WRITTEN QUESTION E-3354/00

by Juan Naranjo Escobar (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(27 October 2000)

Subject: Right of mobility for students

Article 149 of the Treaty on European Union defines and specifies the role of the European Union in the field of education. The Union can and must supplement the action of the Member States in developing their educational policies, with the aim of attaining a level of quality education for all citizens. Success in this field is a pre-requisite for medium-and long-term economic well-being and social cohesion.

The declarations by the Lisbon European Council of 23/24 March supporting European education as an important means of achieving a more competitive and dynamic economy, lasting economic growth with better jobs in larger numbers and greater social cohesion should be seen as tying in precisely with this aim.

The same applies to all of the assessment-related cooperation involved in producing the first European Report on Quality of Education, which was presented to the most recent Conference of Education Ministers in Bucharest last June and identifies 16 quality indicators.

The use of common indicators to assess students in the various Member States, an increase in national budgetary allocations, the organisation of six-month university courses and the widespread introduction of the status of part-time lecturer are just some of the 43 measures provided for in the Action Plan for Mobility drawn up by EU education ministers at an informal seminar in Paris on 30 September last.

However, the actual results achieved by programmes such as Erasmus demonstrate that, although some efforts have been made, we have yet to progress beyond good intentions and fine words. We must translate words into deeds and statements into action, and ensure that ideals come to take the form of fully exercised rights.

Mobility is a key factor in this regard.

What effective measures does the Commission intend to take to enable an undergraduate to exercise the right to choose a university in any EU Member State, not simply in his or her own? Would it not be advisable, as a first step, to foster student mobility within Member States themselves? Has the Community come up with any kind of initiative to promote this aspect of mobility?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(11 December 2000)

With regard to student mobility within each Member State, it is important to note that, according to Article 149 (ex-Article 126) of the EC Treaty on education, the Community's role is to promote cooperation between Member States. Promoting mobility ties in with this. The Community carries out this role by means of the Socrates programme, for example, and in particular the Erasmus action; that Erasmus plays an essential role in developing mobility in Europe is now widely acknowledged.

It was as a result of this experience and that gained through the Leonardo and Youth programmes that the Commission presented a proposal for a recommendation calling on Member States to take action to remove the various obstacles which continue to hamper the development of mobility among students, persons undergoing training, teachers and volunteers(1). The Council has just adopted the text of a common position based on the results of the first reading in Parliament. Parliament helped to improve the initial Commission proposal on various points.

The Council has also adopted a resolution on an Action Plan for Mobility, presented by the French Presidency in conjunction with the Commission.

With regard to the mobility of students in their own Member State, it is important to note that, according to the EC Treaty, the organisation of education and the education system are matters of national jurisdiction. The conditions which national regulations impose on students in choosing a university are therefore outside the scope of Community action in the field of education.

As for the mobility of students outside their own Member State, it is important to know that when choosing the university in the host Member State, the applicant must in principle fulfil the same conditions which apply to nationals, in so far as these do not discriminate on the basis of nationality. If the host Member State imposes a numerus clausus in certain disciplines or conditions related to the number of places available per university, the applicant must submit to these. These conditions may therefore affect the student's initial choice.

With regard to mobility under the programmes, the Commission would remind the Honourable Member that Erasmus students may choose to carry out their period of study in one of the institutions with which their university has an agreement. On the other hand, it is up to their university of origin to choose the institutions with which it wishes to conclude agreements.

(1) COM(1999) 708 final.