ARCHIVESHISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEEDES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM(78)51
Vol.1978/0018

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I
COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(78)51final.
Brussels,8February197°•
EUROPEAN FOUNDATION
(Communication from"theCommission "totheCouncil)
\
C0:.:ij3)51final.

EUROPEAN FOUNDATION
INTRODUCTION
Following thedecision ofprinciple oftheEuropean
Council of5and 6December 1977 that aEuropean
Foundation should becreated ,theCommission has
identified four main areas onwhich more specific
decisions will berequired -onthe scope ofthe
Foundation ,its objectives ,its structure and financing ,
and finally the legal basis onwhich itshould be
constituted . The Commission feels that adecision onthe
last ofthese points ,the legal basis for theFoundation ,
should follow rather than pi-ecede broad agreement onthe
three other points .Theattached communication ,
therefore ,deals with these three and leaves the legal
basis open for later discussion .
TheCommission ispersuaded that aEuropean Foundation
should befairly sharply focus sed ,and that itshould be
reasonably modest initsfinancial andstaffing implications .
Italso believes that theFoundation should have both autonomy
andflexibility ifitistocooperate effectively with
private andpublic bodies .Furthermore ,itispersuaded
that itshould avoid duplication with existing Community
programmes orother organisations active inthesame fields ,
and thecommunication has been drafted with this firmly in
mind .
Theprincipal suggestions ,therefore ,oftheCommission
arising outofthereport which itpassed totheEuropean
Council inDecember are asfollows :
First ,that itsactivities should be .concentrated
within thepresent Community andtheapplicant countries .
Second ,theFouniacioi ; .Ivould take asitspriority
thecreation ofexchange and other contact pr©granges
forthose groups andindividuals whowould notnormally
have theopDortunity forintra-Community activities .

TheCommission also proposes that suoh programmes
beclosely linked with theprovision ofimproved
language training .
Third ,therole oftheFoundation would principally
beindirect ,that isitwould initiate programmes rather
than manage them directly .
Inthis way theCommission believes that arealistic
butimaginative start can bemade for afoundation which
inMrTindemans' words canmake European integration
"amatter forall ofus"by"promoting greater understanding
among ourpeoples ".

ScopeandObjectives
1.TheobjectiveoftheFoundationshall "betoextend,opportunities
forcontactbetweenthepeoplesoftheCommunitysoastodevelop
greaterunderstanding oftheEuropeanCommunity,andtherichdiversityof
theEuropeanheritage#
2.TheFoundationshallpromotecontacts "betweenpersonsfromall
part3oftheCommunityandthecountrieswhohaverequestedaccession.
Itshallfosterpersonalandgroupcontactsbasedonprofessional ,
vocational,social,culturalandleisureinterests.
3.TheFoundationshallsupportschemestothisendincludingthose
whichmayinvolveresidential courses,summerschools,job-to–job
exchanges,voluntaryserviceassignmentstoanotherMemberStateand
townandareatwinningarrangements .Itshallalsosupportinitiatives
toformorfurtherdevelopassociations whichbringpeopletogether
withaviewtoextendingmutual
understanding andestablishing collaborative projects.Itshall
providesupporttothoseworkinginthemedia,whoseactivitieshavea
specialcontributiontomaketotheFoundation'sobjectives.
4.Tofarthertheseends,theFoundationshallsupporttheprovision
ofthenecessarylanguagelearningfacilities.
5.Inthepursuitofitsobjectives,theFoundationshallensure
thatitsactivities donotoverlapwitliandarecomplementary tothose
beingundertakenbyotherorganisations .
TheFoundationshallavoidanyduplication withCommunityprogrammes.-
6.Intheinitialperiod,priorityshallb<3giventocreating
opportunities foryoungpeople,notablyearlyschoolleavers,andyoung
workers.TheFoundationshouldalsogiveprioritytothosewhoare
disadvantaged ,as.forexais.plthehandicapped •

Structures
7.TheFoundationmusthavemaximumflexibility .Itstaskswillinclude
promotingagreatmanygovernmentorprivateinitiatives andmaintaining
closecontactswithorganizations ofvariouskinds.Itwillhavetomanage
anduseforthesepurposesnotinconsiderable resourcesanditistherefore
particularly importantthatitshouldheneutral,whichinturnimplies
thattheFoundationmustenjoythehighestdegreeofautonomy,particularly
assomeoftheresourcesitwillhavetomanagewillheofprivateorigin.
8.ThestructuresoftheFoundationshould"belightanditsadministrative
arrangements modest.
9.Thecomposition oftheFoundation's"bodieswillhavetoreflect
threefactors:
(i)theFoundation'sCommunitycharacter(thiswouldheemphasizedifsome
ofthemembersofthegoverning "bodieswereappointed "byCommunity
institutionsinaccordancewithaprocedureto"bedecided);
(ii)theMemberStatedactiveparticipation (thisimpliesappointmentof
membersbytheMemberStates);
(iii)theneedfortheFoundationtobebothbalancedandindependent
(somemembersshouldbechosen,bycommonconsentandontheir
ownresponsibility ,bythemembersappointedbytheMemberStates
xandtheCommunityinstitutions .
10.TheFoundation'sauthorities couldbeasfollows:
theCounciloftheFoundation ,
theexecutivecommittee,
thePresidentoftheFoundation ,
theSecretary-General .

TheCouncil would "betheFoundation 'sgoverning tody .Itwould have
totake themain decisions anddraw upthemulti-annual programme .It
should meet atleast twice ayear .Itwould have toappoint thePresident
oftheFoundation from among itsmembers ,and the executive committee
responsible forseeing that theprogramme iscarried out .Theexecutive
committee would have tohave atleast nine members ,inaddition tothe
President .
TheSecretary-General would beresponsible fordirecting theFoundation'
day-to-day activities inaccordance with thedirectives issuer 1bytheCouncil
oftheFoundation andthe executive committee .Hewould beappointed bythe
Council .
11.The actbringing theFoundation into being will have tofixthenumber
ofCouncil and executive committee members and their term ofoffice .
The seat ofthe Foundation will be
12.Anessential matter will bedetermining anorder ofpriority forthe
Foundation 'soperations .This canonly really bedone bymeans ofa
programme ,which theFoundation will have todraw up,inthefirst
stages ofitsexistence ,inaccordance with a.procedure tobedecided .
Financing
13.TheFoundation will operate principally bygranting subsidies oraids
toprojects ormeasures carried outbyappropriate organizations .
Itsfinancial contributions should ,asfaraspossible ,donomore
than supplement contributions from other sources ,particularly from
governments ,private individuals orother Foundations .
14.Inaccordance with MrTindeman 'sproposals ,theFoundation isto
befinanced byresources ofthree kinds :

(i)acontributionfromtheCommunityBudget,ideallyof5millionEUA
thefirstyear,10millionEUAthesecondandapproximately
20millionEUAthereafter ;
(ii)governmentsubsidies;
(iii)privatecontributions ,from,forexample,otherFoundations-
thesecouldonlybeacceptediftheydidnotcarryobligations
thatwould"beincompatiblewiththeFoundation'stasks.
15.Aclauseintheconstituentactprovidingforexemptioninall
MemberStatesfromnationaltaxesforprivatecontributionstothe
Foundationwouldundoubtedlyencouragesuchcontributions .
16.Whateverthenatureoftheconstituentact,thefinancialmanagement
oftheFoundationwillhavetobesubjecttocontrol.