10 B 90 Official]ournal of the European Communities ^oCl^l^ 
have led toabigmmpm the number of language pairs 
(more than 100 combinations with two e^tralanguagesP 
^. Specific comments 
^Bl. The Committee notes the difficulties in recruiting 
qualified specialists and supports the Commission's 
proposalto devote 10^o of theprogramme'sbudgetto 
training. 
^.2. The Committee also invites the Commission to 
look into the possibility of using the ComettH(^, 
Eurotechnet (^ andtoalessere^tentErasmus(^ program 
mes, etc., for the purpose of training and recruiting topD 
level engineers and technicians. 
^Beu The Committee notes that specialist firms will and 
arealreadybeingmvited to tendersince the participation of 
industry intheprogrammeisvitalmorder to solve the 
many difficulties whichwill arise. 
1. Ceneral comments 
1.1. The full exploitation of human capital is an 
effective way of promoting economic development in 
Central and Eastern European countries (mitially^oland 
and Hungary), and bringing them up to western European 
standards. Helping the development of initial and adD 
vanced vocational training in these countries is thereforea 
sound and useful investment which benefits the European 
(^OleMem^,^^0,D ^ ^m. Some European firms have already developed 
monolingual translation programmes, and the CommisD 
sionmightperhapsbeabletodrawveryuseful lessons from 
them when implementing its own programme. 
^. Last but not least, the Committee has been 
informedof a proposal tocreateaEuropean Linguistic 
Technologies Agency. Its aim would be to rationalise and 
exercise closer control over developments and problems in 
the field of machine translation. 
^. As things are at present, the Committee is unable to 
assess the pros and cons of such an agency.Atall events,the 
Committee should be consulted on any such proposal, 
which should be accompanied by a detailed financial 
statement so that the costs involved can be compared with 
the budget for the ne^t phases of the Eurotra programme. 
UoneatBrussels,^Apnll990. 
o^r^E^o^o^^^^o^^Co^^rr^ 
economy asawhole and furthers economic cooperation in 
themterestsof allciti^ens. The creation of aEuropean 
Training Foundation, which is designed to serve this 
objective, is therefore emphatically endorsed by the 
Economic and Social Committee. Since assistance and 
support needstobegivenrapidly,everythmgshouldbe 
donetoensurethattheEoundationisbroughttolifeinmid 
1990, as planned, and that funds are also available to the 
Foundation in the medium and long term. In this 
connection the Committee assumes that the necessary 
preparatory work such as the ^definition of plans for 
assistance' and the ^creation of networks and fora for 
consultation'hasalready begun and will becarnedforward 
rapidly. Opinionon theproposalfor a CouncilRegulation (EEC) estahlishingaEnropeanTraining 
Foundations) 
(90^C 1^511) 
On 12 Februaryl990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 19^ oftheTreatyestabhshingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,on the abovementioned 
proposal. 
TheSection for Social,Family,Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsiblefor 
preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 9 April 1990. The 
rapporteur was ^Bir^ierhaus. 
Atits2^thplenary session (meetingof 2^Apnl 1990) theEconomicandSocialCommittee 
adopted the following opinion byama^onty with two abstentions 
No C 168/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 10. 7. 90 
1.2. The urgency of the need to provide the training 
systems of Central and Eastern European countries with 
assistance is not in doubt. The need for flexibility in the 
Foundation's structure and working methods is also 
acknowledged but the whole initiative is rather open-ended 
and non-specific. The Commission therefore urgently 
needs to draw up and publish concrete proposals. 
2. Specific comments 
2.1. Since the Foundation's main task is coordination, 
consideration should be given to whether the establishment 
of national coordination agencies in the donor countries 
might not strengthen the links between the public and 
private bodies participating in the schemes. 
2.2. The actual activities themselves must be initiated by 
the establishments providing the initial and advanced 
training whilst the role of the Foundation and the 
competent national organizations is to offer advice and 
financial assistance if required. Any such assistance should 
be provided with as little red tape as possible so that all 
interested female and male members of the workforce can 
have unimpeded access to training schemes. Under no 
circumstances can the proposed 'system for the monitoring 
and evaluation of training assistance' be allowed to 
jeopardize or delay bilateral projects arranged between 
individual countries. 
2.3. In selecting projects, particular importance should 
be attached to programmes which enable adults and young 
people to undergo some of their initial or advanced training 
in a Western European country, partly to give them an 
immediate insight into the training schemes of the host 
country and partly to further contacts between the peoples 
of Western and Eastern Europe. 
The above applies to all those whose periods of study in a 
Western European country will not be covered by a 
programme such as Tempus. It concerns in particular the 
large group of non-academic youngsters. 
2.4. Initial and advanced vocational training in Com­
munity Member States is provided, to varying degrees, by 
educational establishments, by firms themselves, and by 
training establishments operating outside firms or on 
behalf of groups of firms. This means that, in addition to 
education departments, employers' organizations, work­
ers' trade unions and other bodies involved in vocational 
training should also participate in project-planning at 
national level. The possible involvement of the social 
partners at European level, as provided for under Article 7 
of the draft Regulation, remains unaffected by national 
arrangements and is likewise deemed to be necessary. This 
possibility should nevertheless be spelt out clearly by the 
Commission. 
Involvement of the social partners is also necessary to 
ensure that whatever form economic organization takes in 
the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the future, the workers themselves will also have a proper say in the 
setting-up, planning and implementation of initial and 
further training schemes. 
The Committee accordingly assumes that socioeconomic 
groupings will rapidly develop appropriate organizational 
structures. 
2.5. The Committee considers that a link-up between 
the Foundation and the European Centre for the Develop­
ment of Vocational Training (Cedefop) is practical and 
useful. Being able to use existing premises and other 
facilities saves money and shortens the running-in phase. 
The geographical location of Berlin, close to the countries 
of Central and Eastern Europe, is also a plus point. 
The form and content of cooperation between the 
Foundation and Cedefop will have to be spelt out in a 
written agreement in the light of initial experiences. The 
two bodies should at all events support each other's 
activities, giving mutual support in areas such as the 
development of curricula for advanced further training 
courses, the exchange of ideas on teaching and learning 
aids, and the creation of instruments for determining the 
equivalence of vocational training syllabuses and exami­
nations. Such activities should be underpinned by organiza­
tional measures. One possible solution is a coordinating 
body on which the governing boards of the two organiza­
tions would have equal representation. 
Priority should, however, be given to ensuring that the 
Foundation is given identical status to that of the Cedefop 
in respect of inter alia: 
— the composition of the governing board, 
— arrangements regarding the chairmanship, 
— the appointment of the director, 
— the involvement of the social partners. 
2.6. Guarantees regarding the smooth flow of inform­
ation from the Foundation to vocational training firms and 
establishments (if need be via national coordination 
agencies) are particularly important if the Foundation is to 
work efficiently. Information in this context embraces (a) 
the publication of plans and project results in the languages 
of both donor and beneficiary countries, and (b) notifi­
cation of the criteria and conditions governing the 
participation of institutions and firms in Community 
projects, including information about cooperation part­
ners. 
2.7. Careful and urgent attention should be given to 
analysing the experiences and results of relevant Com­
munity programmes to decide which could be successfully 
transplanted into the special contexts of Central and 
Eastern European countries. 
10,7 90 Official]ournalofthe European Communities ^oC16^15 
2.8, management training programmes areamatter of 
particular urgency if market^economy structures are to be 
rapidly set up, priority should he given to developing and 
testing models for advanceddevel seminars and trainee 
programmes, e,g, in the fields of accountancy,marketmg, 
foreign trade and company organisation. The experiences 
of public and private institutions, or of organisations 
specialising in vocational training, may come in useful 
here, 
2.9, As soon as is possible, the Eoundation should look 
beyond cooperation with Poland and Hungary and extend 
its activities to other Eastern European countries provided 
this is what the latter want and need, and provided funds 
can be mobilised by the individual countries concerned and 
the Community, 
2.10, Since the future will see the closer integration of 
Europe beyond the bounds of the present Community,the 
proposal to allow non^member countries to participate in 
the Eoundation as donor countries (Article 15) is emphatic 
cally endorsed. 
The Committee also things it will be useful if the 
Eoundation maintains contact with all international 
organisations setting up and implementing similar aid 
programmes. 
The Economic and Social Committee approves the 
proposal for a Directive subject to the followingcomD 
ments 
1, Ceneral comments 
1,1, ^^r 
The Commission proposal seeks to ensure free movement 
of all mobile machinery within its scope, by aligning the 
different national provisions for design and manufacture. 
(^)Oi^De^,r7^^o,D^ 2.11, The Eoundation should be supported by an 
advisory body meetingat regular intervals of about Sm 
months and given the tasks of providing technical advice 
about the Eoundation^sactivities, 
ToensurethattheEoundation is operational withmashort 
period of time, this task should be entrusted to the 
Committee and more particularly its Section for Social 
questions, 
2.12, The Committee trusts that it will also be sent the 
findings of the review of the experiences acquired in 
carrying out the Eoundation^s tasks (Articled of the 
Commission proposal), 
2.13, Einally, the Committee trusts that the future 
activities of the Eoundation forVocationalTraming will 
not adversely affect other Commission commitments to 
help structurally weak regions of the Community, 
Done at Brussels, 25 April 1990, 
o^^E^o^o^^^^o^^Co^^r^ 
The very ^mobihty^ of such equipment creates specific 
hazards which warrant the incorporation of separate 
provisions on mobile machinery into a consolidated 
Directive on machinery in general. 
These provisions,which chiefly target manufacturers, are 
also to be supplemented by another Directive on the use of 
mobile machinery. 
The existence of several different Directives covering the 
various areas and persons concerned with machinery could Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 89A^92^EEC on the 
approximation of the laws of the member States relating to machinery (^) 
(90^C 16^12) 
On 22 lanuary!990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
ArticlelOOa of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for lndustry,Commerce, Crafts andServices, which was responsible for preparing the 
Committees workonthesub^ect,adopteditsopinionon^Apnl 1990, Therapporteur was 
^virElum, 
At its 276th plenary session(meetmg on 25 April 1990) the Economic and SocialCommittee 
adopted the following opinion byama^onty with one vote against