WRITTEN QUESTION E-2347/97 by Friedhelm Frischenschlager (ELDR) to the Commission (10 July 1997)

Subject: Socrates action programme

The last two years have shown that the Socrates action programme has made an important contribution to European education. Funding for the programme seems to be very low, given that it is both very well known and very popular and in view of its expansion to cover the new Member States.

1. Will the cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe lead to a reduction in the quality of the Socrates programme?

2. How does the Commission plan to increase further the transparency of the procedures for the award of funding in order to curb abuses?

3. How many ecus have been channelled to Austria under this programme over the last two years? What percentage of the funding allocated to them was taken up in the other two new Member States, Finland and Sweden, and what was the corresponding figure for Austria?

4. How many professors, lecturers and students took up mobility grants and teaching posts abroad? What percentage of the relevant funding was taken up in Austria, and what were the corresponding figures for France and Germany?

5. How many people took part in educational projects and exchange programmes and how many foreign language teachers took the opportunity to undergo further training abroad? What percentage of the relevant funding was taken up in Austria, and what are the corresponding figures for Italy and the United Kingdom?

6. What educational issues does the Commission intend to focus on over the next two years?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (24 September 1997)

The Commission shares the view expressed by the Honourable Member, that since its adoption in 1995 the Socrates programme has made an important contribution to European cooperation in the field of education. It shares his concern as regards the funds available to the programme. For this reason, the Commission has submitted a proposal to modify the Decision establishing the programme ((COM(97) 338. )). This proposal envisages increasing the financial framework of the programme for the period 1995-1999 from the present 850 MECU to 900 MECU. At first reading the Parliament has proposed a figure of 950 MECU. The Council's common position is expected to propose 875 MECU.

1. Opening the programme's actions to the associated countries in Central and Eastern Europe is not expected to give rise to a reduction in quality. The aims, action lines and selection criteria will remain unchanged. Furthermore, the opening to additional countries offers the educational institutions in the 15 Member States interesting new perspectives for developing their European initiatives.

2. The award of funds under the programme already takes place in a transparent manner. The availability of grants is published and also drawn to the attention of potentially interested target groups by means of a wide range of information measures. Selection takes place on the basis of published criteria. In the case of transnational cooperation projects external experts are given a crucial role in the selection process. The Commission carries out regular audits of the accounts of the national agencies and on the spot checks on a cross-section of projects supported. No cases of misuse of funds have so far emerged.

3. For 1995/1996 and 1996/1997 taken together, the mobility of 309 095 students and 26 641 university teachers has been approved in the framework of the Erasmus chapter of the Socrates programme. Of these, 6 203 students and 595 teachers are from Austria. The budget for Socrates/Erasmus student grants (Action 2 of the Erasmus chapter) for those two academic years is 150 MECU. The budget for subsidies to higher education institutions for the organisation of student mobility (Action 1 of the Erasmus chapter) is 28.63 MECU. The budget for university teacher mobility is 7.38 MECU.

4. - 5. As far as teacher training is concerned (Comenius, action 3), in 1996 1,500 teachers participated in Socrates supported training actions (Comenius chapter). Estimated participation by Member State were 35 teachers for Austria (2.3%), 217 for Italy (14.4%) and 224 for United Kingdom (15%). In 1995 and 1996 taken together, 41 276 language teachers participated in in-service training actions. Of these 404 came from Austria (1%), 2 260 from Italy (5.5%) and 1 732 from UK (4.2%). In the same period, 707 future language teachers spent a period of time as 'Lingua assistant' abroad. Of these, 33 came from Austria (4.7%), 71 from Italy (10%) and 98 from United Kingdom (13.9%). Furthermore, data available for 1995 indicate that 32 466 pupils took part in exchanges in the framework of joint educational projects for language learning. Of these 587 came from Austria (1.8%), 7 181 from Italy (22.1%) and 2 809 from United Kingdom (8.7%).

6. The Commission's priorities for the next two years in the field of education include the design and adoption of the new generations of programmes beyond the duration (31 December 1999) of those currently in place; implementation of the five priorities set out in the white paper on teaching and learning ((COM(95) 590. )); follow-up of the recommendations of the green paper on obstacles to education in the field of education ((COM(96) 462. )), notably as regards the transferability of grants; strengthening of the role of education within other areas of Community policy, such as employment; and submission of a programme proposal in the field of regional and minority languages.