.2002, p. 66.

(10)OJ L 17, 22.1.1999, p. 45.

(11)OJ L 39, 13.2.1975, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1655/2003 (OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 41).

(12)OJ L 131, 23.5.1990, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1648/2003 (OJ L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 22).

(13)OJ L 5, 10.1.2003, p. 16.

(14)OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(15)OJ 63, 20.4.1963, p. 1 338.

(16)OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

(17)OJ L 28, 3.2.2000, p. 1. Decision as last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 885/2004 (OJ L 168, 1.5.2004, p. 1).

(18)OJ L 146, 11.6.1999, p. 33. Decision as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 885/2004.

(19)  Three years after the entry into force of this Decision.

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ANNEX I

Criteria for the introduction of new Europass documents as referred to in Article 2(c)

All new Europass documents should respect the following minimum criteria:

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ANNEX II

THE EUROPASS-CURRICULUM VITAE (EUROPASS-CV)

1.   Description

2.   Common structure of the Europass-CV

In the box below, the model for the structure and text of the Europass-CV is indicated. The layout of both the paper and the electronic form, as well as modifications of the structure and text, will be agreed between the Commission and the competent national authorities.

Text in italics is meant as an aid to completing the document.

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ANNEX III

THE EUROPASS-MOBILITY

1.   Description

2.   Common format of the Europass-Mobility

In the box below, the structure and the text of the Europass-Mobility are indicated. The layout of both the paper and the electronic forms, as well as modifications of the structure and text, will be agreed between the Commission and the competent national authorities.

Each item of text is numbered, to facilitate its retrieval in a multilingual glossary. Text in italics is meant as an aid to completing the document. Fields marked with a star (*) are not compulsory.

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ANNEX IV

THE EUROPASS-DIPLOMA SUPPLEMENT

1.   Description

2.   Common structure of the DS

In the box below, the common, non-binding model of structure and text of the DS is indicated. The layout of both the paper and electronic copies will be agreed with the competent national authorities.

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ANNEX V

THE EUROPASS-LANGUAGE PORTFOLIO

1.   Description

2.   Common structure of the Language Passport section of the LP

In the box below, the common, non-binding model of structure and text of the Language Passport section of the LP is indicated. The layout of the paper and electronic copies will be agreed with the competent national authorities.

(Europass logo)

LANGUAGE PASSPORT

Profile of Language Skills

Summary of language learning and intercultural experiences

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ANNEX VI

THE EUROPASS-CERTIFICATE SUPPLEMENT

1.   Description

2.   Common structure of the CS

In the box below, the common model of structure and text of the CS is indicated. The layout of both the paper and the electronic form will be agreed, as well as any modifications of the structure and text, between the Commission and the competent national authorities.

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ANNEX VII

INFORMATION SYSTEM

The Commission and the Member States will cooperate to ensure that the individual citizens are allowed to complete, through the Internet, their Europass-CV and any other Europass document which does not need to be issued by authorised bodies.

All Europass documents issued by authorised bodies are completed in electronic form and made available to their holders. While choices concerning the appropriate technological instrument should be made in cooperation by the Commission and the relevant national authorities taking into account the state of the art and the existing national systems, the features listed below should be ensured.

1.   Design principles

Open system. The Europass information system should be developed taking into account the opportunity for future developments, with particular reference to the inclusion of further documents in the Europass framework and to integration with information services on job and learning opportunities.

Interoperability. The parts of the Europass information system managed at national level in the different countries should be fully interoperable with each other and with the parts managed at Community level.

2.   Document management and access

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ANNEX VIII

FINANCIAL ANNEX

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I.   INTRODUCTION

II.   AIM OF THE PROPOSAL

The proposal aims to establish a Community framework for achieving transparency of qualifications and competences by means of the creation of a personal, coordinated portfolio of documents, to be known as ‘Europass’.

1.   GENERAL COMMENTS

In its common position the Council has approved the Commission's proposal in principle, while making certain amendments which it thought desirable.

2.   SPECIFIC COMMENTS

2.1.   Amendments made by the Council to the Commission's proposal (3)

2.1.1   Future inclusion of other documents (Recital 5, Article 2 §c, Annex I)

The Council considers that provision should be made for the inclusion of other documents in the future (e.g. in the field of IT) in accordance with the criteria laid down in the new Annex I and the procedure referred to in article 4.

2.1.2   Committee Procedure (Article 4)

In view of the future introduction of other documents, the Council is of the view that the Commission should be assisted in this task by the relevant existing Committees (Socrates and Leonardo) in accordance with a management procedure.

2.1.3   Social Partners (Article 3)

Provision has been made for the consultation by the Commission of the social partners and other relevant stakeholders at European level.

2.1.4   Designation of the documents (Articles 5-9 and Annex II-VI)

With a view to enhancing the Europass logo, the Council proposes that ‘Europass’ be part of the designation of all the documents in the portfolio (i.e. Europass-Curriculum Vitae; Europass-Mobility; Europass-Diploma Supplement; Europass-Language Portfolio; Europass-Certificate Supplement).

2.1.5   National Europass Centres (Articles 11-12; Annex III,VII,VIII)

The Council is of the view that the bodies responsible for the implementation of the decision should be called ‘National Europass Centres’ (NEC) rather than ‘Europass National Agencies’, since the term agency could be taken to imply a specifically created body, whereas the NECs are intended to replace or develop, where appropriate, existing bodies carrying out similar activities.

2.1.6   Information Systems (Annex VII)

The Council has clarified the scope of citizens' access to information systems as far as Europass documents are concerned.

2.1.7   Other questions

The Council has also introduced other minor modifications or clarifications to the text, concerning inter alia:

2.2.   European Parliament amendments

2.2.1.   Parliament amendments adopted by the Commission

The Commission adopted in full, in part or in essence 12 of the 14 amendments adopted by the Parliament.

2.2.2.   Parliament amendments adopted by the Council

The Council adopted in full, in part or in essence 12 of the amendments proposed by the Parliament and adopted by the Commission. Those amendments are: 1-6; 8-11; 13-14. The remaining amendments 7 and 12, which were not acceptable to the Commission as tabled, have been adopted by the Council in modified form (7) or in part (12).

III.   CONCLUSIONS

The Council considers that its common position constitutes a balanced text, providing a good basis for launching this instrument, thereby facilitating mobility throughout Europe for lifelong learning purposes.

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(1)OJ C 117, 30.4.2004, p. 12.

(2)OJ C 121, 30.4.2004, p. 10.

(3)  References in this section are to the text of the common position

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