Decision No 576/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 February 1998 amending Decision No 819/95/EC establishing the Community action programme Socrates
Date: 1998-02-23
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, education policy, educational institution, university

14. 3. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 77/1

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

DECISION No 576/98/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF
THE COUNCIL

of 23 February 1998

amending Decision No 819/95/EC establishing the Community

action

programme Socrates

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Articles 126 and 127
thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the
Regions (3),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 189b of the Treaty (4), in the light of the joint text
approved on 14 January 1998,

(1) Whereas Decision No 819/95/EC of the European
Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 1995 (5)
establishes
the Community action programme
Socrates;

(2) Whereas Article 7 of that Decision provides for a
financial framework for the implementation of the
programme during the period 1 January 1995 to 31
December 1999;

(3) Whereas the Joint Statement (6) by the European
Parliament,
the Council and the Commission
concerning the Decision No 819/95/EC provides
that,
the
the European Parliament and the
programme,

launching of

two years

after

the

(1) OJ C 113, 11. 4. 1997, p. 14, and

OJ C 262, 28. 8. 1997, p. 3.

(2) Opinion delivered on 28 May 1997 (OJ 287, 22. 9. 1997, p.

23).

1997, p. 17).

(3) Opinion delivered on 18 September 1997 (OJ C 379, 15. 12.

(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 12 June 1997 (OJ
200, 30. 6. 1997, p. 136), Council Common position of 22
September 1997 (OJ C 315, 16. 10. 1997, p. 1) and Decision
of
the European Parliament of 23 October 1997 (not yet
published in the Official Journal). Decision of the European
Parliament of 29 January 1998 and Decision of the Council
of 12 February 1998.

(5) OJ L 87, 20. 4. 1995, p. 10.
(6) OJ L 132, 16. 6. 1995, p. 18.

Council will assess the results achieved by the
programme, and that to this end the Commission
will submit to them a report accompanied by any
proposals which it considers appropriate, including
any concerning the funding set by the legislator
within the meaning of the Joint Declaration of 6
March 1995 (7), and that the European Parliament
and the Council will act on those proposals at the
earliest opportunity;

(4) Whereas the European Parliament called for an
increase in the allocation for the progamme in its
Resolution on the Commission White Paper on
Education and Training (cid:190) ‘Teaching and learning
(cid:190) towards the learning society' and its Resolution
on the Commission Green Paper on ‘Education (cid:190)
training (cid:190) research (cid:190) the obstacles to transna-
tional mobility'; whereas, in its resolution on the
guidelines for the 1998 budgetary procedure,
it
included encouragement for youth and education
programmes among its priorities;

(5) Whereas the report submitted by the Commission
pursuant to the abovementioned Joint Statement
has set out the outstanding results achieved by the
programme during the first two years following its
adoption;

(6) Whereas the programme has been particularly well
received in the
and
educational
whereas there is a need to maintain its forward
momentum towards achieving its objectives;

community

(7) Whereas the demand for support is already many
times higher than the available resources and is
continuing to rise;

(7) Declaration by the European Parliament, the Council and the
Commission of 6 March 1995 on the incorporation of finan-
cial provisions into legislative acts (OJ C 102, 4. 4. 1996, p.
4).

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Official Journal of the European Communities

14. 3. 98

(8) Whereas the impact of the programme would be
affected both if
the percentage of projects
supported were to be reduced and if the annual
average amount of support granted to projects fell
threshold, which would mainly
below a critical
disadvantage those from less favoured backgrounds;
whereas there is therefore a need to ensure that a
critical mass of funding is maintained;

(9) Whereas there is a need to provide continuity of
support
for projects during the developmental
phase, while nonetheless reserving sufficient funds
to support new projects and activities, thereby safe-
guarding the programme’s potential
for contri-
buting to innovation;

(10) Whereas, without prejudice to the procedures to be
completed for the participation of Malta, it is envis-
aged that the associated countries of Central and
Eastern Europe and Cyprus should be able to
participate in the programme from 1998 onwards;
whereas their financial contribution could call for
an appropriate contribution by the Community in
order to ensure reciprocal mobility in line with the
Community’s political objective;

(12) Whereas additional funding is incorporated within
the overall allocation for heading 3 of the financial
perspective and within the limits of the appropria-
tions available during the two financial years
concerned,

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Article 7(1) of Decision No 819/95/EC shall be replaced
by the following:

‘1.
The financial framework for implementation of
this programme for the period referred to in Article 1
shall be ECU 920 million.'

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its
publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

Done at Brussels, 23 February 1998.

(11) Whereas there is a need to adjust the financial
framework for the programme in order to maintain
the programme’s capacity to fulfil the objectives set
out in the Decision establishing the programme;

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

J. M. GIL-ROBLES

The President

R. COOK