COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
C0M(93) 183 final 
Brussels, 5 May 1993 
COMMISSION WORKING PAPER 
GUIDELINES FOR COMMUNITY ACTION 
IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION AND 
TRAINING 
GUIDELINES FOR COMMUNITY ACTION 
IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING 
Table of contents 
Para. 
Introduction 01-04 
Part I situation and Challenges 05-19 
Part II The Contribution of the 
European Community 20-44 
Part III Proposed Action Lines 45-70 
conclusion 71 
Annexes 
1. Action Programmes in the Education and Training Field 
2. Treaty on European Union (Chapter 3 : Education, Vocational 
Training and Youth) 
A*~ 
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INTRODUCTION 
The present stage of the different Community action programmes 
(see Annex I) in the field of education and training comes to a 
conclusion at the end of 1994. This was a deliberate decision by 
the Commission so as to permit proper evaluation of the most 
effective ways of developing action in the next phase. In their 
new phase, the programmes should of course be related to the 
implementation of the policy objectives set out in the new Treaty, 
and also be presented in harmony with the future actions to be 
developed in the framework of the Structural Policies and Funds 
and also the Research and Development Framework Programme. 
The Commission's proposals for the next phase must be presented 
before the end of 1993 and decided by the Council during 1994, if 
they are to be operational and sustain the necessary continuity 
and efficiency at the start of 1995. The timetable for the 
presentation and negotiation of the new programmes is therefore 
tight. And it has to be recognised that not all programmes are at 
the same stage of development because of their different starting 
dates. As and when the new Treaty is ratified, moreover, account 
will have to be taken of the new decision-making and consultation 
procedures involving the European Parliament that will then be 
introduced : co-decision in respect of education (Article 126) and 
the cooperation procedure for vocational training (Article 127). 
With the ratification of the new Treaty, the Committee of the 
Regions will also have to be consulted. 
In looking towards the period 1995-1998, the Commission is seeking 
to consolidate its contribution through catalytic action, leading 
to innovative development within the Member states. In this 
perspective, the Commission considers it necessary to streamline 
and rationalise the existing programmes, reducing their number as 
necessary, whilst reinforcing those aspects which appear to be 
most promising in terms of the European added value and stimulus 
they can offer. 
Thus, the purpose of this working document is to present the 
Commission's approach to the elaboration of the new programme 
proposals. This will permit the Community institutions and all 
other interested parties to be informed of the Commission's 
approach and provide the opportunity for them to present their 
views and to be associated closely with the forthcoming stages of 
preparation of the proposals. 
4L 
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SITUATION AND CHALLENGES 
The Member states of the Community share values (such as human 
rights, civic responsibilities and openess to the world) which are 
transmitted to the rising generations through education and 
training. Furthermore, the widespread consensus about the 
importance of equality of opportunity in democratic societies has 
resulted, in the decades after World War II, in a dramatic 
expansion of education inspired not only by the needs of the 
economy but also by the conviction that the personal development 
of all children would benefit society. In the rapidly changing 
and turbulent world of today, these cultural values of education 
and training need to be re-affirmed and re-inforced, and provide 
the basis for the emerging European identity and citizenship. 
This view of the role of education in European society is being 
singularly enriched by the growing realisation that education and 
training is a vital component of economic strength and cultural 
development. The nations of Europe, with all their political and 
cultural diversity, have long recognised that their future is 
dependent on the skills, ingenuity, inventiveness and creativity 
of people. Industrialisation and the growth of education have gone 
hand-in-hand. Yet all Member States share concern about their 
competitive edge and their capacity to generate sustainable 
economic growth. Over the last few years a growing consensus has 
emerged throughout the European Community, as in other parts of 
the world, that so-called "human or intangible capital" is the 
most vital resource of advanced economies, without which the 
natural endowments of nations, their financial power and fixed 
capital will become dwindling resources. This is not only a 
question of men and women acquiring new skills and knowledge, but 
also of the vital need to develop the capacity to organise and 
innovate. 
The quality of the education and training systems is of paramount 
importance to the harmonious development of the Member states, 
both in terms of securing a more vigorous economic performance as 
well as of promoting their social and cultural development. 
Severe economic pressures have accentuated the need to find 
better ways of developing a greater capacity to compete in world 
markets, and of enabling all citizens to realise their full 
potential, thus creating the basis for a more prosperous and 
cohesive society. The contribution of education and training is 
therefore a decisive factor in the economic and social strategies 
of Member States, all of which are actively engaged in the reform 
and adaptation of their systems to ensure a better performance in 
the coming years. 
The dramatic unemployment situation within the European Community 
and the growing threat of unemployment to both skilled and 
unskilled workers present immense challenges to the education and 
training systems. The transition of young people from school to 
adult life is proving more and more difficult, and both the 
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purposes of basic education and the quality and morale of the 
teaching profession are the subject of widespread concern. The 
position of girls and women requires special attention in this 
overall context, as does that of older workers. 
With the great economic, social and demographic changes taking 
place in our societies, more and more importance is being attached 
to the idea of providing flexible opportunities of lifelong 
learning to individuals, who are increasingly faced with several 
career changes during working life and with the growing threat of 
unemployment. The virtue of the concept of life-long education is 
that it could provide a new vision and a better framework for 
welding together in one integrated effort the various components 
of the education and training arrangements, often separately 
organised, and thus create much more dynamic and flexible 
education and training systems for the future. This would make 
economic, social and cultural sense. Access to education and 
training over the whole of working life will mean more mastery 
over time, and opportunities to break out of the rigid education-
work-retirement sequence in which people are still trapped. Such 
a strategy is essential to preserving and enhancing the vitality 
and originality of the European Community on the world stage. 
10. Until fairly recently initial access to education and training 
determined life-time opportunities and social position. Now it is 
recognised that the initial investment in qualifications and 
skills no long lasts over the whole of working life. Moreover, 
many people never get into the cycle of opportunities because of 
lack of initial qualifications, whereas others fall out of the 
system because their skills became obsolete not least because of 
the increasing rapidity of company and industrial restructuring. 
This is the inexorable economic and social logic which makes it 
necessary for individuals, enterprises and society to invest in 
human capital and develop arrangements which ensure a process of 
continuing or "life-long" education and training of the adult 
population. 
11. Amongst the different issues of concern in the Member states, 
particular attention should be paid to the following key points: 
clear possibilities for the individual to progress, from 
vocational and technical studies into higher education; 
continuity between initial and adult education and training, 
through credit transfer and accumulation; 
greater parity of treatment between students in technical 
training and those in general or academic education, and 
improved possibilities for an attractive career for students 
who have pursued technical and/or vocational training. 
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12. For these reasons, the early 1990s constitute a turning point. 
The priority given to education in public policy is now seen as 
the basis of a "qualifications for all" policy objective. The 
notion of a skills "gap" as a critical challenge clearly emerges 
from a wide range of reports from the European Community, the 
Member States and the social partners. Business leaders have 
begun to talk of a "qualifications society". The European Round 
Table of Industrialists, for example, has made a plea for 
education and training to be considered as one of the main pillars 
of the future development of the European Community; and the 
European social partners - employers and trade unions - have 
placed the question of skill and qualification needs as one of the 
highest priorities on the agenda of the social dialogue at 
European level. 
13. During the past year, the Commission issued three memoranda : 
vocational training for the 1990s, higher education for the year 
2000 and the potential of open and distance education. These 3 
memoranda have stimulated a wide-ranging debate in all Member 
States on the strategy to be pursued at Community level in the 
years ahead. The majority of responses received so far- - and 
taken into account in these guidelines - underline the vital need 
to strike a balance between the cultural, social and economic 
importance of education to the development of our societies. 
14. The completion of the Internal Market, the commitment to European 
Political Union and the growing significance of the European 
Community on the world stage, all have a profound influence on the 
lives of everyone in the community, perhaps most especially on 
young people. Indeed, there are signs that many young people are 
already demonstrating their wish to make their careers and plan 
their education and training in a European context. The question 
of the quality and standards of the education and training systems 
in Europe, and the importance of building much closer relations 
between them, are therefore widely recognised as an important 
priority for the community, a key to enhanced competitiveness but 
also to greater cohesion, solidarity and mutual trust within the 
Community. 
15. More specifically, the Internal Market will only deliver maximum 
potential if the skills and versatility of the present and future 
workforce is treated as a top priority, and if every effort is 
made to encourage cooperation between the workforces in all 
sectors through cooperative training efforts and comparability of 
qualifications. This is all the more true given the growing 
interpénétration of industrial and commercial cooperation and 
exchange, bringing in its train new patterns of voluntary (often 
short-term) mobility, especially for the highly skilled and 
qualified. Many firms are already giving a new European profile 
to their recruitment policies. Professionals and workers of all 
kinds who wish to move within the Community must have confidence 
that they can do so without difficulties arising from the 
particular qualifications they may have acquired in individual 
Member States. This is vital for business, commerce and trade, 
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and especially important for young people eager to exploit the 
opportunities opened up by the completion of the internal market, 
and of course in the educational field for teachers and trainers. 
Transparency is therefore required to facilitate the comprehension 
and comparison of vocational qualifications, certificates and 
diplomas. This is essential both for the individuals concerned 
and for companies seeking to recruit persons with good skills from 
other Member states. 
16. Young people especially hold the key to the future of Europe. 
They need to be equipped to play their part in building their 
Europe. Many young people already have an international and 
European outlook as well as a commitment to their own local, 
regional, and national identity. The demand from young people to 
be involved in joint European projects on a practical basis is 
massive - an unexpectedly significant source of pressure on 
systems to become more Europeanised, and thus to make greater 
commitment to the internationalisation of studies. 
17. To seize these opportunities, partnership between the Member 
States is vital in many sectors. This depends heavily on the 
capacity of the education and training systems to integrate a 
European dimension which would prepare young and older citizens 
and workers for a shared European future and for working together 
on collaborative projects, overcoming the linguistic and cultural 
barriers which often arise. The long-term, continuing 
responsibility for the process of changing attitudes must lie 
primarily with the different education and training systems in the 
Community working together in partnership in practical ways at all 
levels, and building on the strengths of their diversity. The 
major action programmes of the European Community launched since 
1987 (Annex 1) may be looked upon as providing basic European 
infrastructures to assist the Member States of the Community to 
make more rapid progress in this direction. 
18. The external role of the community is very much dependent on its 
internal strengths and capacities. This is self-evident with 
reference to the single Market which, because of the Community 
economic power it brings, makes the Community a necessary partner 
in trade and other economic negotiations. But it is also true that 
strong education and training systems in the Member States, 
helping them to be leaders in culture, science and modern economic 
capacities, will strengthen the Community's external role. Higher 
education in particular, and especially the universities, play a 
role at the frontier of culture and science, provide the highly 
qualified manpower to sustain Europe's growing role in world 
affairs, and the capacity to succeed in the service and 
manufacturing markets which are part of the global economy. 
19. In this context it is equally important to take into account the 
growing opening of the Community towards the outside world in 
particular through the development of cooperation with and 
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assistance to third countries. So far as EFT A is concerned, it 
has been agreed that those who are members of the European 
Economic Area will be able to participate in all Community actions 
in this field as from January 1995. 
II THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 
EXPERIENCE OF THE PROGRAMMES TO DATE 
20. Since their launching in 1987, several community programmes, 
most notably the trio of programmes - ERASMUS, COMETT and LINGUA 
have developed inter-university and higher education 
cooperation in Europe on a much larger scale than any previous 
international venture. The more than 1 billion ECU agreed by the 
Council for these 3 schemes and TEMPUS (higher education reform 
and cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe) over the last 
period complements the substantial training resources available 
through the European Structural Funds (the European Social Fund 
in particular). The Community R&D programme, now also moving 
into its next phase, also recognises the importance of the 
mobility of young researchers and of the need for further research 
in the area of education and training. 
21. By virtue of its catalytic action, the Community has helped Member 
states to move towards the target of enabling 10% of the student 
population to enjoy a recognised period of study in another Member 
State. This year, through the Community programmes, around 
100,000 students will be exchanged and well over half the 
universities and higher education institutions in the Community 
are involved in developing joint programmes. 
22. Moreover the Community programmes, notably ERASMUS, have fuelled a 
fresh approach to international academic cooperation in Europe. 
New international or European relations offices in universities 
provide widespread evidence of institutional commitment by 
universities and other institutions of higher education to a 
process of Europeanisation of their studies and teaching 
programmes. Better academic recognition arrangements, improved 
welfare services and increased cooperation in less internationally 
oriented disciplines are all signs of the new sense of priority 
assigned to European cooperation. 
23. Academic cooperation, promoted by ERASMUS, is now increasingly 
involving the Member states and regions which previously had 
little involvement in this way. For example, ten times more 
students will move from and to Portugal in 1992/93 than in the 
first year of the Programme. Broader geographical activity has 
led many institutions to overhaul their provision for foreign 
language learning, often in the lesser-used EC languages. A 
further significant indication of Community added-value is that 
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the majority of ERASMUS activities involve close cooperation 
between universities from several Member States. In sum, there 
has been an unquestionable enrichment of the whole European 
intellectual community. 
24. These programmes have contributed directly and indirectly to the 
fostering of contacts and interaction between policy-makers at 
different levels in the Member states. There has been growing 
interest in understanding and comparing the functioning of the 
education and training systems of the Member states. The 
Commission has supported a wide variety of complementary measures, 
such as comparative studies and support for the work of European 
associations in the field of education and training. These 
actions have contributed, through such exchange of experience and 
opinion-building, an informed and sensitive basis for community 
action in education and training, building on the rich diversity 
of experience and know-how available in the different regions. 
25. The success of the ERASMUS and other schemes lies especially in 
the fact that they were designed to unleash initiatives from the 
'bottom up' on an entirely voluntary and decentralised basis. 
They place the power of initiative firmly in the hands of the 
universities to seek and develop partners abroad. They involve 
the forging of joint agreements at an institutional •grass-roots' 
level so as to seek a lasting impact and a 'good return' for the 
Community's investment. They are increasingly linked with cross-
border and inter-regional projects of cooperation which have 
multiplied swiftly throughout the Community as 1993 approached. 
26. European cooperation in the field of vocational training, though 
less widely known and less easy to map, is now on a comparable 
scale. This is primarily company-driven as new networks and 
alliances are created across national frontiers between 
employers, trade unions and company directors responsible for 
human resources - often linking up regions or specific sectors 
(construction, textiles, technologies, telecommunications, bankers 
and financial services, etc.) and often arising on the back of 
collaborative European efforts in R & D and technology transfer. 
Even many of the smaller companies are building new partnerships 
in Europe as essential to their economic survival (e.g. 
Europartenariats). 
27. It was undoubtedly the stimulus of the ERASMUS model that led last 
year to the setting up of a large-scale initial vocational 
training exchange programme (age-group 16-20) - called PETRA -
which offers exchange opportunities to young trainees and 
apprentices (e.g. in the hotel and catering industry) to build in 
a European dimension to their learning experience. 100,000 youth 
training exchanges will be promoted over the next period. The 
Community's structural Policies have had their impact too in this 
respect. The transfer of training know-how between the North and 
South of Europe (in particular the Objective 1 regions) is 
becoming big business. 
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28. The FORCE, EUROTECNET and COMETT Programmes, complemented more 
recently by the Community Initiatives (EUROFORM) have initiated 
many new transnational partnerships to explore more effective ways 
of analysing skill and training needs, most especially in relation 
to the challenges faced by small and medium sized companies. They 
have also enabled specialists from all Member states to analyse 
the impact of technological change on qualifications and the 
training systems. The networks of partnerships thus created 
involve almost all regions, many sectors and the active engagement 
of the social partners. The experience of this IRIS network, 
moreover, has been invaluable in pinpointing good practices 
designed to promote equal opportunities for women and men in 
training. 
29. This pattern is developing spontaneously under the impact of the 
Internal Market: customs officials, police authorities, lawyers 
and judges, and many other sectoral groupings are getting together 
increasingly to train and be retrained and to learn each other's 
languages. This in turn is leading to the creation of jointly 
awarded training courses on a European basis, the emergence of 
many new European umbrella organisations in the different 
disciplines and sectors, and an even wider interest in the idea of 
credit transfer and comparability of qualifications across 
national frontiers. 
30. In these activities, the Commission has sought to encourage a 
bottom-up approach, based on Community supporting policies and 
programmes for the individual and institutional actors, so 
essential to the emergence of what can best be called a European 
training and qualifications market in which the individual citizen 
is free to develop his or her qualifications in the wider 
European context and to move across frontiers without difficulty. 
31. Evaluations of the efforts made at Community level over the last 
few years to establish a system for the comparability of 
vocational qualifications, developed with the assistance of the 
CEDEFOP, have demonstrated that a more flexible, step-by-step 
approach is necessary given the great variety of arrangements in 
the Member States. The expertise acquired in this field can 
nevertheless be further exploited by building close links across 
the Community between all the agencies responsible for the 
validation and certification of qualifications, complementing what 
has been achieved in the higher education field. Easy access to 
authoritative information on the value of qualifications remains a 
necessary requirement if the free movement of persons is to occur 
without impediment. 
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B. MAIN GUIDING PRINCIPLES 
Subsidiarity 
32. The new Treaty of Maastricht defines clearly the primary 
responsibility of the Member States for the organisation and 
content of the education and training systems. Articles 126 and 
127 (see Annex 2) refer specifically to the exclusion of any 
possibility of harmonisation of the systems. The role of the 
Community is complementary to that of the Member states, which 
themselves have different internal arrangements for policy making, 
notably in respect of the assignment of policy responsibilities to 
the regional level. Under the terms of the new Treaty, the 
Community would have the responsibility to contribute to improving 
the quality of education (Article 126) through promoting 
cooperation, and to developing a vocational training policy 
(Article 127). 
Cooperation and European added value 
33. Respecting subsidiarity, Community action is developing and should 
continue to develop at 3 levels : 
the encouragement of well-structured cooperation between the 
education and training systems 
the promotion of quality through innovation by exchanges of 
information and experience; and 
the launching of specific direct actions on a community-wide 
basis, where there is a clear advantage over action only at 
national level. 
34. The community has already played an important catalytic role in 
developing, over the last 10 years especially, an increasingly 
strong process of cooperation in these fields between the Member 
States. This has been achieved notably through the range of 
Community action programmes (see Annex 1) as well as through the 
contribution made to improvement of the training systems from the 
Structural Funds. Cooperation should be designed to promote ever 
closer relations between the different systems so that the 
planning of future reforms in individual Member states is 
illuminated by a comparative understanding of developments 
throughout the Community, as well as ensuring the necessary 
adaptation of national systems to contribute to the purposes and 
functioning of the European Community. This in turn should help 
the commission to contribute especially to the organised transfer 
of new ideas and methods of education and training to the priority 
regions in the Community. 
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35. Community action should seek to give a strong multiplier effect to 
the promotion of innovations which aim to improve the quality of 
education and training and set higher standards or new targets. 
These actions should focus on problems of common concern 
identified in collaboration with the Member states and exploit the 
new technologies wherever possible to produce the greatest 
possible impact. The potential of open and distance learning 
offers important new opportunities to achieve both economies of 
scale and greater impact in this respect, and the experience of 
the DELTA project can be exploited in this context. 
Need for apecific direct actions 
36. With the relatively limited financial resources available in this 
field, rigorous selectivity in terms of the areas targeted for 
Community support has had to be applied. This will continue in the 
future. The launching of a number of specific direct actions by 
the Community itself should permit the Community to provide added 
value to the individual efforts of Member states, to achieve 
economies of scale through pooling of effort, or provide a new 
dynamic to introduce actions which could not be achieved without 
such a Community stimulus. By virtue of their scale and the 
European networking involved, the Community could thus assist in 
speeding up the process of adaptation and help identify ways in 
which the Member States could then themselves sustain such 
initiatives subsequently. Here, a special effort would be made 
to link such innovatory Community action to the Community's 
'cohesion' policies, so as to secure a more significant impact on 
the mainstream of education and training policies and practices in 
the different regions of the community. 
Inter-action with Structural Policies 
37. Synergy between the different financial instruments at the 
disposal of the Community will be a sine qua non for this 
development. Steps are being taken by the Commission to ensure 
that all these different resources are harnessed and coordinated 
to best effect. The structural Funds have already contributed 
substantially to vocational education and training operations in 
the Member states, notably in the Objectives 1 and 2 Regions. The 
Commission considers that it is essential to identify and assess 
more clearly in future the additional and complementary effects of 
its contributions in increasing the quality of education and 
training in this field and the extent to which national policies 
and practices have been influenced by Community support. 
In this perspective, the synergy between Community vocational 
training policies and the Structural Funds needs to be reinforced, 
with special attention given to the future articulation of the 
Community's financial instruments with the policy objectives set 
out in Articles 126 and 127 of the new Treaty. This interaction 
needs to be established at both policy and operational level, so 
as to ensure the most effective impact possible on the mainstream 
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of national policies and practices. Specifically, efforts should 
be made to eliminate any possible duplication of effort, maximise 
the complementarity of the different actions and ensure real 
synergy and mutual reinforcement between them. 
Participation of all the parties concerned 
38. Because of the different levels at which responsibility for 
education and training policy is vested in the Member States, the 
emphasis on subsidiarity will give rise to an increasing demand, 
over and above the formal consultation of the new Committee of the 
Regions, for participation in decision-making and action by the 
different education and training partners. This involves 
regional, local and institutional authorities for education, and 
employers and trade union organisations at all levels for 
vocational training, including chambers of commerce and trade 
organisations, as well as the teaching professions and many 
voluntary bodies active in this field. 
39. This active participation of the many parties concerned at 
different levels will also assist in ensuring that they are then 
in a position to participate actively in Community action and in 
building the partnership arrangements which will ensure the 
success of the joint ventures to be launched at Community level, 
careful attention will therefore be paid by the Commission to the 
design of its consultation procedures in this field, building on 
the wide set of contacts already in place. 
C. METHODS AND OPTIONS 
40. In the design of all the Community programmes, the catalytic role 
of Community action to enhance competitiveness, greater cohesion 
as well as solidarity and mutual trust has been fostered by using 
three principal methods : 
firstly, networking, i.e. the creation of transnational networks 
of partner organisations and institutions facing similar problems 
and similar issues so as to promote the organised exchange of 
ideas and dissemination of good practice. This is essential to 
building a strong, lasting multiplier capacity in the different 
systems; 
secondly, mobility and exchange, i.e. the active encouragement of 
staff and students to gain direct experience in another Member 
State and also to promote long term collaboration between the 
education and training institutions involved. Reconnoitring 
grants for staff are specially important to help locate partners 
and create the basis for joint projects; 
thirdly, the mounting of joint transnational projects, i.e. 
projects between partners in different Member States which are 
committed to the organised transfer of innovative approaches to 
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education and training problems in a European framework and the 
introduction of a European dimension to the content of training, 
whatever the discipline or area of study. 
41. These three methods have been underpinned by a growing effort by 
the Commission, in collaboration with the Member states, to 
produce comparative analyses and data so as to inform policy 
makers in the different Member States and illuminate national 
policy-making by relevant, comparative European experience. These 
methods need to be tuned to serve the objectives of community 
actions set out earlier in this document, especially paragraphs 18 
to 21. 
42. The catalytic action of the Community in this field has been 
widely welcomed by all Member States. At the same time, 
experience has shawn that the existence of a range of Community 
programmes, sometimes targetting the same milieux even if the 
problems addressed differ, has given rise to some problems which 
need to be carefully examined in designing the next configuration 
of programmes. In particular, it will be essential to : 
avoid any impression of fragmentation of effort, by giving even 
clearer visibility to Community action so that the interested 
publics in the Member States can easily indentify the 
opportunities available at Community level; 
produce even better value for money by regrouping related 
activities so as to secure greater impact and economy of scale; 
streamline the machinery introduced at national level to act as 
interfaces with the Community programmes, so as to guarantee 
better articulation with national measures and as far as 
possible, decentralise the management of appropriate actions to 
the Member States; 
provide a clearer focus to the necessary accompanying 
evaluation arrangements, which should in turn reinforce the 
coherence and pertinence of Community action. 
43. Since 1987 the Commission has paid careful attention to the need 
to secure a balanced partipation of all Member States in the 
development of the Community action programmes. This has been 
especially important in view of the markedly different traditions 
and experience of Member States in these fields, and has also 
required a special information effort by the Commission in some 
Member States, most notably in the South. This principle should 
also guide future action and a vigorous policy of positive action 
should be defined in favour of those regions or Member states 
which experience difficulty, while maintaining the overall 
quality of the programmes. 
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44. It will be essential to build on the existing information efforts 
of the Commission to give even more visibility to future Community 
action. Since the Community action programmes in the field of 
education and training are among those having the most direct 
impact and visibility for Community citizens of all Community 
activities, it will be important that conditions ensuring the 
following be defined or adequately stressed already at the level 
of these guidelines : effective information of eligible 
beneficiaries, transparency, proximity to the citizen in the 
relevant procedures as well as considerations of fairness in 
respect of access to the benefits secured by participation. The 
issuing of Green papers by the Commission, underpinned by regular 
reviews of the programmes, can be seen as giving expression to 
that concern. 
PROPOSED ACTION LINES 
45. The two main action lines suggested below for the next phase of 
development seek to build on the achievements of the different 
programmes to date and to develop a new approach in line with the 
approach set out earlier in this document. It is intended that 
the specific programme proposals to be tabled later this year by 
the Commission will be based on this new approach. 
The Commission also considers it necessary to ensure a coherent 
approach between the Action lines developed below, and developing 
Community effort in the education and training field with respect 
to third countries. This relates especially to activities in 
Central and Eastern Europe within the PHARE and TACIS programmes, 
but also applies more widely e.g. the MEDCAMPUS project. 
A: Actions relating to universities/higher education and schools 
Bt Actions relating to training and qualifications. 
ACTION LINE A: 
46. Aim: To encourage innovation and improve quality of education 
through strengthening cooperation at Community level involving the 
active participation of universities and other higher education 
institutions. The action programme would provide for the exchange 
of persons, ideas, know-how and experience, strengthen links 
between research and higher education and training, and develop a 
European dimension to education, more particularly by promoting 
foreign-language teaching, cooperation in teacher training and the 
encouragement of exchange schemes for young people and schools and 
classes. 
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47. At the university and higher education level, ERASMUS and COMETT 
have been widely recognised as two successful flagship Community 
programmes. They have already contributed substantially to the 
aim of developing student and teacher exchanges between the Member 
States and of initiating voluntary cooperation schemes and 
projects. This action needs to be consolidated and reinforced. 
The Commission intends to continue to stimulate such action, 
building on the rich diversity of experience and voluntary 
participation of universities in the scheme. It will concentrate 
its efforts in the next phase on the following key points : 
(i) securing a commitment from Member States to the provision of 
additional resources to support large-scale student exchange to 
which Community funds are complementary. Community action must 
work progressively towards a situation where the Member States 
themselves are in a position to take over the continuing costs 
involved. 
(ii) strengthening the European network of inter-university 
partnerships so as to help to institutionalise the European 
dimension to teaching and studies in the different higher 
education systems; 
(iii) promoting a special effort through open and distance learning 
to deliver a European dimension to the teaching of those who 
are unable to have the opportunity to spend a period of study 
abroad and who, as "non-mobile" students, also need a European 
dimension to their studies; 
(iv) increasing the range of agreements for the academic recognition 
of diplomas and periods of study. 
48. In considering the options for the next stage of development, 
which will be presented by the Commission later this year, it will 
be essential to tune the community measures with the different 
national arrangements for financing of students for which Member 
States have the responsibility. Here, it will also be essential 
to explore ways to ensure at Community level the effective right 
of students to carry their grant or subsidy with them wherever 
they wish to study in the Community, and for many more students to 
secure the complementary finances necessary to pay the additional 
costs of travel and study abroad. The Community financial 
contribution is serving as a catalyst - it cannot and should not 
be the total funding source. 
49. The Commission considers that this reinforcement of Community 
actions could be best achieved in the next phase by regrouping 
some of the current activities in existing action programmes in a 
single coherent framework. This new framework could include the 
following components: 
the ERASMUS inter-university cooperation and exchange programmes 
(ICPs) ; the ERASMUS course credit transfer system (ECTS) ; the 
LINGUA university-level language-learning actions ; student 
placement in industry with a special focus on SMEs (COMETT); 
- 15 -
cooperation in the field of teacher training ; open and distance 
learning for the 'non-mobile' students ; and the development of 
the European dimension to teaching and studies, in particular by 
the creation of European "chairs".<1) 
In the next phase, it will also be necessary to strengthen the 
links with the Research and Development Framework programme, 
particularly for the mobility of researchers, so that the teaching 
and research programmes of universities are enriched through well-
coordinated Community action in these related fields of 
interest.<2) 
50. This regrouping of higher education activities in a single 
framework could usefully be accompanied by streamlining the 
Commission's consultation procedures with the establishment of a 
single committee covering all activities concerning universities 
and non-university higher education. This would also provide a 
valuable forum for discussion and reflection on higher education 
trends and developments in the community, and as an instrument to 
review the progressive development of a European dimension to 
higher education. This committee could be invited to discuss 
matters of common interest to Member states affecting the 
development of universities, drawing on Member States' reactions 
to the Memorandum on higher education (e.g. access arrangements, 
numerus clausus, quality assessment, etc.). 
51. At the level of school education, once the Treaty has been 
ratified, the commission intends to produce a Green Paper setting 
out suggestions as to the most effective ways and means of 
creating the necessary partnership arrangements in this field 
with national, regional and local authorities in the form of a 
wide-ranging cooperation scheme, building on the cultural and 
linguistic diversity of Member States. The purpose of the Green 
Paper will be to help identify the most appropriate catalytic 
role for Community actions and the key priority objectives and 
specific actions to be pursued at European level. 
52. The LINGUA Programme, launched in 1989, has already initiated 
cooperation between the Member States so as to strengthen their 
foreign-language teaching arrangements, in particular to 
encourage the teaching of all community languages. whereas some 
aspects of the present programme could be linked directly in 
future with the higher education framework set out above, action 
directed at schools and the training of teachers could be linked 
with other measures designed to promote a European dimension to 
education in the school systems, to be formulated in the light of 
(1) In this respect the Jean Monnet action represents a direct 
information effort and a provision of knowledge on European 
integration for universities, young people and citizens. 
(2) For further information : 2nd Commission Working Paper on RDT 
policy in the Community and the 4th Framework Programme 
(1994-1998) on Community RDT Action. COM(93)158 final. 
- 16 -
the reactions to the above-mentioned Green Paper. In this 
context, account will need to be taken of the forthcoming report 
to be issued by the Commission on the education of migrant 
children, and on the importance of measures to combat racism and 
xenophobia - measures called for at the European Council in 
Edinburgh in December 92 and in the recent Resolution of the 
European Parliament. 
53. While it is clear that Article 126 of the new Treaty stipulates 
that "the Community shall contribute to the development of quality 
education", Member States have responsibility for education policy 
and for the organisation of their systems. Member states 
themselves have firmly recognised the need for comparative 
analysis of policy issues of common concern and pooling of 
research and for the more systematic transfer of information and 
experience (e.g. school failure, the problems of unqualified 
school-leavers, the initial and in-service training of teachers). 
54. The Council has invited the commission to propose ways of 
consolidating the existing information network (EURYDICE), which 
maintains links between all the national education authorities and 
the Commission, and provides the necessary underpinning to promote 
ever closer links between the national education systems. The 
Commission will present its proposals later this year on the basis 
of the guidelines laid down by the Education Council. Moreover, 
under the terms of the Research and Development Framework 
Programme, a new, specific effort will be made to support 
concerted research on key issues concerning the future of 
education and training, with a view to strengthening the Member 
States combined research potential in the education and training 
fields and for the more effective dissemination and exploitation 
of research results. Special attention will be given - again in 
line with guidelines set by the Education Council - to comparative 
criteria and methods regarding the evaluation of universities 
teaching performance. In this context, EUROSTAT is expected to 
play a key role in the development of appropriate educational 
indicators. 
55. The Community is already working with the Member states to ensure 
that young people are involved in the process of building Europe, 
encouraging active participation by young people in their out-of-
school activities, and creating opportunities for cooperation 
between young "leaders", young workers and young volunteers. The 
current "Youth for Europe II" programme provides a sound basis for 
this work, with the active participation of national youth 
agencies from all Member states, and has created a working 
infrastructure for youth exchanges and collaborative projects. 
56. This specific action cannot be combined with the actions targeted 
at the school systems, since neither the target groups nor the 
objectives nor the authorities responsible are the same. 
Responsibility in this field is with national Ministries for youth 
and/or culture and a range of voluntary and youth organisations. 
For these reasons, it will be essential to maintain a separate 
- 17 -
effort in this field. The commission therefore envisages to 
develop the next phase in the light of the new provisions of 
Article 126 of the new Treaty, thus giving a positive signal and 
fresh impetus to the efforts made by Member states to prepare 
young people for their future as citizens in the European 
Community. A specific communication will be presented on youth 
questions. 
ACTION LINE B 
57. Aim : the Community's vocational training policy should be 
designed to support and complement measures developed by and in 
the Member States, with a view to setting higher training 
standards and also creating a transparent European area so far as 
skills and qualifications are concerned, thus permitting the 
effective application of the right to free movement of persons. 
To this end, Community action will fully respect the Member 
States' responsibility for the organisation and content of 
vocational training. The Community should devise a coherent 
framework to help implement its vocational training policy and at 
the same time give a European dimension to the arrangements made 
by the Member States. 
In practical terms, the Community's policy must be properly 
anchored in a single Community vocational training programme. The 
Community vocational training programme would include two 
complementary parts, which respect the principle of subsidiarity, 
as follows : 
(a) a common framework of objectives, designed to support and 
complement the policies and measures adopted by the Member 
States, bearing in mind the responsibilities of the 
parties concerned under national law, with a view to 
promoting the coherent development of vocational training 
among the Member States and the progressive convergence of 
their initiatives ; 
<D) a number of supporting measures implemented at Community 
level, designed to support and complement activities 
developed by and in the Member states. 
58. The current programmes in the vocational training field are based 
on Council Decisions which contain a framework of policy 
objectives in relation to their different fields of action. The 
regrouping of vocational training policy guidelines in one common 
framework of objectives would promote a new quality in the 
partnership between the Community and the Member States which 
would aim at realizing common objectives relating to the different 
parts of the vocational training systems and arrangements, eg. 
improving the quality of initial and continuing training, giving 
all young school leavers a recognized qualification, facilitating 
access to training, promoting investment in training as an 
essential part of companies' corporate strategy, developing a 
- 18 -
European market of qualifications and strengthening the role of 
training in technological transfer and in adaptation to industrial 
changes and the promotion of equal opportunities for women and 
men. 
59. The Community programme should be closely aligned with two other 
Community instruments : 
the Structural Funds, particularly the Social Fund, which support 
the policy of cohesion through the CSFs and Community initiatives. 
Vocational training policy should therefore have maximum synergy 
with the policy of cohesion so as to enable, where possible and 
appropriate, the extension and multiplication of action under the 
community Programme referred to above and achieve enhanced 
participation of all concerned ; 
the Research and Development Framework Programme, which should be 
strengthened by developing measures aimed at continuing training 
to ensure that innovation and the results of research are 
transferred and fully exploited, especially by small and medium-
sized businesses, by means of well-targeted continuing training 
arrangements. 
The supporting Community measures would comprise three 
complementary and integrated parts, based on the achievements of 
the current programmes : 
Strand A : Networks of Resource Centres 
Strand B : Support for Innovation : Transnational projects and 
joint products 
Strand C : Analysis and Research. 
STRAND A : Networks of Resource centres 
60. These "Networks" at national, regional and sectoral level would be 
concerned with activities covering all forms of vocational 
training (initial, continuing and advanced) and would seek to 
develop a more effective interplay between Community action and 
the policies and practices of the Member States. They would also 
represent the support structure for the development of measures to 
improve the matching of qualifications supply with labour market 
demand in relation to technological change as well as for 
promoting trans-national training partnerships. 
The main tasks of this network would be : 
the monitoring and comparative analysis of the programme's 
impact at national level, including in particular the 
mainstreaming of actions promoting equal opportunities for 
- 19 -
women and men; the setting up and monitoring of projects; the 
development of arrangements for the exchange of information and 
know how and its diffusion. 
- at regional and sectoral level: the analysis of training and 
qualification needs ; the provision of training audits for 
SMEs; the transfer of innovation in technology and learning 
methods, particularly to SMEs ; the encouragement of the 
geographical mobility and exchange of young people and trainers 
and the strengthening of arrangements for guidance and 
counselling. 
The networks could be organised in collaboration with national 
co-ordinating and evaluation units, which could merge the 
national units for the current programmes (COMETT, FORCE, 
PETRA, EUROTECNET and IRIS). It would of course be for the 
Member states to determine the appropriate location of such 
coordinating and facilitating mechanisms. 
They would also involve the networking the regional or 
sectoral consortia on a transnational basis. These consortia 
could be based on the University Enterprise Training 
Partnerships (COMETT UETPs) which would need to consolidate 
their partnership arrangements with regional authorities, the 
social partners, companies and other training agencies in the 
regions concerned. 
61. The regional and sectoral consortia could also act as resource-
centres for supporting Community action, by offering a framework 
to encourage the mobility and exchange of young workers and young 
people in training, building on exchange arrangements developed 
under the PETRA programme. These consortia could also be usefully 
involved in assisting the implementation of other Community 
policies through developing appropriate training measures - e.g. 
environment, SMEs and R&D. The community-wide coverage of the 
existing COMETT partnerships constitutes a rich asset and should 
be consolidated in this perspective. 
STRAND B : Support for innovation : transnational projects and joint 
products. 
62. This strand would be focused on the identification, pooling and 
dissemination of training innovations, it would primarily be 
aimed at those responsible for training at the local and regional 
level, mainly companies and training providers, it would 
endeavour to bring them together in transnational partnerships in 
which they would pool their expertise in projects on common 
priorities. 
63. It would also support the design and development of transnational 
training projects. These would have a common content and would 
provide innovative solutions to common training issues. They 
should lead to the development of high quality transferable 
- 20 -
products to be disseminated through the European network to all 
interested companies and training providers. The products should 
be highly innovative, based on jointly formulated methods, modules 
and materials and should have a clear demonstration value. 
64. In developing this strand the European network would draw on a 
pool of Community expertise to : 
* help training providers and companies in the different Member 
States to set up and run transnational partnerships and to 
develop the training projects ; 
* help national co-ordination and evaluation units to assess and 
monitor projects. 
* help disseminate good practices with regard to the promotion of 
equal opportunities for women and men - so as to produce a 
better impact on the mainstream of national systems. 
STRAND C : Analysis - Research 
65. The purpose would be to improve mutual understanding of vocational 
training systems and mechanisms. It would promote their quality 
and efficiency by means of well-structured arrangements for 
exchange of information and analysis. This would help achieve 
comparable information and data, common understanding of concepts 
and indicators and develop - in close cooperation with Member 
States - research and analytical tools on central issues for the 
training systems and mechanisms. In this context, the experience 
of EUROSTAT will be exploited to further develop aspects of 
methodology and comparability of statistics to support of the 
Community's vocational training programme. 
66. This would help decision makers to place their national systems 
and practices in a European perspective, and facilitate transfer 
of know-how, particularly to the countries which are currently 
restructuring their training and qualification arrangements. It 
would be of special value for the Objective 1 regions of the 
Community. 
67. The work carried out under Strand C would yield important material 
for the European Forum on vocational training to be organised in 
future on a regular basis by the Commission. It could also 
contribute to the production of a periodic European report on the 
vocational training situation in the European Community - a 
complement to the Commission's regular Employment Report. 
68. In this context, the CEDEFOP should be called upon to play a more 
pivotal role in assisting the Commission to compare and 
disseminate research findings in the training field, focussing 
especially on the need to give a European dimension to the 
training of trainers and on the publication of authoritative, up 
- 21 -
to date comparative material on the organisation and functioning 
of the different training and qualification systems. CEDEFOP 
would serve as a platform for exchange of experience between 
practitioners. 
69. This vocational training programme could make use of telematic 
connections between the national, regional and sectoral units to 
increase information exchange. The programme might also give a 
major boost to the development and dissemination of open and 
distance learning methods and materials, giving the network and 
the joint projects a completely new scale and sense of innovative 
dynamism. It would also give tangible form to the idea of an open 
training and qualifications area in the Community. 
70. The Commission's Advisory Committee on Vocational Training would 
advise on the development of the community's training policy and 
be in a position to overview the Community's vocational training 
programme and its coherence with structural policy at Community 
level. The coordination structures established in the Member 
States should facilitate follow-up to the Community programme and 
its links with other Community interventions, particularly the 
European Social Fund. They could assist in giving more attention 
to the necessary co-responsibility for the evaluation and 
monitoring of Community action. 
CONCLUSION 
71. The two main axes of action set out above correspond closely to 
the spirit and terms of Articles 126 and 127 respectively of the 
new Treaty. As soon as the Treaty is ratified, the commission's 
aim is to present a communication to the Council concerning the 
implementation of Articles 126 and 127, in a coherent framework. 
This Communication will complement the programme proposals which 
the Commission has to present before the end of the year. 
ANNEX 1 
ACTION PROGRAMMES IN THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING FIELD 
A range of specific action programmes have been launched at Community level 
from 1987 onwards: 
COMETT (Programme on cooperation between universities and industry 
regarding training in the field of the technology), launched in 1986, 
was conceived as an education and training counterpart to the ESPRIT 
R+D programme and aimed to create greater synergy between university 
and industry to improve the quality of training for technological 
change. 
The ERASMUS programme (European community action scheme for the 
Mobility of University Students), set up in 1987, aimed at promoting 
cooperation between universities in order to bring about greater 
mutual recognition of qualifications as well as to encourage much 
greater mobility of students and staff between institutions 
throughout the Community. The commission set a target of 10% for 
mobility of students within the EC. 
EUROTECNET (Action programme to promote innovation in the field of 
vocational training resulting from technological change in the 
European community) had its origins in the 1983 Council Resolution 
setting training policies for the 1980s and, building on a 3-year 
preparatory phase, became formalised from 1990 as a programme 
addressing the impact of technological change on qualification 
systems and on training methodologies. 
From 1988, PETRA (Action Programme for the vocational training of 
youth people and their preparation for adult and working life) grew 
directly out of the previous Community Action Programme on the 
transition of young people from school to adult and working life, and 
was designed to take account in particular of concerns arising from 
high young unemployment by setting new standards for initial 
vocational training in the Community. 
Youth for Europe (Action programme for the promotion of youth 
exchanges in the Community) was formalised in 19 88 as a focus for a 
range of initiatives designed to give an impulse for out-of-school 
exchanges of young people and had its origins in the Adonino Report 
on a People's Europe adopted by the European Council in 1985. 
IRIS (European Network of Vocational Training Projects for Women), 
launched in 1988, grew out of the 1987 Council Recommentation on 
access by women to vocational training by creating a European network 
to support innovation in vocational training directed at the more 
effective participation of women. 
n 
- 2 -
LINGUA (Action Programme to promote foreign language competence in 
the European Community), launched in 1990, focused on the growing 
concern about the Achilles heel of so many Community efforts, namely 
the need for more citizens to be able to communicate through at least 
two languages other than their own. 
In 1990, the Community also launched the TEMPUS scheme (Trans-
European Mobility Scheme for University studies) designed to support 
the transformation of the higher education systems in Central and 
Eastern European countries. This scheme is an integral part of the 
PHARE Programme set up by the Community to provide assistance in the 
economic and social restructuring of Central and Eastern European 
countries. 
In 1991, FORCE (Action Programme for the development of continuing 
vocational training in the European Community) was launched, focusing 
on policy development, innovation and exchange of experience 
regarding continuing vocational training. 
A comparatively recent development has been the opening of COMETT (since 
1990) and ERASMUS (since 1992) to the participation of the EFTA countries, 
thereby enhancing the truly trans-European nature of these programmes. The 
European Economic Area agreement, once it has entered into force, will entail 
opening all EC education and training programmes to EFTA participation from 1 
January 1995. 
- 3 -
EC EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES 
TABLE 1 > EC EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMMES 
Short title 
COMETT 
ERASMUS 
PETRA 
I YOUTH FOR 
| EUROPE 
I IRIS 
EURO! ECNET 
LINCUA 
TEMPUS 
| FORCE Full title 
Programme on cooperation between universities and 
industry regarding training in the held of technology 
European Community action scru-me for the Mobility of 
University Students 
Action Programme for the vocational training of young 
people and their preparation for adult and working life 
Action programme for the promotion of youth exchange» 
in the Community - "Youth for Europe" programme 
European Network of Vocational Training Projects for 
Women 
Action programme to promote innovation in the field of 
vocational training resulting from technological change In 
the European Community 
Action Programme to promote foreign language 
competence in the European Community 
Trans-European Mobility Scheme for University Studies 
Action Programme for the development of continuing 
vocational training in the European Community Duration 
1986-94 
1987-
1988-94 
1988-1994 
1988-93 
199& 94 
1990-94 
1990-94 
1991-94 Budget execution 
up to 1992 
(MECU) | 
206,6 1 
307,5 | 
797 
32,2 
0.75 
7.0 
683 
194 
313 
ft 
ANNEX 2 
TREATY ON EUROPEAN UNION 
***** 
CHAPTER 3 
Education, vocational training and youth 
Article 126 
1. The Community shall contribute to the development of quality 
education by encouraging cooperation between Member states and, if 
necessary, by supporting and supplementing their action, while 
fully respecting the responsibility of the Member states for the 
content of teaching and the organization of education systems and 
their cultural and linguistic diversity. 
2. Community action shall be aimed at : 
developing the European dimension in education, 
particularly through the teaching and dissemination of the 
languages of the Member States; 
encouraging mobility of students and teachers, inter alia 
by encouraging the academeic recognition of diplomas and 
periods of study; 
promoting cooperation between educational establishments; 
developing exchanges of information and experience on 
issues common to the education systems of the Member 
States; 
encouraging the development of youth exchanges and of 
exchanges of socio-educational instructors; 
encouraging the development of distance education. 
3. The Community and the Member States shall foster cooperation with 
third countries and the competent international organizations in 
the field of education, in particular the Council of Europe. 
4. In order to contribute to the achievement of the objectives 
referred to in this Article, the Council : 
acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in 
Article 189b, after consulting the Economic and Social 
Committee and the Committee of the Regions, shall adopt 
incentive measures, excluding any harmonization of the laws 
and regulations of the Member States; 
acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the 
Commission, shall adopt recommendations. 
<£Y 
Article 127 
1. The Community shall implement a vocational training policy which 
shall support and supplement the action of the Member States, while 
fully respecting the responsibility of the Member States for the 
content and organization of vocational training. 
2. Community action shall aim to : 
facilitate adaptation to industrial changes, in particular 
through vocational training and retraining; 
improve initial and continuing vocational training in order 
to facilitate vocational integration and reintegration into 
the labour market; 
facilitate access to vocational training and encourage 
mobility of instructors and trainees and particularly young 
people; 
- stimulate cooperation on training between educational or 
training establishments and firms; 
develop exchanges of information and experience on issues 
common to the training systems of the Member states. 
3. The Community and the Member States shall foster cooperation with 
third countries and the competent international organizations in 
the sphere of vocational training. 
4. The Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in 
Article 189c and after consulting the Economic and Social Comittee, 
shall adopt measures to contribute to the achievement of the 
objectives referred to in this Article, excluding any harmonization 
of the laws and regulations of the Member States. 
26 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM (93) 183 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 04 16 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-229-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-55710-9 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
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