WRITTEN QUESTION P-0623/01

by Stavros Xarchakos (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 February 2001)

Subject: EU decentralised bodies and combating unemployment

Unemployment in Europe is a factor which has adverse effects on social well-being and pulls apart the fabric of society. In certain countries, such as Greece, the unemployment rate is increasing significantly (and is currently in excess of 12 %), while there are few visible signs of a reversal of this trend. The EU set up the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), which has been operating since the end of 1995 in Thessaloniki and is funded by the Community budget. The activities of the European Training Foundation (ETF), located in Turin, are similar; it also deals with professional training, is active in Eastern European countries and also receives handsome funds from the Community budget.

Could the Commission say what specific contributions these decentralised bodies make to combating unemployment in the EU Member States and the applicant countries? What is the breakdown of personnel in terms of nationality (for permanent, temporary and local staff members) in these two bodies and how many staff work there in total? To what extent has Cedefop's administration promoted the city of Thessaloniki by organising large-scale meetings and international conventions since 1995? What is the Commission's position with regard to a possible merger of the two bodies' similar activities, with a headquarters in Thessaloniki, which would enable Greece's second city to receive the public attention which it merits and would save resources from the Community budget which are currently used to maintain expensive administrative structures in two different cities?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(24 April 2001)

Decisions concerning the location of the seat of Community Agencies are taken by the European Council. It was on the basis of a Decision of the European Council of October 1993 that the decision to transfer the European Centre for the development of vocational training (Cedefop) from Berlin to Thessaloniki was taken and the seats of nine new Community Agencies were agreed upon.

In addition, the Commission would like to underline that, although both Cedefop and the European Training Foundation cover the area of vocational training, their missions and objectives are not the same. The European Training Foundation acts within the external relations policy and programme framework of the Community to provide policy guidance to third countries. Cedefop provides research, comparative analyses and exchange of information to various actors in the field of vocational education and training in the Member States. Close cooperation exists between the two Agencies to ensure complementarity and synergy and exchange of information.

The Community's employment strategy emphasises human resource development and more specifically vocational training as an active measure for the integration into labour markets. As such, the two Agencies, through their vocational education and training activities, contribute, directly or indirectly in the countries in which they are active, to combating unemployment.

The two Agencies have a separate geographical coverage and their missions and tasks are quite different. The European Training Foundation supports, through policy guidance and project management, the reform of vocational education and management training in over forty partner countries located in the Mediterranean region, the Western Balkans, the New Independent States and Mongolia and the candidate countries. The Foundation is currently preparing monographs to provide in-depth studies on vocational training and employment services in support of the Employment Policy Reviews and in preparation for European Social Fund (ESF) intervention, in the candidate countries.

Cedefop is the Community's centre for information and expertise in vocational education and training. The Centre supports the development of vocational education and training in the Member states and in the European Economic Area (EEA) countries with which it has agreements. Since 2000 Cedefop has carried out several studies in the area of supporting employment and competitiveness, which is one of its four thematic priorities for the period 2000-2003.

There are no permanent staff at the European Training Foundation. Details of staff (permanent, temporary, local) actually employed at present in the two organisations are given below by nationality.

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Cedefop has organised 937 conferences and meetings in the period 1995-2000 with 19 242 participants. Approximately 55 % of these were organised in Thessaloniki. For the years 1995 to 1999, when the provisional rented premises of the Centre did not offer all necessary facilities for large-scale meetings, a considerable number of them (45 %) had to take place elsewhere. Since the beginning of 2000, 75 % of the meetings and conferences are held in Thessaloniki and take place in the Centre's premises, which offer state-of- the-art infrastructure and equipment.