WRITTEN QUESTION E-1054/96 by Susan Waddington (PSE) to the Commission (13 May 1996)

Subject: Community exchange programmes

Acts of discrimination, racism and xenophobia discourage the free movement of Union citizens. Such incidents particularly undermine the success of the Communities' exchange programmes, e.g. Youth For Europe, Socrates and Leonardo, by discouraging minority youth from participation.

What action is the Commission taking to address this problem, and what future action does it envisage, particularly in the event of the draft Council proposal for a Year Against Racism being approved?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (25 June 1996)

The Commission is aware of the problem raised by the Honourable Member. It should be recalled that the proposals in the White Paper 'Growth, competitiveness and employment: the challenges and ways forward into the 21st century' (1993) are based on two key assumptions - human capital, as the European Community's greatest resource, and the diversity of its cultures, traditions and languages, which enhances its adaptive potential and opportunities for development.

More specifically, the White Paper 'Teaching and learning: towards the learning society', which the Commission approved on 29 November 1995, has entered under its third general objective the theme of 'second-chance schools'. The projects that already have a bearing on this theme in the preparation of the replies to the 1996 call for proposals for the Leonardo da Vinci programme clearly highlight the importance of the populations mentioned by the Honourable Member and should lead to actions which focus particularly on these categories.

Finally, the ongoing discussions in the context of preparing a White Paper on 'Education - training - research: the obstacles to transnational mobility' have clearly identified, among the obstacles to transnational mobility, '... problems linked to cultural and psychological barriers to be overcome as well as the problems of racism and xenophobia', which often confront people receiving training in another Member State.

It is in this general framework of Community education, training and youth programmes that the Commission has envisaged various actions in this domain:

- the Socrates programme addresses the issue in a number of ways, in particular the school education (Comenius) chapter of the programme contains an entire action specifically devoted to enhancing the education of children of migrants, travellers and gypsies and occupational travellers, and to improving the intercultural dimension of mainstream schooling particularly in areas characterised by high levels of pupils from a variety of ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. A number of other actions within the programme give priority to projects and activities addressing the needs of learners from disadvantaged backgrounds or attending institutions located in disadvantaged areas;

- under the Leonardo da Vinci programme, people benefit both directly and indirectly from the products and methodologies developed on an experimental basis. The measures undertaken in 1995 directly relating to such groups include significant ones such as Ghent University's 'em-module' specifically geared to ethnic minorities, an integration project for permanently settled gypsies, the 'entrance' project aimed at developing young people's social skills, the 'training place/building site' project tailored to meet the specific needs of young people at risk of being marginalised, and the NOE project to promote access to new jobs in the local community. Indirect measures include schemes for training the trainers, the key one of these probably being the Alcantara project to train social workers and instructors adept at working with ethnic minorities.The replies on this issue following the 1996 Leonardo da Vinci call for proposals exercise have already clearly revealed the size of the groups mentioned by the Honourable Member, and should result in projects specifically relating to them;

- the Youth for Europe programme ensures greater involvement by young disadvantaged people, since it stipulates that at least 30% of the appropriations must go on exchanges of young people and a similar amount on all the other measures. Consequently, in 1995 numerous young people from the ethnic minorities actively participated in the various actions under the programme, and information campaigns or projects specifically focused on combating racism and xenophobia were also co-funded thanks to the programme.

Should the proposal for a year against racism be adopted, the Community programmes in the field of education and training will play a part in ensuring its success. Subject to appropriate consultations with the relevant bodies, each programme will make this one of its focal points in its respective sector of activity.