COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 17 December 1999

on "Into the new millennium": developing new working procedures for European cooperation in the field of education and training

(2000/C 8/04)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(1) NOTING that, according to the Treaty establishing the European Community, the Community is to contribute to the development of quality education by encouraging cooperation between Member States and, if necessary, by supporting and supplementing their activities, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity and the responsibility of Member States for the content and organisation of their own education systems. At the same time, the Commission has the right of initiative in the fields falling under Community competence;

(2) NOTING that both the Treaty of Amsterdam and the EU's Agenda 2000 document have resulted in an increase in the importance placed on education in skill and information-related policies, including those which contribute to economic competitiveness and employment in the European Union; that the development of a Europe of knowledge and the promotion of lifelong learning have become shared overall objectives;

(3) AWARE that the Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci programmes remain the most important instruments of cooperation in education and training within Europe; that it has however become clear that political cooperation at European level needs to be reinforced. In order to achieve this, new working procedures for the Council must be developed in the field of education and training so that the effectiveness of the Council's work can be further improved;

(4) STRESSES the need for a coherent approach to action to Community level in the field of education and training and believes that cooperation in these fields could be reinforced by creating a structured framework for political discussions and activities over the coming years;

(5) CONSIDERS that future work in the field of education and training could be organised around a "rolling agenda", based on priority themes which would be included on the Council's agenda at regular intervals and which could therefore extend over several Presidencies. These priority themes would be discussed according to a cyclical model made up of a number of flexible steps:

- the Council discusses priority themes of common interest - submitted either by Member States or the Commission - and agrees, if appropriate, how to take forward individual themes,

- the Member States are invited to inform the Commission of relevant political initiatives and examples of best practice at national level in relation to the agreed priority themes,

- the Commission provides a summary analysis of the information supplied by Member States to the Council. This should also cover relevant Community action,

- the Council considers the Commission's analysis and, where appropriate, decides on future initiatives;

(6) STRESSES that the principal objective in developing such a framework would be to enable greater continuity, efficiency and effectiveness and a strengthening of the political impact of Community cooperation in the field of education and training. The new framework for cooperation would enable a more effective exchange of information and good practice. In addition, it could contribute to increased synergies between European cooperation in the field of education and training and other relevant policy fields;

(7) EMPHASISES the central role of the Presidency in the implementation of the rolling agenda, in particular by ensuring continuity and by maintaining the momentum of the process;

(8) STRESSES that this basic model and its components should be implemented whilst fully respecting the prerogatives of the Commission. It would need to be operated flexibly, taking into account new political developments as appropriate;

(9) UNDERLINES the importance of the European Parliament being regularly informed about the discussions and the progress achieved in the framework of the "rolling agenda";

(10) CONSIDERS that the new framework of cooperation should be implemented from the beginning of 2000, especially where the basic elements of a "rolling agenda" already exist as set out in the Annex;

(11) INVITES the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, to work up more detailed measures for taking the "rolling agenda" forward.

ANNEX

INDICATIVE THEMES TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE ROLLING AGENDA

Within the overall context of lifelong learning the abovementioned framework for cooperation could, in the first instance, be established in particular in the following fields:

- role of education and training in employment policies,

- develompent of quality education and training at all levels,

- promotion of mobility, including recognition of qualifications and periods of study.

Other areas for cooperation will be explored on a regular basis taking into account relevant political developments in future years.