WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3048/97 by Amedeo AMADEO to the Commission. Green Paper on commerce
Date: 1997-10-02
Institutions: AMADEO, European Parliament
Subjects: EU programme, commercial education, entrepreneur, handicrafts, sales occupation, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade cooperation, vocational training

16. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 117/139

(98/C 117/186)

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).