WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2817/97 by Helena TORRES MARQUES to the Commission. Management of the Socrates programme
Date: 1997-09-01
Institutions: European Parliament, TORRES MARQUES
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, education policy, educational institution, university

17. 3. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 82/145

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(3 October 1997)

On the basis of the powers and responsibilities conferred on it by the Treaties, the Commission currently has no
plans to harmonise the invalidity cards issued in the various Member States.

(98/C 82/232)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2817/97

by Helena Torres Marques (PSE) to the Commission

(1 September 1997)

Subject: Management of the Socrates programme

There  have  been  fairly  worrying  reports  in  the  media  about  the  future  of  the  Socrates  programme,  and  the
universities belonging to the (cid:145)Coimbra Group(cid:146) are apparently also alarmed.

According to my most recent information, this Community programme is teetering on the brink of a (cid:145)credibility
crisis(cid:146) because the funds allocated to projects are modest to the point of jeopardizing their implementation.

Programmes  of  this  type  are  highly  important  and  arouse  considerable  expectations.  The  fact  that  the  sums
earmarked for them are so paltry is bound to cause great disappointment and detract from the credibility of EU
activities.

Will  the  Commission  increase  funding  for  projects  of  the  type  concerned  and  facilitate  and  expedite  the
payments which it promises to make, thereby encouraging scientific research, one of the EU(cid:146)s objectives?

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission

(3 October 1997)

The Commission is aware of the criticism of the universities and consortia of universities such as the Coimbra
group regarding the levels of funding available for the transnational cooperation activities under the Erasmus
institutional contracts within the Socrates programme.

The  budget  for  this  action  has  in  fact  increased  slightly  in  overall  terms  compared  with  the  previous  year.
However, in the past the grants were disbursed through the coordinating university of each cooperation activity,
which then had the responsibility of distributing them to the various partners. Consequently, only 300 coordi-
nating establishments received Community aid which was destined for all the partner establishments. In 1997,
for the first time, each of the nearly 1,500 universities participating in Erasmus is receiving an overall grant to
contribute towards funding the whole range of its Erasmus activities. This has rendered the Community support
much more visible for each institution. The institutional approach highlights the responsibility of each partner
university  to  contribute  to  the  success  of  the  cooperation  activities,  using  the  grant  it  receives  from
Socrates-Erasmus to complement its own resources and other sources of funding.

Nevertheless,  the  average  grants  are  indeed  modest.  The  Commission  is  acutely  aware  of  the  inadequacy  of
funding for the Socrates programme as whole, for which it had proposed a budget far in excess of the figure
finally adopted in accordance with the procedures agreed at that time. The Commission has proposed an increase
to the financial framework, for the programme in 1998 and 1999 in order to reinforce the programme(cid:146)s capacity
to meet its stated objectives. The Commission(cid:146)s proposal to increase the budget is currently under discussion in
the Parliament and Council.

However, it should be noted that the Socrates programme is a programme for cooperation in education and not
scientific research as suggested by the Honourable Member.