WRITTEN QUESTION E-0944/02

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(9 April 2002)

Subject: European Schools

The first European School was set up in 1953, on the initiative of a group of ECSC officials supported by the Community institutions and the Luxembourg Government. Encouraged by the success of this educational experiment, which extended to children of different nationalities and mother tongues, the governments of the Member States decided in 1957 to establish the first official European School in Luxembourg, bringing it into being under a protocol.

Since their inception, the number of schools has continued to increase. Three of the existing schools are now located in Brussels to meet the substantial demand for enrolment, accounted for in the main by children of officials and other servants of the European institutions.

Given that these officials and other servants are expatriates, who are called upon to perform highly responsible tasks as efficiently as possible, it is essential for their children's schooling to be compatible with the school curricula in their countries of origin. Recently, however, in the middle of the school year, many parents with children at the three Brussels schools have learnt that, following a decision by the Board of Governors of the European Schools, their children are apparently to change school from September 2002. Their original choice of school, determined according to their children's academic interests and their own professional obligations, would thus seem to have been completely overturned.

In the light of the foregoing:

1. Does the Commission consider that the European Schools, especially those in Brussels, meet the needs of officials and other servants of the Union institutions and take account of the children's rights?

2. What criteria are observed when deciding which of the three Brussels schools a pupil should attend? Do they include parental choice? If not, why not?

3. How are the European Schools run, specifically:

- How are they financed, and what percentage is paid by each contributor?

- Who serves on the Board of Governors of the European Schools?

- How is decision-making power shared out within the Board?

- What role does the Commission play on the Board? How many votes does it have?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(22 May 2002)

1. The Commission believes that the European Schools have so far been successful in meeting the needs of officials and other servants of the Union institutions and that proper account has been taken of pupils' rights. As with all institutions in all countries, however, the European Schools must unavoidably operate within the limits imposed by available resources and by the constitutional framework relevant to them.

2. Parents are free to apply to have their children educated at any of the three European schools in Brussels. Where demand exceeds the available places the schools are naturally obliged to use selection which is based on the proximity of the pupils' homes and on the presence or otherwise of a sibling in the school concerned.

The background to the issue of the change of school which will affect some children in September 2002 is as follows: The Brussels III school, in Ixelles, was set up to relieve congestion in the Brussels I (Uccle) and Brussels II (Woluwé) schools, which were particularly over-subscribed at the time. At its meeting on 28 and 29 April 1998, the Board of Governors (details of membership given below) redistributed the language sections between the three schools in Brussels, primarily to respect the principles of geographical balance and the rational utilisation of resources available. At the same time, substantial repair and reconstruction works made it necessary for the Brussels I school to provisionally move some of its classes from the Uccle site to Ixelles. In September 2002, the remaining classes of the Brussels I school that are still based in Brussels III will return to the Uccle site, and the Brussels III school will have its own full primary cycle including some of the pupils from Brussels I and Brussels II.

All of these operations have regrettably but inevitably required the movement of staff and pupils. To manage these movements, the Representative of the Board of Governors of the European schools set up a coordinated management group for the three Brussels schools and the headteachers, the staff and the parents' associations were represented on that group.

When it became clear that the number of parents who were prepared to volunteer to move their children to another school was insufficient to carry out the necessary movements, a transfer strategy was drawn up on the basis of objective criteria such as the capacity of the school, attendance at the school by a sibling, and nearness to home. Allocations were decided on the basis of the information provided by the parents to the school concerning the education of siblings and the location of the family home. A procedure for lodging complaints was opened for special cases. The complaints made were considered individually by committees made up of members of the management and representatives of parents of pupils in each school.

3. The European schools are financed as follows: salaries paid by the Member States to seconded national teachers (22 %); school fees for pupils who are not the children of Community staff and deductions from the salary of staff seconded to the schools, such as the temporary contribution (19 %), and a balancing grant from the Community budget (59 %). A special contribution for the provision and maintenance of the school buildings and equipment is made by the Member States where the schools are located, in accordance with agreements signed by the Board of Governors with each of those Member States.

Formal members of the Board of Governors of the European schools are the Ministers with responsibility for education and/or cultural relations with foreign countries from each Member State of the EU, and one Member of the Commission. The European Patents Office also has a seat and a vote on the Board of Governors for all matters concerning the Munich European school. No provision is made for representatives of parents or of teachers to be members of the Board of Governors.

The Board of Governors takes decisions on pedagogic and budgetary matters by unanimous vote. It adopts decisions on administrative matters by a two-thirds majority. In all cases, members have one vote each.

As a member of this intergovernmental organisation, the Commission has just one vote out of the 16. Through its presence on the Board of Governors, the Commission does its utmost to ensure that the needs of officials and other servants of the Union Institutions are fully met but, naturally, both the powers and responsibilities of the Commission reflect the fact that its representative is one of 16 members of the Board.