Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Towards a Europe of knowledge
Date: 1997-11-12
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU action, continuing education, integration into employment, labour market, young person

COMMISSION  OF THE EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES 

Brussels,  12.11.1997 
COM(97) 563  final 

COMMUNICATION  FROM  THE  COMMISSION 

TO THE COUNCIL,  THE EUROPEAN  PARLIAMENT, 
THE ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE 
AND THE COMMITTEE  OF THE  REGIONS 

CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

I.  BUILDING A EUROPE OF KNOWLEDGE 

1.  A limited number of objectives 

2.  More focused actions 

3.  The players involved 

4.  Targeted international cooperation 

II.  MORE INTEGRATED ARRANGEMENTS 

1.  Legal instruments 

2.  Complementarity  and budgetary  resources 

3.  Streamlined implementation 

1 

3 

4 

4 

6 

7 

8 

8 

8 

9 

1 £v 

introduction 

The  purpose  of  this  Communication  is  to  set  out  the  guidelines  for  future 
Community  action  in  the  areas  of  education,  training  and  youth  for  the  period 
2000-2006. 
It  paves  the  way  for  the  legal  instruments  to  be  proposed  in  the 
spring of  1998, with the  relevant decisions to follow  in  1999 and entry  into force 
on 1 January 2000. 

It responds to two major preoccupations: 

Knowledge policies 

training)  one  of 

•  Noting that we are now entering the "knowledge society", the Commission  in 
its  Agenda  2000  proposes  making  the  policies  which  drive  that  society 
(innovation,  research,  education  and 
four 
fundamental  pillars  of  the  Union's  internal  policies.  The  role  of  future 
Community  activity  in  these  four  areas  is  to  underpin  this  evolution  while 
ensuring  that  it  does  not  become  a  new  source  of  exclusion.  Economic 
competitiveness,  employment  and  the  personal  fulfilment  of  the  citizens  of 
Europe  is  no  longer  mainly  based  on the  production  of  physical goods,  nor 
will  it be  in the future.  Real wealth  creation will  henceforth  be  linked  to  the 
production  and  dissemination  of  knowledge  and  will  depend  first  and 
foremost on our efforts in the field of research, education and training and on 
our capacity to promote  innovation.  This is why we must fashion a veritable 
'Europe of knowledge'. 

the 

•  This  process  is  directly  linked  to  the  aim  of  developing  lifelong  learning 
which  the  Union  has  set  itself  and  which  has  been  incorporated  into  the 
Amsterdam  Treaty,  expressing  the  determination  of  the  Union  to  promote 
the  highest  level  of  knowledge  for  its  people  through  broad  access  to 
education and its permanent updating. 

Promoting employment 

•  Policies  to  restore  the  employment  situation  -  whether  macroeconomic 
policies  or  specific  labour  market  action  ~  must  be  able  to  build  on  an  in-
depth  medium-term  strategy  to  enhance  the  knowledge  and  skills  of  all 
Europe's citizens. 

0 

In  its  conclusions,  the  Amsterdam  European  Council  stressed  that 
priority should be given to the development of vocational and social skills 
to  facilitate  workers'  adaptation  to  labour-market  developments.  The 
emphasis  should  be  on  a  solid  broad-based  education  and  on  a  set  of 
skills  (technological,  social  and  organisational)  which  are  conducive  to 
innovation.  In  this  respect  it  referred  in  particular  to  a  range  of 
transversal  competencies  -  including the  understanding  of a diversity  of 
cultures,  competence  in  several  languages,  and  the  entrepreneurship 
which  leads  to  the  creation  or development  of  businesses,  especially  in 
SMEs. 

b 

for  Member  States'  employment  policies  which 

The  guidelines 
the 
Commission  has  just  proposed  place  an  accent  on  the  need  for  a  new 
approach to  integration  into the world  of work.  New Community  activities  in 
the  field  of  education,  training  and  youth  must  support  the  achievement  of 
the aims specified, viz.: 

0 
0 

0 

reducing long-term employment and youth  unemployment; 
reducing  both  the  number  of  young  people  who  leave  compulsory 
schooling  early  and  those  who  do  not  complete  upper  secondary-level 
education and training; 
strengthening  participation  rates in apprenticeship  systems, by regarding 
those  Member  States  with  the  best  performances  in  this  respect  as 
reference points where appropriate; 

0  greater recourse to training for the unemployed; 
0 

stepping up joint efforts  by the business sector and the social partners to 
offer  those  who  so  wish  the  opportunity  to  acquire  work  experience  or 
receive training. 

Community  policy  in the  field  of  education,  training  and  youth  and  the  new 
generation of activities supporting  it must enable  Europe to face these  major 
new challenges. 

Community  action  in the  three  fields  has  developed  and  gained  momentum 
over the past  15 years. The achievements of Community  cooperation to date 
and the evaluation  of the existing  programmes  (Socrates,  Leonardo da Vinci 
and  Youth  for  Europe)  and  their  predecessors  (Erasmus,  Comett,  Lingua, 
Petra,  Force  and  Eurotecnet)  provide  solid  foundations  for  the  next  steps. 
The  new  Community  activities  must  capitalise  on  all these  achievements.  It 
is clear that a response  must be forthcoming for the strongly-felt  demand for 
the  continuation  of  the  existing  activities,  but  it  is  also  clear  that  proposals 
must be brought forward for a new generation of activities with: 

0  a limited number of objectives, 
0  more focused actions, and 
streamlined  management. 
0 

In  more  general  terms,  everything  must  be  done  to  build  the  Europe  of 
knowledge which we need as we move into the twenty-first century. 

BUILDING A EUROPE OF KNOWLEDGE 

The  graduai  construction  of  an  open  and  dynamic  European 
educational  area  is  the  guiding  principle  on  which  this  Communication  is 
based. 
In  a  rapidly-changing  world,  our  societies  must  offer  all  citizens 
greater  opportunities  for  access  to  knowledge,  irrespective  of  their  age  or 
social circumstances. This is why the  notion of an educational area needs to 
be  understood  in  the  broadest  possible  sense,  both  geographically  and 
temporally. 
It  provides  the  framework  for  mobilising  the  effort  to  make  a 
reality of the idea of lifelong learning, which was at the heart of the  European 
Year devoted to this theme in 1996. 

Three dimensions of the European educational area should be emphasized: 

Knowledge 

0 

In  order  to  be  able  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  current  processes  of 
change,  the  citizens  of  Europe  will  be  able  to  develop  their  fund  of 
knowledge  continually,  thus  expanding  and  renewing  it  on  a  lasting 
basis. 

Citizenship 

0  This  educational  area  will  facilitate  an  enhancement  of  citizenship 
through the sharing of common values, and the development  of a sense 
of belonging to  a common  social and cultural  area.  It must encourage  a 
broader-based  understanding  of citizenship, founded  on active  solidarity 
and  on  mutual  understanding  of  the  cultural  diversities  that  constitute 
Europe's originality and richness. 

Competence 

0  Developing  employability  through  the  acquisition  of  competencies 
made  necessary  through  changes  in  work  and  its  organisation.  This 
means  that  it  is  necessary  to  promote  on  a  lifelong  basis  creativity, 
flexibility, adaptability, the ability to 'learn to learn' and to solve problems. 
These  are the  conditions  we  must  meet  in order  to  overcome  the  now-
rapid  obsolescence  of  skills.  Activities  must  be  developed  which  help 
towards anticipating  needs and towards the evolution of job profiles. 

The  very  scale  of  these  new  challenges  calls  for  a  greater  degree  of 
integration  between the fields of education, training  and youth  policy.  While 
turning  the  idea  of  a  European  educational  space  into  reality  will  utilise  the 
types  of  activity  which  have  already  been  at  the  heart  of  earlier  action 
programmes  and  have  assured  their  success  to  date,  it  will  also  have  to 
make intensive  use of the new information and communication  technologies, 
which are still insufficiently  used  in Europe despite the  numerous  public  and 
private initiatives taken to remedy this situation such as Netd@ys. 

1.  A LIMITED  NUMBER  OF OBJECTIVES 

The new generation of actions must focus upon a limited number of objectives: 

« 

• 

increasing  access  for  the  citizens  of  Europe  to  the  full  range  of 
Europe's  education  resources,  in  support  of  and  as  a  complement  to 
policies pursued  in the Member States; 

innovation  in  these  resources:  pilot  projects  initiated  by  the  Commission 
need  to  be  conducted  to  test  new  approaches  and  instruments  (such  as 
second-chance  schools  and  the  accreditation  of  skills).  The  point  is  to 
develop  new approaches  based on the pooling of experiences from  different 
countries.  A  significant  proportion  of  resources  must  therefore  be  set  aside 
for such  pilot  projects whose subsequent  introduction  on a more widespread 
basis is of course principally a matter for national authorities; 

•  wide  dissemination  of  good  practice  in  education  and  better  mutual 
knowledge  of  systems  and  activities.  Systems  for  regular  survey  and 
analysis  of education  and training systems and youth policies  in the  Member 
States  will  enable  political  and  economic  decision-makers  to  improve  the 
quality of their initiatives. 

2,  MORE FOCUSED ACTIVITIES 

• 

For 
the 
the  purpose  of  constructing  a  European  educational  area, 
achievements  and  experiences  of  the  programmes  in  force  up  to  1999 
constitute  a  solid  foundation.  Nevertheless  it  is  necessary  to  focus  the 
measures, as is shown by the analysis and evaluation of the programmes. 

•  Six major types of action are envisaged: 

0  Physical mobility: 

*  Mobility  will  be  available to the  different  target  groups  involved  in the 
European  educational  area: students,  school  pupils, teachers,  heads 
of  educational  establishments;  apprentices/trainees,  trainers  and  the 
social  partners  involved  in  vocational  training;  and  the  voluntary 
sector, youth groups and young volunteers; 

*  Such mobility would include extension of the arrangements for  mutual 
recognition  to the whole of the  European  area  in the  most  systematic 
manner possible. 

0  Promotion of virtual mobility: 

We need: 

* 

* 

to  promote  universal  access  to  new educational  tools  by  advancing 
the  creation  of  links  between  all  the  places  where  people  learn 
communication/  information  networks, and to do everything  possible 
to ensure that they can be used at affordable cost levels; 
the  production  and  dissemination  of  European 
to  stimulate 
multimedia  and  audio-visual  products  and  services  which  are 
appropriate for  use for the education, training  and youth.  The  issue 
here  is  to  have  access  to  suitable  material  with  a  genuinely 

* 

European  educational  content  which  reinforces  the  cultural  identity 
of the Community; 
to  encourage  the  development  of  an  appropriate  education  so  that 
people  in  Europe,  from  the  earliest  age,  are  given  the  basic  skii!s 
required for critical and responsible  use of the information flow  made 
available by the new media. 

0  Contributing  to  building  up  cooperation  rtatworks  at  European  level  in 

order to permit exchange of experience and good practice. 

*  These  European cooperation  networks  must  be in a position to  poci 
what  constitutes  European  excellence  for  a  given  subject  or  theme 
and to create  a  real European  expertise  capable  of bringing  to  bear 
a more effective capacity for diagnosis and action. 

0  Promotion  of  language  skills  and-the  understanding  of  different 
cuStures: these will be a supporting  activity to other types  of activity  and 
applied transversally: 

* 

* 

knowledge  of  languages  and  cultures  is  an  essential  part  of  the 
exercise of European citizenship; 
the  virtual  European  education  area  will  be  all  the  richer  and  the 
more accessible to all if it is multilingual. 

0  Pursuing  innovation  through  pilot  projects  based  on  transnational 
partnerships to create education  and training  products or instruments  for 
the accreditation of skills or to test new approaches and arrangements. 

Continuing  improvement  of  Community  sources  of  reference  with  regard 
to education, training  and youth  systems  and  policies  in the  Member  States 
(key data, databases, mutual knowledge of education systems, etc.). 

All  these  activities  are  designed  and  managed  at  a  transnational  level. 
Particular  attention  will  be  devoted  to  the  implementation  of  integrated 
projects  which  bring together  several  different  kinds  of  activity  dealing  with 
the same theme. 

3.  THE PARTIES INVOLVED 

•  Community  action is not limited to actions initiated and piloted directly  by the 
Commission.  The  central  idea  underlying  the  development  of 
the  new 
generation  of  activities  is  based  on  the  establishment  of  a  framework  of 
responsibilities  shared  between  the  Community,  the  Member  States 
and  the  other  parties  involved.  This  is  also  the  necessary  condition  for 
the Europe of knowledge to take shape. 

0  The  Member  States.  Proposals  will  be  submitted  for  arrangements  to 
make the best use of innovative initiatives and experiments carried out in 
the  Member  States.  The  obligations  and  responsibilities  of the  Member 
States  will  be  defined.  The  aim  of  Community  activities  will  be  to 
facilitate the transfer of good practice between them. 

0  Educational  partners.  In  the  interests  of  broad  dissemination  of 
innovation,  it  is  important  to  strengthen  consultation  with  parents,  with 
the  representatives  of  the  educational  world  (universities,  schools, 
training  centres,  voluntary  associations,  the  third  sector),  and  with  the 
business  sector,  particularly  SMEs.  This  consultation  will  facilitate 
coping  with  the  changes  taking  place  in  the  work  of  teachers  and 
trainers and in the methods and tools used. 

0  The  social  partners.  The  social  dialogue  and  the  process  of  reaching 
agreement  between  the  social  partners  at  European  level -  particularly 
in  the  area  of  vocational  training  -  should  form  a  major  component  of 
this Community cooperation. Consultation with and between the partners 
on  access  to  skills  has  already  been  advocated  in the  1997  Report  on 
Access to Continuing Training. Community activity will provide support to 
the  dialogue  between  and  with  the  social  partners  on  all  themes  of 
common interest. 

0  Economic  partners. There  must  be  a  commitment  to  securing  greater 
involvement  of the business sector.  Particular  attention  must be paid to 
training  and  especially  management 
in  SMEs.  Similarly, 
consultation  needs  to  be  further  developed  with  the  partners  in  the 
information  society  and  those  involved  in  disseminating  educational 
products.  The  dividing  line  between  the  world  of  education  and  that  of 
the  information  society  is increasingly  fluid,  and connections  need to  be 
established  in  both  directions  to  improve  the  quality  of  education 
products. 

training 

take  account  of 

0  Regional and local partners. The organisation  of Community  activities 
must 
towards  decentralisation  of 
trend 
responsibilities  observed  in  many  Member  States  -  particularly  with 
regard to vocational training. The contribution of the regional/local  levels 
-  particularly  the  business  sector  which  is  involved  in  all  forms  of 
partnerships  -  must  be  properly  taken  into  account.  Those  active  at 
regional or local level will therefore see an enhancement of their role. 

the 

0  Partners  in the voluntary  sector. Community  activities  must attract the 
support  of  associations  and  foundations  involved  in  actions  of  tangible 

solidarity,  and 
exchanges of young people or through voluntary service. 

in  promoting 

involved 

those 

integration 

through 

4.  TARGETED INTERNA TIONAL COOPERA TION 

•  This  new  policy  is also an active  participant  in the  run-up to  enlargement. 
Education,  training  and  youth  programmes  are  already  open  to  the  EEA 
countries  (Norway,  Iceland and Liechtenstein)  and are gradually  opening up 
to  those  applicant  countries  participating  in  the  pre-accession  strategy 
(Hungary,  the  Czech  Republic,  Romania,  Cyprus,  Poland,  the  Slovak 
Republic,  Bulgaria,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania  and  Slovenia).  The  European 
Union  has  gradually  moved  from  an  approach  based  on  assistance  in  the 
development  of  their  systems  to  an  approach  based  on  cooperation, 
including cooperation with the Tempus' programme. 

•  As it seeks to focus these actions, the EU will have to strengthen its policy of 

cooperation and exchanges of experience and expertise with: 

0 

0 

in  cooperation  activities 

the Mediterranean countries: greater and better balanced involvement of 
these  countries 
in  order  to 
guarantee  mutual understanding  and to  strengthen the  basis of  political 
stability in the region; 
the industrialised countries (USA, Canada, Japan, Russia, etc.): here the 
need is for an approach which  is consistent with and appropriate  to the 
these 
specific  advantages  of  cooperation  activities  with  each  of 
countries. 

is  essential 

II.  A MORE INTEGRATED SET OF ARRANGEMENTS 

1  LEGAL  INSTRUMENTS 

®  This  policy  will  be  couched  in  legal  instruments  based  on  Articles  126  and 
127  of  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community  (TEC).  Common 
provisions will reflect the will for integration. 

0  A common framework of activities, coordination and monitoring will detail 
the  objectives,  types  of  measures,  common  and  experimental  activities 
and the monitoring of good practices. 

0  Three  decisions  based  on Articles  126 and  127 of the  Treaty  will  define 
the  specific  framework  for  activities  concerning  the  fields  of  education, 
training  and youth. Each of these decisions will  include  common  articles 
with  a  view  to  reinforcing  consistency  and  expressing  the  will  for 
common action, coordination and dissemination of good practice. 

2.  BUDGETARY RESOURCES AND COMPLEMENTARITY 

•  A Europe of knowledge will necessitate a debate on priorities and resources. 
When  the  follow-up  to  the  White  Paper  was  discussed,  the  European 
Parliament  stressed  in  its  opinion  that  budgetary  resources  commensurate 
with the aims must be made available. 

• 

In  its  Agenda  2000  guidelines  the  Commission  signalled  its  intention  to 
submit budgetary  proposals corresponding to an ambitious  policy which may 
imply an increase in budgetary  resources higher than the increase in GNP. 

®  Greater  complementarity  and  synergy  with  other  Community  policies  will  be 
sought,  but  the  Commission  will  take  care  to  avoid  any  risk  of  duplication. 
Joint  actions  such  as  calls  for  proposals  common 
to  a  number  of 
programmes, for  instance, or launching  activities drawing  on  resources  from 
several  programmes,  are  effective  ways  of  coordinating  and  building  up 
common approaches. 

•  The  Agenda  2000  guidelines  for  structural  policy  are  a  key  factor  for 
complementarity.  The  development  of  human  resources  will  be  a  key 
element  not  only  in  Objective  1 and  2  regions  but  also  throughout  the  EU, 
and  will  have  to  be  pursued  in  a  consistent  manner.  A  new  Objective  3  is 
envisaged  to  cover  the  regions  lying  outside  Objectives  1 and  2  in  order  to 
help  Member  States  to  adapt  and  modernise  their  education  and  training 
systems.  The  knowledge  policy  will  therefore  dovetail  well  with  the  new 
structural policy. 

3.  STREAMLINED IMPLEMENTATION 

VISIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY 

•  The  Commission  intends  to  raise  the  visibility  of  Community  action  and  of 
the  Union's  aims.  It will propose  a limited  number  of objectives  and  activities 
corresponding very closely to the political priorities  adopted at EU level. 

•  The  Commission  also  intends  to  examine  carefully  how  certain  educational 
products  and  activities  might  benefit  from  the  award  of  a  European  label 
based on criteria of quality and transnational cooperation. 

PARTNERSHIPS 

•  The  approach  which  we  are  putting  forward  is one  cf  partnership,,  aiming  to 
achieve consistency  and better consultation with different  types  of  interested 
parties : 

0 

0 

0 

the political authorities at national, regional and local level in the  Member 
States; 
the  other  (educational,  social, economic  and  voluntary)  parties  involved 
in building the European educational area; and 
the  operators  involved  in  implementation  in  close  contact  with  the 
beneficiaries. 

This  partnership  should  ensure  a  better  continuing  political  overview,  wide-
ranging consultation and appropriate implementation. 

•  The  greater  spirit  of  cooperation  which  should  be  the  hallmark  of  the  new 
generation of activities could also lead to bodies or processes  being  set  up  -
with the  support  whenever  necessary  of the  existing  bodies  -  to  enable  the 
main  parties  involved  at  national  level  to  better  follow  developments  in 
Community  action through national monitoring  committees. The object  would 
be  to  enable  them  to  achieve  a  better  understanding  of  the  principles  and 
aims  of such  action  and thus to  be  in a better  position  to  use the  results  for 
national policies. 

MONITORING AND EVALUA TION 

• 

In  order  to  enhance  understanding  of  Community  action  and  promote 
greater  complementarity  and  consistency  between  the  various  Community 
policies affecting  human resources, evaluation procedures will be improved. 

•  The  steps  taken  at  the  Amsterdam  European  Council  to  further 

the 
coordination  of  employment  policies  show  the  considerable  advantages 
which  concerted  follow-up  at  Community  levé!  would  bring.  The  various 
reports  currently  provided  for  the  action  programmes  will  be  replaced  by 
regular  progress  reports  from  the  Commission  and  the  Member  States  on 
the  extent  to  which  the  objectives  of  the  programme  are  being  fulfilled  and 
on the obstacles encountered. 

IMPROVED AND SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURES 

With  the  implementation  of  programmes  deploying  ever  greater  resources, 
management  arrangements  have  evolved.  This  evolution  took  account, 
notably,  of  differing  situations  arising  from  the  variety  of  management 
cultures,  diversity 
contract 
management,  and  centralised  or  decentralised  management.  An  audit 
policy has been pursued to review and develop contract rules. 

funding  arrangements,  multi-annual 

in 

The  Commission will  make easily  accessible  points  of contact  and decision 
making  available  to the  public.  For the  management  of day-to-day  affairs,  it 
will  put  forward  proposals  for  decentralisation  of  decisions  to  the  levels 
closest  to  the  parties  concerned.  It  will  study  the  conditions  which  would 
allow  a  greater  degree  of  management  responsibility  to  be  delegated  to 
certain  broadly-based  types  of  projects  or  networks  ,or  to  public-private 
partnerships. 

This  greater  degree  of  decentralisation  -  which  will  be  all  the  more 
necessary  in view of the substantial growth in the number of countries taking 
part  in  the  future  programmes  -  will  be  accompanied  by  measures  to 
strengthen 
its 
responsibilities 
terms  of  management  and  supervision  of  budget 
execution,  but  also  the  crucial  functions  of  stimulation,  coordination  of 
decentralised  management  structures  and  follow-up  and  dissemination  of 
results. 

the  Commission's  capacity 

to  carry  out  not  only 

in 

The  need  is to  progress  towards  an  arrangement  which  favours  a  genuine 
involved  and  which 
management  partnership  between  all  the 
improves  cofinancing  arrangements  with  public  and  private  sources, 
nationally, regionally and locally. 

levels 

The  Commission  will  propose  an  improved  organisation  and  distribution  of 
structures  for  assistance  and  operational  management.  In  particular,  the 
national agencies  must step  up their  role of assisting  promoters,  particularly 
as  regards the  identification  of partners, counselling  applicants  and taking  a 
full part in monitoring and evaluation activities. 

Simplification  should  lead to  more  user-friendly  access  to  Community  aid, 
particularly  by  reducing  decision-making  time,  simplifying  administrative 
procedures  and  reducing  the  number  of  single-establishment  contracts  as 
part  of  a  global  grant  approach. While  fully  respecting  the  general  rules  on 
accounting,  proposals  will  be examined  to  introduce  more flexibility,  e.g.  by 
providing  for  muiti-annual  funding  procedures  or  phasing  projects  to  take 
account of the different stages of feasibility, preparation, implementation  and 
dissemination. 

10 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(97) 563  final 

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