11. InvitestheCommissiontoreportagaintoParliamentbeforetheendof2000ondevelopmentsin
Fiji;
12. InstructsitsPresidenttoforwardthisresolutiontotheCouncil,theCommission,thegovernments
andparliamentsoftheMemberStatesandapplicantstates,thelegitimategovernmentofFijiaswellasthe
‘InterimCivilianAdministration’,theSecretary-GeneraloftheUnitedNations,theSecretary-GeneraloftheCommonwealth,theACP-EUCouncilofMinistersandtheACP-EUJointAssembly.
2. European Year of Lifelong Learning (1996)
A5-0200/2000
European Parliament resolution on the Commission report to the Council, the European Parlia-
ment, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the implementa-tion, results and overall assessment of the European Year of Lifelong Learning (1996) submitted
pursuant to Article 8 of European Parliament and Council Decision 2493/95/EC (COM(1999) 447
/dash C5-0205/1999 /dash 1999/2163(COS))
The European Parliament,
9dash havingregardtotheCommissionreport(COM(1999)4479dashC5-0205/1999),9dash having regard to European Parliament and Council Decision No 2493/95/EC of 23 October 1995
declaring1996theEuropeanYearofLifelongLearning(
1),
9dash havingregardtotheconclusionsoftheLisbonandFeiraEuropeanCouncils,
9dash havingregardtoArticle47(1)ofitsRulesofProcedure,9dash havingregardtothereportoftheCommitteeonCulture,Youth,Education,theMediaandSportand
theopinionoftheCommitteeonEmploymentandSocialAffairsA5-0200/2000),
A. whereasallindividualshaveafundamentalrighttoaproperlevelofeducationandtraininginorder
todeveloptheirpotentialandachieveeconomic,socialandculturalintegration,
B. whereasthedevelopmentoflifelonglearningshouldfurtherthefightagainstthefailureatschoollevel
whichleadstosocialmarginalisation,
C. whereastrainingshouldfollowthefourmainlinesofactionestablishedbytheLuxembourgExtraor-
dinaryCouncil,namelyimprovingemployability,developingentrepreneurship,encouragingadaptabil-
ityinbusinessesandtheiremployees,andstrengtheningequalopportunitiespolicy,
D. whereastheEuropeanyearistoinvolvetrainingforwomen,particularlyimmigrantwomen,asmem-
bersofminoritygroupswithgreaterneeds,
E. havingregardtothepresentveryrapidgrowthanddevelopmentofskillsandknowledgeinallareas,
requiringindividualstoadaptconstantlytonewspecialitiesanddemandingtheconstantadaptationofeducationalandtrainingsystems,
F. whereasEurope,ifitwishestobecompetitive, mustpromotelifelongtraining forthoseworkingon
cutting-edgetechnologiesatthehighestacademiclevels,sincetheywillberesponsibleforpassingon
theirknowledgeandskillstobusinessesandtrainingcentres,
(1) OJL256,26.10.1995,p.45.C135/304 EN7.5.2001 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
Friday 8 September 2000
G. whereas the growth in information technology has made it a crucial factor both in the topics and
methods of learning and training, and one which should feature strongly in any attempt to furthertheprincipleoflifelonglearning;
H. whereas there are still too many rigidities and barriers between education and training, and not
enough opportunities to move from one to the other or to experience new formsof teaching on alifelongbasis,
I. whereasitisnecessarytopromoteimprovedcooperationatalllevelsbetweeneducationandtraining
structuresandtheworldofbusiness,
J. whereastrainingshouldbeviewedasaninvestmentandnotamatterofcurrentexpenditure,K. whereaslifelonglearninghasafarfromnegligibleroletoplayinthefightagainstsocialexclusion,
L. whereasundertheprincipleofthemutualrecognitionofdiplomasandqualificationsinstitutionsand
businessesthroughouttheEUshouldrecognisediplomasissuedbyandtrainingreceivedinanyrecog-nisededucationalestablishmentwithintheEuropeanarea,
M. whereastheEuropeanUnionshouldencouragetheteachingofnewtechnologiesinruralandperiph-
eralareas,soastoensurethatequalopportunitiesareavailabletoallEurope’sinhabitants,
N. whereaslifelonglearningshouldcontributetoawarenessofthefactthatinEuropethereisaconstant
passing-onofknowledge,onthebasisofasharedculturalheritageandvalues,
O. whereastheEuropeanYearshouldhelptointegratepoliciesandinitiativesscatteredbetweenthevar-
iousprogrammesestablishedbytheUnionwithaviewtolinkingthesectorsconcernedwithimple-mentingthemineachcountry,sothatallmaybenefitfromaprocessofmutualenrichment,
1. Observes that training, in all its aspects, should constitute a priority consideration for the Member
Stateswhenadoptinganyinitiativedesignedtoimplementtheguidelineslaiddownforemploymentpoli-ciesfor2000;
2. StressesthatLifelongLearningisalsoanefficientwayofimprovingthequalityoflabourandmaking
workorganisationsmorehumanandmoreefficient;
3. Pointsoutthatgeneraleducationandvocationaltraining arenotonlyofmajorsignificance toper-
sonaldevelopmentandtoimprovingone’schancesforthefuture;theyalsorepresentasignificantfactorin
theMemberStates’attemptstomeetthechallengesofglobalcompetition;
4. StressesthatLifelongLearningisalsocrucialinordertosecurepersonalfulfilment,socialintegration
andparticipationindemocraticdecision-makingprocessesandcan,therefore,notbeseenmerelyinterms
ofdemandandsupply;
5. Stressesthatthe impact which theyear hadonbusinessesandsocialforcesin termsofawareness-
raisingwaspositive;
6. Regrets the slowstart ofthe activities under the European Year andcallsuponthe Commissionto
speeduppreparatory workandinternalprocedures inordertoallowforatimelylaunchofCommunityactionsinfuture;7.5.2001 EN C135/305 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
Friday 8 September 2000
7. Stresses the importance of the necessary attention being paid to the lifelong learning factor in the
implementationofthenewgenerationofprogrammessuchasSocratesIIandLeonardo;
8. RecallsthattheLisbonandFeiraEuropeanCouncilshavecalledontheCommissionandtheMember
Statestodefinecoherentstrategiesandpractical measurestomakelifelongeducationandtraining acces-
sibletoall;
Budgetary aspect
9. RegretsthefactthatthebudgetfortheEuropeanYearofLifelongLearning1996wasonlyECU8,4
millionforthefifteenMemberStatesandtheirthreeEEApartners;
10. Believes thatthe factthattheECU8,4millionbudget wastrebledbythe cofinancing providedby
the participant countries, thus bringing the total budget to ECU34 million, proves how much interest
thereisininitiativesofthiskindinEurope;
The Commission’s report
11. Believes that the general terms in which the request for projects to be submittedwas formulated,
withnodefinitionoflifelonglearning,resultedinanambiguitywhichmakesitdifficulttodevisecriteria
forthequalityoftheprogrammesortheaspectswhichneedtobeselectedwhenissuingfuturerequests
forsubmissions;
12. Regrets the notoriouslackofqualitative datain the Commission’sreport which makesitvirtually
impossible to assess whether the programme has been implemented in accordance with the European
Parliament’spriorities;callsupontheCommissiontoimprovethequalityoffutureevaluationreports;
13. Regrets that the report does not contain sufficient information about examples of good practise,
their dissemination at European level and their possible transfer into other Community policies, nor an
analysisoftheweaknessesoftheCommunityintervention;callsupontheCommissiontoestablishacom-
pendiumofprojectstobedisseminatedatEuropeanlevel;
14. Regrets the fact that the report did not offer a basis for a full and detailed assessment of the
initiative;
15. Regrets the fact that the report does not evaluate the involvement of democratically elected local
andregionalbodies;
Requests to the Commission
16. TheCommission(followingtheEU’sexperienceinthesematters)andtheMemberStatesareurged
todefinevariousconceptsandaspectsofvocationaltrainingandlifelonglearningmorepreciselyinfutureprogrammes,distinguishingbetween:
9dash trainingdesignedtocorrectfailureatschoollevel,ortoprovideless-favouredorminoritygroupswith
basicteaching,
9dash trainingforafirstjobandforjoiningtheworkingpopulation,whatevertheageofthepupil,
9dash trainingforsportingpractitionerswho,havingpreviouslyabandonedtheirstudiesand/oremployment
todedicatethemselvesfull-timetosportingactivity,nowwishtoentertheworldofwork,
9dash theacquisitionofnewqualificationsandtheadaptationandupdatingofskills,
9dash distancelearningforadultsinareasconducivetobothgeneralandculturaleducation,includingnew
technologies,
9dash vocationalqualificationsrequiredforformalandnon-formaleducation,
9dash lifelonglearningforteachersandresearchersasameansofupdatingknowledgeandskills;C135/306 EN7.5.2001 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
Friday 8 September 2000
17. Asksthat in the requests for submissionsthe objectives shouldbe clearly defined as regards both
designing and assessing the projects, using new technology and the Internet to publish the criteria andincludingalltheprojectssought,withthosepromotingthemandtheresultsofthefinalselection;
18. Observes that under the guidelines laid down by the Luxembourg Extraordinary Council of 1997
trainingcoursesshouldprovideadaptableandflexibletrainingwhichwillenablestudentstodeveloptheir
entrepreneurialspirit;
19. Calls on the Commission to rapidly implement action programmes and specific measures in the
contextofastrategyforlifelongeducationandlearning,incoordinationwiththeSocratesIIandLeonardoprogrammes;
20. Urges the Commission and the Member States to devise specific measures to encourage relations
between formal education, vocational training and lifelong learning, so as to develop integrated trainingandopenupchannelsofcommunicationbetweenthevariouseducationalmodels;
21. Asksthatthecontentsofthevariousprofessionaloccupationsandtrainingcoursesbedefined,soas
tofacilitatemutualrecognitionofprofessionalqualificationsandrenderthelabourmarketmoretranspar-
ent;
22. Asksthatlifelongtrainingbeappliedlikewisetothehighestlevelsofexcellenceandtotheuniver-
sityworld,aswellastotraditionaloccupations,especiallyinthecraftssector;
23. Urges the Commissiontocreate European networksofvocationaltraining centres andenterprises
withaview toidentifyingthemostfrequenttechnical andprofessionalproblems,thecontentofthekeyskillsrequired,etc.;
24. UrgestheCommissiontoensurethatthepriorityprojectsincludevocationaltraininginthesectors
whereinnovationandchangearemosturgentlyneeded;
Requests to the Member States and the Commission
25. CallsontheMemberStatestocooperatewiththeCommissioninthecollectionofdataconcerning
lifelonglearning,withaviewtoensuringthefuturecomparabilityofdataatEuropeanlevel;
26. CallsontheMemberStatestoextendtheinformationnetworkssoastoensurewidepublicaccess
totargetedinformationontheexistingprogrammesinthisfield;
*
**
27. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission,the Council and the govern-
ments and parliaments of the Member States, the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway and thePrincipalityofLiechtenstein.7.5.2001 EN C135/307 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities
Friday 8 September 2000