WRITTEN QUESTION E-2478/00

by Karl von Wogau (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(24 July 2000)

Subject: Europass training document

Is the Commission aware that the Europass training document can only be filled in by hand or by typewriter, and does it regard this as still being up-to-date in the computer age?

Would it not be possible, for example, to have a Europass with individual pages which could be filled in using a computer? This could perhaps be made easier through the use of a computerised form on a diskette accompanying the document.

The Europass training document is basically a very welcome development, since it makes it possible for the first time to record qualifications obtained during various training periods spent in different Member States in a uniform training document.

However, entries in the Europass can only be made by hand or by using a conventional typewriter. This does not produce a very attractive document. Its current form could, for instance, be replaced by a folder which could accommodate individual pages. Such a design could make the document more visually attractive.

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(29 September 2000)

The Commission is aware of the practical limitations of the existing Europass Training document and shares the concerns expressed by the Honourable Member. Difficult handling conditions may in fact reduce the visual impact of this document and thus affect its significance.

The Europass Training document has been produced in the form adopted by the Council and in quantities agreed with the Member States (300 000 copies, including all official languages of the Community). Its current form is fully in accordance with the Council Decision(1), whose Annex states in its first paragraph that The document is in the form of an A5 booklet, which comprises 12 pages in addition to the cover. Each page is then described.

Since the available stock will not probably run out before two years of implementation of the scheme, the Commission envisages to tackle the problem of the Europass Training format within the framework of a review of the Europass concept as a whole. In fact, taking into due account the innovative character of the Europass approach, the Council Decision (Article 9) calls for an early and wide-ranging evaluation report, that the Commission shall submit to the Parliament and the Council not later than December 2001.

Such exercise is made even more urgent by demands for a wider scope for the Europass instrument, as expressed by Member States on several occasions, and by the need to integrate this tool into the recent policy developments initiated by the Extraordinary European Council held in Lisbon on 23 and 24 March 2000.

Concerning, in particular, the form of the Europass document, the Commission will consider all the opportunities offered by the information technologies, including a computerised form. It will also take into account both the need to provide trainees with an effective document and to avoid excessive burdens on training bodies.

(1) Council Decision of 21 December 1998 on the promotion of European pathways in work-linked training, including apprenticeship (1999/51/EC) (OJ L 17, 22.1.1999).