COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
COM(93) 704 final 
Brussels, 14 January 1994 
REPORT 
ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PETRA PROGRAMME 
- Action programme for the vocational training of young people 
and their preparation for adult and working life -
(presented by the Commission under 
Article 8 of Decision 91/387/EEC) 
03$*.*- "*s 
z 
This Report is presented by the Commission to the Council of Ministers, the 
European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee, the Advisory 
Committee on Vocational Training and the Education Committee. 
3 
INTRODUCTION 
This interim report has been prepared by the Commission to take stock of the development of the PETRA 
Programme from its beginning in 1988 to June 1993. Though the current Programme will only end on 31 
December 1994, the report is submitted at an early stage to inform and underpin, at the various levels 
concerned, discussion on the preparation of future Community action in the field of vocational training, based 
on the Commission's working paper of 5 May 1993 (COM (93) 183). A final report on the implementation 
of the Programme covering the period 1992-1994 will be presented by the Commission by 31 December 1995. 
That final report will be accompanied by a final report on the external assessment of the Community measures 
in the framework of the PETRA programme. 
Part A of the report illustrates the progress made in fulfilling the main function of the PETRA Programme, 
namely to support and supplement policies and activities in the Member States aimed at achieving a number 
of specific objectives set out in the Council Decision of 1 December 1987 and amended by the Decision of 
22 July 1991. 
It draws on the reports presented by all Member States in June/July 1993 which were required under the terms 
of Article 8 of the Decision of 22 July 1991 and which were subsequently complemented by a series of bi­
lateral consultations between the Commission and the individual Member States which took place in the period 
July to September 1993. The Member State reports and the bilateral consultations have provided a wide range 
of information on the steps taken by each Member State to implement the objectives and give tangible 
expression to the common framework of guidelines laid down in the Decision. 
Part B of the report contains the results of the interim external assessment of the Community measures 
implemented under the PETRA Programme to achieve the objectives of the Council Decisions and to support 
and complement the activities of the Member States. This interim external assessment is required by the 
Decision of 22 July 1991. It should be noted that this phase of the external assessment was carried out from 
early July to mid-September 1993, i.e. earlier than provided for in the Council Decision, in order to have the 
results available for examination alongside the Commission's proposals for an action programme for the 
implementation of a European Community Vocational Training Policy. A final external assessment will be 
carried out in the course of 1995. 
y 
Part A : Report from the Commission 
The central function of the PETRA Programme : support for policy development in the field of initial 
vocational training 
PartB 
Report on the Interim External Assessment of the Community Measures implemented under Decision 
91/387/EEC. 
p 
Part A 
Report from the Commission 
The central function of the PETRA Programme : support for policy development 
in the field of initial vocational training 
c 
Contents 
1. Implementation of the Programme 7 
1.1 Council Decisions and objectives 7 
1.2 Actions of the Programme 9 
1.3 Management and Consultation Procedures 14 
1.4 Financial Resources 14 
2. Impact and progress with regard to policy objectives 16 
2.1 Background 16 
2.2 Raising the participation of young people in initial vocational training 19 
2.3 Raising standards, improving quality, and diversifying training provision 25 
2.4 Enhancing adaptability of initial vocational training to change 27 
2.5 Developing a Community dimension in initial vocational training 28 
2.6 Improving cooperation within Member States and transnationally 31 
2.7 Encouraging more diversified forms of vocational guidance 33 
2.8 Improving knowledge of developments in the labour market 35 
2.9 Promoting equality of opportunity for young women 35 
2.10 Developing training opportunities for disadvantaged young people 36 
2.11 Promoting creativity, initiative and enterprise of young people 37 
3. Perspectives and Outlook 39 
3.1 The PETRA Programme 39 
3.2 Community Action in the Area of Initial Training 40 
1. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME 
1.1 Council decisions and objectives 
1.1.1 PETRA was launched in 1988 on the basis of the Council Decision of 1 December 1987 concerning 
an action programme for the vocational training of young people and their preparation for adult and 
working life, and was initially intended to run for five years, up to 31 December 1992. However, 
during the initial phase of the Programme, it became evident that the issue of initial vocational training 
was attracting increasing attention in the policy agenda of the Community - reinforced in the context 
of discussion and debate on the implementation of the Internal Market and, later, on the preparation 
of the Maastricht Treaty on European Union. 
1.1.2 During the first phase of PETRA, this was clearly reflected, inter alia, in: 
o the meetings of the European Council in 1988 and 1989, which affirmed the importance of 
improved access to vocational training for the completion of the Internal Market, stressed the 
need for Community action for the development of human resources, and emphasised the role 
of the Community action programmes in the insertion of young people into vocational training 
and their integration into working life as a decisive element of the social dimension of the 
Community; 
o the Social Charter (adopted on 9 December 1989 by 11 Member States), which incorporates 
the right of access to vocational training for all workers, and more specifically states in point 
23 that "following the end of compulsory education, young people must be entitled to receive 
initial vocational training of a sufficient duration to enable them to adapt to the requirements 
of their future working life; for young workers, such training should take place during 
working hours"; 
o the Conclusions of the Council and Ministers of Education meeting within the Council of 14 
December 1989, which called for a stronger and broader response, at Community level, to 
the new challenges faced by technical and vocational education and training in the Member 
8 
States, and invited the Commission to adapt and reinforce existing Community programmes 
in this field; 
o the views expressed by the Social Partners, in the framework of the Social Dialogue. In their 
joint opinion of 26 January 1990 on education and training, they emphasised the importance 
of high quality education and initial vocational training leading to recognised qualifications as 
an essential and irreplaceable condition for the successful integration of young people into 
working and economic life. Furthermore, in their joint opinion of 6 November 1990 on the 
transition from school to adult and working life, they identified concrete priorities and defined 
more clearly the role to be played by the various parties in the preparation and motivation of 
young people for working life; 
o and the Resolution of the European Parliament (16 February 1990) which called for stronger 
Community programmes in support of the education and training of young people and their 
mobility. 
1.1.3 The Commission responded to these developments by submitting to the Council, in November 1990, 
a proposal concerning an extension and development of the PETRA Programme, including the 
previous Young Workers Exchange Programme. This proposal formed the basis for the Council 
Decision of 22 July 1991 which extended the objectives of the 1987 Decision and provided a 
consolidated framework for a new phase of PETRA to run from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 
1994. PETRA has thus provided the first practical example of the Commission's strategy to rationalise 
and coordinate Community action in the field of initial vocational training. 
1.1.4 The Decision of 22 July 1991 incorporated the objectives set out in the 1987 Decision but, at the same 
time, amended them by emphasising a number of specific issues and adding others which responded 
to new emerging needs. Thus, the new phase of the PETRA Programme has a comprehensive set of 
principal objectives (Article 1 of Decision 91/387/EEC) which can be summarised under six main 
points: 
o to support the policies and activities of Member States that are aimed at ensuring that all 
young people in the Community who so wish receive one year's, or if possible, two or more 
years' vocational training, in addition to their full-time compulsory education, and leading to 
a recognised qualification; 
(2) 
9 
o to support and supplement activities of the Member States which are intended to raise the 
quality and standards of initial vocational training, diversify training provision so as to offer 
choices for young people with different levels of ability, and enhance the capacity of 
vocational training systems to adapt to rapid economic, technological and social change; 
o to add a Community dimension to the design and implementation of vocational training 
policies in Member States, especially in view of improving the comparability of vocational 
qualifications; 
o to stimulate and support cooperation and the development of transnational training partnerships 
between training providers, industry and other promoters of local and regional development; 
o to develop opportunities for young people in initial vocational training, young workers and 
young people taking part in advanced programmes to benefit from periods of training or work 
experience in other Member States (including the continuation and development of Community 
action formerly implemented under the Young Workers Exchange Programme); 
o to foster Community cooperation in the sphere of vocational information and guidance. 
1.1.5 In this new context, the PETRA Programme has evolved to form a coherent unified framework for 
Community action in the field of initial vocational training of young people and their preparation for 
working life. It is aimed at all categories of young people in vocational training, and all forms of 
youth training leading to a recognised qualification. In this way, the Programme now fulfils a strategic 
role in the development of Community policy on initial vocational education and training. In its new 
enlarged phase, it already provides a first operational response, in terms of initial vocational training, 
to each of the broad objectives set out in Article 127 of the Maastricht Treaty. 
1.2 Actions of the Programme 
1.2.1 Since 1992, the new phase of the PETRA Programme has benefited from considerably increased 
financial and technical resources, both at Community and Member State level, and from the positive 
effects of bringing together, in a single programme framework, relevant activities which previously 
had distinct and separate operational structures. 
10 
1.2.2 The Community Actions implemented through the PETRA Programme, to achieve the objectives of 
the Decision and support and supplement the activities of the Member States to this effect, can be 
summarised under four main types of operation: 
1-2.3 Action I - support for training and work experience placements in another Member State, for young 
people in initial vocational training, young workers and young unemployed, and young people in 
advanced programmes. 
1.2.4 From the beginning of the Programme in 1988, transnational training placements were an important 
part of its activity. Since 1992, Action I has provided a structured framework for the development of 
such placements on a larger scale and has incorporated the Young Workers' Exchange Programme, 
which up until then had been run as a separate activity. To qualify for Community support, the 
placement projects must show evidence of their capacity to provide a significant added value for the 
beneficiaries involving, for example, experience of new training methods, equipment and content, 
or new vocational experience; they must be duly certified and, where a young person in initial training 
or in an advanced programme is concerned, they must be integrated into, and recognised as part of, 
the training process which he/she is undergoing in his/her own Member State. 
1.2.5 For 1992 and 1993, provision was made for the organisation of placements for more than 20,000 
young people; by the end of the Programme, it is anticipated that a total number of 40,000 young 
people will have taken part in Action I placements. 
1.2.6 Action II - support for transnational cooperation to link innovative training projects from different 
Member States, including Youth Initiative Projects (YIPs), in a European Network of Training 
Partnerships (ENTP). 
1.2.7 Up to the end of 1991, approximately 500 projects had joined the Network involving directly more 
than 60,000 young people and 10,000 staff; an additional 330 projects were admitted for participation 
in the years 1992 and 1993. Since 1992, the activities of the Network have focused more sharply on 
the joint development and transfer of training modules, the joint training of trainers and on new 
thematic and sectoral priorities. No new projects will join the Network in 1994 as there would not be 
sufficient time before the end of the current programme to organise and complete partnership 
activities. In the period 1992-1994, it is estimated that approximately 100,000 young people and 
20,000 teachers and training staff will participate directly in the work of the ENTP. 
11 
1.2.8 The bar which projects had to clear for selection to the ENTP was set very high. All projects 
proposed by the Member States were carefully scrutinised in relation to their relevance to the priority 
themes/sectors of the Programme, their innovative capacity and potential multiplier role, and the 
quality of their planned arrangements for transnational cooperation. The rapidly increasing number 
of applications has clearly promoted competition in terms of quality and has ensured a final selection 
of projects which represents a pool of innovative experience and advanced expertise in a number of 
different fields. 
1.2.9 Most partnerships in the ENTP have a multi-lateral character, involving projects from three or more 
Member States, generally including a diversity of training institutions and bodies; most projects also 
work closely with local partners (different providers of training, firms, chambers of commerce and 
craft, trade union bodies etc.) in their own catchment areas. A substantial number of the projects are 
multi-site, i.e. not restricted to a single training establishment, or else form part of a major national 
or transnational initiative, other than PETRA. All these characteristics have enhanced the capacity of 
the ENTP to operate as both a generator and distributor of a wide range of knowledge and expertise. 
1.2.10 In addition to training projects involved in the ENTP, almost 800 YIPs have been supported through 
the Programme in the period up to June 1993 (i.e. innovative projects in which young people 
themselves are mainly responsible for the planning and organisation, and which focus on information 
on the transition from school to vocational training and working life, and/or encourage the 
development of entrepreneurial skills, creativity and responsibility among young people); a further 120 
projects will receive support from the Community in 1994. It is estimated that the total number of 
young people directly involved in the Youth Initiative Projects, since 1988, will reach a figure of 
25,000 by the end of the Programme; 
1.2.11 Action III - Support for national systems for the exchange of vocational guidance data and experience, 
and examples of good practice in vocational guidance, through the establishment of a Community 
network of national contact points and the training of guidance counsellors/specialists on Community 
aspects of guidance. 
1.2.12 During the first phase of PETRA, transnational cooperation on the development of new auricular 
approaches to vocational guidance had been the main focus of more than one hundred projects 
involved in the ENTP (see above). Since 1992, however, a more structured Community framework 
has been implemented for concertation and cooperation between the Member States' vocational 
guidance systems. Action III forms the spearhead of Community initiative in this field and aims to 
12 
improve transparency of training opportunities between the Member States, and to enable the national 
guidance services to provide more effective advice to young people on those training and career 
options which are available throughout the Community. 
1.2.13 In all Member States, agreements between both Ministries of Employment and Education have resulted 
in the designation of national resource centres, to cooperate in a Community network on the exchange 
of vocational guidance information, and of effective methods and models of good practice. By June 
1993, 27 centres had been nominated to work with their counterparts in other Member States, and act 
as reference points and resource agencies for guidance counsellors and other expert staff, or relevant 
bodies and services, in their national context. Each national resource centre is also involved in one 
or more multilateral, transnational development project to work out solutions to common problems 
or needs, especially with regard to the Community dimension of vocational guidance (e.g. 
implementing a computerised system for exchanging information and data by linking up existing data 
bases; enhancing the role of industry and the Social Partners in the vocational guidance process; 
promoting common quality standards in guidance services and developing tools and practice to 
facilitate transnational mobility of young people). 
1.2.14 The work of the network of guidance resource centres is complemented by three large transnational 
partnership projects, each involving at least four Member States. These partnership projects focus on 
the joint development of training material and joint training activities for guidance experts to increase 
awareness, knowledge and experience of the evolving Community context in which vocational 
guidance services have to operate. 
1.2.15 Finally, Action III promotes the dissemination and use of relevant information material prepared at 
Community level, e.g. the European Handbook for Guidance Counsellors, and comparative 
information on the structures and functioning of vocational guidance systems in all Member States; 
1.2.16 Complementary measures - including support for the dissemination of the results of the Programme; 
transnational cooperation in research on the vocational training of young people; and technical 
assistance at Community level, and in Member States, for the implementation, coordination and 
evaluation of the Programme. 
1.2.17 These measures can be grouped under two main categories: the first concerns activities to facilitate 
the operation of the different Actions of the Programme, and to inform potential beneficiaries and a 
wider audience about its content, procedures and outcomes; and the second includes activities to 
13 
support cooperative research and studies to analyse the effectiveness of current policy and practice in 
the initial vocational training field, or to tackle central issues/problems of common concern which 
emerge from the implementation of the Programme. 
1.2.18 As regards the first category, major attention has been, and will continue to be, devoted to information 
about the PETRA Programme. Since 1988, the PETRA Programme was presented at, or contributed 
significantly to, more than 200 major information events at Community or national level (including 
launching conferences, thematic seminars, national and international training fairs) and numerous 
regional events within the Member States. This activity was backed up by the provision of information 
material (e.g. Vademecum, project directories, thematic publications, leaflets, PETRA Yearbooks) 
and services offered to the media. A further essential element was the creation of a network of 
National Coordination Units (NCUs). The NCUs are a crucial lubricant in the functioning of the 
Programme, assisting its implementation within the Member States but also cooperating in the 
transnational management of its individual Actions. 
1.2.19 As for the second category, PETRA has provided support for transnational bi-lateral and multi-lateral 
research partnerships, involving more than 70 research institutes nominated by the national authorities, 
to work on a set of specific themes directly related to the objectives of the PETRA Decisions. These 
partnerships have now completed their work, and their results are being made available to underpin 
Community-level cooperation in the provision of vocational training and to support further 
development in policy and practice. Two major studies are currently being completed, with expert 
assistance from all Member States, on the social and legal status of young people involved in 
transnational training placements, and on the recognition and certification of transnational work 
experience and training placements. Further continuing work is concerned with improving and 
completing information on the participation of young people in vocational training. 
1.2.20 Finally, complementary measures are also taken to ensure close coordination with the smdy visit 
scheme for practitioners and policy-makers in the field of vocational training which is administered 
by CEDEFOP, on behalf of the Commission. These visits are organised on a thematic basis and are 
undertaken in small groups each comprising participants from several Member States. Until, June 
1993, nearly 800 training specialists from all Member States had benefited from visits which had a 
special thematic focus on the priorities of PETRA. 
14 
1.3. Management and Consultation Procedures 
1.3.1 In the management of the Programme, the Commission is assisted, at Community level, by a statutory 
Advisory Committee involving representatives from the relevant authorities in the Member States (in 
most cases the Ministries of Employment and Education) and observers from European Social 
Partners' organisations. The task of the Committee is to provide advice to the Commission on the 
operational guidelines governing the Programme, the financial balance between the various Actions 
and the continuing assessment of the Programme. The Committee has assisted the Commission to take 
account of national priorities and sensitivities in the design and implementation of the programme. 
1.3.2 PETRA is, in part, a decentralised programme and reflects the implementation of the principle of 
subsidiarity. At Member State level, technical assistance for the implementation of the Programme 
is provided by National Coordination Units (NCUs) which are responsible for the decentralised 
administration and financial management of transnational training and work experience placements 
(Action I), help with the selection and animation of ENTP and Youth Initiative Projects (Action H), 
submit projects on vocational guidance (Action HI), and organise information activities and the 
dissemination of the results of the Programme. The NCUs were designated by their respective 
Member States and receive matching financial support from the Community. They meet regularly, on 
invitation from the Commission, to coordinate their work at Community level. 
1.3.3 Each year, bi-lateral consultations are held between the Commission's departments and representatives 
from the relevant authorities and Social Partners' organisations in each Member State, to foster 
dialogue on developments and progress which relate to the objectives of the Programme and the 
Council Decision. 
1.4 Financial Resources 
1.4.1 Financial support from the Community, provided within the framework of PETRA for the four-year 
period 1988-1991 amounted to 39.99 MECU. An amount totalling 64.2 MECU was provided for 
1992 and 1993, and a budget of 39.0 MECU has been proposed by the Commission for 1994, making 
an estimated total of 103.2 MECU for the period 1992-1994. The increase in the financial resources 
of the programme over the years has been particularly important, evolving from 8 MECU in 1988 to 
15 
a (proposed) budget of 39 MECU in 1994. This progression is due, to a large extent, to the continuing 
support of the programme by the European Parliament. 
1.4.2 The financial resources of the programme have not been sufficient to satisfy the increasing demand 
for participation in its different activities. The allocation of financial resources to the various Actions 
of the Programme is summarised below: 
MECU 
Action I : Transnational training and work experience 
placements 
- young people in initial vocational training; 
- young workers, young people in advanced 
programmes, young unemployed 
Sub-total Action I 
Action II 
-ENTP 
-YIPs 
Sub-total Action II 
Action IH : Cooperation in the field of vocational 
guidance 
- national resource centres 
- development projects 
- transnational projects on the training of guidance 
counsellors 
Sub-total Action IE 
Complementary measures 
- information and dissemination activities 
- National Coordination Units 
- Community-level Technical Assistance 
- cooperative research and studies 
Sub-total complementary measures 
TOTAL 
* Amount proposed by the Commission in the pre-draft bud 1988-1991 
( - )' 
20.648 
5.031 
(25.679) 
( - )' 
2.823 
3.082 
6.385 
2.021 
(14.311) 
39.990 
get for 1994 1992-1993 
8.844 
22.008 
(30.852) 
18.870 
2.154 
(21.024) 
1.230 
0.900 
0.870 
(3.000) 
1.896 
2.720 
2.9003 
1.800 
(9.316) 
64.192 1994* 
6.300 
13.500 
(19.800) 
10.980 
1.200 
(12.180) 
0.720 
1.500 
0.520 
(2.740) 
1.940 
1.520 
0.820 
(4.280) 
39.000 
'In the period 1988-1991, transnational training placements and exchanges were organised within the 
framework of the ENTP. 
2 In the period 1988-1991, activities in the field of vocational guidance were included in the work of the 
ENTP. 
3This figure only includes Community-level technical assistance for the year 1992. From 1993 
onwards, the allocation for this assistance is included in Part A of the Commission's budget. 
16 
2. IMPACT AND PROGRESS WITH REGARD TO POLICY OBJECTIVES 
2.1 Background 
2.1.1 The Council Decisions of 1 December 1987 and 22 July 1991 set out, in Article 1, clear objectives 
for the PETRA Programme and, in Article 2, a common framework of guidelines in the field of 
vocational training for young people, reflecting priorities and needs of all Member States and the 
Community as a whole. The definition of concrete common objectives, together with a joint 
programme for action at Member State and Community level, was also an important step forward in 
ensuring coherent policy development and in concentrating efforts on areas and problems where they 
are most needed. The added value of this approach includes: 
o at general policy level, a more transparent and better articulation with overall Community 
goals; 
o for the training systems a new focus on quality, innovation, adaptation and convergence; 
o for the operators a stimulus for transnational cooperation, exchange of experience and 
familiarisation with training elsewhere in the Community; 
o for the young individuals a new perspective on their future life which can (re-) motivate their 
vocational training aspirations and provide better access to a wider range of opportunities and 
choices in the Community. 
2.1.2 In this section of the report, policy developments and progress are reviewed in regard to the principal 
objectives (Article 1) and to the Common Framework of Guidelines (Article 2) set out in Decision 
91/387/EEC, summarised under ten main points (2.2 - 2.11). Where appropriate, specific reference 
is made to the Community level actions which were implemented to support and complement the 
activities of the Member States, in particular the transnational training and work experience 
placements, the European Network of Training Partnerships (ENTP), the Youth Initiative Projects 
(YIPs), measures aimed at fostering vocational information and guidance, and the cooperative research 
activities. 
(3) 
17 
2.1.3 In reviewing Member States' progress in the implementation of the Decision, account needs to be 
taken of the demographic and labour market context in which initial vocational training systems have 
to operate. Three main aspects should be considered (2.1.4 - 2.1.6). 
2.1.4 In the current period of demographic decline, vocational training institutions are facing increased 
competition for young people in the training age group. In 1988, the first operational year of the 
Programme, the total number of 15-19 year-olds was 26.1 million in the Community and about 
one-third of these young people were estimated to participate in full-time or part-time initial vocational 
training. In 1995, the total number of 15-19 year-olds will have fallen by 16%, and in the year 2000 
by 19% (see table 1). To retain only the same number of young people in vocational training as in 
1988, training systems will need to attract 37% of the relevant age group in 1995 and 39% in the year 
2000; even larger efforts will be required to increase the number of participants in initial vocational 
training. 
Table 1: Young people (15 to 19) in the European Community (1988 = 100 = 26.1 million) 
(low population scenario) 
1980 1988 1995 2000 2010 2020 
B 114.4 100 87.6 87.6 87.0 73.2 
DK 105.8 100 88.4 74.3 86.7 77.6 
D(West) 123.6 100 77.1 82.9 85.3 62.5 
GR 98.9 100 98.9 98.0 71.8 74.3 
E 96.5 100 95.7 77.8 62.9 61.2 
F 99.2 100 85.8 89.3 87.7 81.2 
IRL 95.4 100 98.2 96.0 68.1 62.1 
I 98.9 100 82.0 67.8 64.8 61.5 
L 115.5 100 89.5 95.0 103.6 82.1 
NL 103.7 100 76.1 75.5 84.7 76.6 
P 104.8 100 96.3 84.6 67.6 67.7 
UK 107.7 100 79.3 84.7 88.5 75.4 
EC 106.8 100 84.1 81.3 78.7 69.1 
Source: EUROSTAT 
2.1.5 Although the unemployment rate of young people under 25 in the Community fell from 19.7% (5.3 
million) in 1988 to 18.2% (4.6 million) in 1992, it remained approximately twice as high as the 
overall rate (9.8% in 1988, and 9.5% in 1992) (see table 2). Over the last two years, unemployment 
rates, both the overall rate (1990 : 8.3% and 1992 : 9.5%) and the one for under 25 year olds (1990 
: 16.8% and 1992 : 18.2%), have been rising. The rise in the latter, however, was less sharp than 
in the first : while overall unemployment increased by 14.5%, youth unemployment only increased 
by 11.5%. The share of young people in the average number of people registered at unemployment 
18 
offices also dropped. Whilst in 1988, young people accounted for 33.5% of the unemployed, in 1992 
they accounted for only 28.6%. These statistics reflect both demographic trends and the tendency of 
young people to stay longer in education and training. Not all young people, however, run the same 
risk of becoming, or staying, unemployed. Young women still face a higher risk of unemployment, 
but this has been decreasing over the last years; their unemployment rates in 1988 were 28% higher 
than those of young men in 1988, 19% higher in 1991 and 13% in 1992. School-leavers without a 
qualification continue to form a group of young people for whom the risk of unemployment is up to 
four times higher than for those with a qualification. There is no doubt that successful basic education 
and initial vocational training provide the key to young people's integration into the labour market, 
in all Member States. Training systems will therefore have to pay special attention to the development 
of opportunities for young people leaving compulsory school with low levels of achievement. 
Table 2: Unemployment rate of young people aged under 25 
1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 
B 20.3 18.1 17.0 16.7 17.6 
DK 8.7 10.8 11.1 11.2 11.4 
D(West) 6.8 5.5 4.5 3.8 4.0 
GR 25.8 24.8 23.2 24.6 NA 
E 40.2 34.0 32.0 30.9 32.5 
F 22.1 20.4 20.1 21.3 21.8 
IRL 25.0 21.8 20.9 24.5 27.6 
I 32.9 31.8 29.2 28.4 28.1 
L 4.8 4.3 3.9 3.2 3.8 
NL 14.7 13.1 11.6 10.8 10.6 
P 13.1 11.6 10.6 9.2 10.3 
UK 12.4 10.2 10.8 14.2 15.8 
Total EC % 19.7 17.6 16.8 17.5 18.2 
Total EC 
(figures) 5,301,580 4,595,270 4,264,910 4,355,650 4,563,580 
Source: EUROSTAT 
2.1.6 At the same time, growth in employment and opportunities for vocational careers occur primarily in 
more highly skilled occupations; within occupational sectors, a trend towards increased skills 
requirements is evident for most jobs. It is becoming widely acknowledged that initial training systems 
need to place more emphasis on developing a wide-ranging set of core skills, including the capacity 
of learning to learn, autonomy, initiative, self-employment and adapting to new requirements. 
19 
2.2 Raising the participation of young people in education and initial vocational training 
2.2.1 Since the beginning of the PETRA programme, several Member States have taken specific action 
aimed at increasing the number of young people in initial training, so as to ensure that the highest 
possible number of new entrants to the labour market have a recognised vocational qualification. The 
main types of action can be summarised under three general headings: 
2.2.2 fixing quantitative targets for participation in education and vocational training. In France, for 
example, the policy aim is to ensure that, by the end of this century, three out of four young people 
should obtain a qualification at Baccalauréat level; a ^Baccalauréat professionnel* has been introduced 
which may be obtained by young people on successful completion of a two-year course following their 
initial vocational qualification. In 1992, more than 10% of all new Baccalauréat graduates had already 
obtained a ^Baccalauréat professionnel*. In Italy, the new law on upper-secondary education proposes 
that, by the year 2000, 80% of an age group will obtain an upper-secondary leaving certificate 
through completion of either general, scientific, technical or vocational courses. In Spain, within the 
context of the recent reform, the target for the year 2000 is to retain 80% of all young people in 
school, up to the age of 18, and to give them the possibility to choose between a specific training 
course (middle level) or the "bachillerato". A new technical "bachillerato" has been created which 
is very close, in terms of content, to initial vocational training. 
2.2.3 In Ireland, where for historical reasons there are very high post-compulsory participation rates in 
general education, a more vocationally oriented Leaving Certificate has been proposed in the 
Government's Green Paper "Education for a Changing World", published in 1992. The objective 
announced in that Paper is that the 5% of young people currently participating in the vocational 
programme of the Leaving Certificate will be increased to 30% in 1994. In the United Kingdom the 
Government has endorsed the targets set by the Confederation of British Industry which require that, 
by 1997, 80% of all young people attain a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at Level 2 (basic 
craft), or its academic equivalent; while at least half of the age group should attain NVQ Level 3 
(advanced craft), or its academic equivalent, by the year 2000; 
2.2.4 establishing an entitlement, or right, to obtain a vocational qualification or to take part in 
vocational training. In 1991, the Dutch Government announced that everybody, of any age, should 
have the right to obtain a ^starting qualification*, i.e. a vocational qualification at the level of an initial 
apprenticeship course and this is underpinned by actions at the lower-secondary stage to prevent early 
20 
leaving, by projects which aim to enhance the success rate of upper-secondary training and, within 
the context of the "Youth Work Guarantee" scheme, by specific efforts to motivate unqualified leavers 
to enrol in apprenticeship courses. In France, the right of young people to a vocational qualification 
is inscribed in the "Code du Travail" (1991 and 1992) and training must lead to a qualification 
corresponding to the short or medium term needs of the economy. In Portugal, the Government and 
the Social Partners signed, in July 1991, a formal agreement to make every effort to ensure that young 
people will receive at least one year of initial vocational training, after completion of their compulsory 
schooling; the national authorities are currently re-designing the training courses (run under the 
responsibility of the Employment Ministry), and will no longer organise initial training courses of less 
than one year's duration. 
2.2.5 In the United Kingdom, all young people under 18 who have left school and not found employment 
are guaranteed the offer of a suitable training place under the Youth Training Scheme, lasting one or 
two years; training credits are now being made available to 16 or 17 year old school-leavers, i.e. 
vouchers representing a real money value and enabling them to »buy« appropriate training. These 
Youth Credits were introduced in 1991, in a number of pilot areas. Coverage is gradually being 
extended to achieve the Government's target that by 1996, every 16 and 17 year-old will have the 
offer of such a credit, on leaving full-time general education; 
2.2.6 extending provision of initial vocational training. In a number of Member States, continuing efforts 
have been made to extend and strengthen their apprenticeship systems (DK, F, NL, P). Some have 
established new types of provision, e.g. the vocational schools in Portugal, or created the legal basis 
for it, e.g. the new Institutes for Vocational Training in Greece which have been set up under the 
1992 law and cater mainly for those young people who, after completion of post-compulsory 
secondary education, do not proceed to higher education. 
2.2.7 In Germany, the existing network of inter-firm training centres has been further developed to 
complement, in particular, the training capacities in small and medium enterprises. The network has 
been extended to the new » Lander* to offer full training courses where other opportunities in the dual 
system are not yet available in sufficient numbers. 
2.2.8 In 1993, the Danish Ministry of Education launched an action plan "Education for AH" as a special 
measure to tackle the problem of the so-called "rest group" of young people - approximately 1/4 of 
any youth cohort - which never completes any kind of education or training. One of the measures in 
the plan is a new two-year basic vocational training course, the EGU (adopted by law in June 1993), 
21 
the main component of which is practical work experience in enterprises combined with 20-40 weeks 
at school. The objective is to give young people vocational, social and personal competences which 
will enable them to gain a foothold in the labour market or to continue in further education and 
training. 
2.2.9 In Spain, young people who leave secondary education without a certificate and youngpeople up 
to the age of 21 without formal qualifications, benefit from the "Programas de Garantïa Social", 
organised by the Education authorities. These programmes aim at preparing young people and at 
ensuring their integration into work or their re-integration into education or training. 
2.2.10 All these actions are aimed at making the option of vocational education and training more attractive 
to young people, by raising its status or facilitating access to it. Along these lines, in Belgium, a 
specialisation year, following the third grade of full-time vocational training, has been introduced to 
enable young people to move to higher education, thereby enhancing the equality of status between 
vocational and post-compulsory general education. In Germany, similar objectives are reflected in 
a new initiative launched in 1991, offering new opportunities and special support to particularly gifted 
young people in vocational training, and in the discussion and implementation of new regulations 
facilitating progression from vocational training to higher education. In Italy, a major reform project, 
"Progetto 92", has tackled head-on the danger that vocational schools could continue to be seen as the 
less attractive alternative to technical and grammar schools. After a three year pilot period, the 
project will be implemented, between 1993 and 1996, in all vocational schools, thereby catering for 
some 20% of the age group. Projects aimed at raising the status and attractiveness of vocational 
training for young people are equally common in reforms in other Member States (especially France, 
Spain and Portugal). 
2.2.11 In Germany, the unification process involved the application, from 1 September 1990, of Federal 
Legislation on vocational training to the five new » Lander*. This meant a radical change of the 
training system in the territory of the former GDR, which caused problems in ensuring adequate 
provision of training places for young people, especially as the collapse of a large number of 
enterprises resulted in a serious reduction in the number of company-based training opportunities. 
Major initiatives were taken, at national level, to counteract the impact on the training situation, which 
had the desired positive effects; in September 1993, as in 1991 and 1992, the overwhelming majority 
of young people who applied had actually been placed in training, and the remaining small minority 
had received a placement offer. 
22 
2.2.12 In many of these actions, PETRA projects were actively involved; e.g. in the development of the 
^baccalauréat professionnel* in France; the "Pre-Apprenticeship Training for Girls" scheme in 
Ireland; the creation of vocational schools and the strengthening of the apprenticeship system in 
Portugal; the extension of Youth Training in the UK; the diversification of inter-firm training centres 
in Germany, and the restructuring of training provision in the new »Lander«; »Progetto 92* in Italy; 
and the "Programas de Garantïa Social" in Spain. One of the main contributions of these PETRA 
projects was their attempt to add a special focus on Community aspects to major national initiatives 
aimed at increasing young people's participation in vocational training, by using the experience and 
outcomes of their transnational cooperation. 
2.2.13 In relation to the primary objective of both the 1987 and the 1991 Council Decisions, i.e. to ensure 
that all young people who so wish receive one year's, or if possible, two or more years' vocational 
training, some indication of progress can also be gained from the analysis of participation rates in 
post- compulsory education and training. The Commission's 1990 Interim Report on PETRA 
[SEC(90)432 final] highlighted considerable disparities between the individual Member States, as 
regards the number of young people over the age of 16 retained in full or part-time education and 
training, using the latest data available for the period preceding the adoption of the 1987 Decision (i.e. 
the 1985/86 school year, in most cases). 
2.2.14 In all Member States, participation of the 16/17-year-olds has gone up since then, by an annual 
average increase of between 0.5% and 4.3% of the total age group, according to the individual 
Member State (with the exception of Germany, where retention rates had already been close to 
100%). In most Member States, the end of compulsory full-time schooling is now fixed at age 15 or 
16; in terms of the primary objective of the Council Decisions, the 16-17 year-olds thus form the 
»heart« of the PETRA target group. There are some indications that in Member States which have 
achieved retention rates of over 95%, the "saturation point" as regards participation for the 16 and 
17 year olds has been reached. At the same time, an increasing number of young people stays on 
longer, as shown by the sustained growth in participation rates for the 18 and 19 year olds since 1990. 
Table 3 shows the development related to the individual age groups. 
23 
Table 3: Increase in participation, in % of the age groups concerned 
Young people in full or part-time education and training 
Member State B DK D GR " E" F RL 1 L* NL Pb UK 
Years 8686868686868688 8688 87 
Caparison 88 90 90 87 88 91 90 91 89 90 90 
Age 19 
18 
17 
16 
15 
14 
13 -+3 
+11 
+4 
0 +10 
+5 
-3 
-2 +5 
:.,: ° 1 o 
0 
-1 +1 
0 
• +3 1 1 -3 
+2 
+4 
+8 
+10 +22 
+4 
+11 
+5 
+5 +6 +3 
+3 
& +1 
1 + 1 + 12 
+10 
+7 
-+4 1 1 +3 
+ 14 
+4 
I black line indicates the age at which full-time compulsory schooling ended in the years for which data is provided, 
grey line indicates the age at which part-time compulsory education/training ends. 
1) Due to incomplete data, mainly on part-time training courses, percentages may not show the full actual increase in participation rates. 
2) Comparable data for Luxembourg not available 
2.2.15 In analysing the actual participation rates of 17-year-olds, in comparison with those observed in 1986, 
two interesting points can be noted (see table 4): 
o while in 1986, only one-third of the Member States retained more than 80% of this age group 
in education and training, now 7 Member States have reached or passed this benchmark (B, 
DK, D, F, IRL, I and NL); 
the disparities between Member States have shrunk though still remaining considerable; 
whereas in 1986, the highest participation rate was 96% of the age group (Germany) and the 
lowest 39% (Portugal), the latter went up to 49% in 1990 and to 65.5% in 1993; Belgium and 
France now show figures very close to those for Germany, and in all other Member States 
retention rates have moved nearer to those in the leading group identified above. 
24 
Table 4: Participation in full-time and part-time education and training (in % of the age-group) 
I Member State B DK D GR ° EM F IRL 1 L* NL Pn UK 
Year 88 90 90 87 88 91 90 91 89 90 90 
Age 19 
18 
17 
16 
15 
14 
13 72 
93 
96 
• 96 
1 100 
1 52 
77 
80 
1 87 
97 60 
81 
• 96 
99 
99 44 
59 
76 
|82 
1 100 1 41 
56 
64 
84 
100 76 
en 62 
83 
95 
98 
100 81 
• 99 56 
74 
.:: 88 
1 98 
99. 40 
49 
54 
.60 h 1 37 
74 
1 89 
100 
black line indicates the age at which full-time compulsory schooling ended in the years for which data is provided. 
;| grey line indicates the age at which part-time compulsory education/training ends. 
1 ) Due to incomplete data, mainly on part-time training courses, percentages give an underestimation of the actual participation rates. 
2) Comparable data for Luxembourg not available. 
2.2.16 The available data on retention rates does not provide, on a transnationally comparable basis, 
information on the split between general education and vocational training. There is an indication that, 
in some Member States, participation in post-compulsory general education has risen faster than in 
vocational training. Another problem continues to require major attention in all Member States, i.e. 
the number of young people leaving the education and training systems without having obtained a 
formally recognised qualification. Comparative data is not readily available, given the complexity of 
situations in the individual Member States. Estimates based on available national statistics suggest that, 
for the Community as a whole, between 7% and 10% of the 16 to 25 age group have not obtained 
any formal qualification, and an additional 10-20% do not gain a further qualification beyond the 
completion of compulsory school. 
25 
2.2.17 The data does not fully reflect recent developments which have taken place in the field of initial 
vocational training. Over the last few years, considerable efforts have been made in all Member States 
- whether with underpinning support from, or informed by, the actions of the Programme, or in 
parallel to them - to improve training provision for young people. In statistical terms, many of the 
effects will only become visible at a later stage. Much of the progress achieved so far has had its main 
impact on the qualitative rather than the quantitative aspects of training. These developments are 
reviewed below. 
2.3 Raising standards, improving quality, and diversifying training provision 
2.3.1 Qualitative improvement of training provision forms a central part of current reform or new legislation 
launched in a number of Member States, including action to strengthen the functioning of the part-time 
training centres in Belgium (decree of 1990); the re-organisation of initial vocational training in 
Denmark and the Netherlands, and of Youth Training in the United Kingdom; »Progetto 92« in Italy; 
the new middle and higher level vocational courses in Spain; the new Law on Technical Secondary 
Education and Further Vocational Training in Luxembourg; the vocational training institutes (IEKs) 
established by the new National System of Vocational Education and Training in Greece; and the 
development of a new type of vocational school, "Escolas Profissionais" in Portugal, where, at the 
same time, the old technical/professional courses were replaced with new technological courses. 
2.3.2 These initiatives differ in approach and encompass a wide variety of objectives and specific action. 
A common element, however, is their attempt to introduce greater breadth into vocational courses, 
thereby, avoiding premature narrow specialisation (e.g. in Italy the number of different training 
qualifications in vocational schools was reduced from 130 to 18, while in Denmark the number of 
vocational education and training courses has been similarly restricted to approximately 85 compared 
with the previous 300.) Another element is related to assessment or certification, recognising the need 
for more polyvalent qualifications. In Ireland, this is reflected in the proposals for a new standard-
based apprenticeship scheme and the establishment of a National Education and Training Certification 
Board. Similar aims are intended in the United Kingdom with the introduction of General National 
Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs) and general Scottish Vocational Qualifications (GSVQs) which 
assess whether an individual is prepared for entry into a broad range of related occupations, including 
the possibility that this may entail progression through higher levels of education. In some cases these 
reforms also involve more decentralised responsibilities for management and finance (DK, NL, P, 
UK), or more autonomy for individual training establishments (B and I), thus introducing a more 
market-oriented approach to training and encouraging competition for quality. 
26 
2.3.3 Other measures include training in the use of new technologies (all Member States), the development 
of foreign language learning in vocational schools (e.g. France and Germany), the development of 
jointly recognised certification (e.g. the agreement between authorities in Germany and Ireland to 
develop a system of accreditation for apprentices undertaking transnational training and work 
experience programmes which is the direct result of two PETRA projects), or the up-dating of training 
content in specific fields (e.g. training for the service sector, or commerce, in the new »Lander« of 
Germany). 
2.3.4 Young people have different training needs and often require assistance in identifying which particular 
type of training would be most suitable for them : fully school-based courses, with work experience 
placements, apprenticeship type courses, combinations of these in long or short courses, etc. To suit 
these various needs, several Member States (Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands) are experimenting 
with regional training centres in which different training options, and sometimes also guidance and 
pre-vocational options, are provided. In other cases, in addition to school-based and apprenticeship 
courses, continuing training programmes for adults are included in order to be able to take account 
of the qualifications acquired either in training institutions outside the mainstream system, or in the 
work place. Some Member States (Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands) are developing classification 
systems for vocational qualifications while the United Kingdom has already introduced its system of 
National Vocational Qualifications. 
2.3.5 The principal factor determining standards in initial vocational training is the quality of the teaching 
and training staff. Most, if not all, of the national reforms mentioned in this section are accompanied 
by major efforts to train the teachers and the trainers. In Italy, as part of "Progetto 92", all of the 
45,000 teachers involved were informed about the objectives of the programme, 60% took part in 
events at which the modular structure was explained, while 40% participated in courses about new 
teaching methods. Some of the PETRA Research Partnerships were focused on this issue, but the 
widest range of activity in this field was developed within the framework of the ENTP. The great 
majority of projects used the opportunity presented to them through the transnational partnerships, to 
exchange staff and carry out joint staff training activities, with a view to widening their staffs 
awareness of industrial standards, attitudes and practices in other Member States. Since 1988, 
approximately 30,000 trainers, tutors and teachers who have participated in, or are still involved in, 
the Programme were introduced to the Community dimension and increased their knowledge about 
the policies, practices and attitudes in other Member States. They are now able, in their day-to-day 
training practice, to apply this European experience and thus underpin the implementation of reform 
activities in their respective Member States. 
27 
2.3.6 Similar effects of transnational cross-fertilisation are also observed from the large number of ENTP 
projects which concentrated on the joint development of training modules and materials (often linked 
with training activities for staff). Much of their work reflects new thinking on standards and quality 
in initial vocational training, related to current reform initiatives. 
2.3.7 These projects now form a pool of innovative experience and advanced expertise in their respective 
fields. They have demonstrated their potential, in a local, regional or national context, to help achieve 
progress in the definition and delivery of new vocational curricula and profiles, by offering models 
of high quality, which are enriched by experience gained through transnational cooperation. 
2.4 Enhancing adaptability of initial vocational training to change 
2.4.1 All the reform initiatives referred to in paras 2.3.1-2.3.4 above are also clearly aimed at adapting 
initial vocational training to changing needs. Decentralisation of responsibility for the provision of 
training has especially helped to make vocational training more responsive to local and regional 
requirements. In a number of Member States (DK, GR, E, F, IRL, NL, P, UK), these developments 
are supported by new approaches to involving industry and the Social Partners in a more active and 
effective way in the definition of skills needs, vocational profiles and curricula. Attention is also being 
focused on exploring and further developing a modular organisation of training, enabling a more 
flexible response to new emerging requirements. The reform of the Danish vocational training 
system, for example, has built in a high degree of mobility both horizontally and vertically, with the 
possibility to supplement one course with another, on either a full-time or part-time basis. 
2.4.2 In the Programme, some of the Research Partnerships worked on new models for more effective 
planning of training provision at regional level. The ENTP projects, through their commitment to 
practical cooperation with a variety of partners in their local or regional context, have underpinned 
responsiveness to new needs. Through transnational training placements and partnerships projects, 
new approaches have been developed to enhance more "transversal" skills which increase young 
people's capacity to adapt to changing requirements in the workplace. New experience was gained 
through the work of the ENTP, in the joint elaboration and implementation of training units covering 
specific content topics. A major contribution of both the transnational placements and the ENTP 
projects is to be seen in the fact that they have highlighted practical ways of facing a number of needs 
and changes with regard to training in a new, evolving Community context. 
28 
2.5 Developing a Community dimension in initial vocational training 
2.5.1 A number of Member States have deliberately explored the opportunities offered through the 
Programme to introduce or reinforce a Community dimension in their initial training provision. In 
Denmark, two new laws inspired by the PETRA Programme were passed in February 1992 entitling 
all young people in vocational training courses to spend all, or part of, the practical work experience 
component in another EC or EFT A country. The periods spent abroad are fully recognised and 
accredited and financial support is made available from a training fund created by a training levy paid 
by employers. The main objective is to internationalise the aims and content of Danish training 
courses and despite the limited experience so far, many vocational schools and Trade Committees 
would like to see placements abroad as an integral and compulsory part of vocational training courses. 
2.5.2 Similarly, in early 1992, the Dutch Government published a discussion paper to outline its new 
policies for the internationalisation of education and training. Amongst other activities, this policy 
involves the promotion of a new exchange programme for teachers and trainers; financial support for 
transnational exchanges of young people within the framework of PETRA; and the establishment of 
a national support agency for transnational exchanges. As a result, in 1993, almost all of the 140 
upper-secondary MBO training colleges have participated in at least one of these transnational 
programmes. 
2.5.3 The experience gained through the transnational work of the PETRA programme has directly 
contributed to these developments. In France, an important number of Academies have set as a 
priority the development of transnational, and in particular, European activities and thus, all training 
bodies are encouraged to participate in Community programmes and, particularly, in PETRA. Other 
Member States have used »their« projects in the ENTP to provide a ^Community window* in national 
reform initiatives. In Ireland, contact with the initial training systems of other Member States has been 
a major positive element which has informed the debate on the development of the Irish system. 
2.5.4 Through the PETRA Programme, the Community has played a particularly active role, since 1988, 
in the development of transnational vocational training placements for young people. Compared to 
general youth exchange activity or mobility of university students between the Member States of the 
Community, opportunities for exchanges in the field of initial vocational training were, and still are, 
very under-developed; some studies conducted during the first phase of the Programme suggest that 
only between 0.5% and 1% of young people were benefiting from a placement period in another 
Member State which formed part of, or complemented their initial vocational training. Since 1992, 
29 
the placement element has been formalised in Action I and now constitutes a structured framework 
for the organisation of training and work experience placements in another Member State ensuring 
that such placements are undertaken in conditions which promote the development of vocational 
knowledge and skills. 
2.5.5 In some Member States, PETRA placements have provided young people with the first opportunity 
to experience training and work situations abroad, and they represent the largest part of transnational 
training placements available to young people from that country (Greece, Italy, Portugal), while in 
other Member States, they have provided an important stimulus to further improve the quality and 
increase the number of transnational placements (Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands). The 
Programme continues to contribute to the broadening of experience in this field, and particular efforts 
are being made to overcome the organisational, linguistic and other obstacles to young people's 
participation in transnational placements. NCUs are pooling experiences and examples of good 
practice as well as developing guidelines and materials for foreign language provision designed to 
meet the specific needs of the PETRA Programme and its public. In addition, studies are currently 
being carried out, within the complementary measures of the Programme, on the social and legal 
status of young people while on placements and the accreditation and recognition of transnational 
training and work experience placements, in order to provide a systematic overview of current 
regulations and practices in the Member States and to identify the areas where further cooperation and 
coordination are needed. 
2.5.6 The development of a Community dimension in initial vocational training provision introduces a new 
quality into the systems. Practical European experience which is generated by, or mediated through, 
the process of initial training has a strong effect on young people's awareness of the Community, 
which is probably stronger than many other ways of learning about Europe (e.g. through tourism or 
the media), because it relates to a central aspect of life for each young person, i.e. preparation for 
a career and for working life. Training which takes account of the enlarged Community framework 
for work and careers, and reflects the specific needs and opportunities of a new economic space 
without frontiers, is an important product sought on the developing European market place for 
training. In addition, a number of Member States, and in particular Germany, have reported that the 
provision of opportunities for transnational training and work experience placements clearly 
contributes to raising the attractiveness of initial vocational training for young people. 
30 
2.5.7 By publicising and providing financial and technical support to transnational exchanges, the 
Programme has provoked an upsurge of interest, at all levels in the training world, in Community 
aspects of training and in cooperation with partners in other Member States. Through its operations, 
the Programme has lowered the threshold of access to cooperative work in the Community for many 
training institutions which had little or no previous experience in this field, and has directed their 
attention to the European dimension of training. It has also promoted the idea, amongst training 
establishments, of ^shopping around* for innovative ^products* (methods, materials, courses) and other 
training support, and of offering, in turn, their own specific experience and practice. To some extent, 
this has fostered a form of entrepreneurial spirit in the establishments involved in transnational 
placements or in the ENTP, which was enhanced through their search for partnership at the local/ 
regional level, and helped them to play a more pro-active role on the training market. 
2.5.8 In a large number of training partnerships, this has led to the joint development and application of 
curricula and training materials. In some of the partnerships, where young people completed a 
jointly-developed new training module in another Member State, the results were fully credited for 
(part of) a vocational qualification, by all the Member States participating in the respective 
partnerships. 
2.5.9 In all Member States, enterprises were encouraged to take an active part in the Programme, and a 
number of projects both under Action I and in the ENTP were actually initiated by firms. Through 
their involvement in transnational training cooperation, and the opportunities offered to their young 
workers or trainees to benefit from a training placement in another Member State, firms were able 
to develop European experience amongst their staff, including SMEs where such opportunities rarely 
exist because they do not have the resources needed for transnational cooperation. In Germany, 
experience under Action I has shown that professional organisations and chambers of trade and crafts 
can be instrumental in involving SMEs in transnational training and work experience placements. They 
can provide an operational framework at local and European level which compensates for the lack of 
organisational infrastructure in individual firms, guarantees that the quality and content of placements 
correspond to specific needs, and makes it possible to capitalise on transnational experience gained 
by other SMEs in a particular sector or local area. In addition, some professional organisations, 
chambers, and regional authorities use the framework provided by PETRA to create, or develop, their 
own networks for transnational cooperation and joint exploitation of training resources, especially in 
border regions, but also between more remote parts of the Community. 
31 
2.6 Improving cooperation within Member States and transnationally 
2.6.1 Cooperation and coordination between different types of training provision, and between different 
partners involved, especially vocational schools, firms and the Social Partners, has been an issue of 
continuing concern in a number of Member States. 
2.6.2 In Belgium, a new tripartite Flemish Education Council was set up, in 1991, to bring together all 
parties concerned with education and training in a common approach to identifying training needs, and 
to feed relevant information to vocational schools, training establishments and employment services; 
similar committees were also set up at regional level. This institutional effort was followed up by the 
creation of the States General for Technical Education in 1993, which brings together representatives 
of Education, Social Partners and the Government to regroup study disciplines in certain areas and 
adapt training programmes to the needs of the labour market. In the French Community of Belgium, 
the formal signature of the "Apprenticeship Charter" in March 1993, by the national educational 
authorities and the social partners, marked the beginning of close cooperation and concertation 
between schools and enterprises. 
2.6.3 In Denmark and the Netherlands, the recent reforms have resulted in much stronger involvement of 
both sides of industry in the management of vocational training provision, and Trade Committees are 
now responsible for updating the practical training content of courses and for setting standards for 
final examinations, as well as for conducting assessments. At the same time, they also have great 
influence over the theoretical elements of vocational education and training at national and at 
regional/local level. The Organisation for Vocational Education and Training, established under the 
new (1992) Law in Greece, and which involves representatives from different Ministries and the social 
partners in its management board, is responsible into alia for policy development, the implementation, 
planning and coordination of training provision, and cooperation with national and international 
bodies. 
32 
2.6.4 In France, in addition to the work of the High level Committee on Education and Economy (HCEE), 
created in 1987, a National Committee on Education and Professions (CNEP) was set up with the 
participation of the Social Partners to examine all decisions which concern both areas. In the United 
Kingdom, many of the detailed responsibilities for the management of training, and the provision of 
training which meets the skill requirements of a particular geographical area, have been decentralised 
to Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) or Local Enterprise Councils (LECs), in the case of 
Scotland. These TECs and LECs are locally based, employer-led bodies which provide a focus for 
cooperation between education, training and the world of work. 
2.6.5 New formal agreements were also made in Portugal between the national authorities and the Social 
Partners, to cooperate more closely in the development of training provision. In Ireland, the Social 
Partners are playing a full part in discussions on initial training. The Irish Business and Employers' 
Confederation (IBEC), in their policy statement of June 1992, underlined the need for all young 
people to have the opportunity of a structured training programme organised and controlled by 
industry and providing certification with national and international recognition. In Italy, new 
partnership arrangements are being developed, as part of »Progetto 1992«, between the Ministries of 
Education and Employment, but also with the Regions and industrial/commercial associations. In 
Luxembourg, the new Law on technical and vocational education urges schools to establish stronger 
links with the world of work, through support for cooperative projects with industry. In Spain, the 
"Plan Nacional de Formaciôn Profesional" proposed by the General Council for Vocational Training 
with the participation of the Social Partners was approved by the Government. This plan necessitates 
a close cooperation and coordination between all bodies responsible (the Ministries of Education and 
Employment and the Social Partners) in the initial vocational training of young people (formaciôn 
reglada), training of the unemployed and continuing training of workers (formaciôn ocupacional). 
2.6.6 In the implementation of the Programme, the Commission has fostered a multi-partner approach. Most 
of the developments, referred to in paras 2.5.1-2.5.9 above, have enhanced the added value which 
can be obtained from transnational cooperation. At project level, the development of multi-lateral 
partnerships provided access to a broad range of different types of expertise and European experience; 
a number of projects have developed permanent links which continue after expiry of Programme 
funding. Through projects' links with local or regional consortia in their respective catchment areas, 
the Programme has reached a large number of organisations and individuals who benefit directly or 
indirectly from it. 
(5) 
33 
2.6.7 By networking projects throughout the territory of the Community, PETRA has also created practical 
facilities to promote cooperation between the more advanced and the less developed regions, and 
between »the South* and »the North*. More than 60% of the ENTP projects (1988-1991) in Greece, 
Spain, Italy and Portugal were engaged in partnerships with projects in other than these four Member 
States. This trend has been reinforced in the new generations of projects; 94% of the 1992 generation 
of ENTP projects from the above Member States are developing transnational activities with partner 
projects in other than these Member States. All the transnational guidance projects for the 
development of the Community network of Guidance Resource Centres also involve at least one 
"Southern" Member State. 
2.7 Encouraging more diversified forms of vocational guidance 
2.7.1 The issue of vocational guidance is attracting growing attention in all Member States; the need for 
innovation in the guidance systems and the development of existing, or the creation of new, services 
appears to be a common concern. The move towards a market economy in the systems and processes 
of vocational training, and the increasingly complex problems faced by individuals in making decisions 
about their training and future career, require diversified approaches to ensure that relevant guidance 
and counselling support is offered to young people (and their parents) throughout their transition from 
school to training and working life. Vocational guidance has a central role to play in facilitating 
access to vocational training, and in reducing the number of people who drop-out from education and 
training, often as a result of ill-informed decisions. Vocational guidance must be recognised as a key 
to the development of human resources, underpinning policies which strive for a better match of 
training provision, vocational qualifications and prospective areas of local or regional development. 
2.7.2 A major new challenge to be faced by the guidance systems in all Member States is the evolving 
Community context in which they have to operate. Whether they realise it or not, the process of 
European integration now offers many citizens of the Community a wide range of opportunities for 
training and work, outside their own Member State. In parallel, the national, regional and even local 
training and labour markets are inevitably becoming interlocked with developments in other Member 
States and in the Community as a whole. It is therefore essential for guidance and counselling 
services to provide information, advice and experience which enable individuals to become aware of 
opportunities which exist elsewhere in the Community and to make decisions on their training and 
career which can take account of the prospects of development in the Community. 
34 
2.7.3 With the establishment of the Single European Market, trans-European cooperation in vocational 
guidance, despite the existing differences between Member States in this area, became more 
imperative. In Germany, the objectives and operations of the PETRA Programme (in particular Action 
III of the programme devoted to vocational guidance and counselling) have supported and accelerated 
decisions concerning the introduction of a Community dimension into guidance services, involving 
the provision of information on training opportunities in other Member States and cooperation with 
relevant agencies in them. In France, the new focus on implementing a Community dimension in 
guidance has also encouraged cooperation between the different competent Ministries and their 
services, and advanced the régionalisation of the guidance service. In the framework of the 
implementation of the reform of the Spanish system, new guidance departments are being created in 
all education centres. In Ireland, the need for a complete overhaul of the system of vocational 
counselling has been recognised. PETRA has given an impetus to this, and in particular, to the use 
of data bases in the guidance system. In Italy, a new National Council is now concerned with the 
development of educational and vocational guidance. In the United Kingdom, recent Government 
legislation now opens up management options for the provision of the Careers Service. A phased 
process of tendering for the management of area Careers Services has been introduced with the aim 
of ensuring that the resulting services move closer to employers and become more responsive to local 
needs and conditions. Similarly, a new system has been introduced in the Netherlands in which 
schools, i.e. the demanders, "buy" with earmarked resources, guidance services from new regional 
guidance organisations, i.e. the suppliers, which are themselves the result of a merging of a number 
of regional level guidance bodies. The implementation of these national initiatives draws on, or is 
being informed by, the new opportunities for transnational cooperation which are provided through 
the European network of guidance resource centres, special development projects, and training 
activities for guidance staff which are established under Action III of the PETRA Programme. 
2.7.4 This work under Action III is complemented by other Actions of the programme. Several ENTP 
projects work directly, or indirectly, on different aspects of guidance and jointly developing new 
material, methods and practices. A large number of YIPs has also been concerned with providing 
easily accessible, local information services for young people, outside the institutional frameworks. 
Some of the transnational Research Partnerships have also focused on the effectiveness of guidance 
methods and on new models to meet the guidance needs perceived by young people. 
35 
2.8 Improving knowledge of developments in the labour market 
2.8.1 In the Programme, one important approach in helping training institutions, trainers and young people 
to be better aware of local, regional or specific sectoral needs is the promotion of local cooperation. 
Some ENTP projects develop and implement more effective information systems to link training to 
existing or emerging job opportunities, mostly on the local labour markets. The majority of projects 
establish links with enterprises in their area, enabling them to gain first-hand experience of the 
evolution of skill requirements and to reflect this in their training programmes. At a more general 
level, the Programme provides a major contribution, through specific research work, resulting in a 
Community-wide overview of Member States' strategies to identify relevant developments in the 
labour market, and of the approaches used to respond to new skills requirements. 
2.8.2 To develop an instrument for the analysis of the quantitative and, in particular, qualitative 
developments on the labour market, the French Community of Belgium is currently establishing an 
"Employment Observatory", which will be a source of information for the providers of initial 
vocational training. 
2.8.3 The Community-wide network of resource centres for vocational information and guidance (Action 
III) also enhances knowledge about the characteristics of the labour market in each Member State. 
One of the transnational development projects initiated under this Action is especially related to the 
participation of the Social Partners, encouraging their involvement in the process of vocational 
guidance so as to foster awareness of the needs of the labour market in the provision of vocational 
guidance services. 
2.9 Promoting equality of opportunity for young women 
2.9.1 Community action under the Programme was particularly aimed at supporting and supplementing 
measures taken by Member States to enable young women to participate, on an equal basis, in all 
vocational training programmes. In numerical terms, PETRA has succeeded in achieving almost equal 
participation of girls and young women in placements under Action I and in the ENTP and Youth 
Initiative Projects, though they were not equally represented in all sectors of training. An analysis of 
the questionnaires returned by 4,618 (52%) of the young participants in Action I placements in 1992 
indicates that 46% were female. A similar percentage applies to the ENTP projects. Questionnaires 
returned from 244 of the 392 ENTP projects operational in 1992 show that 11,536 girls have been 
directly involved compared with 13,334 boys. Finally, in a new group of YIP projects, 48% of the 
36 
young people who were managing and running these projects were female. The trend of distribution 
between men and women in the placements and in the ENTP projects follows the traditional pattern, 
i.e. a majority of women in the services sector and a majority of men in the more technical areas. The 
issue of "increasing the participation of young girls and young women in non-traditional vocational 
training" was put forward, in the selection of ENTP projects, as a transversal theme in 1992 and was 
reinforced as a priority in 1993. Within the ENTP, 87 projects have addressed as their main focus 
the need of girls and young women and their training in non-traditional technical or vocational fields. 
The results of these projects were considered by all Member States concerned, as a very positive 
contribution to reinforcing and encouraging further initiatives in the mainstream training systems. 
2.10 Developing training opportunities for disadvantaged young people 
2.10.1 Whatever definition is used to describe the group of ^disadvantaged*, or young people »at risk*, the 
number of those who leave the education and training systems without a vocational qualification is 
considered to be unacceptably high, by all Member States. Since 1988, all Member States have 
continued, reinforced, or set up new initiatives to improve training opportunities for these young 
people. 
2.10.2 In Germany, the national programme for the vocational integration of disadvantaged young people 
provides vocational preparation and training together with social and special pedagogical help. It is 
implemented through a large variety of organisations, public and private, catering for 60,000 young 
people. Similar objectives are pursued by the Irish "Youthreach" programme, a joint 
education/employment action, offering two years of education and training to those who have dropped 
out of school for six months or more. In Spain, the network of some 600 workshop schools 
("escuelas taller") and craft centres ("casas de oficios") provides up to three years' training, involving 
part-time practical work for unemployed young people; it links training for local development to 
possible job creation, mainly in aspects concerned with the preservation of the environment and 
cultural heritage. 
2.10.3 Other examples include the "Youth Work Guarantee" in the Netherlands, the network of Production 
Schools and the recent "Education for All" action plan in Denmark; and the "credit formation" plan 
and the operation of the "missions locales" (local task forces) in France. 
37 
2.10.4 A particular added value of the Programme, in support of such initiatives, is to be seen in the 
involvement of young people from a disadvantaged socio-economic background who are generally 
under-privileged in educational and training terms and, more specifically, have few opportunities to 
participate in transnational training activities. In Denmark, transnational placements organised in 
connection with training projects for unemployed young people with few or no qualifications have 
proved to be an effective pedagogical instrument in helping these young people regain their self-
confidence and independence, motivating them to re-enter the training system and to gain better 
qualifications. A large number of ENTP partnerships have shown a particularly strong bias towards 
developing training for disadvantaged young people. About one-third of the total number of young 
participants belong to this group. In addition, many of the Youth Initiative Projects have offered a 
stimulating new learning environment for young people who had failed in the mainstream training 
systems or were otherwise disadvantaged (representing e.g. 44% of all YIP participants in 1989). 
2.10.5 In the framework of the vocational guidance activities of PETRA, disadvantaged young people also 
benefit from the links which are being established between the national guidance systems to promote 
exchanges of information and experience and to improve arrangements for them. A further 
contribution was made by some of the PETRA Research Partnerships which jointly worked on the 
evaluation of different types of national measures aimed at this group. 
2.10.6 Taking account of social exclusion and the widespread problems of unemployment in the Community, 
especially amongst young people, and of the difficulties encountered so far in involving disadvantaged 
groups in transnational placements, further new measures will be introduced in 1994 with the aim of 
significantly increasing the participation of disadvantaged young people, in Action I transnational 
placements. 
2.11 Promoting creativity, initiative and enterprise of young people 
2.11.1 In adapting initial vocational training to meet new skill requirements, priority should be given to the 
development of transversal qualities and competencies rather than specific job related skills, thereby 
promoting and fostering creativity, initiative and enterprise amongst young people. This concept is 
now reflected in new approaches to youth training in all Member States. Denmark is one of several 
Member States where the reform of the vocational training system has placed an explicit emphasis on 
the development of transversal skills by requiring that one third of the subjects taught in vocational 
education and training courses must be general subjects aimed at strengthening the individual's 
personal development and enabling students to play an active role in society. In Germany, in the 
38 
continuing reform or re-organisation of training curricula - already completed in a number of 
vocational fields - particular importance is attached to improving training methods which value 
personal development, motivation, responsibility, and versatility of young people. 
2.11.2 Since its beginning, the Programme has played an essential role in promoting such approaches, by 
providing a framework for pilot action and facilitating extensive transnational exchange of experience 
in this field. Central to this work was the development of methods to foster »key* competencies, 
which prepare young people to cope better with the fast-changing requirements in the work place, with 
new patterns of employment and, indeed, possibilities for self-employment. Both the ENTP and the 
Youth Initiative Projects have concentrated very strongly on these aspects and developed a variety of 
models involving specific forms of project work, new methods of assessment, or training of teachers 
and trainers. This work has attracted wide-spread attention amongst vocational schools, training 
centres and firms. Placements under Action I provide a valuable complement to these developments 
in national training systems by providing a real environment for "putting theory into practice" which 
enhances the individual's acquisition and further development of "transversal" skills. 
2.11.3 One of the ENTP training partnerships, involving a consortium of several large national and 
multi-national companies, is now implementing a jointly developed approach to ^enterprise training*; 
its first results demonstrate the transferability and adaptability of this approach across the boundaries 
of national systems. A specific Research Partnership was set up, in 1991, to analyze the effectiveness 
of different ^enterprise training* schemes. 
39 
3. PERSPECTIVES AND OUTLOOK 
3.1 The PETRA Programme 
3.1.1 The remaining period of the PETRA Programme up to 31 December 1994 will concentrate on 
ensuring that the ongoing work is completed successfully. A particular new effort will be made to 
enhance the participation of disadvantaged young people in the Programme (socially excluded young 
people, including the unemployed but also those who are otherwise disadvantaged) and to harness the 
innovative powers of its different Actions in their favour. The reinforcing of this priority reflects the 
Conclusions of the Presidency of the European Council in Copenhagen in June 1993 which, inter alia, 
urge for more intensive action to reduce unemployment and social exclusion in the Community, 
especially where young people are concerned. 
3.1.2 The main thrust in the final year of the current Programme will be directed towards enhancing the 
visibility of the results achieved through the PETRA Actions, and the dissemination of models of good 
practice and of successful approaches aimed at achieving the objectives of the Council Decisions. This 
will require a concerted effort involving a partnership between the Commission and the Member 
States. It will make a substantial contribution towards articulating the operational level of PETRA with 
Member States' strategies to improve training policies, and towards increasing the impact of PETRA 
on developments in the mainstream training systems. 
3.1.3 Action to improve visibility and to widen the dissemination of the outcomes of the Programme will 
help to ensure that the results achieved so far can be fully exploited in the preparation and 
implementation of future Community action in the field of vocational training. It will also ensure that 
the EFTA-EEA countries can assimilate relevant experience, to assist their participation in future 
Community action, and create the conditions for fruitful cooperation on the vocational training of 
young people with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Finally, improved visibility of, and 
access to, information on the achievements of PETRA will help demonstrate the "returns on 
investment" in cooperative Community action and bring the Community closer to its citizens. 
3.1.4 To assist Member States in maximising the dissemination function of the Programme, the Commission 
is intending to offer support to specific activities, particularly, those which enable the results and 
outputs to be known and acknowledged in training systems, policies and practice in Member States. 
40 
A limited number of major publications on the results of the Programme will be prepared, in 
cooperation with the Member States and their National Coordination Units. 
3.1.5 These publications will include a Compendium containing an authoritative and comprehensive 
overview of PETRA projects and their "products", but also they will focus on a range of thematic 
areas in which PETRA has achieved quality results. The thematic areas will cover both experience 
related to specific fields of policy development, and more methodological aspects related to improving 
transnational cooperation in initial vocational training, and will demonstrate the main outcomes of the 
work of the research partnerships and studies implemented during the Programme. 
3.1.6 As a way of fostering dialogue and stimulating progress during the attainment of policy priorities, the 
Commission will develop the practice of consultations with Member States based on positive 
experience, already gained from such bi-lateral consultations in 1992 and 1993. This will provide 
continuing opportunities to exploit the results of discussions, in the Member States, on the 
Commission's Memorandum concerning "Vocational Training in the European Community in the 
1990s". 
3.2 Community Action in the Area of Initial Training 
3.2.1 After 1994, it will be important to ensure that a number of key issues are given further attention in 
the development of future Community action in the field of initial vocational training. Priority should 
be given to six main areas: 
3.2.2 Reducing the number of young people who enter the labour market without a basic qualification 
3.2.2.1 There are unacceptably high levels, and also alarmingly persistent and harmful patterns of youth 
unemployment in most parts of the Community: youth unemployment rates continue to be much higher 
(twice as high on Community average) than the general rates; young people without any vocational 
or educational qualification (i.e. an estimated number of 4-5.2 million, or 7-10% of the 16-25 age-
group) face a risk of unemployment up to four times higher than more qualified young people. 
3.2.2.2 Despite the clear commitments of Member States and positive actions already undertaken, there is 
little hope that these patterns are going to change in the near future, unless a new concerted effort is 
made to improve the opportunities for those most at risk. Highest priority must be given to facilitating 
access to, and improving, training provision for those who have left, or are at risk of leaving, the 
(6) 
41 
education and training systems without a basic qualification. The hard core of this group comprises 
young people without any formal qualifications (i.e. the 7-10% mentioned above), but attention should 
also be given to those who have obtained no further qualification beyond completion of compulsory 
school (i.e. an additional 10-20% of the 16-25 age-group). The total estimated size of this priority 
group is 9-15.5 million young people. For these young people, the lack of vocational qualification 
impedes successful integration into the labour market because the demand for unskilled labour is 
steadily decreasing, and also represents a major barrier to participation in, and motivation for, 
continuing training. 
3.2.3 Increasing the attractiveness of vocational training 
3.2.3.1 The overall increase in participation rates of young people in post-compulsory education and training 
conceals a significant shift in the educational choices made by young people; the trend shows 
increased participation primarily in the field of general and higher education but a much less marked 
increase in participation in vocational training. In a number of Member States, firms, especially small 
and medium sized enterprises, are already facing problems in recruiting skilled workers, despite the 
high levels of unemployment. This problem is reinforced by the demographic developments which will 
affect the training market until well into the next century. The shrinking size of the number of young 
people in the training age group means that, in future, a higher proportion needs to undergo vocational 
training if the current supply of skilled workers is to be maintained. 
3.2.3.2 The systems of initial vocational training do not, at present, attract a sufficient number of young 
people, many of whom see vocational training as inferior to, and offering fewer perspectives than, 
other forms of post-compulsory education and training. The PETRA Programme has supported, 
through a significant number of developmental projects, Member State action aimed at raising the 
profile of vocational training as a real alternative for young people, after completion of compulsory 
school. However, further efforts are required to enhance the impact of such innovative action on the 
mainstream systems. 
42 
3.2.4 Introducing a practical Community dimension into initial vocational training 
3.2A. I The introduction of this dimension adds a new quality, and also attraction, to current provision. It 
forms an essential pre-requisite for enabling both firms/employers and individuals to develop a wider 
perspective for industrial activity and career prospects, and to explore the enlarged framework offered 
through the process of European unification. The notion of a Community dimension must not be 
restricted to the aspect of mobility. It implies a transformation of attitudes and behaviour in businesses 
and in individuals' aspirations. 
3.2.4.2 PETRA has paved the way for further large-scale initiatives. Through support for transnational 
training placements, which form an integral part of the individual's training courses as well as 
through transnational cooperative projects on curriculum development and the training of trainers, 
PETRA has demonstrated successful approaches to integrating Community aspects into initial 
vocational training. It has also revealed the practical difficulties involved in transnational cooperation 
between training institutions. The analysis of this work can inform the development of strategies at 
Community level, to remove existing barriers to such cooperation. 
3.2.5 Developing initiative and creativity through initial vocational training 
3.2.5.1 Employers are putting more and more emphasis on qualities such as the capacity to work in a team, 
flexibility, responsibility, imagination, initiative and adaptability to change. At the workplace, new 
transversal skills are required, including the ability to make decisions more autonomously, to carry 
through a plan, to evaluate one's own performance, to solve problems and to communicate effectively. 
3.2.5.2 Training systems are challenged by this emphasis and need to seek new ways of organising the 
learning process, e.g. through the creation of more realistic motivating learning environments and new 
forms of project work. "Enterprise training" and the promotion of "core skills" are new concepts, as 
yet to be fully implemented in initial vocational training. PETRA has pioneered such approaches 
through its European Network of Training Partnerships and its Youth Initiative Projects. A major 
challenge for the future will be to support the generalisation of these concepts within the mainstream 
training systems. 
43 
3.2.6 Reinforcing vocational guidance provision and adding a Community dimension to it 
3.2.6.1 The vocational guidance systems in each of the Member States have to cater for a training and 
employment market which is becoming increasingly European as a result of European unification and 
economic integration. Guidance systems must, therefore, develop a genuine Community dimension 
in their approach in order to provide information enabling the general public to take advantage of the 
new opportunities arising from the Single Market and to exercise their citizens' rights within the 
European Union. National action in this field can only be successful if it is part of a common effort 
by all Member States to increase the provision of accessible and accurate information about the 
possibilities and conditions for training throughout the Community. Such provision will respond to 
emerging or anticipated needs, and help to make best possible use of the training measures in the 
Community. The PETRA Programme is the most advanced Community initiative in this field, 
supporting as it does systematic action to enhance transnational cooperation between the national 
systems of vocational guidance and to develop, through the training of guidance staff, a new profile 
of counsellors responding to the needs in a European context. It will be important to gradually extend 
this pilot action so as to anchor it, as a stable element, in Member States' vocational guidance 
provision. 
3.2.7 Improving the strategies and methods for the dissemination of innovation in initial vocational 
training, within the Member States and transnationally 
3.2.7.1 Community action, such as the PETRA Programme and other relevant initiatives, has been very 
successful in developing innovative models of good practice aimed at adapting initial vocational 
training to changing need and circumstances. The impact of this developmental work on the training 
systems in the Member States could be considerably enhanced if increased emphasis was placed on 
the dissemination of innovative approaches. In many Member States, effective mechanisms for 
dissemination are lacking, and where they exist, they do not take account of the transnational potential 
of innovation. Future Community action should, therefore, include clearly defined strategies and 
activities specifically aimed at the dissemination of innovative practices in order to increase 
responsiveness to change within the mainstream training systems. 
M^f 
'r 
PART B 
A Report On The External 
Assessment Of The 
Community Measures 
Implemented Within The Framework 
Of The PETRA Programme 
[Article 8 of Decision 91/387 EEC] 
j 
y s 
ASSESSMENT TEAM 
Project Director 
Project Manager 
Belgium (French and German Community) 
Belgium (Flemish Community) 
Denmark 
Germany 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Ireland 
Italy 
Luxembourg 
Netherlands 
Portugal 
United Kingdom Mr Richard T Holmes 
NI-CO Education Services 
Mr Athos Damis 
ACRONYM Ltd, Athens 
Dr Dina Sensi 
SEDEP, Liège 
Dr Fran s Meijers 
University of Leiden 
Hr Kare Therkelsen 
Copenhagen 
WIFO 
Berlin 
Dr Nikos Ph Styliandis 
ACRONYM Ltd 
Ms Maria Porter 
Queen's University, Belfast 
Mme Nicole Tremaudeux 
AFPA, Montreuil, Cedex 
Mr Richard T Holmes 
NI-CO Education Services 
Dott ssa Paola Pasotta 
SINFORM srl, Bologna 
Dr Dina Sensi 
SEDEP, Liège 
Dr Fran s Meijers 
University of Leiden 
Prof Antonio Manuel Figueiredo 
Oporto Faculty of Economics 
General Director of Planum 
Dr Douglas Duffin 
Belfast 
4 c 
** Contents ^ 
1. Summary of the PETRA Programme 
2. This Report 
3. Impact of the PETRA Programme 
4. Interfaces 
5. The Role of Industry within PETRA 
6. Linguistic Skills 
7. Specific Target Groups 
8. Promotion of PETRA 
9. Dissemination 
10. Synergy 
11. Administrative Procedures 
12. Action IA 
13. Action IB 
14. Action II 
15. Youth Initiative Projects 
16. Action III 
17. Complementary Measures 
7 "7 
1. SUMMARY OF THE PETRA PROGRAMME 
1.1 PETRA is the European Community Programme for the vocational training 
of young people and their preparation for adult and working life. The 
PETRA Programme was first adopted by a Decision of the Council of 
Ministers of the European Communities on 1 December 1987 (Decision 
87/569/EEC) for a period of four years, starting from 1 January 1988. This 
Decision was amended by Council Decision 91/387/EEC on 22 July 1991. 
The second Decision gave rise to the current second and enlarged phase of 
the PETRA Programme which started on 1 January 1992. This second 
phase will run for three years until the end of December 1994. 
1.2 The aim of PETRA is to support and supplement, through measures at 
Community level, the policies and activities of the Member States which 
are doing their utmost to ensure that all young people in the Community 
who so wish receive one or, if possible, two or more years initial vocational 
training in addition to their full-time compulsory education, leading to a 
vocational qualification recognised by the competent authorities of the 
Member State in which it is obtained. 
1.3 The objectives of the PETRA Programme are: 
to complement and support Member States' policies to raise the 
standards and quality of initial vocational training, diversify 
vocational training provision so as to offer choice for young people 
with different levels of ability, and enhance the capacity of systems of 
vocational training to adapt to rapid economic, technological and 
social change 
to add a Community dimension to vocational qualifications, in order 
to contribute in particular to the comparability of these qualifications 
between the Member States of the Community 
to stimulate and support practical co-operation and the development 
of training partnerships trans-nationally between training providers, 
industry and other promoters of local and regional development 
to develop opportunities for the young people referred to in the 
decision, to benefit from periods of training or work experience in 
other Member States 
to foster Community co-operation in the sphere of vocational 
information and guidance. 
1.4 The Programme is intended for young people, up to twenty-eight years of 
age who are receiving vocational training; are in employment or are 
available on the labour market and have received initial vocational training 
or practical work experience; or who are taking part in an advanced 
programme in order to complete their training. 
1.5 The second phase of the Programme provides, for the first time, direct 
support for placements in another Member State of young people within the 
target group. As part of this initiative PETRA has incorporated a previous 
Community Programme for the Exchange of Young Workers. 
1.6 The second phase of PETRA also introduced support for measures aimed at 
fostering Community co-operation in the sphere of vocational information 
and guidance. 
1.7 The Community measures within PETRA contain three Actions and 
Complementary Measures. 
ACTION I 
Support for training or work experience placements in another Member 
State. Two kinds of support are provided. The first is for young people in 
initial vocational training [Action 1(a)]; the second for young workers -
young unemployed [Action 1(b)] and young people taking part in advanced 
programmes in order to complete their training [Action 1(c)]. 
ACTION II 
Support for trans-national co-operation for the joint development of training 
modules and joint training of trainers, through participation in the European 
Network of Training Partnerships (ENTP). Action II also includes Youth 
Initiative projects set up and managed by young people themselves. 
(7) 
^3 
ACTION III 
Support for National Systems for the exchange of vocational guidance 
information and experience and examples of good practice in vocational 
guidance, through the establishment of a Community network of National 
contact points and the training of Guidance Counsellors/Specialists on 
Community aspects of guidance. 
COMPLEMENTARY MEASURES 
Support for the dissemination of the results of the Programme, 
trans-national co-operation in research on the vocational training of young 
people, Community studies on aspects of initial vocational training, 
evaluation, as well as technical assistance at Community and Member State 
level for the promotion, implementation and co-ordination of the PETRA 
Programme. 
1.8 The Commission of the European Communities has overall responsibility 
for the Programme. It is assisted by the PETRA Advisory Committee, 
which is made up of representatives of the Member States and observers 
from the European level organisations of the Social Partners. 
1.9 The Commission is also assisted by the PETRA Youth Bureau in Brussels, 
which is responsible to the Commission for the technical implementation of 
the Programme and liaison with the National Co-ordination Units and other 
competent authorities in the Member States. 
1.10 Technical assistance in the different Member States is provided by 
National Co-ordination Units (NCUs), which have been established by 
Member States, and receive support from the Commission. The NCUs are 
concerned with the operation of PETRA at National level, and co-operate 
with the Commission and the PETRA YOUTH Bureau, and with NCUs in 
other Member States. Other tasks of the NCUs are the dissemination of 
information on the Programme, assistance to the Commission in carrying 
out complementary measures, including the dissemination of results, and 
the monitoring of the activities of the Programme. 
X" o 
1.11 At the time of the adoption of the amending Decision of 22 July 1991, the 
financial resources deemed necessary for the implementation of the 
three-year Programme were estimated at 177.4 million ECU. However, the 
Programme was allocated 29 million ECU in 1992 and 35.496 million ECU 
in 1993 by the budgetary authorities, financial resources which are 
significantly less than those originally foreseen. 
S*1 
2. THIS REPORT 
The Context 
2.1 Article 8 of the Council Decision adopting the extension of the PETRA 
Programme provides for two objective external assessments, the first to be 
carried out in 1994. However in order to ensure enough time for the first 
assessment to take place, the Commission, after advice from the PETRA 
Advisory Committee, launched the process in the course of 1993. This 
report, therefore, deals with the impact of Community Measures during the 
period I992andl993. 
2.2 The Commission set up a monitoring Group composed of Members of the 
PETRA Advisory Committee from the Member States and the Social 
Partners, relevant Commission officials and relevant personnel from the 
PETRA Technical Assistance Office. 
2.3 The partnership created by NI-CO Education Services Ltd (from 
Northern Ireland) and ACRONYM Ltd (from Greece), together with their 
Community-wide network of national researchers, were chosen to carry out 
the assessment. 
2.4 The proposed methodology was discussed with the Commission and with 
the Monitoring Group. This methodology is based on the terms of 
reference attached to the call for tenders, which provided for three 
exercises: 
i. the assessment of the Community measures of the Programme, in 
terms of their relevance and coherence as a tool in support of policy 
making in the field of initial vocational training; 
ii; an examination of the results achieved so far through each 
Community measure; 
iii. consideration of organisational arrangements designed to manage and 
implement the Programme. 
2.5 The discussions with the Commission and with the Monitoring Group 
suggested that, although all three exercises were to be covered, more 
emphasis should be placed on the political relevance and performance of 
the Programme. This is due to the fact that the report should be one of the 
elements which will contribute to the discussions on the next generation of 
Community programmes in the field of education, training and youth. 
2.6 It was agreed with the Commission that the report should cover the analysis 
of performance and effects at "policy level" and an appreciation of the main 
results of each Action. The present report contains such an analysis and 
includes some initial suggestions and recommendations. Although the 
present report is the result of substantial research work and analyses, it 
reflects the views of a particular - albeit influential - group of actors (the 
policy makers, the programme managers, the social partners). 
The Research Questions 
2.7 All of our methodology is based a number of questions which we aim to 
address through our work. Such questions span a wide range of topics and 
are inspired by the tender document which set the basis for the 
2.8 The present report covers the following questions: 
* what is the understanding (the interpretation) of the Programme in the 
Commission and in the Member States? 
* how did the Programme work as an instrument to implement, support 
and develop initial vocational training policies at Community and 
Member State level? 
* what use is made of the PETRA Programme in each Member State? 
* what is the appreciation of the Programme's results so far? 
* what is the "added-value" of Community intervention? 
* what are the choices made in relation to Programme 
organisation/management at Member State level? 
^3 
Our Research Work 
2.9 For this first part of the evaluation our team has carried out a number of 
in-depth semi-structured interviews with the following actors: 
* relevant officials in the Commission 
* senior policy makers in the Member States (Ministries of Education 
and Labour as appropriate) 
* PETRA Advisory Committee members 
* representatives of the Social Partners in each Member State 
* relevant personnel in the PETRA Technical Assistance Office 
* the directors of the technical assistance offices of other relevant EC 
training programmes 
* relevant personnel in each NCU 
* other experts/consultants in some Member States. 
2.10 The interviews provided a substantial amount of information, covering all 
(and more) of the questions listed above. 
Our Analysis Work 
2.11 Apart from analysing the contents of all the interviews carried out at both 
Community and Member State level, we have gone through a large number 
of documents which were made available to us in Brussels and in each 
Member State. We have also carried out statistical analyses of the 1992 
data on ENTP and YIP projects collected through the questionnaires for the 
PETRA/SYS database, located in the PETRA Technical Assistance office. 
Therefore, the majority of comments are based on the analysis of the 1992 
projects. 
3. IMPACT OF THE PETRA PROGRAMME 
3.1 The trans-national measures within PETRA are designed to add a European 
dimension to training activities and opportunities for young people in 
Member States by stimulating and supporting practical co-operation. 
3.2 With the possible exception of the new measures designed to promote 
co-operation in the field of vocational guidance, such co-operative activity 
depends on the involvement of those who actually provide the training and 
opportunities for young people, namely training organisations within each 
of the Member States. 
3.3 The principal actors within PETRA therefore are the training organisations 
within Member States. It is only through interaction with and between 
training organisations in Member States that the primary objectives of 
PETRA can be achieved. 
3.4 This basic premise is not only the necessary starting point for any 
assessment of the impact and success of the PETRA Programme but it 
provides the key to an understanding of both the potential and the 
limitations of the PETRA Programme. 
3.5 The first achievement has been to promote new links between training 
organisations in different Member States. In 1992 alone we estimate that 
more than 1500 training organisations within Action IA and Action II were 
involved in some form of trans-national co-operative activity. The 
promotion of such links is a necessary first step in the development of 
trans-national co-operation within Initial Vocational Training as unlike 
universities, few Training Organisations have a tradition of the international 
exchange of information, ideas, staff and students. 
3.6 It is also evident from the interviews conducted in all Member States that 
there is a very low level of understanding in every Member State of training 
systems and methodologies in other Member States. The development of 
trans-national links between Training Organisations is one of the most 
effective ways of promoting the understanding which is necessary for the 
development of new forms of co-operation, of creating the conditions in 
which young people from one Member State can receive periods of training 
in another Member State and of generating an appreciation of the value of 
the qualifications obtained by young people of a Member State. 
3.7 Initial Vocational Training is at very different stages of development in 
different Member States. In consequence the objectives which Training 
Organisations have in participating in trans-national projects vary 
considerably and reflect both the priorities of individual Training 
Organisations and of the National training system of which they are a part. 
The 'European Dimension' embodied within PETRA has quite different 
meanings in different Member States. It is one of the strengths of PETRA 
that the Programme is sufficiently flexible to permit individual Member 
States to place emphasis on what they perceive to be their particular 
priorities. Thus, for example, in Greece the primary benefits of 
trans-national co-operation are seen in promoting the acquisition of 
additional expertise in terms of structures, methodologies and specific 
skills. In the Netherlands PETRA is seen as providing enrichment of 
educational programmes; in Flanders it is breaking down parochialism, is 
encouraging a wider view of the outside world and is the only Programme 
in that region which makes training and work placements abroad possible. 
In Spain PETRA is seen as reinforcing priorities within the recently 
reformed education system. In Italy it has helped promote a more flexible 
curriculum and has assisted in the recognition of placements in industry. In 
Denmark it is seen as the stimulus to international co-operation and 
awareness of other vocational training systems whilst in Germany it is seen 
as adding a Community dimension to vocational qualifications and 
encouraging mobility, exchanges and the promotion of linguistic abilities. 
In Portugal it is seen as promoting more modern approaches to initial 
vocational training. 
3.8 The initial impact of PETRA therefore is on individual training 
organisations. More specifically those impacts can be seen in terms of: 
promoting an understanding and a transfer of practice from training 
systems in other Member States 
supporting particular objectives which can range from encouraging 
broader perspectives to the acquisition of specific skills, the 
development of new methodologies and training modules or the 
development of existing skills such as language capabilities. 
3.9 There is a view in all Member States that the objectives of PETRA would 
be better met if resources were concentrated on projects and exchanges 
which involve trainers as this would generate a greater multiplication effect 
than projects which provide trans-national experience only for young 
people. There are equally in every Member State those who consider that 
the mobility of young people is an essential feature concerned with 
promoting the European Dimension within initial vocational training. In 
fact, to quite a large extent, both of those objectives are already being met 
within PETRA. Later in this report reference is made to the involvement of 
trainers and young people within the different actions of the Programme but 
at this point it is perhaps relevant to note (Figure 1) the substantial number 
of Action II projects which are concerned with the training of trainers. 
Figure 1 
TRAINING OF TRAINERS 1990-1992 
Numbers 
60 Training of Trainers Total Number of Projects 
60 
B DK D GR F IRL I 
COUNTRY 
3.10 It should also be observed that through arranging for young people to 
undertake part of their training in another Member State, a Training 
Organisation acquires a fuller appreciation of the systems, methodologies, 
s? 
content and standards of training outside their own country. Equally the 
point has been made by several Member States that providing training for 
young people from another Member State obliges Training Organisations to 
look more closely at their own provision and indeed, as was pointed out by 
the Netherlands, obliges organisations to ask themselves, first of all, why do 
we want an international dimension and secondly how do we provide it. 
3.11 While the initial interactions within PETRA are between Training 
Organisations the impact of the Programme would be much reduced and 
indeed it could be said to have failed in its objectives if the impact of the 
Programme were to be confined to the individual organisations and young 
people who have participated in one of the Actions within PETRA. Equally 
however it would be unrealistic, since PETRA is a relatively new 
Programme and a small budget Programme, to attempt to judge its success 
to date solely on the influence which it has had on policy developments at 
national level. 
3.12 Within Member States PETRA is impacting, to varying degrees at present, 
at three distinct levels: 
individual organisations 
regional or sectoral interests 
national policy 
3.13 The maximum impact to date is on individual organisations. 
As time passes PETRA can be seen in many Member States to have an 
increasing impact at sectoral and regional level and at national level. It is 
important however not to undervalue the impact which PETRA has already 
had within many Member States. In some Member States, including 
Ireland and the United Kingdom, PETRA has either contributed directly 
through the development of products to sectoral training policies or in 
combination with other Community training initiatives has encouraged a 
reappraisal of attitudes. Thus, for example, in Ireland the national tourism 
training agency as a result of work piloted through PETRA has incorporated 
new language training programmes into its national courses. In the 
United Kingdom arguably the main contribution of PETRA and other 
Community training programmes has been to promote across training 
organisations a new awareness that there is a European Dimension to 
training. This is reflected by the inclusion for the first time of European 
modules by major validating/examining bodies. In the Netherlands PETRA 
is encouraging schools to work together structurally instead of incidentally 
whilst in Flanders the Programme is promoting co-operation between the 
three main educational networks. In Luxembourg several projects have 
given rise to training modules which are being integrated into nationally 
available courses. In Italy training innovations in particular sectors 
including commerce have been boosted by experience acquired through 
PETRA. In Spain PETRA is seen as helping to give greater coherence to 
some aspects of the educational system. 
3.14 It is possible also to detect the influence of PETRA in policy developments 
at national level within a number of Member States. In Germany the 
Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs has decided that 
all trainees are now to learn a foreign iahguage where this requirement was 
earlier restricted to specific trades and professions. In the Netherlands 
PETRA has been used as a model for the development of national exchange 
programmes by the Department of Education and Science and several 
national programmes have been introduced whose format is strongly 
influenced by PETRA. In Luxembourg PETRA has been seen as 
influencing the recognition within new vocational training legislation of 
mini companies as a form of training provision. In Greece the adoption of a 
European Dimension within new laws establishing a national system of 
vocational education and training is seen as a consequential extension of 
Community programmes such as PETRA and FORCE (Formation Continue 
en Europe), the European Community action programme on Continuing 
Vocational Training. 
3.15 In every Member State the view was strongly expressed that PETRA is 
making an important contribution to a process which, while it may reflect 
differing needs in different Member States, is seen everywhere as adding to 
the European Dimension in initial vocational training. It is recognised that 
simply because it is a process in which the principal actors are the Training 
Organisations themselves that it is going to take time for the benefits to 
^3. 
become fully apparent. There is a very widespread view that the 
Programme should be seen as being but halfway through its useful life. 
There is also an appeal, particularly from countries such as Greece and 
Portugal, that if the PETRA initiative is carried forward into whatever new 
Community training programmes may emerge that it should be carried 
forward with as little change as possible. Continuity and stability within 
training programmes are seen as particularly important by those countries 
whose Training Organisations have as yet little experience of European 
programmes. 
3.16 The necessary focus, if PETRA is to achieve its objectives, on training 
providers and the differences in national priorities reflected by those 
providers carry with them a number of implications for the Programme. 
3.17 The first is concerned with the nature of trans-national activities and 
particularly of placements for young people in initial vocational training. 
3.18 Such placements within PETRA must form an integral and recognised part 
of an initial vocational training course; be targeted on specific vocational 
educational fields related to the participant's vocational training needs and 
must be duly certified by the host organisation or other competent body in 
the host country. 
3.19 One approach, emphasised by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, is 
that priority must be given to obtaining recognised qualifications; that such 
qualifications are concerned primarily with the specific skills required by 
industry; that key competencies or transversal skills are obviously important 
but these are gained through focusing on specific skills; and if sight is lost 
of the primary objectives, the quality of training is lost and the quality of a 
trans-national experience can degenerate until, in an extreme form, it 
becomes simply 'Euro-tourism'. 
3.20 An alternative view expressed for example by Germany endorses the need 
for recognised qualifications but places the primary emphasis within a 
trans-national experience on key competencies or transversal skills 
(self-confidence, decision making, ability to accept new ideas, awareness of 
wider horizons and opportunities). It is argued that specific skills are 
needed to meet the short-term needs of the market place but vocational 
training is not intended , in the first place, to fill the immediate short-term 
needs of industry. It is primarily concerned with the personal development 
of individuals and their adaptability to the constantly changing needs of 
industry. It is also suggested that there is an increasing emphasis by 
employers on the need for transversal skills. 
3.21 PETRA is sufficiently flexible to accommodate both views but concerns 
about specific skill training impose a constraint on the Programme as it 
makes some promoters in Northern European States less inclined to develop 
projects with promoters in Southern States in which training systems are 
less developed. 
61 
4. INTERFACES 
4.1 PETRA is at the interface between education and training. One of the 
positive effects of PETRA which has been reported by the majority of 
Member States is that such co-operation is normally working well and that 
PETRA has had an effect in promoting at National level co-operation 
between education and employment interests and that where such 
co-operation exists PETRA functions most effectively. Conversely in the 
few instances such as the French community in Belgium where education 
and employment interests appear to be less willing to promote co-operative 
activities, both the effectiveness and the impact of PETRA is 
correspondingly reduced. 
4.2 This is reflected in the variety of arrangements which Member States have 
made for the establishment of NCUs. In some Member States such as 
Portugal, Greece and Ireland NCUs occupy the middle ground between 
education and training. In other Member States such as Germany and the 
Netherlands the functions of NCUs have been split between different 
organisations with responsibility for the different actions of the Programme 
being much more closely identified with either the education interests or the 
employment interests within that Member State. Whilst a division of 
responsibilities has an effect on the interaction between the different actions 
in the Programme particularly in achieving coherence between Action IA 
and Action II, of much greater importance is the extent to which there is 
co-operation between education interests and employment interests in the 
support and direction which they give to the operation of PETRA within a 
Member State. 
6Z, 
5. THE ROLE OF INDUSTRY WITHIN PETRA 
5.1 In this report, the term industry covers all sectors of the economy. There is 
concern in all Member States about what is perceived to be the relatively 
limited involvement of industry within the PETRA Programme. It is 
correct that industry has a low profile as promoters of projects and this can 
be seen from the analysis of Action II projects in the following table (Figure 
2). 
Figure 2 
Projects Which Entered The Network In 1992 - Organisers 
Total Number of Projects 
Total Industry LED B 
11 
2 DK 
8 
2 21 
5 GR 
10 
1 16 
1 F 
17 
3 TRL 
8 
-I 
17 
5 t 
6 
1 NL 
12 
-P 
11 
-UK 
17 
3 
5.2 However in all Member States initial vocational training is primarily the 
responsibility of public sector organisations and it is to be expected 
therefore that it is those organisations which will most often take the lead in 
promoting trans-national activity. It is noticeable that in Germany where 
industry has a more defined role within the National Training System, that a 
higher number of projects are industry-led. 
5.3 This simple analysis does however conceal what in many Member States is 
a more active involvement of industry within the PETRA Programme. 
5.4 Many Member States, have effective National PETRA Advisory 
Committees on which the Social Partners are represented. In Flanders, 
Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom and 
Ireland, for example, the Social Partners (with the exception of the Trades 
Unions in the Netherlands) are actively involved in advising on the 
implementation of the Programme and in encouraging participation by their 
members. 
5.5 Participation is also evident in local consortia which are becoming an 
increasingly important component of ENTP projects. Unfortunately 
63 
statistical information is not yet available for 1992 but NCUs report that 
local partnerships of three-four or even up to ten local interests are 
common. In many local partnerships local companies are involved 
particularly in the development of training modules both as active 
participants and as resource providers. 
5.6 Action IB is also dependent on the willingness of employers in the host 
country to provide work experience for young workers and young 
unemployed from another Member State. 
5.7 Overall however the role of employers within PETRA is supportive rather 
than pro-active which would suggest that while employers have expressed 
themselves as being in favour of trans-national co-operation within initial 
vocational training, they do not regard it as having a high priority in relation 
to their particular needs. Interviews by the assessment team with 
employers' representatives reinforced this view. 
5.8 It was argued that the main benefits of trans-national experience come 
through the development in young people of key competencies or 
transversal skills within which are included the development of 
self-confidence, self-awareness, a broadening of attitudes, a willingness to 
accept new ideas and the ability to accept responsibility. Many employers 
see such training as desirable but outside their field of responsibility. It is 
argued that it is the function of industry to create wealth and a corollary of 
that is the argument that industry-funded training should be focused on 
activities which lead to a financial return in the short term. Three months 
work experience in another Member State, especially for young staff who 
will normally be in junior positions is a high cost exercise which, it is often 
considered, is unlikely to bring a readily definable gain to the sponsoring 
company in the short term and is generally only justifiable for personnel 
being groomed for key positions within the company. Even if a company is 
not contributing directly to the costs of the young person who is on a work 
experience placement in another Member State there are still significant 
disruption costs for the employer in arranging and training a short-term 
replacement and bringing that replacement up to an acceptable level of 
efficiency. The view was strongly expressed by employers' organisations 
that only in a very limited number of cases could the employee be expected 
6<f 
to acquire additional specific skills for which local training was not 
available and which would bring significant short-term benefits to an 
employer. At the present time many companies, especially small 
companies, either cannot afford the costs involved or consider that they 
have other training priorities. 
5.9 PETRA can be seen as contributing to the needs of industry through 
training organisations and with the support of industry. It is perhaps 
unrealistic to expect that the Programme should do more than this. 
6. LINGUISTIC SKILLS 
6.1 The availability and acquisition of linguistic skills are a relevant 
consideration in all aspects of PETRA. In some Member States including 
Spain, the Netherlands and Germany, one of the significant benefits which 
PETRA is seen to offer is the opportunity to promote awareness of the 
importance of improving linguistic skills. In other Member States and 
regions including Greece, Portugal and Flanders, linguistic problems are 
seen as a major barrier to trans-national co-operation and placements, 
especially when trying to ensure the inclusion of socially disadvantaged 
young people in projects. 
6.2 Current practice in promoting language learning, especially in the 
pre-departure preparation of young people, varies considerably between 
Member States. Ireland, for example, advises 80 hours of language training 
as part of the preparation for a three-week placement while the 
United Kingdom requires only that young people should have a basic 
introduction to the language of the country which they are to visit. 
6.3 It is for each Member State to decide on the emphasis which they wish to 
place on language training, particularly in pre-departure training for young 
people involved in Action I and Action II projects and for staff involved in 
Action II projects. 
6.4 However a case can be made and has been argued strongly by Member 
States such as Greece and Portugal with a lesser used language, high levels 
of disadvantage and a less well developed tradition of exchanges that 
additional resources should be made available on a selective basis to assist 
geographical areas with special difficulties. There would also appear to be 
a case in some projects for a more formal link with LINGUA, the European 
Community Programme aimed at improving foreign language competence 
in order to promote mobility and communication among the citizens of the 
European Community. 
6.5 Whilst the means of teaching other languages is a matter for project 
promoters, PETRA Programme Managers may wish to consider 
emphasising more strongly the benefits of including within pre-departure 
training, techniques associated with non-verbal communication as a 
€6 
supplement to linguistic skills. It can be seen to be useful to promote the 
value which time spent learning a lesser used language can bring in 
assisting with an introduction and an appreciation of the cultural traditions 
and values of a country which may be very different to one's own. 
6.6 Although, unfortunately, no statistics are available, NCUs report that 
language often influences the choice of a project partner and that this is, 
perhaps inevitably, distorting the geographical pattern of projects. There 
are quota rules within PETRA which seek to counter-balance this by laying 
down that no more than 30% of a Member State's quota of young people 
may be sent to another Member State but it can be expected that countries 
in which English, French, German and/or Spanish are the most widely 
taught languages will continue to concentrate their search for a partner in 
the countries in which those languages are spoken. 
6 ^ 
7. SPECIFIC TARGET GROUPS 
7.1 While PETRA relates to training systems within Member States which are 
concerned, for the most part, with the generality of training needs within 
that Member State, specific emphasis is placed in the Programme on the 
involvement of women, disadvantaged groups and SMEs. Insofar as those 
training systems themselves seek to provide for the needs of these special 
groups and make applications to PETRA which focus on their needs, 
PETRA may, particularly within Action I and Action II be able to respond 
to such needs. It is not known how many project applications to NCUs are 
concerned with the specific needs of, in particular, women, the socially 
disadvantaged and SMEs. Of national projects selected to enter the ENTP 
network in 1992 in the Northern Member States almost 50% of Belgian and 
Irish projects specifically include reference to disadvantaged/unemployed/ 
unqualified young people. In Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands 
around 25% of projects specifically include this target group. The number 
of national projects in the Southern Member States which specifically refer 
to disadvantage is much lower but that may be misleading as those States 
may regard a substantial part of their work as being concerned with 
disadvantage. 
7.2 Within ENTP projects the needs of women are specifically referred to only 
within projects in Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Ireland and the 
United Kingdom and in no instance in more than 10% of projects. 
7.3 National project themes concerned with SMEs are identified only in 
Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom and across the 
Community account for 4% of national projects entering the ENTP network 
in 1992. 
7.4 A Programme such as PETRA which interacts with training organisations 
which are concerned with the generality of needs within the training sector 
can assist with the needs of special groups where those are identified by 
project promoters but cannot, of itself guarantee a balanced or co-ordinated 
response to the needs of those groups. Clearly some developments/projects 
within initial vocational training are applicable to different groups of 
6ff 
trainees but, by definition, groups with special needs often require special 
consideration. 
7.5 It is suggested that PETRA has been of assistance particularly through 
Action II projects, in developing provision for groups with special needs but 
that the primary objectives of PETRA are much wider than this. There is a 
policy choice to be made, namely either to continue to support the needs of 
special groups as a priority within wider objectives or to provide particular 
support for special groups as a separate activity. In our view, if it is 
considered that there are special groups of sufficient size within Member 
States which merit particular consideration involving trans-national 
co-operation, there is a strong case for establishing separate Actions within 
a programme such as PETRA. 
THE YOUNG UNATTACHED 
7.6 By young unattached we refer to young people, many of whom will be early 
school leavers, who are not engaged in education, training or employment. 
They form a substantial group within the Community. YIPs are intended as 
one response to the needs of these young people. Some of them may apply 
for placements within Action IB depending on how strictly the criteria for 
the Programme are applied and if, which Ynay be unlikely, they can secure 
or provide the financial contribution which will be required from them. 
PETRA has helped to draw attention to the needs of these young people but 
they are largely outside the ambit of the Programme as it is currently 
structured. Unfortunately it would appear that they may also be outside the 
ambit of the other Community training and youth programmes. 
7.7 There does seem to be a need within whatever new Community 
Programmes may emerge from the Commission Guidelines for Community 
Action in the field of Education and Training of 5 May 1993 (COM(93) 183 
Final) to include measures which recognise courses or activities which may 
not themselves lead to qualifications but pave the way for young people to 
enter formal courses of initial training. 
63 
8. PROMOTION OF PETRA 
8.1 PETRA has been actively promoted by all NCUs and the PETRA Technical 
Assistance Office particularly at the beginning of the second phase of 
PETRA. Promotion Conferences, Seminars, Mailing Lists, Publications, 
Videos and even, in the case of Greece, television and radio have been used 
extensively to ensure publicity. 
8.2 Part of the reason for the extensive publicity was the concern felt by NCUs 
to seek a spread of applications both geographically and on behalf of the 
different groups within society catered for by Training Organisations. The 
existence of PETRA would now seem to be well-known amongst Training 
Organisations across Europe. However that has also brought its own 
difficulties. In many Member States the Programme is heavily 
over-subscribed. For example, in 1992 the UK received 245 completed 
applications for its allocated eighteen Action II projects. In Spain there 
were 170 applications for eighteen Action II projects whilst Portugal 
received 1,200 applications for Action I. 
8.3 In addition, alongside a desire to publicise the Programme, is the belief in 
Member States such as Ireland that, the impact of PETRA is increased by 
encouraging applications from selected Training Organisations which either 
already have a high profile nationally or which are developing projects with 
the capability of attracting widespread National interest. 
8.4 A high rate of applications and/or a desire to promote high-profile projects 
have led a number of Member States to scale down their promotional 
activities. This can be seen as unfortunate as there is a widespread view in 
Member States that promotion of PETRA is in itself a valuable means of 
promoting the concept of a European Dimension in Initial Vocational 
Training. 
8.5 There is perhaps a case for a supplementary strategy which would enable 
the profile of PETRA to be maintained and contribute to its overall 
objectives. An unsuccessful applicant may not have submitted a very good 
application but they have registered an interest in trans-national 
co-operation. Rather than simply refuse the application and, possibly, blunt 
an emerging interest there may be ways in which they could be encouraged. 
9o 
There are obvious resource limitations at present within NCUs but there is 
perhaps scope for the initiation of procedures which might find further 
expression in whatever Community training structures emerge post 1994. 
For example, a database of applicants could be established by each 
responsible NCU and persons on that database could receive regular 
information about PETRA; information about other Community 
Programmes related to education and training; invitations to conferences 
and seminars; copies of reports of new developments within vocational 
training; information about vocational training systems in other Member 
States. 
9. DISSEMINATION 
9.1 In any programme dissemination of products, experience and ideas is 
essential if the programme is to impact on more than participating 
institutions or individuals. This is particularly true of PETRA which is 
concerned with changing attitudes and broadening knowledge and 
experience within National systems. 
9.2 Dissemination is seen to be necessary in two respects: 
of products, knowledge, ideas and experience within a Member State 
which arise from projects in which that Member State is involved and 
which could have a wider application within the training systems of 
that Member State 
of knowledge about training systems and practice in other Member 
States which may be helpful in influencing development of a Member 
State's training system or facilitate the training of young people in 
another Member State or promote convergence of standards of 
training across the Community. 
9.3 Insofar as the first objective is concerned, the initial requirement is to 
ensure careful selection of the projects to be supported as otherwise the 
quality of the product will not merit dissemination. This is clearly 
recognised within the selection procedures of all the Member States. 
9.4 It is also necessary to consider at whom dissemination is directed. This will 
vary according to the product but the main target groups would appear to 
be: 
Other Providers of Training. The size of this group will vary 
according to the nature of the product. A specialist training module, 
for example, is likely only to be of interest to organisations providing 
almost identical training. On the other hand more broadly-based 
information about practice in another Member State may be of 
concern to a wider audience. 
It does seem likely however that within the providers of training, the level 
of interest will usually be higher amongst Training Organisations than 
within industry. As indicated earlier in this Report, whilst companies may 
be interested in general terms in training practice and standards in other 
Member States, their primary concern is more often in being able to have 
their specific needs met locally 
Policy Makers. Whilst Policy Makers have an interest in practice in 
other Member States and in innovation, experience in all Member 
States would suggest that the key people who assist new ideas or 
developments within Training Organisations influence broader policy 
are the Professional Advisers who support Sectoral, Regional and 
National Policy Makers. 
9.5 Products and ideas developed within a Member State as a consequence of 
participation in PETRA appear to have most impact where a sectoral, 
regional or national body have had a direct link with the project at an early 
stage - where co-operation and even a sense of co-ownership have 
developed. The success of this strategy can be seen, for example, in 
Flanders where activities under Action IA of PETRA are now integrated in 
the school curriculum. 
9.6 Apart from the involvement of key actors from an early stage in projects, 
there is a need to ensure a steady flow of information and a transfer of 
knowledge, values and experience arising from PETRA within the Member 
State. 
9.7 Nowhere as yet does there appear to be a coherent dissemination strategy. 
There is a higher level of activity in some Member States than in others. In 
France for example the NCU publishes articles in various magazines and 
has arranged a number of seminars. Denmark also publishes articles and 
has arranged a number of conferences which were well attended. In 
Germany conferences have been held to promote the transfer of information 
and experience and a special journal is issued by the Federal Institute of 
Vocational Training (BIBB) which includes detailed information on 
individual PETRA projects. Ireland arranges conferences and publications 
on specific issues likely to be of interest to training organisations. 
93 
Luxembourg finds it relatively easy to ensure that the outputs of projects are 
disseminated. On the other hand in the Portugal and the French community 
in Belgium dissemination is largely the responsibility of individual training 
organisations and in the United Kingdom it is considered to be the 
responsibility of regional training authorities. 
9.8 Most NCUs point to a lack of resources as the primary reason for 
dissemination not being more effective. 
9.9 There are several areas within PETRA where a case has been made for 
additional resources but it does appear to us that if the maximum return is to 
be obtained from existing investment, priority should be given to financial 
support for the development and implementation of enhanced dissemination 
strategies in every Member State. 
9.10 Reference has been made to the lack of knowledge evident in all Member 
States about vocational training in other Member States. National 
dissemination strategies could usefully be reinforced by the development of 
new initiatives at Community level to promote trans-national awareness of 
vocational training structures, priorities and innovatory developments in the 
different Member States. This would be complementary to work currently 
undertaken by CEDEFOP, The European Centre for the Development of 
Vocational Training. 
10. SYNERGY 9 y» 
10.1 A degree of synergy between PETRA and related Community programmes 
is beginning to emerge in some Member States but it is limited. There is 
some inter-action with LINGUA (Action IV - the exchange of young people 
in vocational training), EUROTECNET (The Community Action 
Programme to promote innovation in the field of Vocational Training in the 
new technologies) (arising from Action II of PETRA), IRIS (The 
Community Network of Training Programmes for Women), FORCE, 
YOUTH FOR EUROPE (The Programme which promotes the exchange of 
young people for cultural purposes in the European Community, HORIZON 
(A Community Action Programme to improve labour market opportunities 
for the disabled and certain other disadvantaged young people), NOW (A 
Programme intended to improve the opportunities for women in 
employment and vocational training) and EUROFORM (The Community 
Programme relating to the promotion of new qualifications, skills and 
employment opportunities induced by the Single Market and technological 
change). 
10.2 In Germany for example a Working Group within the Federal Institute for 
Vocational Training is seeking to promote inter-action between these 
programmes. 
10.3 In Greece one project has developed strong links with IRIS and 
EUROTECNET. In Flanders links are being developed with the European 
Social Fund. 
10.4 At present synergy is more evident in Member States where national 
support agencies for different Community programmes are based within the 
same national organisation and where individual training institutions have 
developed a significant knowledge of Community programmes. 
10.5 Beyond an exchange of basic programme information there are few 
concerted attempts by those responsible for programmes to co-ordinate their 
activities, mount joint initiatives or ensure that the products from one 
programme are available to projects within another programme. 
^s 
10.6 Action III of PETRA has a strong complementarity to the EURES Network, 
(European Employment Services) but as yet linkages are not discernible at 
Community level or, with the exception of Spain, Italy and Ireland, within 
Member States. 
10.7 Not only are the possible benefits of co-operative activities being largely 
lost but some Member States, for example Portugal, consider that the 
separate development of a large number of Community programmes and 
initiatives is having an adverse effect on Organisations which are seeking to 
come to terms with innovation. 
10.8 Within the Commission itself there is awareness of the objectives and 
complementarities of the various programmes but with the exception of 
YOUTH FOR EUROPE and PETRA there is little indication of any 
co-operative initiatives in terms of publicity, training, dissemination or 
co-ordinated support for national activities or projects. 
10.9 As Spain has observed the Commission appears to be replicating in 
Community programmes the bureaucratic divisions from which some 
Member States have long been seen to suffer. 
10.10 A lead given by the Commission in promoting synergy between 
Community programmes could be expected to have beneficial 
consequences within Member States. 
11. ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES 
11.1 Relations between the PETRA Technical Assistance Office and NCUs 
appear to be very good. However NCUs, and in some cases projects, are 
under pressure. There may be ways in which some of that pressure could 
be eased. 
11.2 The first, and perhaps the most difficult, would be to address the issue of 
payments by the European Commission. The financial cycle of the 
European Community; necessary control procedures and the volume of 
payments processed by the European Commission within which PETRA 
related payments are but a tiny fragment, combine to make changes in 
payment procedures a significant problem. 
11.3 However delays in payments are affecting projects. This is most noticeable 
where payments are made to small organisations with limited resources. 
The most acute cases are probably YIPs which, typically, are either unable 
or lack the confidence to secure interim funding pending Commission 
payments. YIPs receive funding for a one-year project. It is not uncommon 
for project work to be delayed until the first payment is received from the 
Commission and for that payment to arrive three months after the start of 
the project year. Cases can also be quoted of trans-national activities within 
Action II projects which were delayed until Commission payments were 
received. Delays in payment also directly affect NCUs both in terms of 
their own finances but, perhaps more significantly, through the additional 
time required to placate/encourage projects which are concerned about the 
non-arrival of funds. 
11.4 Administrative procedures within all NCUs are heavily dependent on paper 
records. In a developmental programme such as PETRA it is inevitable that 
there will be constant demands for information originating from a variety of 
sources including the European Parliament, the European Commission, the 
PETRA Technical Assistance Office, other NCUs and their own National 
and local organisations and authorities. The inefficiency of paper-based 
systems results in every request being time-consuming if indeed they can be 
responded to at all. 
11.5 The PETRA SYS database being developed within the PETRA Technical 
Assistance Office may relieve NCUs from some of the requests being made 
of them but as currently conceived is only a partial solution. 
11.6 Parallel with the problems of information retrieval are those of 
communication. NCUs, of necessity correspond frequently with Brussels 
and with each other. FAX is a common means of communication but the 
time required to send FAXs, as distinct from the transmission time, is often 
under-estimated especially where the same FAX is being sent to all 
Member States. The time involved is increased by the difficulties which are 
still quite frequently experienced in sending FAXs to some of the peripheral 
Member States. 
11.7 Consideration could usefully be given to the introduction of computerised 
administration and record-keeping systems in NCUs linked to the PETRA 
Technical Assistance Office and to each other and incorporating electronic 
mail facilities. The specification for such a system would require 
agreements on the extent of access permissible by other members of the 
network and should incorporate linkage to PETRA SYS. 
11.8 The increase in efficiency would be significant and initial costs would be 
offset by savings in NCU staff time. Such a system would also facilitate a 
two-way flow of information between Brussels and NCUs. 
11.9 There were calls particularly from Employers' Organisations in larger 
Member States such as France, for application forms and procedures to be 
simplified and, particularly in the United Kingdom, there were requests for 
some form of regional support structure. 
11.10 At this point in time these would be difficult requests to respond to. The 
Notes of Guidance and Application Forms are necessarily detailed as they 
are one of the principal methods of conveying to applicants what is needed 
in planning and carrying out a project. This detail is also required to assess 
applications especially in large Member States where the applicant 
organisation is less likely to be known to the NCU. It would also be 
difficult in a small programme such as PETRA to justify regional support 
structures. However, post 1994, these are areas in which significant 
progress might be possible and regional support structures, where justified 
in large Member States, could lead to more readily available advice to 
applicants, pre-selection procedures such as those which currently exist in 
Ireland and perhaps simpler application forms. Meanwhile even simple 
steps which could be taken, such as standardising the percentage of grant 
payable as a first instalment to a project, would be worth considering. 
^3 
12. ACTION IA 
12.1 Under this Action support is provided to assist young people in initial 
vocational training leading to a recognised qualification, to spend a period 
of time on a training placement in another Member State. Placements 
normally last for three weeks although shorter or longer placements of up to 
12 weeks may be considered. 
12.2 Financial support from the Community is intended as a contribution 
towards organisational costs including the cost of a preparatory visit where 
this is required; preparatory language training; subsistence costs during the 
placement in another Member State; insurance costs; and up to 75% of the 
cost of return travel to another Member State. 
12.3 Applications are submitted by the training institution in which the young 
person is enrolled and a selection is made by the NCU of the applicant's 
own country. 
12.4 In 1992, budget provision was made for 5,276 young people benefited 
under this Action and it is estimated that in 1993 the number of young 
people participating will increase to 7,339. 
12.5 The essential criteria are that placements should enrich the training of the 
young people by providing contact with new training methods, new 
equipment and content and different forms of training partnerships. 
Unfortunately complete and comparable statistics are not yet available to 
permit an analysis of the nature of placements, sectors of training, age or 
gender of the young people or of the patterns of movement. However the 
views and information provided by those responsible for all aspects of the 
management of PETRA has brought to attention a number of issues. It is 
the view of project managers in all Member States that both the young 
people and the training institutions concerned derive maximum benefit 
where the trans-national experience forms a genuinely integral part of an 
initial vocational training course whether the primary focus of the 
trans-national experience is on specific skills, transversal skills or both. All 
NCUs seek to encourage this through guidance notes and by requiring 
detailed information within applications as to how the trans-national 
placement is to be integrated into the course; details about the personal 
preparation, language and inter-cultural training which the young person 
will receive, about the involvement of the partner organisation in the 
preparation phase; and about what arrangements will be made for 
monitoring and evaluation. Member States report a variety of difficulties 
that projects experience in trying to satisfy all the criteria which it is 
considered are necessary for a successful placement and have suggested a 
number of ways in which the value of placements can be enhanced. A 
number of Member States including Denmark, the Netherlands and Ireland 
actively promote the linking of Action IA placements to Action II projects. 
This practice does have a number of distinct advantages insofar as the 
quality of Action IA placements are concerned. As the receiving and 
sending institutions are working together within Action II it is likely that 
they will have an understanding of each other's structures, capabilities and 
needs and if the placement is at a fairly late stage in the Action II project it 
can, in some cases, provide an opportunity to test a training module which 
the institutions have jointly developed. Linkages between Action IA and 
Action II projects can also provide a better opportunity for reciprocal 
exchanges which most exchange organisations would suggest encourages 
both groups of young trainees and receiving organisations to make an 
increased effort to ensure that the incoming group has a successful 
experience. Linkage between Action IA and Action II projects can also be 
more cost effective as it can remove the need for preparatory visits. 
12.6 Such linkages are really only feasible in Member States in which one NCU 
has responsibility for both Actions as otherwise co-ordination of activities 
between the two actions becomes very difficult. 
12.7 There is an opposing view advanced particularly by some PETRA managers 
in Germany that such linkages are undesirable because they restrict the 
number of institutions which can participate in the PETRA Programme. 
This is a reflection of the debate on where the balance should like within 
PETRA between quality and quantity. Clearly it is advantageous to PETRA 
in achieving its objectives if a larger number of organisations have the 
opportunity of trans-national experience but the objectives will not be met 
in full unless the quality of that experience can be assured. 
12.8 There would appear to be a case for considering increased funding for 
projects where this is directly linked to supporting the quality of the 
trans-national experience. We have already referred to the needs of some 
Member States with lesser used languages for additional support with 
language preparation but there is also a case, as Italy has identified, for 
providing additional support for preparatory visits where a training 
organisation is entering into a new partnership with an organisation in 
another Member State. 
12.9 Arguments have been advanced particularly by the German and French 
Communities in Belgium and in Italy for NCUs to have the flexibility to 
agree to 2-week visits without a corresponding reduction in financial 
support from the Community where a training organisation is new to 
trans-national work or where this is better suited to the needs of the 
institution and the students taking part in a placement. There is already the 
flexibility within PETRA which would allow NCUs to support shorter 
placements provided the average length of the total placements supported is 
retained. However maintaining an average of three weeks for placements 
within Action IA has merit as it helps to reinforce the fact that these are 
training placements, not simply exchange visits, and three weeks rather than 
2, encourages more attention by placement organisers to the content of the 
placement. 
12.10 While the young people participating in a placement are the most obvious 
direct beneficiaries, mobility within Action IA is intended as a means to an 
end and not as an end in itself. Whilst all NCUs agree both that the young 
people gain most where the placement is an integral part of the course and 
that the long-term benefits are to the institutions themselves, it would 
appear from discussions with a number of project managers that there is a 
need for NCUs to continue to stress these points within promotional 
literature. It would seem that there is still a tendency among some training 
organisations who approach PETRA to regard a placement as a 'bolt-on' 
experience to a course of initial vocational training. 
12.11 It could be useful in promoting the concept of mobility within initial 
vocational training to give NCUs, as suggested by the United Kingdom and 
the Netherlands, the flexibility to include a number of teacher placements 
within PETRA. 
^<1 
13. ACTION IB 
13.1 Under this Action support is provided for young persons who are in 
employment or who have had initial training or practical work experience 
and are seeking a job, to gain work experience in another Member State. 
Support is also provided for young people undertaking an advanced 
non-University course to complement their initial training. The majority of 
placements last for three months although shorter or longer placements can 
be funded in specific instances where NCUs consider this to be justified. 
Young persons will typically receive one month's language training in the 
host country followed by two months' work experience. Accommodation 
may be with host families, in apartments or in hostels. 
13.2 Persons or a promoting organisation in the host Member State agree to 
accept responsibility for arranging induction; language training; work 
placements; accommodation; monitoring, support and evaluation and, in 
some cases, will also arrange cultural activities. 
13.3 The implementation of this Action can be considered in terms of its impact 
on the young people who participate; on those responsible for sending and 
hosting groups of young people; on industries within Member States; and in 
terms of the effect which this Action has on issues of a more general nature 
which are of concern to Member States and the Community. 
13.4 There is general agreement amongst NCUs that the young persons selected 
to participate in this Action gain considerably from the experience in terms 
of personal development and marketable skills. The three months in 
another Member State focused on language training and work experience is 
regarded as generating awareness and knowledge of working practices and 
social and economic conditions which enhance the value of an individual to 
an employer. It is seen as broadening the attitudes of young people, 
increasing their willingness to accept new ideas and promoting their 
self-awareness and self-confidence. It is also considered that on their return 
the young people have a positive influence on their peers and within their 
employment in terms of promoting a greater awareness of ideas and 
opportunities beyond national boundaries. 
*3 
13.5 Programme Managers within PETRA consider that the normal one month's 
language training in the host country prior to work experience not only 
assists with or, indeed is normally necessary for a successful work 
experience, but provides an opportunity for induction and for the 
adjustment of the young person to life in the host country. That period of 
training and induction is strengthened by the support and companionship of 
a peer group who are facing the same challenges. This period of language 
training and induction distinguishes PETRA from other work experience 
programmes and is seen by those responsible for the Programme as a key 
element. 
13.6 Placements are organised by the NCU of the host country or by a training or 
youth exchange organisation, or other promoting organisation. 
13.7 This Action is the successor to the earlier Young Workers Exchange 
Programme and particularly in Northern Europe, notably in France, 
Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands a network of organisations exists 
which has considerable experience in arranging such placements. 
13.8 In other areas notably in the Southern Member States participation in 
projects within this Action is stated to have been useful in gaining 
knowledge and understanding of the complexities in organising such 
placements. An example of this is the realisation expressed by Greece of 
the importance of preparing young people before they leave and of having a 
contract with the receiving organisation which details the programme 
components, the nature of the work experience, domestic and social 
arrangements; and insurance provision. Concern was also expressed by 
Member States including Luxembourg and Spain that where a contract was 
insufficiently detailed that some young people were being offered work 
experience below their ability level and, in some cases, were being used 
inappropriately as seasonal labour. 
13.9 It has not proved possible yet to obtain complete and comparable statistics 
which would indicate the status of the young people who participate, 
occupational sectors, gender or the geographical distribution of placements. 
All NCUs however report a limited involvement of industry in sending 
young employees on placements and although attempts have been made, for 
tfy 
example in Ireland, to arrange industry specific programmes these have met 
with very little success. The role of industry within PETRA has been 
discussed earlier in the report. 
13.10 For the young people who participate in the Programme the main problem 
is one of finance. Almost every Member State considers that the amount of 
grant-aid paid to individual participants is too low. The exact amount 
varies according to a number of factors including the GNP of the Member 
State sending the young people and travel costs from the capital of the 
Member State to Brussels. However, it is normally sufficient to pay 75% of 
return travel (the maximum permitted under existing Programme rules), 
language courses, accommodation, local travel expenses and, in some cases, 
for a limited cultural programme. 
13.11 Southern Member States in particular would wish to see an increase in 
funding in support of pre-departure counselling and language training and 
for the preparatory phase including visits but there is agreement in all 
Member States that the main difficulty is in respect of financial support for 
the young person. 
13.12 Depending on their individual circumstances some young people may be in 
receipt of an allowance/wage or they may receive payment from the 
employer in the host country who is providing the work experience. Many 
young employed persons will not receive payment from their employer 
when they are participating in the Programme and while some young 
unemployed persons can continue to obtain unemployment benefit or 
training allowance while on the Programme, many can not. This 
discriminates against young people, especially disadvantaged young people 
who may not be able to provide 25% of their travel costs and meet their 
incidental expenses during three months in another Member State. There 
are indications that in some Member States including Belgium and 
Germany some placement organisers may require young people to pay a fee 
before they are accepted on the programme. This would merit further 
investigation. Co-financing by the young persons may be acceptable in 
some instances but it is important for a full appreciation of the operation 
and impact of this Action within PETRA that all aspects of the financing of 
placements should be known to the Programme Managers within PETRA. 
13.13 There are currently proposals to increase the rate of grant payable in respect 
of disadvantaged young people. This could ease the problem but there 
could be difficulties in allocating variable rates of grant. It is reported by 
NCUs that tensions can arise within groups of participants, particularly 
when participants are from different Member States, where variable rates of 
allowance/wages are paid, and there is a risk new proposals may lead to an 
increase in such difficulties. 
13.14 It would seem equitable if all young people participating in the Programme 
were to receive equal allowances. There is an argument for all employers 
who provide work experience to pay a basic allowance to the young people 
but there is a general view amongst Member States that this is not feasible. 
It is considered that the benefits to an employer in accepting into his 
organisation a young person from another Member State for work 
experience are not as yet sufficiently accepted to make this a realistic 
proposition. 
13.15 It does appear that there is a case for a standard allowance to be paid to all 
young persons participating in the Programme. This could be paid as a 
training allowance by the Member State from which the young person is 
sent on the Programme. This would be a marginal cost to individual 
Member States but a significant endorsement of a Programme of 
trans-national experience to which they have given their agreement. 
13.16 In quantitative terms, the Programme aims to contribute in a small way to 
the concepts of mobility and European integration. Within the context of 
the Single Market it is seeking to encourage young people to think in terms 
of opportunities beyond national boundaries and in some Member States 
may be helping to make this concept more acceptable. The Irish 
Employment Service, for example, now has placement advisers based in the 
United Kingdom and in Germany. However if this Action is to have an 
impact and promote the concept of work experience in another Member 
State it can be argued that such placements need to be available to a 
significant number of young people. What constitutes a 'critical mass' is a 
matter for debate. The total number of placements budgeted for in 1992 was 
3,489 but when viewed from the perspective of individual Member States, 
the current number of places is very low. For example, Greece had 115 
•S G 
places for over 250,000 young people who fall within the target group. 
Germany had 717 places with a target group of 6.8 million Young People. 
13.17 If it is considered that this is a worthwhile initiative which should be 
maintained until such times as it can be accommodated within national 
policies it must be questioned whether the current size of the Programme is 
sufficient for it to make a significant contribution to attitudinal change. 
13.18 One effect which this Action has had, and it is arguably its most important 
effect, has been to highlight the practical and often significant difficulties 
faced by young people who wish to seek training, work experience or a job 
in another Member State. It has focused attention on problems concerning 
the legal status of such young people, the recognition of qualifications and 
the different attitudes taken by Member States to the payment of 
unemployment benefit or training allowances when a young person is on 
placement in another Member State. These are issues which have been 
highlighted as a result of PETRA and are now being given more active 
consideration both at Community level and within Member States. Their 
resolution will in some cases, for example in Belgium and Italy, require 
national legislation. 
13.19 There have been benefits from locating this initiative within PETRA 
notably the experience which some NCUs and training organisations, 
especially in the Southern Member States, have gained in arranging 
placements and the attention which has been drawn to barriers to mobility. 
It can be argued that to a considerable extent those objectives have been 
achieved. 
13.20 With the exception of a small number of Young People, for example from 
France, Denmark and the United Kingdom, who undertake these 
placements as part of a course of advanced training, these young people are 
no longer part of a national training system and it is difficult to see what 
influence they will have on those systems. This Action, as has been pointed 
out by a number of Member States including the Netherlands and Spain, 
therefore lacks coherence with the rest of the PETRA Programme. There is 
a strong case for arguing that placements for young people who are no 
longer part of initial training, should take place within Community Action 
which does not target the development of qualitative training systems. 
14. ACTION II 
14.1 Action II provides support for trans-national co-operation in the joint 
development of vocational training modules and joint training of trainers 
through the participation of training institutions and projects, including 
youth initiative projects, in the programme's European Network of Training 
Partnerships (ENTPs). 
14.2 This is the core activity of the PETRA Programme directed at supporting 
national innovation and vocational training and the development of the 
European dimension. Under the first phase of PETRA, 488 ENTP projects 
were supported. Within the second phase of PETRA, 154 ENTP projects 
were admitted to the Programme in 1992 and 169 in 1993. 
14.3 Project proposals which must conform to themes and sectors on which the 
PETRA Advisory Committee has given a positive opinion, are submitted by 
a wide range of organisations concerned with initial vocational training 
including training institutions and social partners. The final selection is 
made by the Commission with the assistance of the PETRA Technical 
Assistance Office. 
14.4 The evaluation team has observed two different attitudes within Member 
States towards selection of Action II projects. 
14.5 Some Member States such as Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal and the United 
Kingdom encourage applications from as wide a spectrum of applicants as 
possible taking the view that participation is open to all relevant 
organisations concerned with training and that it is important that it should 
be seen to be so. Encouraging a broad base of applications is seen to assist 
in seeking a geographical spread within the Member State and a wide range 
of projects within which the needs of particular priority groups such as 
women and the socially disadvantaged are more likely to be reflected. It 
also increases the opportunity to bring new training organisations into the 
network. 
14.6 An alternative view expressed for example by Ireland is that while it is 
desirable for the PETRA Programme to be widely known and while any 
training organisation can apply to participate in Action II of PETRA, 
priority should be given to organisations which already have experience of 
trans-national co-operation and preferably a high profile within their own 
Member State or to projects which are linked to or are likely to be of 
particular interest to national bodies. The argument is that this approach 
increases both the possibility of a project being successful, since Action II 
projects are seen as being very demanding on participating organisations, 
and that it increases the likelihood of projects having an impact which goes 
beyond the participating training organisations. 
14.7 The relative emphasis which should be given to either approach depends on 
how it is considered that PETRA should seek to achieve its objectives. The 
first approach would support a case for a significant expansion of the 
PETRA Programme. Italy, for example, would argue that an increase in the 
number of participating organisations would accelerate both awareness of 
the concept of the European dimension in vocational training and the 
development and dissemination of training methodologies and contents. 
14.8 Emphasis on the alternative view would support the argument that PETRA 
need not be significantly expanded; that the emphasis should be on quality 
and innovation which can be promoted by encouraging projects of 
particular relevance to a Member State or by encouraging the emergence of 
'centres of excellence'. This approach however is heavily dependent on an 
effective dissemination strategy within a Member State. 
14.9 The question is not so much of choosing between two alternative strategies, 
since PETRA is a publicly funded Programme to which any training 
organisation is entitled to apply, but rather where the balance between the 
two approaches should lie. The assessment team would be disposed 
towards putting the emphasis on quality of projects rather than quantity as 
the best way of ensuring that the objectives of PETRA are achieved but, at 
the same time, considers that there is a case for some expansion of the 
Programme given the high level of interest amongst training organisations 
which is evident in many Member States. 
14.10 When projects are accepted a directory containing a profile of each project 
is circulated and project organisers are invited to a contact workshop at 
^5 
which, with the assistance of their NCUs they have the opportunity to find 
suitable partners. 
14.11 As originally conceived and implemented the first year of the project's 
participation was devoted to developing new partnerships and planning the 
detail of trans-national projects. Support of 10,000 ECU was available to 
each project for this phase and, subject to satisfactory progress, a further 
25,000 ECU was available to each organisation in the partnership for each 
of the two succeeding years in order to support the implementation of the 
project. For projects submitted to the programme for the first time in 1993 
this timescale has had to be compressed into two years as the second phase 
of PETRA is due to conclude at the end of 1994. No new ENTP Projects 
will be admitted to PETRA in 1994. 
14.12 During interviews with the assessment team every NCU was of the opinion 
that the concept of contact workshops and a first year contact phase has 
been singularly successful in providing a foundation for the development of 
successful projects. 
14.13 A number of Member States however including Italy and Ireland have 
expressed the view that three years is barely sufficient for the 
implementation of a project and the establishment of more permanent 
linkages between institutions. The extension of this Action to 4 or 5 year 
programmes would command a wide degree of support. 
14.14 In order to promote Community objectives and to facilitate the development 
of trans-national partnerships projects within Action II are focused on 
specific themes and sectors. These are determined with the assistance of 
the PETRA Advisory Committee. It is important that these should not be 
narrowed to the point that they become a constraint in the Programme and it 
is generally accepted that a good balance has been achieved although Spain 
and Luxembourg in particular would like to see Member States have more 
flexibility in the application of the criteria. We have analysed the themes 
and sectors addressed by national projects entering the network in 1992 but 
the data is of limited value as it reflects the choices made by NCUs and the 
Commission and may not necessarily be an accurate reflection of the spread 
of projects and themes contained within the applications from which the 
3 o 
projects were selected. Projects entering the network do however show a 
perhaps predictable emphasis of new technologies (46% of all projects). 
14.15 The majority of national projects selected are focused on young people in 
post secondary/compulsory education but the flexibility of PETRA is 
reflected in the spread of projects in Member States such as Portugal, the 
Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy and France to include a significant number 
of project promoters from the secondary education sector and thus respond 
to the particular vocational training needs within their own Member State. 
14.16 The number of trans-national partners can vary from one up to ten but 
two-thirds of all projects have either two, three or four partners. 
14.17 Action II projects are required to complete a questionnaire for each year 
that they are involved in the project. Completed questionnaires were 
available at the time of writing for 1992 (the first year of the first phase of 
PETRA) in respect of: 
70% of type A projects, ie projects within the contact phase 
56% of type B1 projects, ie projects in their second year 
60% of type B2 projects, ie projects in their third year. 
14.18 Patterns emerging from our analysis of these questionnaires are useful 
indicators but caution must be exercised in drawing conclusions as data is 
not available for around one-third of Action II projects which were 
underway in 1992. 
14.19 In the two-thirds of projects for which data is available, 24,840 young 
people were perceived as being direct beneficiaries from the work being 
undertaken by national projects. The highest concentrations were in Spain, 
Luxembourg, Belgium and Italy. It is not surprising, since PETRA is 
concerned with the initial training of young people, that 85% of the total 
were aged between 15 and 24. 
14.20 Within the projects analysed, 3,438 staff were involved of whom an overall 
majority (60%) were men. Member States in which the majority of the staff 
involved were women were Portugal (56%), United Kingdom (52%) and 
3^1 
Greece (51%). The lowest percentage of female staff were in Spain, the 
Netherlands and Ireland. 
14.21 The questionnaires which we analysed predefined 5 types of trans-national 
activity: 
the joint development of training modules 
the joint training of trainers 
the exchange of trainers/staff 
the joint development of Actions/training materials for young people. 
14.22 There is also the "other" category for other types of activities. 
14.23 More than one selection is possible so one partnership can undertake more 
than one type of trans-national activity. 
14.24 Overall in 1992 amongst the sample available to us the total number of 
activities was 686 but we cannot tell distributed amongst how many 
national partnerships and the total number of national projects involved was 
224. On average therefore each national project was involved in about 
3 different trans-national activities. The distribution across the different 
types of activities was fairly even. Twenty-four per cent were joint 
development of Actions/training materials; 18% were exchanges of 
trainers/staff; 17% were joint development of training modules. 
14.25 Projects from Spain, United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Denmark have the 
highest average number of activities in which they are involved whilst the 
lowest average is found in Italy, Belgium and Greece. The emphasis within 
PETRA in different Member States is also visible in the analysis of 
activities. German projects show some preference for the joint 
development of Actions/training materials for young people while Dutch 
and Italian projects lead respectively the group of projects involved in the 
joint development of modules and in the joint training of trainers. 
9z. 
14.26 Insofar as the development of modules for young people is concerned the 
questionnaires classify these as: 
training courses in the form of modules 
training materials 
software 
joint assessment of certification 
reports, evaluation studies 
other 
14.27 More than one selection is possible so that each trans-national partnership 
can aim to produce more than one output. 
14.28 Overall in 1992 within the sample available to us a total of 463 partnerships 
outputs were realised. Two types of output account for more than half of 
the overall total; training modules (29%) and training materials (25%). 
Germany has the highest level of involvement in the production of training 
units; Germany and Spain have the highest involvement in the production 
of training materials; Italy has the lead in respect of software with the 
United Kingdom and France having the lead for joint assessment and 
certification. Reports and evaluation studies are led by Spain and the 
United Kingdom. 
14.29 In the development of modules for the training of trainers, partnerships 
within the sample were working on 243 training outputs. Three main types 
of output are represented, namely training modules (27.5%); training 
materials (32%) and reports/evaluations (29%). Member States are quite 
evenly represented with the exception of Spain which is strongly 
represented within these activities. 
14.30 Mobility within trans-national partnerships is but one possible co-operative 
activity and will, in some cases, be linked to Action IA projects. Within the 
two-thirds of Action II projects for which data is available, 2,386 young 
persons were identified as participating in a placement abroad. Of these 
33 
around 90% were aged between 15 and 24. Females accounted for 48% 
with 5 Member States having a majority of women participants. These 
were Greece (71%), Luxembourg (62%), Ireland (57%), United Kingdom 
(53%) and Denmark (53%). 
14.31 The most represented group is that of young people who have completed 
compulsory education (49%) and they are most evident within German, 
Italian and United Kingdom projects. Technical upper secondary (15%) 
and vocational upper secondary (14%) are the other two most represented 
levels with Spain most evident in the first group and the Netherlands most 
evident in the second. 
14.32 In 1992, 1,585 staff were directly involved in trans-national activities within 
the projects for which data is available. Overall women account for 39% 
and in no Member State is there a majority of women. The highest 
percentage of women is found in Portugal (49%). The lowest percentage of 
women staff involved in trans-national activity are in the Netherlands (31%) 
and in Belgium (28%). 
14.33 In some Member States, notably in the Netherlands, comment was made 
about the level of funding made available to Action II projects. There does 
not however appear to be any strong pressure for the amount of funding to 
be increased as there is a generally held view that it is desirable for training 
organisations to find the balance of funding required from within their own 
resources. In some Northern Member States, including Ireland, the view 
was expressed that the relatively small amounts of money available to 
projects are seen to have some advantages in that it ensures that applicants 
have a genuine interest in trans-national activity and are not motivated by 
financial considerations. 
9V 
15. YOUTH INITIATIVE PROJECTS 
15.1 A Youth Initiative Project (YIP) is a project managed and controlled by 
young people. The essential features or YIPs are that a group of young 
people develop a project to provide a service to other young people or to the 
wider community. Through PETRA they may receive grant-aid for one 
year only of up to 10,000 ECU provided that this does not exceed 50% of 
the total project cost. 
15.2 YIPs are seen as a means of enabling young people who are outside the 
formal education or training systems to become involved in a formalised 
activity which is a learning process in its own right and which, for some, 
may provide a route into more structured training or into employment. In 
most cases the young people will be supported by adult advisers and indeed, 
as Belgium has observed, are unlikely to succeed if they are not. 
15.3 More than six hundred YIPs have been supported under PETRA since 1988. 
Between 100 and 120 new YIPs will be funded within PETRA in 1993 and 
YIPs will be the only new projects admitted to Action II of PETRA in 1994. 
Although the nature of projects varies considerably a significant number are 
concerned with the production of publications; in audio or audio-visual 
projects; with job creation often related,to environmental issues such as 
recycling; or with social problems such as provision for the elderly, the 
homeless or drug addicts. 
15.4 YIPs are required to complete a questionnaire at the end of their contractual 
year. At the time of writing questionnaires were available from 59% of 
YIPs funded during 1992, the first year of PETRA II. Analyses of these 
questionnaires provides some useful indicators but care should be taken in 
drawing firm conclusions as there is no data available from 41% of projects. 
15.5 Within the sample available 1,578 young people participated directly in YIP 
projects suggesting that, on average, a YIP project involves 
twenty-nine young people. These young people tend to be concentrated at 
the low end of the age range. Thirty-five per cent were between twenty and 
twenty-four years of age and 28% were between fifteen and nineteen years. 
Sixteen per cent were younger than fifteen years and most of these were 
either in Spain or the United Kingdom. Overall there was a majority of 
9S 
young men involved in YIPs (57%). Four Member States had a majority of 
women: United Kingdom, Denmark, Italy and Portugal. 
15.6 A substantial percentage of the YIP participants had not reached a very high 
level of education. Seventeen per cent had only completed primary 
education and 22% had completed compulsory secondary education. 
15.7 YIPs are seen as an opportunity for young people to work together to 
address issues which they see as important and in doing so to develop a 
variety of skills ranging from transversal competencies such as 
self-confidence, adaptability and decision-making to organisational and 
planning abilities and in some instances specific skills directly related to 
their project. Within PETRA National Advisory Committees there are 
varying attitudes towards YIPs. 
15.8 Most, including for example Greece, the Netherlands, Denmark and 
Germany regard them as having a useful role in that they offer a 
supplementary form of provision for young people who, at least 
temporarily, have dropped out of the more formal systems. They are seen 
as being more effective where a link has been established with a formal 
training organisation which can provide specialist training where this is 
needed and they are perceived as having a beneficial effect on training 
organisations as they provide an insight for training organisations into 
alternative ways of providing for and working with young people. Some 
Member States, for example the United Kingdom, are actively trying to 
strengthen the links between YIPs and training organisations. 
15.9 There is currently a small trans-national element within the YIP strand. 
This was anticipated by a pilot phase: the Youth Initiative Theme-based 
Partnerships brought together eighteen projects from the Community to 
work together in four partnerships of four or five projects over a two-year 
period. Currently thirteen YIPs have been invited to participate in Action II 
projects but these projects are still at the organisational stage. 
15.10 Whilst the possibility of introducing a trans-national dimension to the YIP 
concept has been demonstrated any significant extension of the 
trans-national dimension in YIPs is likely to be difficult. By their very 
nature most YIPs are strongly localised projects responding directly to a 
perceived local need and interacting with the local community and, in many 
cases, with local training organisations. Individual projects also tend to be 
short-lived: the young people move on. 
15.11 A number of Member States including Spain, Luxembourg and the 
Netherlands consider that, while the development of YIPs should be 
supported, they should not be part of PETRA because since they are 
essentially local initiatives relating to the local environment their objectives 
are not coherent with the objectives of the PETRA Programme. 
15.12 Concern has also been expressed about the risk of confusion arising from 
the establishment of a similar initiative, Youth Pilot Projects, which are 
being funded by the budget voted by the European Parliament for Priority 
Actions in the field of Youth. 
15.13 The localised rather than trans-national dimension to most YIPs would 
certainly support the case for moving YIPs out of the PETRA Programme. 
The affinity between YIP organisation and methodology to youth service 
concepts and the existence of a parallel initiative within Priority Actions in 
the field of Youth would support the case for YIPs to be transferred to the 
Youth Sector. Against that however is the acknowledgement in Member 
States that links between YIPs and training organisations are mutually 
beneficial to both. There would appear to be a risk that the movement of 
YIPs out of the PETRA Programme would weaken the continued 
development of links between YIPs and training organisations. 
15.14 There is a distinction between YIPs and Youth Pilot Projects which have 
social and cultural objectives. This distinction has been strengthened by the 
new more vocationally focused selection criteria for YIP projects and the 
arrangements for technical assistance from Brussels have facilitated a 
co-ordinated approach to the selection of projects. At Community level the 
two initiatives are currently working well together but at Member State 
level the distinctions do not appear, as yet, to be always as clearly 
understood. Part of the reason for this appears to be that detailed 
information issued by the Community tends to be programme-specific. It 
would be helpful if promotional material about one programme could 
include in some detail information about related programmes. 
9} 
15.15 Reference is made elsewhere in this report to the desirability of more 
prompt payment of grants to YIPs. Member States have also expressed the 
view that the time involved in obtaining approval for individual projects 
from the Commission needs to be reduced. It is also considered that there 
would be merit in a greater involvement of those concerned with the 
management of the YIP initiative at Member State level in discussions on 
policy issues as an extension of existing consultations on administrative 
procedures. It could be to the benefit of YIPs to strengthen further the 
involvement and sense of ownership of Member States in the development 
of the YIP concept and the selection of projects. 
3^ 
16. ACTION III VOCATIONAL INFORMATION AND GUIDANCE 
16.1 While vocational guidance does not represent a completely new area of 
activity for the PETRA Programme, the measures and activities foreseen for 
the second phase of the Programme are new and are still in their 
implementation phase. It is not therefore possible to undertake a 
comprehensive assessment of their results. Analysis has therefore been 
limited to a first impression of the activities initiated and a preliminary 
assessment of their potential to achieve their objectives. 
16.2 Action III of PETRA represents the first structured attempt to provide for a 
framework to assist Member States in developing their vocational guidance 
systems further and introduce a European dimension to the services which 
they provide to young people. 
16.3 Action III provides for: 
l. support for national systems for the exchange of vocational guidance 
data and information about good practice and effective methods in 
vocational guidance; 
ii. support for additional training for guidance counsellors/specialists on 
European aspects of guidance. 
16.4 Since January 1992 the activities which have been initiated under this 
Action are: 
i. networking of national systems to exchange data and information on 
vocational guidance by setting up national resources centres and 
financing development projects; 
ii. trans-national projects aimed at the training of guidance counsellors 
on European aspects of vocational guidance. 
16.5 Financial and technical support to national systems of vocational guidance 
has been provided for the establishment of a Community network of 
national centres which it is intended will develop and update data for use by 
guidance services in all Member States. These centres will be funded to 
exchange information and data relating to vocational guidance as well as to 
2>S> 
training and employment opportunities in other countries of the European 
Community. In some cases the centres were already in existence, usually as 
guidance or employment services and were designated by the Member 
States as PETRA Guidance Services. This was the case in Denmark, 
Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Luxembourg. In other cases new centres 
were established by national authorities. In each case centres have a dual 
role. Trans-nationally they participate in the European network of guidance 
resource centres and nationally they co-operate with the various national 
guidance services. 
16.6 In all twenty-seven centres have been designated by Member States. The 
national centres in Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the 
Netherlands and the United Kingdom are now fully operational. In 
Belgium in both the French and Flemish communities and in Spain and 
Ireland the centres are expected to be fully operational by the end of 1993. 
16.7 Portugal and Greece are planning to establish national guidance centres. 
These two Member States do not as yet have a national policy in the field of 
vocational guidance and their existing guidance services are marginally 
developed. There is a risk that unless these two Member States are able to 
define more clearly their national policy and objectives fairly quickly, they 
will be unable to benefit fully from activities being developed within this 
Action. 
16.8 While trans-national links are clearly essential for the designated resource 
centres their first requirement for success is the establishment of effective 
links with organisations responsible for the national guidance policy and to 
the training world and the labour market. They cannot fulfil their role 
which is to be a focal point of national effort to introduce a Community 
dimension to guidance and develop further the existing policies and 
practices unless they have effective links with their national systems. 
16.9 Funding has also been provided for 3 development projects intended to 
support the activities of the National Resource Centres and facilitate the 
establishment of the Community Network for the exchange of vocational 
information. These projects are co-operative projects between the different 
National Centres at the initiative of Member States. The first aims to 
develop a community network of databases for exchanging information and 
data on guidance; the second to improve the quality of guidance, especially 
by introducing a European dimension; and the third to enhance the role of 
industry and the social partners in the process of vocational guidance. 
16.10 There would appear to be some inherent problems with these projects. The 
United Kingdom and Netherlands expressed the opinion that the themes 
were to a certain extent imposed by the Commission and do not always 
represent the real priorities of Member States in the field of vocational 
guidance. It is considered that there should have been a more detailed 
analysis of national needs and priorities before the themes were determined. 
The United Kingdom and Netherlands in particular question the usefulness 
and cost effectiveness of the attempts to develop links between databases 
for exchanging information and data on guidance. Italy wishes to see a 
higher percentage of the funding available for this Action being devoted to 
the training of Guidance Counsellors. 
16.11 Within Action III support is provided for the training of guidance 
counsellors/specialists on European aspects of guidance through funding of 
joint training activities for guidance experts and joint development of 
European training material and modules aimed at the training of the 
European Counsellors. Fifteen projects have been selected and grouped 
into three trans-national partnerships which involve at least three Member 
States and include at least one Southern Community country. The projects 
are innovative in nature and provide information/advice services to 
specialists or specialist organisations. The national organisations 
participating guarantee that these projects can successfully have a multiplier 
effect and an impact on national systems of vocational guidance. The result 
should be transferable to other organisations which have not participated in 
their activity. 
16.12 Taking into account the limited number of the projects funded under 
Action III, analysis of these projects by geographical distribution, 
promoting organisation, contents and participants does not reveal any 
significant bias. All Member States are represented, partnerships arc 
geographically mixed and participating organisations vary significantly 
from one country to the other. Represented within the projects are national 
employment authorities; training institutes, NCUs, Ministries, Social 
Partner Organisations; regional and national guidance and training bodies 
and universities. 
16.13 In a large number of Member States - Belgium (French and Flemish 
communities), Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg and the 
United Kingdom, a number of national seminars have either taken place or 
are planned. Such seminars give a substantial number of guidance 
counsellors the opportunity to benefit from the experience and outputs 
developed within the trans-national projects for the training of guidance 
counsellors and specialists. However these projects tend to be less than 
effective when their links with the National Resource Centre are weak as is 
the case in the Netherlands. Efforts are required to ensure that the PETRA 
activities of vocational guidance work in parallel and that all the relevant 
authorities can benefit. 
16.14 In a Member State the NCUs have responsibility for the implementation of 
the guidance activities at national level. In practical terms and taking into 
account the limited number of projects funded under this Action, NCUs 
play the role of intermediary in the submission of proposals to the 
Commission. 
16.15 In some Member States (in Belgium (French community) and Ireland) the 
NCUs are also national guidance centres. In other Member States the 
NCUs have responsibility for the national centre and this is not always 
welcome by those responsible for the centre. Some conflict can be 
observed in the relations between the NCUs and guidance centres, for 
example in The Netherlands, Greece and Portugal. 
16.16 At this stage in the development of activities within Action III there is a 
strong case for centralised management but within the variety of actors 
involved at this point in time some relationships do appear to be rather 
delicate and in need of careful handling. 
16.17 There has been a considerable delay in the implementation of the activities 
of Action III which it would seem has been due to a large extent to the 
disparities which exist in the different Member States in the development of 
national guidance services. This has made it difficult to agree and 
subsequently initiate trans-national co-operative activities which could be 
beneficial to all the participating bodies from the different Member States. 
16.18 The financial resources which have been allocated to Action III are shown 
in Figure 3. (1994 estimates have been provided by the responsible 
Departments in the Commission.) 
Figure 3 
In 0,000 ECU 
Total PETRA 
Total ACTION III 
National Centres 
Development Projects 
Training Counsellors WÊM 
29.000 
1.000 
0.600 
0.400 mm 
35.496 
2.000 
0.600 
0.900 
0.470 Ml 
39.000 
2.740 
0.720 
1.500 
0.520 Total 
103.496 
5.740 
1.920 
2.400 
1.390 
* Commission proposal 
16.19 In 1992 Action III received approximately 3.4% of the total budget 
allocated to the PETRA Programme while in 1993 it received 
approximately 6%. In 1994 it is expected that 7% of the total amount 
available to the PETRA Programme will be allocated to Action III 
activities. 
16.20 It is clear that in order to establish and render fully operational the 
Community Network of National Resource Centres for the exchange of 
guidance information and data, a longer period than the 3 years of the 
PETRA Programme is needed. As far as the training of guidance 
counsellors in European aspects of guidance is concerned, a number of 
generations of projects will be needed in order to develop the appropriate 
methods and training material which will be required. 
16.21 In whatever structures may emerge post 1994 it is suggested that the 
Commission should strive to establish programmes and activities concerned 
4 0 J" 
with vocational guidance with at least a 5-year duration to allow for 
sufficient time for them to develop. 
16.22 At this early stage in the development of Action III with the first results 
expected in 1994 it is rather difficult to address the issue of dissemination. 
16.23 The national centres were selected or established by Member States with 
the intention that they should serve as a focal point for introducing a 
Community dimension for vocational guidance in that Member State. It is 
difficult at this early stage in their existence to say if they are fulfilling this 
task. Most of them however seem to have the necessary elements to 
become an impetus for the development of national vocational guidance 
policies. 
16.24 The national seminars linked to the trans-national projects for the training 
of guidance counsellors are an encouraging sign and an analysis of the 
participating organisations in the trans-national projects would suggest that 
the national bodies involved have the capability to disseminate the outcome 
of trans-national co-operation. The wide spectrum of national organisations 
involved represent important networks which can play an important 
multiplier role. It would seem that the participating bodies in the 
trans-national projects for the training of guidance counsellors have been 
well chosen. 
16.25 Action III has a relevance to the whole area of initial vocational training, 
especially guidance relating to placements for young people and the training 
modules. It is therefore important to ensure an interaction between 
activities taking place under the auspices of Action III and in the other areas 
of the Programme. This interaction would be beneficial both at Community 
level and at national level. 
16.26 In 1992, 60 out of the 152 projects admitted to the ENTP under Action II of 
PETRA had a clear relevance to vocational guidance. 
16.27 As yet there do not appear to be any effective links between activities 
within Action III of PETRA and other Actions within the PETRA 
Programme. It would make sense that such links should be established. 
/] O \Jf 
16.28 The initial impact of Action III has been different in each Member State 
depending largely on the state of development of vocational guidance in the 
particular Member State. For Member States with no national guidance 
system, PETRA's request to establish a national centre has acted as a 
catalyst to initiate national discussions on policy developments. In the other 
group of Member States where vocational guidance policy existed, PETRA 
has helped through trans-national co-operation and the exchange of 
information and experience to introduce reforms to the national systems. In 
Spain, Italy, Portugal and France, centres which analyse and provide 
information on professional profiles have been created. 
16.29 PETRA has frequently underlined the absence of co-ordination between the 
different services responsible for guidance and their links to training 
provision. It has stimulated co-operation between the different guidance 
services and in some Member States (France, Italy, Spain, Luxembourg, 
Portugal and Greece) it has promoted increased co-operation between 
Ministries of Employment and Education. 
16.30 The fundamental point however remains that at this point in time the 
guidance services of the Member States are in a very different state of 
development. As a result, the PETRA activities, while encouraging and 
introducing a Community dimension and co-operation between national 
systems of vocational guidance are not equally beneficial to all Member 
States. It can be argued that trans-national co-operation will work as an 
additional motivation to the less developed countries to develop vocational 
guidance services but this will require significant resources. A pragmatic 
solution to the problem would be to provide for special projects within the 
less developed national systems in order to promote a transfer of knowledge 
and experience from the more highly developed national systems and 
narrow the gaps which currently exist. 
16.31 At the present stage, community policy in the area of vocational guidance is 
targeted only at young people, as these are defined in the PETRA context. 
However, vocational guidance concerns equally other groups, for example, 
young people in secondary education and in universities, or, more 
importantly, the unemployed of all ages. Moreover, vocational guidance 
can be seen as a life-long necessity, and individuals of all ages need to have 
-4 oj 
the opportunity to be informed of the existing possibilities for training (or 
re-training) and employment in other countries of the European 
Community. 
Therefore, it is recommended that community policy and action expands the 
range of its activities in the area of vocational guidance to cover all the 
different levels of guidance in order to ensure that all individuals receive 
guidance advice and information throughout their education and training, as 
well as throughout their active professional life. Due to the fact that 
PETRA is a programme for young people, it might be necessary to find 
another framework for community action in the area of vocational 
guidance. The proposed future Community Training Programme should 
ensure the existence of a significant strand for all aspects of vocational 
guidance. 
16.32 The financial resources available appears to be adequate for the current 
level of activities. However, it is suggested above that consideration should 
be given both to special support for Member States in which guidance 
activities are less well developed and to an extension of activities to cover 
all the different levels of guidance. This would require a significant 
increase in the resources available to support community action within the 
area of vocational guidance and it is recommended that consideration 
should be given to providing the necessary funding. 
4o ç 
17. COMPLEMENTARY MEASURES 
17.1 The complementary measures are designed to support the development and 
implementation of the other Actions and activities of the Programme. They 
include the Research Network, the Community-wide studies, evaluation 
activities, as well as technical assistance at Community and national level 
and general dissemination activities. Dissemination is considered in 
Section 9 of this Report. 
Research Network 
17.2 In 1992, the PETRA Programme continued to fund 28 research institutes 
which had started their trans-national co-operation on 4 different themes, in 
the framework of the first phase of the PETRA Programme. These research 
partnerships are funded by the Commission for two years in order to 
examine together certain aspects of initial vocational training. These 
partnerships were initiated under the first phase of the PETRA Programme 
to promote trans-national European co-operation between research institutes 
in the field of vocational training. 
17.3 The themes which have been selected for co-operative research work 
include: 
qualitative aspects of alternance-based vocational training; 
models for planning the provision of training at regional level; 
effectiveness of new curriculum models for vocational training; 
impact of "training for enterprise" schemes. 
17.4 The research partnerships, are aimed to establish co-operation and links 
between research institutes across Europe. Their objectives are to improve 
the quality of research on training issues; produce high quality research 
reports; and produce policy recommendations. They promote European 
trans-national co-operation between research institutes in the field of 
vocational training, create research links between them, exchange ideas and 
experiences and promote better understanding between researchers and 
other experts participating in the partnerships. 
-fol}. 
17.5 Those responsible for PETRA at Community level have indicated to the 
Assessment Team that the Network of Research Partnerships will not be 
continued. The existing partnerships are currently finishing their work and 
no new institutes or themes will be introduced in the future. The 
Assessment Team believes that the Research Networks can make a 
contribution to the development of vocational training policy throughout the 
European Community under certain conditions. It therefore recommends 
that the Research Network expands to include new themes and institutes 
provided that: 
the selection of themes reflects national priorities 
the partnerships have as their objective the production of 
comprehensive results containing clear recommendations for 
policy development 
the outputs of these partnerships are widely disseminated at national 
level as well as at Community level 
Community-wide Studies 
17.6 Two Community-wide studies have been initiated by the Programme in the 
framework of the Complementary Measures. At the request of the Council 
of Ministers, the first study is dealing with "the social and legal status of 
young people in initial vocational training and related trans-national 
placements", while the second one is examining "the recognition and 
certification of trans-national training and work experience placements". 
17.7 These two studies are carried out by experts or expert institutions which 
have been nominated by Member States, following a request by the 
Commission. Both studies are co-ordinated by the Commission. 
17.8 The objectives of these two studies are to examine the current arrangements 
which exist in the different Member States in the area of mobility of young 
trainees, workers and young unemployed and in the area of recognition and 
certification of training and work experience placements, including 
trans-national placements, with the view to find and recommend solutions 
in order to allow that all young participants in PETRA placements face no 
obstacles which hamper their participation in, and the recognition and 
certification of, trans-national placements. 
17.9 The two studies were initiated in 1992 and are expected to be completed by 
the end of 1993. Therefore at the time when the Evaluation Team 
undertook its examination, the results were not yet available. 
17.10 Most of the people interviewed at national level have stressed their 
satisfaction about the design and implementation of the two studies. 
Selection of Themes 
17.11 The selection of themes, both for the Research Network as well as for the 
Community studies has met with the approval of Committee Members 
interviewed, since these themes represent issues of equal development 
interest (Research Network) as well as of practical value for all Member 
States (Community studies). 
17.12 Some Member States' representatives raised the question whether the 
PETRA research activities should concern national issues or limit their 
examination to issues linked only to trans-national activities. They argue 
that since the situation varies significantly between Member States, 
common research work is not always beneficial. Moreover, it is suggested 
that Community research should concentrate on trans-national aspects 
linked to PETRA, following the example of the two studies which began in 
1992. The Assessment Team believes that both types of activity should be 
continued. Joint research on national issues can be beneficial to all 
participating institutes and countries provided that this research is linked to 
the development of national policy. 
Synergy and Complementarity 
17.13 Synergy and complementarity of the Research activities of the PETRA 
Programme were examined in relation to the other Actions of the 
Programme and in relation to other Community research activities in the 
field of vocational training. 
17.14 The Community studies are clearly linked to the development of 
trans-national training and work experience placements (Action I). The 
synergy and complementarity of these two strands of the Programme are 
very clear. 
17.15 At Community level, the European Centre for the Development of 
Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) implements a number of research 
activities related to the vocational training for young people, as well as to 
general issues in the area of vocational training. The Assessment Team 
considers that there is the potential for more interactive links between the 
research activities under the PETRA Programme and those carried out by 
CEDEFOP. Two recommendations can be made: the establishment of a 
continuous exchange of information, including the results of research 
activities, and an effort to ensure that the CEDEFOP annual work 
programme takes into account PETRA priorities. 
Impact/Influence of Research and Community Studies 
17.16 Policy-makers at national level who were asked about the research 
partnerships were not always aware of their activities, which indicates that 
their research and results would not be taken fully into account in the design 
of national policies in the area of initial vocational training. 
17.17 However a number of Member States including the United Kingdom, 
Greece, Portugal and Ireland research institutions have not had a long 
history of active interest in vocational training. Insofar as the Research 
Networks have stimulated such an interest they can be seen as having had a 
valuable role. 
17.18 It is too early to assess the impact of the two Community studies, since they 
have not yet been completed. However, the Assessment Team considers 
that both studies have the potential to influence the way trans-national 
placements are organised and carried out. Their success will depend largely 
on the legal or other instruments which will be brought forward, as well as 
the political willingness of Member States to take the necessary measures to 
eliminate these problems. 
Research Activities in the Area of Vocational Training 
17.19 Research activities at Community level on issues relating to vocational 
training have always been complementary to the other actions and activities 
of the programmes, as is the case in PETRA. The Assessment Team 
believes that trans-national research deserves equal consideration to the 
other activities ie trans-national projects and placements. The Community 
has a significant instigator role to play in this area as well. Trans-national 
research can contribute not only to the other trans-national activities, but 
also to the introduction of innovation in the design and implementation of 
national policy. The establishment of a coherent framework for research, 
including evaluation activities, is considered by the Assessment Team as a 
step forward. Consequently, sufficient financial resources should be made 
available by the Commission for this type of trans-national activity. 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(93) 704 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 16 04 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-755-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-63186-4 
)ffice for Official Publications of the European Communities 
,-2985 Luxembourg