COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
C0MC90) 79 final 
Brussels, 13 March 1990 
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL DECISION 
amending Decision 84/636/EEC establishing a third joint programme 
to encourage the exchange of young workers within the 
Community 
YOUNG WORKERS* EXCHANGE PROGRAMME 
REPORT 1988-1989 
(presented by the Commission) 
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P X P L A HA TORY Jt p M Q R A Iff _U H-M 
•Ehe third joint programme to encourage the exchange of young workers within 
the Community is the latest version of the oldest youth exchange programme 
launched by the EBC Commission (1964). Several other programmes for young 
people have been introduced, especially in the 1980s, also directly aliced 
at young people or in support of the main activities that are proposed and 
supported, (OQMETT, ERASMUS, PEKRA, and most recently, UNGOA). The Youth 
for Europe action programme adopted in 1988 for three years, of which the 
first year of implementation has just ended seeks only to promote exchanges 
of young people living in the Member States of the Oommunity. 
The Commission communication to the Council, education and training in the 
European Octramunity - medium-term guidelines: 1989-1992 (O0M(89) 236 final) 
with respect to the third programme to promote exchanges of young workers 
and the Youth for Europe Action Programme states that "the Commission 
intends to examine the scope for simplifying the presentation of the 
opportunities available to the youth public by these two programmes and 
also to streamline their administration. For this reason, the phasing of 
two schemes will be synchronized to permit a more coordinated approach in 
future by the Commission to youth exchanges of all kinds. For any new 
arrangements to be introduced in good time for an integrated scheme, the 
Council will have to decide on the Commission's proposals not later than 
(June 1991." 
Generally speaking, it would be useful to recall that young people 
throughout the Community should be seen in the light of certain common 
factors, whatever their relative demographic weight, namely: 
- the young population is the most seriously affected by the eoonomio 
recession (1 in 4 young men and 1 in 3 young women are unemployed and/or in 
a precarious social economic situation); 
- most Member States are faced with problems linked to the existence on 
their territory of a growing number of young people who are not nationals 
of the country and are frequently of non-Coranunity origin, whose de facto 
position in our 
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societies cannot i>3 called into question on historical, ideological or 
legal grounds, and whose cultural contrilxition is an asset for our 
countries; 
- the young people are is the key to European construction, hence the 
importance attached to their education, vocational training and enhancing 
their awareness of Europe which will Increase their sense of responsibility 
towards the building of Europe in which they live and which they will carry 
forward. 
In this general context, and more particularly with a view to completion of 
the internal market in 1993, sufficient time must be allowed the Commission 
to make an overall assessment and formulate coordinated proposals regarding 
programmes for exchanges of young people. This assessment of proposals 
will in particular concern: 
- the role of the Community as a promoter of exchanges, 
- development of the effects of programmes of exchanges of young people, 
especially with regard to the principle of subsidiarity and therefore 
national undertakings in this field, 
- the access of young people as a whole to exchanges organized with 
Community support; 
- an administrative and financial framework providing a coherent approach, 
a realistic policy and fair access to Community activities for young 
people. 
To this end, it is therefore important to extend by one year the period of 
validity of the programme and the review by the Council of the exchange 
programme for young workers until 31 December 1991. The Commission will 
prepare an assessment by this date and proposals relating to the two 
programmes in accordance with the above considérations. 
4 -
Proposal for a 
COUNCIL DECISION 
amending Decision 84/636/EEC establishing a third joint programme 
to encourage the exchange of young workers within the 
Community 
THE OOQNCn. OP THE EORÛPEAN OCMMDNTTIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economio Community, 
and in particular Article 235 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament1, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economio and Social Committee2, 
Whereas the Community is called upon to take practical measures to help 
young workers; 
Whereas it is the responsibility of the Member States, under Article 50 of 
the Treaty, to encourage the exchange of young workers within the framework 
of a joint programme; 
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Whereas Council Decision 84/636/EEC establishes a third joint 
programme to encourage the exchange of young workers within the 
Community; 
Whereas the Council also adopted the action programme, Youth for Europe 
under Council Decision 88/348/EBC ; 
Whereas the European Council on 28 and 29 «June 1985 adopted the conclusions 
of the ad boo Committee for a People's Europe recommending the promotion of 
youth exchanges within the Community and the establishment of a genuine 
network of exchanges in each Member State and between the Member States; 
Whereas there is a need to enable young people to envisage and carry out 
exchanges in a coherent framework, and thus for the Commission to present 
possibilities for exchanges under the fourth exchange programme for young 
workers and the Youth for Europe action programme in this context; 
Whereas it Is necessary to extend for one year the validity of the 
programme of exchanges for young workers to make possible this synchronized 
and coherent development, 
HAS UHWIJW) AS FOLLOWS: 
f 
Ï Sole Article 
f 
l Article 12 of Decision 84/636/EEC is repUe-ed by the following: 
i 
i 
\ "Article 12 The Council shall review this Decision, on a proposal from the Commission, 
by 31 December 1991." 
Done at For the Council 
30J No L 331, 19.12.1984, p. 36. 
40J No L 158, 25.6.1988, p. 42. 
6 -
(no changes are made to the body of the basic decision) 
1. Budget item and title of the operation 
B-G630 
Third joint programme to encourage the exchange of young workers within the 
dnnnnuTid tv. B-G630 
Third w 
Community 
2. Iiftgftl. frtftin 
Article 8 of Council Decision 84/636/EEC of 13 December 1984. 
Article 235 of the EEC Treaty. 
3. Propre classification 
Non-obligatory expenditure 
Kon-dissooiated appropriations 
4. Description 
Objectives: to encourage the exchange of young workers within the 
Community 
Target group: young workers aged 18 to 28 years. 
5. tftifitlfloation 
Under Article 50 of the EEC Treaty, the Member States are responsible, 
within the framework of a joint programme, for promoting ttoe exchange of 
young workers to enable them to extend, in a Member State other than their 
country of residence, their vocational training, cultural and linguistic 
skills and knowledge of human nature. 
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6. Financial impact of the programme on operational appropriations 
6.1. The appropriations considered necessary to extend the programme through 
1991 will be included in the future appropriation for this financial 
year in the framework of the present financial prospects for 1988-1992, 
jointly agreed by the three institutions in June 1988, and their 
development. 
6.2. Nature of expenditure 
Flat rate weekly contribution per trainee, contribution to the cost of 
language courses and travel, technical assistance for the administration of 
the programme. 
Average subsidy per participant per week is BCD 115 (1989). The flat rate 
weekly contribution per participant was raised by BCD 10 in 1989. 
These are short periods of training (three weeks to three months) or longer 
periods (4 to 16 months). 
6.3. Calculation: average cost per participant and total budgetary impact 
- Short courses (per participant : 1.496.77) : 3.700.000 ECUs 
- Long courses (per participant : 2.359.73) : 1.800.000 ECUs 
- Technical assistance, assessment 500.000 (see point 10) 
out of a total indicative amount of 6.000.000 ECUs in 1991. 
7. Fiscal Implications 
None 
8. Type of monitoring 
(a) Financial control is assured by the competent Commission departments 
with respect to the conformity of expenditure and execution of the budget; 
(b) technical control is provided by the competent Commission departments, 
especially the Task Force for Human Resources, Education, Training and 
Youth. 
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9. Financial implications on staff and operating appropriations 
None 
10. Technical assistance 
The Commission has drawn up a technical assistance contract with an outside 
organization to be responsible for the following tasks: 
(a) to assist the Commission in the development and monitoring of detailed 
criteria for making grants; 
(b) to prepare, in all the Community languages, Information and 
documentation on the operations in question; 
(c) to prepare working documents in selected Comssunity languages to assist 
the Commission in developing and reviewing policy orientations; 
(d) to prepare seminars, workshops, information and other meetings on 
insl^cuctions from the Commission, including meetings of AâviBory groups; 
(e) to provide such clerical, translation and secretarial assistance in the 
operation of this programme as the Commission may deem necessary; 
(f) to assist, on instructions from the Commission, with the development by 
Hsnber State authorities of effective mechanisms for the implementation of 
Community policies in this sector; and to monitor the effectiveness of such 
mechanismsl 
(g) to process enquiries as to the availability of grants; to analyse 
apïûioations and to provide advice to the Commission in the scrutiny of 
such applications as are received; 
(h) to operate, on instructions from the Commissi on, a payment system for 
such grants as the Commission shall determine; 
(i) to assist the Commission with 1&e development and application of 
evaluation processes; 
(J) to assist the Commission with the development of working materials for 
the "European'' dimension of the programme; 
(k) to advise the Commission on the potential impact of the extension of 
the programme to cover young people in other occupations (e.g. vocational 
training, etc). 
IMPACT CM gUFgriTIVENKSS AND Bffl/KMHET 
I. Wat Is the m1n jiifrMfioation for tlift moa/Mro? 
To promote the exchange of young workers within the Community (about 3 00 
participants per year). 
II. nvwvintffplBtios of the firms oonoerpflfl. In partl.oulftr: 
(a) Are many small businesses involved? 
All enterprises are concerned. 
(b) Have any concentrations been observed In regions 
. eligible for regional aid from the Member States? 
. eligible under the ERDF? 
No. 
III. fflyrt, flbillgfttflmff fvrft tilmrtrly Imjmyi m pr***? 
None. 
IV. yhftt, (MlfffttrlfTOfi my frft Ifflllrfitttly ligpasefl on firms vjft the loo*! 
None 
v. Are tforcre any ppoolftl romfnrrffi for mill latfrtnRfyyyf? Describe them 
None - 9 -
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VI. What is the foreseeable effect on 
(a) the competitiveness of firms? 
The reoeption by firms of young trainee workers who are nationals of other 
Member States will lead to a broadening of horizons and will develop 
practical knowledge about technioal developments, vocational training and 
the labour market at European level. 
(b) employment? 
The language and occupational skills acquired during a training period In 
another Member State will have a positive Impact on the stability of the 
Individual's employment and on the skills of workers in general. 
VII. Have the two sides of industry been consulted? What are their 
yjLswjs? 
No. 
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ANNEX 
YOUNG WORKERS' EXCHANGE PROGRAMME 
REPORT 1988-1989 
INTRODUCTION 
The Third Joint Programme to encourage the exchange of young workers was 
adopted by the Council in its decision of 13 December 1984 and covers the 
period 1985-1990. 
In general terms, this programme of exchanges for young workers is intended 
to provide an opportunity for participation in a Community scheme offering 
experience of living and working conditions in other Member States, 
fostering the skills necessary for adult and working life - including the 
( development of vocational knowledge and practical skills as well as the 
skills of interpersonal communication between individuals from different 
cultural backgrounds - and enabling participants to find interests in common 
with young people from other Member States and, above all, to develop an 
awareness of a shared European identity. 
The Commission sets the rules and guidelines of the scheme, but the running 
of individual projects is mainly the responsibility of the exchange 
organisers. Any organisation can apply for grants for Young Worker Exchanges 
so long as these comply with the guidelines. In each Member State there is a 
government representative who acts as a national coordinator for the 
exchange programme. 
EXCHANGE ORGANISERS 
Being entrusted with the responsibility of organising and implementing the 
exchanges, the exchange organisers remain the most important element in the 
( . structural framework supported by the Commission. The relationship between 
the Commission and each organiser is governed by contracts covering the 
individual exchange projects. These contracts define the conditions for 
implementing the exchanges, the obligations of the body or group involved 
and the financial responsibilities. 
The programme is open to young people between 18 and 28 years of age, who 
are either employed or available for employment and who have completed basic 
vocational training or have similar work experience. 
The exchanges range from the short-term, lasting 3 weeks to 3 months and 
which include study visits, work placements and a brief experience of the 
working environment, to the longer term, lasting 4 to 16 months and which 
are mainly work placements preceeded by a language and orientation course. 
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The majority of exchange organisers fall into two categories - those 
operating at European level and those operating primarily at national level 
but which have acquired a Community dimension. The organisers are 
principally involved in exchange programmes, vocational training programmes 
or a variety of social, cultural and educational projects aimed at target 
groups from particular professional or industrial sectors which have been 
networking for the purpose of developing exchanges of young people. This 
wide range of organisations has greatly contributed to the variety of 
sectors in which exchanges have been run within the programme. 
In 1989 a total 
Exchanges. of 29 organisations have received grants for Young Worker 
In 1988/89, there were three meetings 
the programme : with exchange organisers involved in 
- 23 March 1988 : a one day meeting in Brussels to clarify the 
existing administrative procedures with 
exchange organisers. 
- 24/27 September 1988 a "brainstorming meeting" at Lago Maggiore, 
Italy, with the purpose of gathering together 
both representatives of the main organisers and 
a number of outside experts to discuss : 
* options for the long-term development of the 
programme and 
* guidelines for the two remaining years of the 
Third Programme. 
c - 26/27 October 1989 : a two-day meeting in Brussels to discuss the 
administrative and financial aspects of the 
programme for 1990, to consider the statistical 
evaluation of the programme carried out by the 
Commission and to exchange points of view on the 
context and scope of the fourth programme. 
NATIONAL COORDINATORS 
The Commission is particularly anxious that exchange organisers liaise with 
coordinators to discuss exchange plans and that a copy of each project 
submitted to the Commission be sent to the pertinent national coordinator. 
A meeting was held with the national coordinators in Brussels on 24 October 
1388 to inform them of developments and to outline the perspectives of the 
fourth programme. 
No meeting of the national coordinators was held in 1989; a next meeting is 
planned for the beginning of 1990. 
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PRACTICAL RESULTS 1988-89 
From 1987 to 1988 the annual budget for the programme remained at 4.5 mio 
ECUs and in 1989 there was an increase of 500.000 ECUs to 5 mio ECUs. 
Despite this situation, the number of participants has increased from 2304 
in 1987 to 2676 in 1988 and approximately 2995**> in 1989. It should also be 
noted that in 1989 the flat-rate contributions per participant per week were 
increased by 10 ECUs allowing for an increase in the grant per participant 
per week. 
The average cost per participant per week in 1988 amounted to 141 ECUs and 
in 1989 this amount has increased to 154 ECUs and the average grant per 
participant per week increased from 117 ECUs in 1988 to 125 ECUs in 1989. 
The slight increase in both average cost and grant reflects, on the one hand 
the ability of organisers to reduce costs and, on the other, the ability of 
some organisers - essentially those new to the programme - to secure other 
sources of income and thus reduce the grant required. 
Projects are in principle approved on a biannual basis - at the beginning 
of and in June each year. This system has the advantage of allowing for a 
mid-year funding review. Organisers inform the Commission of any under-
utilization of monies granted; excess funds can therefore be recouped 
immediately and allocated to another project. 
SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM EXCHANGES 
As the Council Decision provides, exchanges are divided into short-term and 
long-term programmes, each having its own particular objectives within the 
overall guidelines. 
In 1988 and 1989 there was a decline in long-term exchanges. This is a 
result of several factors : 
- Increasing difficulty of finding work placements in general and 
particularly for foreign nationals in the different Member States. 
- Reluctance of young people who are employed to leave jobs, albeit 
temporarily, to participate in the Programme. 
- An increase of "medium-term" exchanges, usually of 13-16 weeks' duration 
and often preceded by a very short language course. These combine the 
objectives of short-term and long-term exchanges, while many of the 
difficulties involved in the long-term programmes are eliminated. 
(1) The 1989 figure is based on planned participant numbers of detailed 
applications and not, as for the preceding years on final, actual 
numbers* 
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C The Commission will, of course, continue to promote both types of exchange 
while ensuring that the programme is open to the maximum number of young 
people possible and that a relative balance is maintained between the 
economic sectors in which exchanges take place. 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 
There is still a degree of over-concentration at the centre of the 
Community; however, efforts to redress this imbalance are proving 
successful, and one of the priorities of the programme is to encourage the 
participation of young people from peripheral or disadvantaged regions. 
The Commission endeavours to ensure a general balance between the number of 
young workers received and those sent abroad on exchanges from each Member 
State. This principle of balance operates for the majority of exchanges and 
the Commission is anxious that it continues to underpin the basic aims of 
the programme wherever feasible. 
SECTORAL DISTRIBUTION 
Although in earlier years of the programme, the primary and secondary 
sectors dominated exchanges, the development of the tertiary sector of the 
Community's economy is reflected in the Young Worker Exchange Programme, and 
this sector is now the largest in the programme. 
PROFILE OF PARTICIPANTS 
Since unemployed young people were made eligible to participate in the 
programme, the proportion of unemployed participants has increased steadily 
from 46X in 1987 to 47% in 1988 and 49X in 1989, i.e. almost half of the 
participants in the programme are job-seekers. 
Another priority of the Third Programme is to offer equal opportunities to 
men and women. The Commission has endeavoured to ensure that young men and 
women are equally represented and that women are encouraged to participate 
in exchanges in new technology areas. In both 1988 and 1989, this aim was 
achieved, i.e. equality was complete and young women represented 
approximately 50X of all participants in the programme. 
TRAINING CONTENT OF THE PROJECTS 
The Third Joint Programme is not intended to offer the young person 
concerned basic vocational training and experience in another Member State 
.- 15 -
but rather provides a complement to the training and experience already 
acquired in his/her own country. The Commission continues to believe it is 
crucial that even short-term exchanges should have a genuine work experience 
content and that the work experience provided during long-term projects 
should be of sufficiently high quality and value to encourage employers and 
workers alike to participate in the scheme. 
FUNDING OF THE PROGRAMME 
Both in 1988 and 1989, the Commission had to refuse funding for a large 
number of exchange projects for budgetary reasons. The Commission's 
financial support of the exchange programme was always intended to act as 
an incentive to the development of young worker exchanges within the 
Community. It was never intended to cover the entire costs of each exchange 
project, although this is in fact the case in the majority of the exchanges. 
This situation obviously leaves much to be desired as it ultimately means 
that the number of young people who can participate in the programme is not 
as high as it might otherwise be. 
If we are to extend the programme and make it less dependent on Community 
funds it is vital for exchange organisers, in cooperation with national 
coordinators, to explore all possible sources of complementary funding, be 
they governmental, regional, local or private. The Commission considers that 
the Member States should continue their support at national level and their 
action if the programme is to have a real impact on young workers throughout 
the Community. 
The Commission will continue to encourage new exchange initiatives via 
subsidies other than the existing flat-rate weekly contribution. This 
practice will make it possible to achieve partially the aim of co-financing 
exchanges, since the subsidy system requires that the organisers seek other 
sources of funding. 
CONCLUDING REMARKS 
As mentioned earlier, there has been a progressive increase in the number of 
participants eventhough there has only been a limited increase in the 
budget. The Commission is also happy to note the constant increase in the 
number of new exchange organisers (in 1989 19 new organisations applied for 
a grant, 10 of these received grants). 
The impact of the information materials disseminated since 1988 is becoming 
evident and it should also be noted that requests for information from 
individuals, as well as from organisations, are still increasing. In 1989 
an in-depth evaluation of the programme took place, inter alia to prepare 
the way for the 4th Programme. 

ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(90) 79 final 
DOCUMENTS 
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