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"
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(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions(3),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(4),
In the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 10 November 1999,
Whereas:
(1) the Treaty establishing the European Community provides that the latter's action shall contribute, inter alia, to the development of quality education and training; measures under this programme should promote the European dimension of education and contribute to the development of quality education with a view to encouraging life-long learning;
(2) by Decision No 819/95/EC the European Parliament and the Council established the Community action programme Socrates(5);
(3) the extraordinary European Council on employment held in Luxembourg on 20 and 21 November 1997 recognised that lifelong education and training can make an important contribution to the Member States' employment policies in order to enhance employability, adaptability and the culture of entrepreneurship and to promote equal opportunities;
(4) in its communication "Towards a Europe of Knowledge", the Commission set out guidelines for the creation of an open and dynamic European education area capable of achieving the objective of life-long education and training;
(5) in its White Paper "Teaching and learning - Towards the learning society",the Commission stated that the emergence of the learning society entails encouraging the acquisition of new knowledge and to this end providing motivation to learn at every opportunity; and in its Green Paper "Education, training, research: the obstacles to transnational mobility", the Commission highlighted the advantages of mobility for people and competitiveness in the European Union;
(6) the Commission's aim, in line with the European Parliament's wish, is to attain a participation rate of around 10 % of schools under the Comenius action and of around 10 % of students in the mobility activities under the Erasmus action;
(7) there is a need to promote active citizenship and to step up the fight against exclusion in all its forms, including racism and xenophobia; special attention should be focused on promoting equality and furthering equal opportunities for women and men; whereas special attention should be given to persons with special needs;
(8) the European Parliament and the Council, in their Decision on youth, and the Council, in Decision 1999/382/EC on training(6), have established Community action programmes for the youth and training fields respectively, which contribute, together with the Socrates programme, to promoting a Europe of knowledge;
(9) it is necessary, in order to reinforce the added value of Community action, that the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, should ensure, at all levels, a coherence and a complementarity between the actions implemented in the framework of this Decision and other relevant Community policies, instruments and actions;
(10) it is necessary to provide for the possibility of organising joint activities involving the Socrates programme and other Community programmes or actions that have an educational dimension, thus encouraging synergies and reinforcing the added value of Community action;
(11) the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement) provides for greater cooperation in the field of education, training and youth between the European Community and its Member States, on the one hand, and the countries of the European Free Trade Association participating in the European Economic Area (EFTA/EEA countries), on the other;
(12) provision should be made to open up this programme to participation of the associated central and eastern European countries (CEEC), in accordance with the conditions established in the Europe agreements, in their additional protocols and in the decisions of the respective Association Councils, of Cyprus funded by additional appropriations in accordance with the procedures to be agreed with that country, as well as of Malta and Turkey, funded by additional appropriations in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty;
(13) this programme should be regularly monitored and evaluated in cooperation between the Commission and the Member States in order to allow for readjustments, particularly in the priorities for implementing the measures; whereas the evaluation should include an external evaluation to be conducted by independent, impartial bodies;
(14) in accordance with the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality as defined in Article 5 of the Treaty, since the objectives of the proposed action concerning the contribution of European cooperation to quality education cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, inter alia, because of the need for multilateral partnerships, multilateral mobility and Community-wide exchanges of information, they can therefore be better achieved by the Community owing to the transnational dimension of the Community actions and measures; this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives;
(15) improvement of the European credit transfer system (ECTS) is an effective means of ensuring that mobility fully attains its objectives; universities participating in the programme are to be encouraged to make the widest possible use of the ECTS;
(16) this Decision lays down, for the entire duration of the programme, a financial framework constituting the prime reference, within the meaning of point 33 of the interinstitutional agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission(7), on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure;
(17) the measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(8),
HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
Establishment of the programme
1. This Decision establishes the second phase of the Community action programme in the field of education, "Socrates", hereinafter referred to as "this programme".
2. This programme shall be implemented over the period starting on 1 January 2000 and ending on 31 December 2006.
3. This programme shall contribute to the promotion of a Europe of knowledge through the development of the European dimension in education and training by promoting life-long learning, based on formal and informal education and training. It shall support the building up of the knowledge, skills and competences likely to foster active citizenship and employability.
4. This programme shall support and supplement action taken by and in the Member States, while fully respecting their responsibility for the content of education and the organisation of education and training systems, and their cultural and linguistic diversity.
Article 2
Objectives of the programme
In order to contribute to the development of quality education and encourage life-long learning, while fully respecting the responsibility of the Member States, the objectives of the programme shall be:
(a) to strengthen the European dimension in education at all levels and to facilitate wide transnational access to educational resources in Europe while promoting equal opportunities throughout all fields of education;
(b) to promote a quantitative and qualitative improvement of the knowledge of the languages of the European Union, in particular those languages which are less widely used and less widely taught, so as to lead to greater understanding and solidarity between the peoples of the European Union and promote the intercultural dimension of education;
(c) to promote cooperation and mobility in the field of education, in particular by:
- encouraging exchanges between educational institutions,
- promoting open and distance learning,
- encouraging improvements in the recognition of diplomas and periods of study,
- developing the exchange of information,
and to help remove the obstacles in this regard;
(d) to encourage innovation in the development of educational practices and materials including, where appropriate, the use of new technologies, and to explore matters of common policy interest in the field of education.
Article 3
Community actions
1. The objectives of this programme as set out in Article 2 shall be pursued by means of the following actions, the operational content and the application procedures of which are described in the Annex:
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2. These actions shall be implemented through the following types of measures, in the form of transnational operations which may combine several of the measures:
(a) support for the transnational mobility of people in the field of education in Europe;
(b) support for the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in education;
(c) support for the development of transnational cooperation networks facilitating the exchange of experience and good practice;
(d) promotion of language skills and understanding of different cultures;
(e) support for innovatory pilot projects based on transnational partnerships designed to develop innovation and quality in education;
(f) constant improvement of Community reference material through the
- observation and analysis of national education policies,
- observation and dissemination of good practice and innovation,
- comprehensive exchange of information.
Article 4
Access to the programme
1. Under the conditions and arrangements for implementation specified in the Annex, this programme is aimed in particular at:
(a) pupils, students or other learners;
(b) staff directly involved in education;
(c) all types of educational institutions specified by each Member State;
(d) the persons and bodies responsible for education systems and policies at local, regional and national level within the Member States.
2. Public or private bodies cooperating with educational institutions may also take part in appropriate actions under this programme, in particular:
- local and regional bodies and organisations,
- associations working in the field of education, including students', pupils', teachers' and parents' associations,
- companies and consortia, trade organisations and Chambers of Commerce and Industry,
- social partners and their organisations at all levels,
- research centres and bodies.
Article 5
Implementation of the programme and cooperation with the Member States
1. The Commission shall
- ensure the implementation of the Community actions covered by this programme in conformity with the Annex,
- consult the social partners and relevant associations in the field of education at European level and shall inform the Committee referred to in Article 8(1) of their opinions.
2. The Member States shall
- take the necessary steps to ensure the efficient running of the programme at Member State level involving all the parties concerned in education in accordance with national practice,
- establish an appropriate structure for the coordinated management of the implementation of the programme's actions at Member State level (Socrates national agencies),
- endeavour to adopt such measures as they deem appropriate to remove legal and administrative obstacles to access to this programme,
- take steps to ensure that potential synergies with other Community programmes are realised at Member State level.
3. The Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, shall ensure
- the transition between those actions carried out within the framework of the preceding programme in the field of education (Socrates, established by Decision No 819/95/EC) and those to be implemented under this programme,
- the dissemination of the results of the actions undertaken within the framework of the preceding programme in the field of education (Socrates) and of those to be implemented under this programme,
- appropriate information, publicity and follow-up with regard to actions supported by this programme.
Article 6
Joint Actions
As part of the process of building up a Europe of knowledge, the measures contained in this programme may be implemented in accordance with the procedures laid down in Article 8(2) as joint actions with related Community programmes and actions, particularly Leonardo da Vinci and Youth as well as Community programmes in the field of research and development and new technologies.
Article 7
Implementing measures
1. The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision relating to the matters referred to below shall be adopted in accordance with the management procedure referred to in Article 8(2).
(a) the annual plan of work, including priorities, themes for joint actions and the selection criteria and procedures;
(b) the financial support to be supplied by the Community (amounts, duration and recipients) and the general guidelines for implementing the programme;
(c) the annual budget and the breakdown of funds among the different actions of the programme;
(d) the breakdown of funds among the Member States for the actions to be managed on a decentralised basis;
(e) the arrangements for monitoring and evaluating the programme and for the dissemination and transfer of results;
(f) Commission proposals for project selection, including those under action 7 (Joint actions).
2. The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision relating to all other matters shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in Article 8(3).
Article 8
Committee
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee.
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.
The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at two months.
3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.
4. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.
Article 9
Cooperation with other programme committees and information on other Community initiatives
1. The Committee shall establish regular and structured cooperation with the Committee set up within the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci action programme for the implementation of a Community vocational training policy as well as with the Committee set up within the framework of the Youth Community action programme.
2. To ensure the consistency of this programme with other measures referred to in Article 11, the Commission shall keep the Committee regularly informed about Community initiatives taken in the fields of education, training and youth, including cooperation with third countries and international organisations.
Article 10
Funding
1. The financial framework for the implementation of this programme for the period specified in Article 1 is hereby set at EUR 1850 million.
2. The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial perspective.
Article 11
Consistency and complementarity
1. The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Member States, ensure overall consistency and complementarity with other relevant Community policies, instruments and actions. The programme shall contribute to achieving the aims of Community policy in the areas of equality, equal opportunities for women and men and promotion of social inclusion.
The Commission shall ensure an efficient link-up between this programme and the programmes and actions in the area of education undertaken within the framework of the Community's cooperation with third countries and the competent international organisations.
2. In implementing the measures of this programme, the Commission and the Member States shall have regard to the priorities set out in the employment guidelines adopted by the Council, as part of a coordinated employment strategy.
Article 12
Participation of the EFTA/EEA countries, the associated central and eastern European countries (CEEC), Cyprus, Malta and Turkey
This programme shall be open to the participation of
- the EFTA/EEA countries in accordance with the conditions established in the EEA agreement,
- the associated central and eastern European countries (CEEC) in accordance with the conditions established in the Europe agreements, in their additional protocols and in the decisions of the respective Association Councils,
- Cyprus, funded by additional appropriations in accordance with procedures to be agreed with that country,
- Malta and Turkey, funded by additional appropriations in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty.
Article 13
International cooperation
Under this programme, and in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8(2), the Commission may cooperate with third countries and with the competent international organisations, in particular the Council of Europe.
Article 14
Monitoring and evaluation
1. The Commission shall regularly monitor this programme in cooperation with the Member States. The results of the monitoring and evaluation process should be utilised when implementing the programme.
This monitoring shall include the reports referred to in paragraph 3 and specific activities.
2. This programme shall be evaluated regularly by the Commission in cooperation with the Member States. This evaluation is intended to assess the relevance, effectiveness and impact of actions implemented with regard to the objectives referred to in Article 2. It will also look at the impact of the programme as a whole.
This evaluation will also examine the complementarity between action under this programme and that pursued under other relevant Community policies, instruments and actions.
In accordance with criteria established using the procedure described in Article 8(2), there will be regular independent external evaluations of this programme.
3. Member States shall submit to the Commission by 31 December 2003 and 30 June 2007, respectively, reports on the implementation and the impact of this programme.
4. The Commission shall submit to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions:
- on the accession of new Member States, a report on the financial consequences of these accessions on the programme, followed, if appropriate, by financial proposals to deal with the financial consequences of these accessions on the programme, in accordance with the provisions of the interinstitutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline and improvement of the budgetary procedure and with the conclusions of the Berlin European Council of March 1999. The European Parliament and the Council will take a decision on such proposals as soon as possible,
- an interim evaluation report on the results achieved and on the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the implementation of this programme by 30 June 2004,
- a communication on the continuation of this programme by 31 December 2006,
- an ex post evaluation report by 31 December 2007.
Article 15
Entry into force
This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Done at Brussels, 24 January 2000.