~ : AtSâ 
"'^'Çi'^S^S COMMISSION OF THE EUBOPEAN COMMUNITIES 
COM(93) 151 final 
Brussels, 5 Hay 1993 3 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE COUNCIL. THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 
EC EDUCATION & TRAINING PROGRAMMES 
1986-1992 
Results and achievements : an overview 
LIST OF CONTENTS 
PARTI 
Introduction 
1.1 Introduction Page 1 <^ 
1.2 The launching of Community Programmes Page 2 
1.3 Instruments of Cooperation Page 4 
PART II 
The Programmes and their achievements Page 10 
11.1 Increased mobility and cooperation in education and training Page 10 
11.2 Contributing to increased European competitiveness Page 14 
11.3 Economic and social cohesion in the European Community Page 20 
11.4 Bringing Europe closer to the citizen Page 22 
11.5 Transnational transfer of knowledge and expertise Page 25 
PART HI 
Conclusion Page 29 
- A -
PARTI 
Introduction 
II INTRODUCTION 
The European Community programmes in the field of education and training have aroused 
considerable interest in the Member States of the Community, and indeed outside it. At a 
time when there is much public debate about the added value of Community action, and 
growing recognition of the need to bring the Community closer to its citizens, it is opportune 
to take stock of the collective impact of the programmes to date. This review is therefore 
intended to provide a useful backcloth to the proposals for the future configuration of the 
programmes which the Commission has to present by the end of 1993. 
The frontier-free Community which will exist as of January 1993 will open up new 
opportunities for the citizens of the Community to move to live, work and study in other 
Member States. The completion of the internal market will also trigger off even more joint 
ventures in a wide range of fields, economic, social, and cultural. Cooperation at multiple 
levels through the many actors and bodies involved will provide the basis for the mutual 
trust which is essential to future collective and shared endeavours at EC level. Tapping the 
grass-roots and ensuring 'bottom-up' involvement in building the Community is widely 
perceived as a growing priority. 
Moreover, once the Treaty of Maastricht is ratified, its new provisions, notably Articles 126 
and 127, will introduce a clear basis for reinforced cooperation in the field of education and 
training as a complement to the measures taken by Member States themselves to promote 
the quality of their education and training systems and to develop a commitment to lifelong 
learning. 
Education and training is a cohesive force for economic and social development which 
touches all spheres of European Community development. The experience of the European 
Community programmes, documented in this paper, illustrates how education and training 
underpins other initiatives, for example in regional development, industrial growth and 
innovation, and research and technological development. This report concentrates on the 
specific education and training programmes launched during 1986-92, but readers should also 
take into account the education and training component within those other policy areas, 
particularly in research and technological development, where the Second and Third 
Framework Programmes have incorporated education and diffusion activities (notably the 
specific programme "Human Capital and Mobility"). 
The stakes are high. Without investment in the skills and versatility of the present and future 
workforce, the Community will not be competitive on the world stage. Equally, without a 
high quality education service throughout the Community, the cohesiveness of the EC will 
be impaired and the capacity to act together in harmonious (but not harmonised) concert will 
be endangered. 
Women too will play a vital role. For too long many women have not had the opportunity 
to develop their potential in the labour market. They have been concentrated in a narrow 
range of industries, often in low-skilled jobs with few opportunities for training and 
promotion. The future economic prosperity of the Community is closely linked to unlocking 
women's potential through ensuring greater access to and take-up of training. 
—1 <£X^ -
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. 
This brief overview will, it is hoped, show that over the past five years the Community has 
made a positive start, with the active collaboration of all Member States, in building the basis 
of a substantial long-term collaborative effort in these fields. This now needs to be developed 
further in partnership with all the different actors, at national, regional and local levels. The 
public, private and voluntary sectors are all involved and have shared in the pooling of 
experience and mounting of joint projects at Community level. They have welcomed and 
responded enthusiastically to the transnational cooperation between the different national 
systems and play a full part in the cross-fertilization of ideas and exchange of experience. The 
richness and diversity of national and regional systems and practices have not only been 
protected in this voluntary process but have served to stimulate new thinking about future 
lines of policy and practice. 
In preparing and implementing the programmes, the Commission has been able to draw 
upon the guidance of the Education Committee in the Council and also of its statutory 
Advisory Committee on Vocational Training. Each specific programme also has its own 
committee consisting of national representatives, and in several cases representatives of the 
social partners, which have ensured that the programmes are implemented and monitored 
in ways which are complementary to and supportive of policies in the Member States. 
In policy terms, the overall direction of development has been towards greater synergy and 
rationalisation. In terms of synergy, for example, the experience of programme development 
has contributed significantly to the thinking underlying the Community Initiative 
Programmes, in particular EUROFORM, which has in turn provided complementary support 
for FORCE and EUROTECNET. With regard to rationalisation, the Commission has been 
sensitive to areas where convergence is possible (eg through the amalgamation of the FORCE 
and EUROTECNET Committees, and the integration of the young workers' exchanges within 
the framework of PETRA), a process which was clearly formulated in the Commission's 
Memorandum on Rationalisation of Training Programmes presented in August 1990. 
1-2 THE LAUNCHING OF COMMUNITY PROGRAMMES 
The original impetus for the education and training programmes stems in part from the 
Action Programme in the field of Education agreed by the Council and Ministers of 
Education in 1976 and in part from the application of Article 128 of the Treaty of Rome. 
These decisions of Ministers of Education set out the central aims of Community action as 
well as the priority areas for attention, notably : 
• the promotion of closer relations between the education and training systems in Europe 
• increased cooperation between universities and institutions of higher education 
• improved possibilities for academic recognition of diplomas and periods of study 
• encouragement of the freedom of movement of teachers, students and researchers 
• the achievement of equal opportunity for access to education. 
The progressive development of the 1976 Education Action Programme sowed the seeds for 
the introduction of a range of specific action programmes launched at Community level from 
1986 onwards. The range and character of the action programmes reflected the common 
concerns already identified in 1976 but were a clear development out of them in so far as 
they were responding to a Community which was developing with a new dynamism and 
purpose. That new dynamic was particularly evident in the agreement to establish the Single 
Market and its timetable for completion, the development of the necessary human resources 
being quickly considered to be an essential pre-requisite for enabling the Market to function 
and fulfil its true potential. 
Each programme was problem-centered in terms of its initial motivation and raison d'être. 
• 1986 saw the launch of COMETT (Programme on cooperation between universities and 
industry regarding training in the field of technology), the first large scale programme launched 
in this area. It was conceived quite deliberately as an education and training counterpart to 
the ESPRIT programme in research and development and aimed to create greater synergy 
between university and industry with a view to improving the quality of training to master 
technological change. 
• The ERASMUS programme (European Community action scheme for the Mobility of 
University Students) was set up in 1987. It 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 the 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 young 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 youth 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 1988 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) grew out of the 1987 
Council Recommendation 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. 
• LINGUA (Action Programme to promote foreign language competence in the European 
Community) 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 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 re­
structuring 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 EFT A 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. 
The range of programmes is summarised in Table 1. 
TAW4S S * 8C «WCtfttW ANï> T8AÏNÏNO ?ROCHAMME$ 
Short title 
COMETT 
ERASMUS 
PETRA 
YOUTH FOR 
EUROPE 
IRIS 
EUROTECNET 
LINGUA 
TEMPUS 
FORCE Full title 
Programme on cooperation between universities and 
industry regarding training in the field of technology 
European Community action scheme 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 exchanges 
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 
1990-94 
1990-94 
1990-94 
1991-94 Budget execution 
up to 1992 
(MECU) 
206,6 
307,5 
79,7 
32,2 
0.75 
7.0 
68,8 
194 
31,3 
1.3 INSTRUMENTS OF COOPERATION 
In the design of all the programmes, the catalytic role of Community action has been fostered 
by using three main instruments (illustrated in Tables 3-5 on the following pages): 
• firstly, networking, i.e. the creation of transnational networks of persons and 
organisations facing similar problems and similar issues so as to promote the organised 
exchange of ideas and dissemination of good practice (see Table 2); 
• 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 lasting collaboration 
between the education and training institutions involved (see Table 3); 
• 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 education and training problems in a European framework (see Table 4) 
and the introduction of a European dimension to the content of training. 
All the 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. It is also important to note that, outside the 
framework of the programmes, the Commission has supported a wide variety of 
complementary measures, such as studies and support for meetings, conferences and 
European associations in the field of education and training. These actions have contributed, 
through exchange of experience and opinion formulation, to building up 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 of the Community. 
The very positive grass-roots response to the Community programmes indicates that the 
Commission has succeeded in tapping a vast fund of interest and goodwill towards 
trans-European collaboration in this area in many institutions throughout the education and 
training system. Indeed, achievements in this area are due in large measure to the enthusiasm 
and commitment which individual staff members, students, employers, trade unions, and 
policy makers in the different Member States have shown. This is an important point for the 
future. The quantitative impact of the programmes has of course been limited as they have 
still only existed for a limited period. The Community actions are complementary to what 
must primarily be a responsibility of the Member States. An indication of the proportion of 
EC funds allocated to them is set out in Table 5 below. 
TABLE 5? EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION ANT> TRAINING PROGRAMMES / EUROPEAN SOCIAL 
FUND / R&D PROGRAMMES 
n$ * percentage of awgftft Ewopftait Community «xpenditute 
Activity 
Education & 
Training 
European 
Social Fund 
Research & 
Development 
CEC TOTAL 1987 
0.20 
7.30 
2.92 
100 1988 
0.16 
6.61 
2.42 
100 1989 
0.27 
7.65 
3.26 
100 1990 
0.38 
8.77 
3.76 
100 1991 
0.51 
7.71 
2.64 
100 1992 
0.57 
8.10 
4.03 
100 TOTAL 
0.38 
7.74 
3.22 
100 
The extent of the quantitative results is a reflection of the relatively modest sums of money 
which have been invested in the programmes. The catalytic effect of the Community 
programmes has been demonstrated by the complementary funding made available by 
Member States, regions, companies and individual educational establishments, a very wide 
audience has been reached already, with generally very positive and useful effects. For 
example, nearly every Higher Education institution in the Community has been involved in 
a Community programme and the cumulative level of student mobility within the 
Community (including both EC and nationally funded mobility) progressing significantly 
towards the 10% ERASMUS target (i.e. one in ten of all students in higher education). 
Table 2 : Networks, Structures and Systems 
COMETT • Network of 205 industry-university consortia (10,000 members) covering all regions of 
EC/EFTA and most advanced technology areas 
• Development of a European-wide infrastructure for organisation of student placements (7,000 
annually) 
• Experimentation of new European wide distance learning structures and of advanced 
training tools (3,000 training packages) 
• Network of COMETT Information Centres covering all Member States and EFT A countries 
• Creation of sectoral networks (e.g. Agro-food, Automobile, Software Engineering) 
ERASMUS • Exchange network of over 1,900 Inter-University Cooperation Programmes, involving nearly 
1200 higher education institutions in inter-university cooperation and providing the 
structures for student mobility 
• European Community Credit Transfer System for the European recognition of transferable 
course credits, currently involving over 140 universities in 5 different areas 
• Creation of European higher education associations, with wide disciplinary coverage 
• Networks of National Grant-Awarding Authorities (NGAAs) and National Academic 
Recognition Information Centres (NARICs) in all EC and EFT A countries 
• Legislative changes in many countries to facilitate mobility 
PETRA • European Network of Training Partnerships (ENTP - 392 training projects) 
• Cooperation network of national bodies responsible for vocational guidance 
• Network of National Coordination Units 
YOUTH FOR • Youth exchange infrastructure in Europe, involving 14 National Agencies and European 
EUROPE Non-Governmental Organisations 
IRIS • Network of 468 training projects for women in new technology, technical areas, and 
enterprise education, addressed to women returners, unemployed women, and women career 
development 
• Full on-line project database 
EUROTECNET • Network of 277 innovative demonstration projects spanning tlie key technologies; 
development and dissemination of models, instruments, and materials 
• Network of specialists in innovative training approaches 
LINGUA • Exchange network involving over 200 Inter-University Cooperation Programmes 
• Network of National Agencies 
• Several hundred language training consortia; creation of completely new networks of 
organizations involved in language training. 
• Thousands of partnerships involving schools and vocational training institutions. 
TEMPUS • Network of 637 Joint European Projects (JEPs) designed to upgrade and re-structure higher 
education in 10 Central and Eastern European countries, and involving 1,800 institutions 
East and West 
• Network of National TEMPUS Offices in the countries of Central & Eastern Europe, and of 
National TEMPUS contact points in EC Member States 
FORCE • Network of 430 transnational projects bringing together 3,000 enterprises, social partners, 
and training organisations 
• Network of National Coordination Units 
• Collection of available data on and development of coherent European statistics regarding 
continuing vocational training in firms 
• Establishment of common framework of guidelines for continuing vocational training and 
qualification structures 
Table 3 : Mobility and Exchange 
COMETT • Transnational exchanges currently amount to 7,000 per year, mostly student placements in 
industry (as well as some industry-university staff exciianges) 
• Overall COMETT mobility actions will liave invoh'cd oi>cr 30,000 persons for substantial 
periods (average 6 months) 
• Implicit mobility in other components of the programme (preparation of and attendance at 
courses, visits) leads to an additional 3,000 substantial travels a year 
• Emergence of industry-driven student mobility sdiemes 
ERASMUS • Inter-university mobility of students amounts to 40,000 (without LINGUA students) for an 
average of 7 months (target is 150,000 per annum) 
• Staff mobility programmes currently involve up to 5,000 people a year. 
• Visits and courses imply an additional 5,000 substantial travels per year. 
PETRA • Annual training placements and youth initiatives currently involve 9000 young people a 
year (overall target by 1994 = 100,000) 
• Mobility of trainers and of training establishments 
YOUTH FOR • Youth exchanges (normally 1-3 weeks). Phase 1: about 80,000 young people. Phase II: 
EUROPE estimated at 100,000 young people (first year: about 35,000) 
IRIS • Funding of exdtange visits between IRIS projects (12 project hosts and 72 project officers 
involved each year) 
EUROTECNET • Bilateral and multilateral exchanges of scientific specialists (350-400 persons annually) 
between EUROTECNET projects 
LINGUA • Language student exchanges currently of the order of 6-7,000 per annum. 
• Training placements of language teachers : over 4000 per year 
• Exchanges and meetings of about 30,000 young people annually in vocational, professional, 
and general education 
• Visits of language trainers and personnel officers in industry to their counterparts in other 
Member States 
TEMPUS • Mobility of students so far about 6$00 (mainly East => West) 
• Mobility of staff about 10,500 (of which two-thirds West => East) 
FORCE • 850 human resources/training managers, social partners, and trainers involved in 1-3 
month exchanges 
• 430 transnational training projects involving short-term mobility amongst the 3,000 project 
organisations participating 
Table 4 : Projects and Actions 
COMETT • Development of specific training related studies and analyses (about 300) 
• 1000 training projects tliat will directly train some 150,000 people through 7000 courses 
and indirectly reach (use of training packages) some 500,000 (30,000 companies benefitting) 
• Creatbn of some 3,000 training packages in all advanced technology areas 
ERASMUS • Currently 140 joint intensive courses a year 
• Cooperation towards joint development of new curricula (170 projects) 
PETRA • 959 projeds involved in transnational training partnerships 
• 900 youth initiative projeds 
• 75,000 young people and 10,000 staff involved in these projects 
• Cooperation between more than 70 research institutes grouped into 28 transnational 
thematic partnerships 
YOUTH FOR • In Phase I, about 2,000 youth exchange projects 
EUROPE • About 25 study visits and 10 European-level training courses involving around 700 youth 
workers 
IRIS • 468 training projeds 
• Exchange of information on innovative training projects through quarterly bulletins, IRIS 
database, and training seminars 
• Funding for project partnerships (13 in 1991), exchange visits (12 host projects in 1991), 
and publicity grants (7 in 1991) 
EUROTECNET • Exchange of information on 277 innovative training projeds initiated by Member States 
• Dissemination of results through more than 100 specialised seminars annually 
LINGUA • Training of over 4,000 language teachers 
• Development of hundreds of language training/learning packages aimed at the workforce in 
industry 
TEMPUS • 637 projeds, mainly concerned with higher education curriculum development, mobility, 
and upgrading of facilities, and enhancement of education-industry links 
FORCE • 225 pilot projeds for the design of innovative training initiatives 
•120 qualifications projeds concerned with ddermining the qualification requirements for all 
levels of the workforce at company, sectoral, regional, and national levels 
With regard to policy development, the main impact has been two-fold: 
• the combined effect of the Community programmes has led to greatly increased 
awareness of the importance and potential value of trans-national education and training 
activity within the Community at all levels, from technical and vocational school to 
university, and provided frameworks and instruments within which such activities can 
extend and develop; and 
• increased trans-national dialogue and activity has led in turn to a growing recognition 
that, diversity notwithstanding, many of the policy issues are common to all or most 
Member States and that there is much to be gained from joint discussion, analysis, and 
development of new solutions. 
8 
More widely, individual institutions have come to recognise that, increasingly, excellence and 
quality can only be achieved through contact with the wider European scene, both because 
this is what students and future employers expect and because the constant search for 
improved performance, at whatever level, requires adaptation to European parameters. An 
extensive pattern of expert bodies has underpinned the Commission's work in implementing 
an increasingly wide range of programmes and actions. Their work has often gone far 
beyond the formal advisory function at Community level, allowing the programmes to 
develop in specific Member States in a way which is sensitive to local structures and 
traditions. 
PART II 
The Programmes and their achievements 
II.l INCREASED MOBILITY AND COOPERATION IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING 
Transnational mobility of students, young people and personnel is a major investment for 
the long term, and features strongly within the EC programmes fostering intensive cross-
border cooperation. Mobility has far-reaching effects on individuals, especially young 
persons, and organisations as well as the educational and scientific systems within which 
they develop. The programmes have not only been major contributors to mobility, but 
have had considerable impact on the conditions for mobility and cooperation more 
generally, for example with regard to national legislation and funding for spending 
periods of study in another Member State. 
H.l.l Specific mobility programmes, both for students and staff 
All but one of the programmes involve student and trainee mobility, and the majority also 
provide for mobility of personnel, in particular of teachers and trainers. Mobility actions 
started predominantly in the higher education area, but then moved into other sectors such 
as youth exchange. The positive effects of mobility are seen in the enhanced career prospects 
of the individual beneficiaries and in the feedback effect on the structures and curricula for 
professional/vocational training in the participating countries. 
*• The programmes not only promote individual mobility, but also promote training which entails 
mobility, e.g. the ERASMUS and LINGUA emphasis on integrated programmes where mobility 
is part of an organised scheme of study leading to a recognised qualification (e.g. dual or joint 
degree schemes, modular Master's qualifications), and the COMETT promotion of integrated 
work placements in other Member States. 
Quantitatively, it is estimated that over 260,000 students and trainees, about 18,000 young 
people, and almost 8,500 teachers and training personnel have benefited from the EC 
programmes since their inception, In ERASMUS, the percentage of students studying 
abroad has progressed from 05% to 4%, with the result that the total percentage of 
students studying abroad is now between 6 and 7%. This is significant progress towards 
the 10% mobility target $et under ERASMUS. Additionally, considerable numbers have 
benefited by participation in courses based on European cooperation (e.g, an estimated 
ISQflOO in COMETT atone). 
Under the YOUTH FOR EUROPE and PETRA programmes, youth exdianges give 
experience of economic, social and cultural life of other countries at a formative stage (in 
many cases, related to preparation for working life). The period of initial training forms an 
important part of young people's socialisation during which attitudes and aspirations take 
distinct shape. Almost all the young people participating in such exchanges are taking part 
in an exchange for the first time in their lives. 
FORCE provides grants to those involved inside companies in the development of continuing 
vocational training, such as human resource and training department managers, personnel 
representatives, and trainers. 
10 
> The extensions to EFT A countries (COMETT, ERASMUS) and the involvement of Central and 
Eastern Europe (TEMPUS) also have a significant impact on perceptions of a broader Europe. 
H.1.2 European experience through transnational education and training 
* For the majority who do not participate in exchanges, the programmes are increasingly providing 
a European dimension, through curricula and teaching materials prepared as a result of 
transnational European cooperation. This is explicitly provided for in all programmes, but in 
particular COMETT, ERASMUS, TEMPUS, and PETRA. 
> Work within LINGUA underpins these activities by strengthening the language competence 
which is the means of cultural interchange and understanding. 
II.1.3 Creation of European Networks 
Promoting collaborative partnerships as a way of raising quality and effectiveness has been 
a guiding principle in the design of the EC programmes generally and in individual project 
design. Many different types of network have emerged as a result of the incentives given by 
the EC programmes. They give shape and durability to the cooperation which has developed. 
* The 207 COMETT higher education-industry consortia provide a supply-demand interface for 
advanced training for technology, based on a combined regional and sectoral approach. They are 
market-oriented and provide a service from training needs analysis through to training delivery. 
*• Work under FORCE directly contributes to a better understanding of the training market, 
through a close network of transnational partnerships and through policy study on continuing 
training generally and in specific areas such as the significance of qualifications in collective 
bargaining. 
> The ERASMUS/LINGUA inter-university cooperation programmes and university associations 
have been instrumental in bringing together networks across a whole range of subjects, including 
highly specialised fields in the humanities and social sciences which have become difficult to 
sustain in every country, but which can thrive if brought together in a larger network. 
> In PETRA, the multiplier role of projects involved in the European Network of Training 
Partnerships and the network of National Coordination Units, backed up by the PETRA/SYS 
database, have created new opportunities for the development and exchange of innovative training 
for young people. 
> The IRIS Network has facilitated cooperation between projects focused on the training of women, 
especially disadvantaged women whose training needs are often neglected. The IRIS Fair 
"Women, a Vital Resource", held in October 1992, attracted over 500 participants from all over 
the Community. 
> YOUTH FOR EUROPE, through its study visit scheme and pilot courses for youth workers, has 
created a network of multipliers providing guidance and training for youth workers involved in 
youth exchanges. 
+ The network of EUROTECNET projects, structured through National Animation and 
Dissemination Units and supported by an online database (ECHO, CORDIS) ensures widespread 
dissemination of innovative approaches. 
11 
II.1.4 Enhancing the quality of mobility 
Quantitative increases in mobility are not an end in themselves. The EC programmes 
therefore attach great importance to enhancing the quality of the mobility actions or 
exchanges supported. 
* PETRA has promoted validated and accredited youth training abroad, as opposed to short 
exchanges or visits, work experience to which young people and industry attach lower value. 
> The ERASMUS, COMETT and LINGUA Programmes insist on recognised and accredited 
learning while studying or undertaking industrial placement abroad. ERASMUS and LINGUA 
teaching staff exchange programmes emphasize integrated teaching inputs which are part of the 
regular course programme at the receiving institution. 
Att the programmes attach importance to in-depth evaluation of the actions supported, as a force 
for quality improvement. Evaluation here encompasses methods for assessing projects at both 
application and implementation stages. 
The selection of projects has brought together within the various programmes teams of experts 
who themselves provide a unique bknd of expertise to advise on project development as well as 
ongoing programme policy. 
* In PETRA the elaboration of new training units or modules includes work on common 
assessment methods and certification, with the effectiveness of training modules tested as part of 
transnational exchanges. In ERASMUS, parallel academic assessment has been developed, with 
simultaneous examinations which take account of time differences between countries. 
> YOUTH FOR EUROPE has led to the development of transnational evaluation methods for 
youth-related projects. 
> ERASMUS has contracted an independent research institute to conduct regular surveys on 
participating students and institutions. 
> all the programmes have adopted measures to ensure improved dissemination of information on 
good practice among participating institutions and to those setting up new cooperative projects. 
II.l.5 Promoting a better framework for mobility 
The EC programmes have sought to stimulate the market for mobility by ensuring that 
citizens are well informed about the benefits of mobility and on the practical aspects 
involved. Many programmes have promoted mobility indirectly and thereby improved the 
conditions under which mobility can occur in the future. 
Due to the volume of student mobility furthered by ERASMUS, COMETT, TEMPUS and 
LINGUA, far greater attention is now being paid by higher education institutions to 
underpinning arrangements such as reception facilities, academic and professional guidance, 
language preparationf social security and health. National authorities have lessened or 
eliminated obstacles to mobility, in particular with regard to academic recognition of study 
abroad and the extension of student financial support to cover study abroad. 
12 
"Asa result of the stimulus given to higher education by COMETT and ERASMUS, many higher 
education institutions have now equipped themselves with specialist offices and officers offering 
expert advice on mobility and European cooperation generally. These bodies have become veritable 
resource centres on the full range of EC funding possibilities, including R&D in particular. 
* PETRA's networking of vocational guidance centres will help inform young people of 
opportunities for professional/vocational training abroad and so create attitudes and expectations 
which are likely to make them more favourable towards mobility in the future. 
*• ERASMUS research on the career impact of study abroad is influential in demonstrating the 
professional benefits arising from student mobility. 
II.l.6 Impacts on national legislation/practice and pooling of experience 
The experience and dynamic generated by the EC programmes has contributed indirectly to 
encouraging legislative and other changes within national training systems. The volume and 
variety of European cooperation now means that there is a greater awareness in national 
systems of the need to evaluate practice elsewhere before designing reforms. The result is a 
voluntary pooling of experience in support of policy development in every country. This has 
also led to review and improvement of arrangements to support transnational collaboration 
and eliminate obstacles to cooperation at European level within the Member States. 
The PETRA programme as a whole is constructed around a common framework of 
guidelines for policy development in the vocational training of young people, enhancing the 
capacity of vocational training systems to adapt to rapid change, 
Member States have used the opportunities presented by the PETRA Programme to build 
a Community dimension into major national initiatives such as the baccalauréat 
professionnel in France, the reform of the istituti professionali in Italy, and the introduction 
of a new type of vocational school (escohs profissionais) in Portugal. 
The biennial report by FORCE on the continuing vocational training situation in Member States 
is a valuable instrument allowing transparency and the convergence of initiatives across the 
Community. FORCE provides those concerned with policy development at national and local level 
with an invaluable comparative analytical framework on continuing training policies and 
legislation. 
Through the experience of YOUTH FOR EUROPE, a European dimension in the training of 
youth workers is now accepted within some national systems. 
The quality and quantity of experience of study abroad within ERASMUS, COMETT, LINGUA, 
and PETRA have influenced the formulation of regulations on study abroad and finance for study 
abroad, as well as leading to the review of specific aspects of national provision on health and 
social security. 
The transnational research partnerships launched under PETRA, to look at the effectiveness of 
current policy and practice in initial vocational training, is informing planners and decision­
makers, enabling them to compare results on issues of common concern and to capitalise on 
convergent trends in planning future provision. Also, through promoting cooperation between 
the national vocational guidance systems, PETRA is making initial vocational training systems 
more transparent. 
13 
ERASMUS has led participating countries to review their legislation and student aid 
arrangements for undertaking study abroad. It has also stimulated the creation of a whole range 
of transnational or complementary qualifications and has been a focus for experimetitation and 
study reform. Recently, it has also given rise to a Member State drive to synchronise academic 
years in order to facilitate student mobility and inter-university cooperation. 
The PËTRA programme as a whole is constructed around a common framework of 
guidelines for policy development in the vocational training of young people, in particular 
around the vocational training guarantee for young people. 
COMETT has drawn attention to obstacles to student placements in industry abroad and led to 
legislative changes to facilitate such placement. 
TEMPUS is assisting countries from Central and Eastern Europe to re-structure their higher 
education systems through institutional cooperation between East and West (higher education 
institutions, industry). 
II.2 CONTRIBUTING TO INCREASED EUROPEAN COMPETITIVENESS 
The education and training programmes have as one of their common aims increasing 
European competitiveness. There is a growing consensus throughout the European 
Community, as in other parts of the world, that so-called "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 the acquisition of new skills and knowledge, but also of organisational and 
innovation capacity, today expressed in the complex networks of information and alliances, 
through which nations and enterprises compete. 
H.2.1 Improving the quality and quantity of professional/vocational qualification 
The quality of the vocational qualification of the Community's workforce is an essential 
production factor. Its further enhancement is crucial for developing and maintaining the 
competitiveness of firms, both in the global market (since the Community has limited 
material resources) and in the Internal Market, which will lead to re-structuring at national 
and international levels and thereby call for new skills for workers. 
*- The increasing commitment of the social partners is evident. Their interest in training needs 
analysis is reflected in their extensive involvement in FORCE projects, in particvular those 
concerned with innovative training approaches. 
> Through its extensive higher education-industry links, COMETT is contributing directly to the 
supply of high-quality collaborative training products as well as to the creation of infrastructures 
for their marketing and dissemination. 
* Many EUROTECNET projects demonstrate the link within companies between learning 
effectiveness and economic competitiveness and contain actions for improving the quality of 
teaching staff and trainers. 
14 
II-2.2 Linking education and training with economic life and competitive realities 
Creating channels for dialogue and mutual understanding between education/training and 
economic life, and the provision of financial incentives for specific training projects linking 
these two sectors are two approaches used in all programmes. There is particular concern to 
ensure that small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) are well represented in this process, 
particularly in the context of the Commission's experimental training actions on "Preparing 
SMEs for the Europe of 1992" launched in 1989. 
COMETT supports consortia, exchanges and training projects involving industry and 
higher education which together constitute a flexible and durable resource for responding 
to industry s training needs, short und fang-term. 70% of the COMETT projects have SME 
participation' 
Community-wide partnerships in FORCE concerned with workforce training for 
implementation ôf total quality systems or European standards and directives are a direct 
response to the Single Market wtàfàts in the business world, A specific study within 
ËÛ&QT&CfttET has illustrated haw teaming is a strategic weapon for enterprises 
{"heamm$ Organisation"), *nd PETRA also works intensively to achieve transnational 
partnerships for youth induing at the workplace. 
> PETRA, COMETT, ERASMUS and UNGUA are major supporters of industrial placements in 
companies, with an estimated 105J000 young people benefiting in the 3-year period 1992-94. 
» The specific action line in LINGUA oriented towards enhancement of language competence at 
the workplace has generated a wealth of innovative approaches to this key issue. 
+ In the broader Europe, TEMPUS is assisting in the transformation of higher education systems 
in Central and Eastern European countries to face new economic imperatives, and the projects 
supported are increasingly featuring partnership with industry. 
II.2.3 Taigeting specific sectors of importance 
It is necessary to match programme implementation to constantly changing requirements 
within the Community. To this end, certain priority areas or sectors have been identified 
within the specific programmes. 
;^w§!igs$;p^s^®ss 
•'** •fe ^ "m 
:W&aH¥nW^^^^enUapr1ses ($MÊs) rémént a top,prhruy. This 
takes sevknd-forms, including 8) sensitising SM£s to the importance of training, (ii) 
favouring SME participation m projects, (Hi) selecting projects which are developing 
training specifically for SME personnel, and (iv) targeting sectors and regions where 
industry consists almost exclusively of SMEs. 
15" 
* The wide range of skills and training needs analysis undertaken by the Community in respect 
of particular sectors and regions has been based extensively on consortia developed within 
COMETT and FORCE. FORCE sectoral surveys of training plans concern the retail, automobile 
repair, and agro-food sectors, while projects are also underway in numerous otlier sectors, such 
as road transport, aerospace, and consumer electronics. Certain work within EUROTECNET also 
lias had a strong sectoral focus, for example in the financial services sector. 
> IRIS assists in developing specific methodology to attract and retain women in scientific and 
technical occupations. 
+ TEMPUS has explicit priority sectors which are defined by the eligible countries in the light of 
national economic requirements. 
H.2.4 Exploiting the results of R&D 
Several of the programmes, particularly those concerned with higher education, have 
complemented the Community s R&TD effort by providing mechanisms for the transfer and 
exploitation of their results. Close interaction with the Commission services responsible fo 
R&D has been particularly evident in COMETT, where the assessment of applications as wel 
as project follow-up involve extensive collaboration. 
* In FORCE, COMETT, and ERASMUS, many of the basic partnerships are also active in the 
R&D arc, ir ' .':-';e they involve companies, can be wcll-pluced to exploit the results emauntii::: 
from programmes such as BRITE/EURAM, ESPRIT, DELTA, and RACE. 
* In COMETT several of the technology-based consortia have been supported to run specific short-
course programmes for the transfer of R&D results. More broadly, the IRDAC report on Skills 
Shortages in Europe recommended that the COMETT consortia should provide a focus for such 
work. 
> In the context of Community support for the development of the European Information Market 
(INFO EURO ACCESS), trial actions have been launched jointly between IMPACT II (training 
the trainers and sectoral higher education-industry partnerships) on the one hand and COMETT 
and EUROTECNET on the other hand. 
II.2.5 Broadening the Community's competence in foreign languages 
Foreign language competence has well been called the Achilles heel of the Community. The 
effective construction of the Community depends to a large extent on greater mutual 
knowledge and comprehension amongst individuals, and this means wider and deeper 
mutual knowledge of cultures and languages. The international transfer of information taking 
place in the education and training programmes has in itself been a boost for foreign 
language learning. 
" From the earliest stages of education, exchanges are being organised through PETRA and 
YOUTH FOR EUROPE which tackle language barriers by bringing together young people 
within projects which encourage linguistic exchange and learning. This helps young people to 
gain confidence and improve their language competence at a key point in their development. 
16 
The stimulus given to mobility and cooperation by the EC programmes has meant that 
sending and receiving organisations have become far more aware of the need to prepare 
their students and trainees in an organised and professional manner. Language training 
centres and special language courses are growing in importance a$ a result. 
The LINGUA programme, the core of the Community's language training efforts, 
concentrates on enhancing competence in the less widely taught languages but is 
impacting on the development of competence in all Community languages. LINGUA is 
already beginning to have demonstrable results in enhancing the initial and in-service 
training of language teachers, analysing and responding to needs in specific sectors of 
industry, and broaching the particular difficulty of improving language-learning in the 
vocational training sector. 
*> The development of integrated programmes within ERASMUS has meant that language 
acquisition and study abroad are no longer the prerogative of language and humanities students 
alone. Degree schemes combining language learning within other disciplines (e.g. Engineering, 
Law) are now widespread and provide multiple competence which is highly valued by employers. 
ERASMUS has led to an increase in the number of institutions providing part of the course 
teaching in a language other than the native vernacular. 
> There is budget provision across the programmes for the costs incurred in language preparation, 
whether as earmarked grants for students and trainers (e.g. in COMETT, ERASMUS, FORCE 
and TEMPUS) or as block grants to the institutions involved (e.g. in TEMPUS), and awareness 
of the need to provide such preparation is an important selection criterion. 
> COMETT supports multi-language versions of specific training materials and the adaptation of 
existing high-quality courses for use in other languages. 
> Growth of involvement of the smaller of the Member States in cooperation has also meant that 
training establishments have had to widen their training provision beyond the high-demand 
languages. The association of the EFT A countries (COMETT, ERASMUS) as well as the Central 
and Eastern European countries (TEMPUS) is also contributing to a renaissance of interest in 
the languages of those countries. 
II.2.6 European training and qualifications markets 
The education and training programmes are playing a major role in the development and 
awareness of European training and qualifications markets. As the Single Market takes effect, 
Europeans will train, be qualified and work in an increasingly unified economic space. The 
programmes have become instrumental both in training manpower with a European profile 
and in stimulating the emergence of new forms of qualifications awarded on the basis of 
transnational study and partnerships within the Community. Furthermore, and alongside 
existing national qualifications "markets", grass-roots cooperation in regions, economic 
sectors, and cross-frontier zones is creating new local sub-markets, and cooperation between 
them is extending their scope and effectiveness; the education and training programmes have 
provided many training organisations - including employer and employee organisations -
with their first opportunities for working in a truly European context. 
> The synoptic tables produced by FORCE on the arrangements within the various Member States 
for continuing training and qualifications provide a basis for further analysis and development. 
17 
+ COMETT-supported European continuing education projects provide experience which feeds back 
into (traditionally more nationally inspired) initial education curricula. 
11.2.7 Provision of a European Community dimension in training 
The EC programmes contribute powerfully to the growth of a European marketplace for 
training, through the introduction of a European dimension, the stimulation of transnational 
cooperation and partnership, and the promotion of mutual understanding of systems. All of 
the programmes have in some way fostered the European dimension in training, from initial 
vocational training to continuing and advanced vocational training and higher education. 
> FORCE projects are specifically designed for a Europe-wide market of comparability and mutual 
recognition while at the same time having an impact on national qualification systems. 
*• ERASMUS and COMETT are strongly reinforcing the European orientation of higher education 
systems, whether by influencing national policies or through their stimulus for European 
strategies within individual higher education institutions. 
> Thanks to YOUTH FOR EUROPE, the European dimension in training of youth workers is now 
accepted within some national systems. 
11.2.8 Analysing skills needs in a European setting 
Analysis, comprehension and, if possible, anticipation of emerging skills requirements are 
now seen to be very desirable in the context of planning training as an element in economic 
development. Through the partnership of all parties concerned, the programmes have 
highlighted the need for such analysis, supported structures for carrying it out and assisted 
in disseminating its results. 
CÛMETT higher education-industry partnerships (UETPs) provide a standing 
framework of training providers and their clientele, examining technology training 
requirements by sector and region. Their work has stimulated better understanding of 
interacting beat and global trends as well as improving the methodological skills of 
those undertaking training needs analysis. 
FORCE has paid special attention to SME requirements by determining qualification 
needs within that sector and through the sector-by-sector comparison. 
IRIS has addressed skills shortages in technical occupations by promoting training 
methodology specifically adapted for women (guidance, pre-tmining, assertiveness). 
> EUROTECNET has developed new models and instruments to take account of changes in 
technology and work organisation and the resulting qualification needs. 
> PETRA is now developing its European Network of Training Partnerships (ENTP) as a seedbed 
for experimental action to adapt vocational training curricula and their delivery to new European 
needs. 
> Work on defining sector-specific language needs in industry is a major programme component 
within LINGUA. 
18 
II.2.9 Development of European training products and Europe-oriented qualifications 
The programmes have given a major stimulus to the creation and marketing of new training 
products, many developed on a transnational basis. 
ERASMUS has supported the development of a wide range of innovative higher 
education programmes, over 200 of which feature dual and joint degree qualifications 
which facilitate professional recognition across the Community. Full recognition of study 
abroad and credit and grade transfer systems provide the appropriate motivation and 
recognition for those wishing to study in another country. The ERASMUS grants for 
the development, adaptation, and translation of teaching materials also widens the 
supply of high-quality training materials, particularly in the hitherto less developed 
regions of the Community, 
*• The last inventory of COMETT outputs lists over 1270 courses, 720 training materials, 148 
studies, and numerous databases and newsletters developed through COMETT I. COMETT H 
is expected to outstrip these figures by a factor of three. FORCE projects are also a source of 
demand-led continuing training courses, materials, model plans, and qualification needs analysis. 
The LINGUA projects also are aimed at promoting the linguistic competence of the workforce in 
industry. 
• PETRA partnerships have produced training materials for use in several countries, especially in 
new technology areas such as desk-top publishing. 
11.2.10 Re-training the trainers 
Effective delivery of training curricula depends largely on the quality and commitment of the 
trainers. The programmes' investment in the training of trainers has a high multiplier value 
for education and training systems as a whole. 
* In PETRA, joint transnational action on the training or re-training of trainers and guidance 
counsellors is a major focus. Given the need for a move away from product orientation to 
customer orientation, the marketing and project management ability of trainers and training 
organisations is a priority investment within COMETT, FORCE, and EUROTECNET. 
+ COMETT and EUROTECNET share a common interest in the training of (especially industrial) 
trainers, including a particular emphasis on training in new training technologies associated with 
open and distance learning. 
* In YOUTH FOR EUROPE, the training of trainers of youth workers is a main priority for the 
National Agencies. 
> LINGUA strongly emphasises the initial and in-service training of foreign language teachers, and 
ERASMUS has abo undertaken particular efforts to boost participation in the Teacher Education 
field. 
11.2.11 Benefits from working on a European scale: increased and additional 'European' 
expenditure by Member States 
The programmes have given rise to many opportunities for improving the cost-effectiveness 
of education and training by achieving economies of scale, by facilitating access to other 
19 
sources of financial support and by providing a shared response to common needs and 
objectives. European cooperation and networking through the EC programmes provides 
economies of scale for Member States and national systems and avoid activities which, if 
reproduced in each country, would be costly and difficult to coordinate. 
* The availability of networks in all the programmes as frameworks for cooperation facilitates the 
search for suitable partners. 
> Award of ERASMUS seed-money support is frequently instrumental in opening up other sources 
of project income. Most Member States and several regions have themselves introduced 
complementary schemes of ERASMUS-related student grants. 
* PETRA's relatively modest funding to programme participants not only opens the door to 
European cooperation, but also stimulates participants to deploy their other financial, human, and 
physical resources in a way which assists the transnational partnership and exploits its outcomes 
in a highly cost-effective manner. 
TEMPUS provides a framework for national higher education development within the 
emerging new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as Unking higher 
education policy development in a broader G-24 context through PHARE. 
•aEiiiiiEi^^ 
Transnational intra- and inter-regional cooperation in ERASMUS and COMETT is leading to 
inter-university cooperation agreements to share staff resources and facilities in order to maximise 
the resources of the region(s) concerned. 
Regional and sectoral networks under COMETT enable groups of higher education institutions 
to provide a brokerage function for industry in cost-effective consortia (notably with regard to 
transnational student placement arrangements). These consortia are also useful for marketing 
training products resulting from higher education. 
Work on the productivity of new education approaches, especially in open and distance learning, 
is going on in many programmes, especially LINGUA, COMETT, and ERASMUS. This work 
is based on the search for economies of scale as well as meeting the needs of users in remote areas 
of Europe where providing training in traditional ways is uneconomic. 
II.3 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COHESION IN THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY 
Economic and social cohesion has been identified as a fundamental condition for the 
balanced development of the Community, and education and training have been 
recognised as a crucial factor in achieving balanced social and economic development in 
all the Member States. No grouping of nations can nowadays claim to have achieved a 
high quality of growth if significant elements of its human potential remain untapped, 
redundant or underutilised. 
II.3.1 Specific benefits for the more remote/disadvantaged regions 
The programmes seek to offset the extra difficulties encountered by individuals and 
organisations in less-favoured and /or more remote regions, notably by providing extra 
information, technical assistance, and/or financial support. Specific efforts have, for example, 
been made overiheJastiwcLyearsiorlhe^speedy integration of the new German Lander into 
20 
the various programmes. Positive discrimination is applied during selection in respect of 
projects involving or supporting less-favoured regions. 
In ERASMUS, LINGUA, COMETT, and PETRA, there are meclmnisms to ensure 
balanced student flows across the Community, as well as financial rules which take into 
account the different costs of study abroad in different countries, as welt as more 
generous funding for the less-favoured regions. 
> In COMETT, there has been a concerted campaign to ensure that the network of regional 
consortia is Community-wide. Nearly all the regions of the Community (and EFT A) are involved, 
thereby generating the basis for inter-regional cooperation as well as for specific projects under 
various EC programmes. 
*• The ERASMUS information efforts in Greece and Portugal have led to a radical improvement 
in the participation levels of these countries. 
> LINGUA provides specific advisory support for more remote countries to aid them in preparing 
good projects, as well as paying specific attention to minority languages. 
» In ERASMUS and COMETT, the practice of ensuring the full participation of non-university 
higher education favours balanced participation in so far as many of the non-university 
institutions are located in the more remote regions. 
11.3.2 Decentralised implementation : responsiveness to regional needs 
All of the programmes have built up their own distinctive pattern of decentralised units or 
agencies assisting in the implementation of the programme, bringing information and advice 
closer for all regions. 
* In relation to information provision, there are in many cases (e.g. YOUTH FOR EUROPE, 
COMETT, FORCE and PETRA) networks of National Agencies or Coordination Units which 
can respond effectively to local priorities. 
+ With regard to implementation structures: 
• COMETT devolves considerable responsibilities to regional higher education-industry 
structures in order to provide close links to regional development policies, and in some cases 
directly with regional development agencies and authorities 
• In ERASMUS, the National Grant-Awarding Authorities (NGAAs) are decentralised 
organisations for the distribution of student financial support in the light of national policies and 
priorities 
• LINGUA National Agencies also play a key role in the implementation of the programme as 
a whole as well as in the running of two decentralised actions 
• In YOUTH FOR EUROPE, the National Agencies are decentralised organisations for the 
distribution of funds allocated to exchange projects. 
11.3.3 Specific projects for knowledge transfer to less-favoured regions 
Alongside the general concern to ensure involvement and impact across the entire 
Community, the programmes fund projects which target specific Community regions. 
21 
Several programmes have explicit links with actions under the Structural Policies, 
thereby providing education and training support for regional development within the 
most disadvantaged regions. These links can be at programme level (e.g. within FORCE 
and EUROTECNET, with close functional links with EUROFORM PIC) or at project 
level (e.g, COMETT and PETRA) or both. Furthermore, the Community data on the 
programmes provide regional analyses of the impact of each programme. 
mmmtmimmmit 
> ERASMUS and COMETT promote curriculum development and other projects specifically 
designed to transfer knowledge and expertise from more to less-favoured regions. 
> ERASMUS grants have assisted in the extension of European associations and societies to 
countries which have little or no participation. 
> More than 60% of the PETRA ENTP projects in less favoured regions are engaged in 
partnerships with projects outside those countries. 
> In EUROTECNET the dissemination of innovative models of vocational training serves to 
underpin a balanced and coherent labour market. This Programme is also developing 
methodological/pedagogical concepts to support efforts under the structural funds. 
II.3.4 Active involvement of regions across the Community 
* Through ERASMUS, inter-university cooperation has become a feature in all regions of the 
Community, including many where no tradition of such cooperation previously existed. 
> Inter-regional cooperation (e.g. Catalonia - Lombardia - Baden-Wurttemberg - Rhône-Alpes) has 
also begun to flourish in the higher education field with the programme's support, as has 
transfrontier regional cooperation in such areas as the Saar-Lor-Lux triangle. 
» The network of COMETT regional consortia of industry and higher education (UETPs) involves 
fully all the EC and EFT A countries, yielding important spin-offs and benefits as well as new 
activities and services at regional level. Together, they provide a potent structure for inter­
regional collaboration and exchange (e.g. through training needs analysis and trainee and trainer 
exchange). 
II.4 BRINGING EUROPE CLOSER TO THE CITIZEN 
The growth of the Community's education and training programmes has coincided with 
mounting interest in the development of the concept of a "People's Europe". The idea and 
practice of European citizenship is reflected in and supported by the kind of experience 
they offer; they are themselves instruments of free circulation and examples of the 
recognition of European diversity. They offer experience of the reality of European union 
and unity: the free movement of people, ideas, and products. They offer these things, 
through their growing networks and through the greater foreign language competence they 
promote, to increasing numbers of people, giving them the opportunity to learn about and 
participate in the building of the Community. 
11.4.4 Ongoing development of individuals and associations in the process of European 
construction 
22 
The Community programmes have been designed to support durable infrastructure and 
networking facilities, whereby individuals and groups can continue to benefit or participate 
after the conclusion of their grant-aided project. Many of the EC-supported activities have 
thus become highly successful features within the professional networks and structures of 
the Member States. 
European associations and societies in the education field (eg European Society for 
Engineering Education, Association for Teacher Education in Europe) have been a major 
beneficiary of Community support through the education and training programmes. This 
support, which is explicitly structured into programmes such as ERASMUS and 
TEMPUS, has enabled them to consolidate their activities, extend their membership 
across the Community, and provide advice and support for European cooperation and 
exchange. 
> The programmes are creating generations of project managers who have to come to grips with 
differing national realities and who in most cases become effective multipliers for Europe. 
COMETT is specifically designing training programmes for such project managers, who are 
confronting new "mixes" of skills not so far available in existing training schemes. 
> The wide array of networks and sub-networks stimulated by the EC programmes constitutes a 
flexible and cost-effective response to the pervasive needs for education and training in all fields 
and at all levels, enabling a maximum number of individuals to participate in the process of 
European construction in the course of their daily lives. 
II.4.5 Equality of opportunity 
Equality of opportunity is a major concern of the programmes, widely reflected in the 
programmes' operations. Equality-related objectives are also promoted by the programmes' 
proactive policies towards economic and social cohesion, since those actions tend to support 
less-favoured regions. 
In YOUTH FOR EUROPE'S second programme phase, one third of the programme 
funding is earmarked for direct support for disadvantaged young people (75% funding). 
> The goals of equality, even when not explicitly stated in specific programme objectives (e.g. 
COMETT, ERASMUS) are reflected in programme operation through selection and monitoring 
policy. In FORCE, COMETT, and PETRA, those objectives influence the grading of applications 
as well as forming a specific training area in which financial support is offered. There are thus 
many specific projects or events/studies addressing equality needs. 
Promoting equality of opportunity for women 
Concern for equality of opportunity between men and women is reflected in proactive 
approaches in several of the programmes, complementing measures at Member State level. 
In particular, the IRIS network has put women's training on the political agenda, focusing 
on the crucial role of such training in developing the skills and competitiveness needed in 
the Europe of the 1990s. 
23 
IRIS is a dynamic European Network, involving nearly 500 training organisations, 
which provides information on training through its publications and services, promotes 
women's training through publicity grants, technical workshops and seminars, and 
stimulates contacts and exchanges through visits, partnership grants, and E-mail. 
> EUROTECNET has supported the development of demonstration projects addressed mainly 
or wholly to women and aiming at the establishment of training strategies and policies for the 
female workforce. 
> In COMETT, there is a specific higher education-industry consortium concerned exclusively 
with technology training issues for women (including guidelines for projects on achieving 
representative female participation rates). This network has wide Community coverage and is 
linked into the Community's own IRIS initiative. 
> FORCE supports projects addressing specifically the continuing vocational training needs of 
women and has equality of opportunities for men and women as a central priority for the 
programme as a whole. 
* In terms of ensuring female participation, PETRA and YOUTH FOR EUROPE have been 
successful in achieving equal numerical participation of young men and women; COMETT 
has seen higher than proportional participation of women in technology placements in 
companies (in terms of the proportion of women enrolled in engineering and technology 
courses); and ERASMUS has since its inception witnessed a consistent rise in female students 
supported (rising to 56.4% in 1989/90), with significantly higher incidence of female students 
amongst ERASMUS grantees than amongst the student population at large in subjects which 
are traditionally male "strongholds" (e.g. Engineering). 
Measures in favour of the socio-economically disadvantaged 
Several of the programmes have adopted concrete measures in favour of young people from 
a disadvantaged socio-economic background, who are generally under-privileged in 
education and training and have hitherto had few opportunities to participate in 
transnational training activities. 
*• A recent statistical survey has shown that about one third of participants in PETRA belonged 
to the group of socio-economically disadvantaged; many of the projects offer stimulating 
learning environments for groups of young people who have failed in the mainstream training 
systems. 
> In FORCE, access to training for the least qualified is a major criteria determining project 
selection. Basic skills training in the workplace such as numeracy and literacy are a significant 
feature in many projects. 
> In LINGUA and ERASMUS, the national agencies responsible for student grant support are 
asked to pay special attention to under-privileged applicants when determining selection and 
rates of payment. 
Actions for the physically handicapped 
> In PETRA, the National Coordination Units organise special technical and financial support 
to enable the disabled to participate in placement programmes. 
24 
* In the language field, LINGUA is sponsoring a major project (Lingua Surda) for the hard-of-
hearing. 
> Special exchanges for disabled persons are funded in YOUTH FOR EUROPE, as are 
integrated projects which involve both disabled and able-bodied persons. 
+ In ERASMUS and FORCE, there has been support for a number of projects and support 
activities specifically oriented towards the enhancement of education and training opportunities 
for the handicapped. 
II.5 TRANSNATIONAL TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE 
The transfer of knowledge and expertise across boundaries within the Community (and 
increasingly to a broader Europe and beyond) is a major feature of the education and 
training programmes. The implementation of programmes Community-wide has had a 
major catalytic and structuring effect for the creation of a European learning community, 
not least through the creation of common objectives and common frameworks for policy 
and action at Community level. The EC programmes have also provided impetus and 
financial support for open and distance learning systems and networks across the 
Community. 
11.5.1 Stimulation of networks 
The programmes have stimulated specific cross-European networks for knowledge transfer. 
Each produces its own energy and ever-widening collaboration possibilities across regions 
and sectors, both within its specific programme and beyond. The various networks are 
indicated in Table 2 earlier in this document. 
11.5.2 Ever-widening spread of transfer in terms of sectors and regions 
Many of the programmes have been outstandingly successful in drawing hitherto 
underprivileged Member States and regions into the mainstream of European cooperation 
and there are significant sectoral impacts also. 
* ERASMUS has spread inter-university cooperation beyond the traditional fields and types of 
institutions in which cooperation was well established and, notably through its joint curriculum 
development projects, assisted institutions in less favoured parts of the Community to introduce 
new areas into their courses. 
> The sectoral targeting for the higher education-industry consortia in COMETT has ensured a 
broad balance of consortia across industrial and technological sectors of strategic importance for 
the Community. FORCE'S transnational projects are also spread across key industrial sectors. 
11.5.3 Creation of common frameworks for analysis 
Creation and sharing of a common framework for analysing action and the need for action 
are a frequent feature of the programmes, often giving rise to new tools for exchange and 
policy development. 
* In LINGUA, groups of language experts examine the specific language needs of specialist 
sectors of industry and commerce, and innovative models are developed for the certification of 
language training for economic life. 
25 
* In FORCE, continuing training policies are being analysed at national, sectoral, and enterprise 
levels across the Community. 
> COMETT and FORCE are conducting sector-specific skills needs analyses. 
> EUROTECNET is developing a framework of guidelines to improve vocational training policies 
and systems. 
11.5.4 Enhancing knowledge of the European Community 
> A better understanding of the European Community is ensured through exchange programmes, 
especially within ERASMUS, which cover certain disciplines such as Law, Economics, Social 
Sciences, and Management, whose contents are linked to Community developments. 
*• In this respect the "Jean Monnet" Action is a direct effort by the Commission for information 
and transfer of knowledge on European integration towards university circles, youth and, citizens 
generally. 
11.5.5 Innovation in European open and distance learning 
Open and distance learning is recognised as a route towards more flexible and cost-effective 
training systems, especially given the emergence of more powerful and user-friendly 
technology. The EC education and training programmes have taken full account of this and 
have supported wide-ranging innovation, whether in regard to Community-wide systems for 
the delivery of open and distance learning or in regard to individual projects using new 
distance learning approaches. Networking among the Community's open universities has 
been strengthened through the EC programmes, providing also support for newly emerging 
open universities in countries previously lacking such institutions. 
In COMETT, an estimated 30% of the programme budget has been spent on open and 
distance learning systems and materials. The projects supported include new distance 
learning networks such as EADTU, SATURN, EuroPACE, and Eurostep (which have 
been pioneers in developing the European infrastructure for cross-border delivery of 
training courses), as well as specific distance learning packages (including modular 
Masters programmes), often addressed specifically to small and medium-sized 
enterprises which cannot release staff from the workplace for training. 
This process has involved close coordination with the Community's DELTA Programme, 
which funds research into learning technology. This allows the pre~competitive research 
into new systems to feed through intofultyrfledged training activities under COMETT. 
Innovative distance learning approaches have been developed for adult learners under the FORCE 
Programme. This builds on the considerable interest of companies in the development of 
multimedia packages in the field of non-advanced vocational training. Such learning packages 
allow larger companies to link up with smaller companies with which they are associated in order 
to provide product-related training. 
In ERASMUS, more emphasis has recently been placed on developing open and distance learning 
approaches within the Inter-University Cooperation Programmes, in part to encourage a 
European dimension in university programmes for those students who cannot undertake study 
abroad. Also, consortia of open and distance learning institutions have received specific support 
26 
to create directories of higher education courses and to set up language support systems for their 
students. 
II.5.6 Improving the quality of education and training 
The EC supports the Member States' efforts to improve the overall quality of education and 
training as well as supporting any convergence which is necessary in terms of the free 
movement of people and ideas within an integrated market. The linkage between "grass­
roots" operators throughout the Community provides direct experience of "state-of-the-art" 
practice, thereby stimulating review and innovation. The recent concern for organised 
measures and methods for quality assurance has made such interchange of experience and 
standards, which is a concern of all the EC programmes, an imperative. 
Quality improvement is encouraged through partnerships designed to bring training 
closer to the merfcustomer (e.g, in COMETT and FORCE), the contribution of sound 
language practice to project quality {LINGUA) and exemplary projects which 
disseminate best practice (COMETT and FORCEh EUROTECNET in itself can be 
considered as essentially a quality assurance programme through its networking of 
model projects, and the formulation within PETRA of a detailed set of common 
objectives has quality improvement as its principal objective. The contacts between 
several thousand academics annually within ERASMUS are beginning to have a 
significant impact in improving and encouraging innovations in methodology. 
mitÊillttltf^^ 
*• The insistence on project criteria based on specific quality improvements is another way of 
promoting quality (e.g. through the academic recognition criterion within ERASMUS, LINGUA, 
and COMETT, or through promoting practical work experience as a part of training as in 
PETRA or COMETT). 
> European networking in itself constitutes in many cases a quality factor in so far as advanced 
training is concerned. In state-of-the-art technology, for example, high quality can often only be 
ensured through European cooperation as the fields of expertise become increasingly specialised 
and concentrated in selected locations. 
> Quality assurance in education and training is in itself becoming a new skill, and the EC is 
promoting specific projects within COMETT on quality assurance techniques at both initial and 
continuing education levels. 
> The FORCE projects address the issue of the impact of quality assurance of the training and 
qualification of workers. 
> TEMPUS can be considered to be a specific quality enhancement and assurance action for Central 
and Eastern Europe. 
> Study visit schemes in several of the programmes (e.g. ERASMUS, LINGUA) enable grant 
recipients to enhance their knowledge of developments elsewhere in the Community. 
II.5.7 Reinforcement and support for other Community policies and programmes 
The nature and diversity of education and training mean that they make a contribution, 
directly or indirectly, to many other areas of Community policy. 
27 
Research and development on the one hand, and education and training on the other, are linked 
as part of the chain of knowledge and skills needed to transfer social and economic benefits. 
Particularly in the higher education programmes, the education programmes have complemented 
Community R&D in many ways. 
More specifically, FORCE and EUROTECNET are reinforced by the EUROFORM Community 
Initiative. FORCE and COMETT are also complementary to measures designed to assist 
industrial restructuring and other changes brought about by technological modernisation. 
Overall, the education and training programmes interact between themselves to form a coherent 
set of responses to the Community-related aspects of education and training in the 1990s, 
including the need for anticipating qualification trends through innovative training approaches. 
The education and training programmes contribute to course development and training 
of experts in specific fields. The multinational approach shows its special value in fields 
such as Agriculture, Law, and Environment as well as through networks with 
programme-specific or policy-specific objectives (e.g. in Biotechnology, Industry or the 
mutual recognition of qualifications), SME development, regional development, and aid 
to the developing world As a specific example, TEMPUS as a whole is integrated 
within the broader PHARE effort for the economic and social development of the Central 
and Eastern European countries, 
II.5.8 Respect for national and regional diversity 
The education and training programmes have been designed to be sensitive to national and 
regional practice. Given the different historical, linguistic, cultural, and scientific traditions 
in the education and training milieu, this approach is the only one which is appropriate. 
ERASMUS, LINGUA, COMETT, and TEMPUS have alt proceeded from a basic 
assumption about the individual autonomy of the university, and worked "bottom up" 
rather than "top down" in all the projects supported. This process is well reflected for 
example in the European Community Course Credit Transfer System, based on mutual 
trust and voluntary approaches. 
COMETT has been implemented through local/regional consortia (UETPs) from the outset. 
The co-decision model for project support within TEMPUS ensures that national needs in the 
eligible countries in Central and Eastern Europe are given priority. 
As a general rule, the programmes have concentrated funding on the 'European' costs incurred 
as result of transnational operation. For example, ERASMUS student funding, by paying the 
additional costs of study abroad as compared with study "at home", serves to put the choice of 
study abroad on an equal footing with remaining in the home country. In YOUTH FOR 
EUROPE, funding is added to that provided by the Member States and is reserved for activities 
leading to further transnational cooperation in the youth training field. 
28 
This review has, for the first time, assessed in a single document the nature and 
achievements of the Community education and training programmes, a process made 
possible by the unity and similarities in their aims and methods of work, despite operating 
at different levels and in different sectors. The combined achievements of the programmes 
put in place since 1986 can clearly be seen to have been considerable, in terms of the numbers 
of people who have participated; the trans-national activities generated; and their impact on 
policy thinking in the different Member States. 
It is hoped that this overview gives some insights into the rich and diverse process of 
dialogue and exchange which the first five years of Community programmes in the area of 
education and training have been able to generate. It is, above all, a dynamic process and, 
to the extent that some modest success can be claimed, it is due in large measure to the 
enthusiasm, commitment and energy of the highly motivated actors within the individual 
institutions, companies, and ministries who have seized the opportunities which the 
programmes provided and made European cooperation a living reality. In that sense, the 
programmes represent the epitome of the principle of subsidiarity. The terms of the 
Maastricht Treaty will provide renewed impetus for a new phase of activity, building on 
what has been achieved to date and, above all, striving to be responsive to the developing 
and constantly changing needs of the Community's education and training milieux. 
11 January 1993 
29 
FOR EASY REFERENCE 
TAfctfc 1 * «C mVCm&N AN& ÎRAtHÏKS FRPGfcAÏWMÊS 
Short title 
COMETT 
ERASMUS 
PETRA 
YOUTH FOR 
EUROPE 
IRIS 
EUROTECNET 
LINGUA 
TEMPUS 
FORCE Full title 
Programme on cooperation between universities and 
industry regarding training in the held of technology 
European Community action scheme 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 exchanges 
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 
1990-94 
1990-94 
1990-94 
1991-94 Budget execution 
up to 1992 
(MECU) 
206,6 
307,5 
79,7 
32,2 
G.75 
7.0 
68,8 
194 
31,3 
3o 
KSN 0254-1475 
COM(93) 151 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 04 16 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-93-176-EN-C 
ISBN 92-77-54538-0 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg 
-S*