WRITTEN QUESTION E-3048/97 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (2 October 1997)

Subject: Green Paper on commerce

With reference to the Green Paper on commerce (COM(96) 530 final) and given the importance of promoting long-term initiatives on an equal basis for all Member States, will the Commission examine the possibility of:

1. setting-up technical schools of commerce with a core curriculum common to all Member States for the education, training and retraining of employees and managers of commercial enterprises?

2. funding special training programmes for employers in the commercial sector?

3. allowing commercial sector representatives to take part in vocational training committees?

4. introducing cross-border education and training for employers and employees in the commercial sector, as a possible way of encouraging new initiatives, employment activities and companies?

Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission (13 November 1997)

The aim of European action in this area is to promote cooperation between Member States, while also providing them with support and assistance in their activities, in particular through the Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci programmes. Overall responsibility for defining the contents of education and training programmes lies with the Member States. It is for this reason that we cannot, at European level, set up technical schools specifically for the commercial sector which offer one single curriculum for education or training. However, what we can certainly do is foster cooperation between existing schools, in order, for example, to add a European dimension to the initial vocational training programmes that they offer. Many examples of this can be found among the pilot projects or placement and exchange programmes that were selected following the 1995 and 1996 calls for proposals under the Leonardo da Vinci programme.

What is more, the Leonardo da Vinci programme means that we can fund special training programmes for employers in the commercial sector, providing these schemes fulfil two main conditions, i.e. they must be innovative (Leonardo da Vinci is intended to be a European laboratory of innovation in vocational training) and they must be transnational (in most cases they must involve at least three Member States). There are many examples of projects from the first two Leonardo da Vinci selection procedures which set out, in particular, to develop training schemes encouraging enterprise, whether this meant starting up small or medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the commercial or crafts sectors, or taking over going concerns.

As to the question of allowing commercial sector representatives to take part in vocational training committees, the consultative committee on vocational training brings together people from different professions who represent the Member States and the social partners. Any specific representation of the commercial sector would therefore not be possible.

In addition, a committee with the task of submitting opinions assists the Commission in the implementation of the Leonardo da Vinci programme. Representatives of the social partners attend the committee meetings as observers. In this way, commercial sector organisations are represented, e.g. the Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE), the European Union of Crafts and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (UEAPME), and the Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation (ECPE).