Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions entitled "Towards a Europe of Knowledge"'
Date: 1998-03-25
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU action, continuing education, integration into employment, labour market, young person

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Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Communication from the Commission
to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions entitled “Towards a Europe of Knowledge”’

(98/C 157/13)

On 18 November 1997 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
communication.

The Section for Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 12 March 1998. The
rapporteur was Mr Koryfidis.

At its 353rd plenary session held on 25 and 26 March 1998 (meeting of 25 March), the
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 65 votes in favour with no
votes against and one abstention.

1.

Introduction

multidimensional framework,
incorporating the su-
premely important process of making ‘lifelong learning’
a reality.

The Commission Communication entitled
1.1.
‘Towards a Europe of Knowledge’ is an important
attempt to define the scope and content of the new
generation of European Union activities in the fields of
education, training and youth.

2. General comments

1.2.
The issues and positions presented in the Com-
mission document have their starting point and origin
in the new treaty, related general positions of the
Commission — as set out in its Agenda 2000 action
programme — and previous communications on the
subject, while the main thrust of the communication is
defined by the following requirements:

— the need to maintain the EU’s strong political and
economic position in the world and to give fresh
impetus to Community efforts in the fields of
innovation, research, education and training;

— the need to combine job-creation policies — both
macroeconomic and otherwise — with an education
and training strategy that will result in the conscious
release, cultivation and utilization of each individ-
ual’s strengths to the greatest possible extent — for
their own benefit, but also for the benefit of society
as a whole;

— and finally, the need to develop and modernize the
EU’s internal policies — with more than purely
economic objectives — to promote each European
citizenship in the broad sense of the term.

2.1.
It is important to point out from the start that
this communication is a product of the White Paper
on education and training (1) and of the subsequent
communication reviewing reactions to the white pa-
per (2). In the above context, the ESC’s responses to the
communication refer back to its own opinions on those
earlier documents (3).

The Commission communication comes at a
2.2.
time when — with the exception of the summit on
employment — key EU policies are focusing on the
questions of enlargement and economic and monetary
union; it thus shifts the focus of EU policy to something
more visible and tangible for the average European
citizen, which in practice encourages people to become
more interested, and thereby bringing them closer to EU
policy.

2.3.
The ESC considers the substance of the communi-
cation to be constructive and, subject to certain provisos,
relevant to the overall future of the EU. In particular, the
ESC notes the following with regard to the Commission’s
views as stated in the communication:

2.3.1.
The Commission’s views on bringing to the
forefront policies related to knowledge (innovation,

1.3.
As the communication notes, the crucial pre-
requisite for establishing a Europe of knowledge is ‘the
gradual construction of an open and dynamic European
educational area’. This educational area comprises a

(1) COM(95) 590 final.
(2) COM(97) 256 final.
(3) OJ C 295, 7.10.1996 and OJ C 95, 30.3.1998.

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research, education and training) are important and
ground-breaking. They are also views that the ESC has
already expressed, or endorsed, in earlier opinions.

also a need — while respecting subsidiarity — to
coordinate national education systems so that they
become more effective.

The interrelation between these views and
2.3.2.
the outlook for Europe’s economic competitiveness,
employment and for the creation of a climate and
environment conducive to the personal fulfilment of
Europe’s citizens is crucially important. This inter-
relation is the major factor behind adapting the EU and
its citizens to the new environment that is being created
by the advent of the learning society.

2.3.3.
The development of a coordinated strategy and
macroeconomic policy for employment calls for fresh
educational, pedagogical and didactic approaches —
approaches that involve cultivating new perceptions
among young people, but not only among young people,
and elsewhere establishing different attitudes to issues
such as ‘economics of solidarity’ or to other activities
that serve needs not yet met by the market (e.g.
environmental needs).

In addition, this same strategy and macro-
2.3.3.1.
economic policy requires continuous monitoring and
serious study of all sectors of production, especially
those showing a marked (positive or negative) trend
towards change. It is this trend which must define, in
good time and with due care, medium and long-term
policy on education and short-term action on training
to produce immediate results.

2.3.4.
The ESC considers that Europeans understand
a Europe of knowledge to mean every citizen having
access to knowledge,
informed political and social
action, and lifelong learning. But it also implies a
«cohesive and inclusive society based on solidarity, as
well as a high quality of life, sound environment,
freedom, security and justice» (1). In short, this means
greater political and social democracy.

In principle, the ESC fully endorses the Com-
2.3.5.
mission’s concrete proposal for the gradual construction
of a European educational area. This is consistent with
the view it has repeatedly expressed that there are
already areas not covered by national education systems
that fall to the responsibility of EU bodies, and there is

(1) Agenda 2000 (COM(97) 2000), Part I.

2.3.6.
Another problem linked to the construction of
a Europe of knowledge and the European educational
area is exclusion. Exclusion from the opportunity to
participate in the building of a Europe of knowledge
and from the benefits that this will offer to European
society and European citizens is not just a problem that
affects individuals, but one that affects whole social
groups and possibly whole regions of the EU. This fact
makes it imperative to develop without delay policies to
prevent such an eventuality.

2.3.7.
The ESC feels that any new Community action
aimed at young people (within or outside the education
system) must be part of a more general policy grounded in
the origins and historical course of European civilization
and in the process and prospects of building a Europe
of knowledge. We must not forget that our efforts are
primarily for today’s young people, whose age prevents
them from being involved in our planning. It is therefore
incumbent on us to at least impart to them our historical
recollections and the timeless values that have led us to
our current position. We must also ensure that they
understand and share our analysis, at least at the stage
when our plans are being implemented.

2.3.8.
Another perspective on a Europe of knowledge
produces thoughts and arguments about the role that
new technology can play in the development of an
alternative — i.e. more direct and effective — democratic
process. In a context of unlimited possibilities for
conveying information it may be time to address the
question of how, through education and training, we
might create a culture of refining information and
checking the authenticity of knowledge. There is also
the question of how to establish a culture in which
higher and more direct forms of democracy can be
developed.

2.3.9.
Finally, the ESC welcomes the fact that the
Commission’s views as expressed in the communication
— especially with regard to the number of objectives,
focusing of activities, the role of the parties involved
and international cooperation — are very close to its
own views as already set out in previous opinions.

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3. Specific comments

3.1. Policies for knowledge

3.1.1.
the following issues:

The ESC’s analysis of the communication raises

— the problem of fully justifying the decision to build
a Europe of knowledge and of proving that this is
necessary;

— clear definition of the terms ‘Europe of knowledge’,
‘European educational area’ and ‘lifelong learning’;

— precise specification of scope (objectives, measures,
number of citizens covered by measures, cost of
measures).

The ESC has the following comments, which bear out
and add to the relevant points in the Commission
communication:

3.1.1.1.
The average citizen is more acutely aware of
the disruptive effects on social equilibria and systems of
the new economic order and the pace of development
of knowledge and technology. Detailed and objective
information must therefore be provided on what is
happening and people must be involved in what is
happening. It is therefore incumbent upon those who
have knowledge, and in particular those who control
learning and the process of building a learning society,
to offer others the benefit of their knowledge.

3.1.1.2.
In the European context, this means that EU
institutions, and in particular the Commission, must
now present comprehensible, well-founded and cogent
responses to the many vexed questions raised about this
issue by the general public, questions which if not
addressed will create dogmatic divisions arising from a
lack of information and knowledge and based on
entrenched positions.

Throughout

3.1.1.3.
the planning, designing and
implementing of the new programmes, serious consider-
ation must be given to the comments made in the last
two paragraphs. In practice this means: providing
coherent, valid and cogent justification for every pro-
gramme, and above all effectively clarifying its rationale
and content, as well as the process by which its objectives
will be reached.

3.1.2.
The above analysis of the Commission com-
munication is consistent with the ESC’s institutional
role and specifically with its sensitivities and priorities,
which are determined by the major problems currently

faced by European society. It is precisely these problems
— in particular unemployment, European economic
competitiveness and the threats to the European social
model — that make the ESC wary and very probing
when it comes to this type of centralized European
Union decision. This is also why the ESC is asking the
Commission to relate its positions on progress towards
building a Europe of knowledge even more closely
to the problems, struggles and concerns of Europe’s
citizens, especially its young people.

3.1.2.1.
The Commission’s new proposal on edu-
cation, training and youth will consequently be judged
by whether its implementation helps to solve or at
least mitigate these problems. The approach of the
Commission proposal — which is determined by the
objectives it wants to achieve, the number and scope of
measures, the range of parties involved and their roles,
and the general context in which the whole system is
developed — is a step in the right direction.

In the ESC’s view, it is clear that the new
3.1.2.2.
treaty and its provisions on education, employment and
social policy, establish a potentially better basis for
developing the above policies.

3.2. Management policies

The ESC feels that the methods of managing
3.2.1.
the programmes present a serious problem. Europe’s
citizens have an inalienable right to be informed and to
have access to information, and EU and Member State
institutions have a real obligation towards them in this
regard. The ESC therefore calls on the Commission to
step up its efforts to publicize Community programmes
— from the planning and implementation phase to the
point where conclusions are drawn from the results of the
programmes — using every means of communication,
especially electronic media. At the same time the ESC
calls on all European citizens to take an active part in
setting up and implementing these programmes.

3.2.2.
The ESC feels that even more effort must be
made to improve European citizens’ access to, and
participation in, the programmes. The Commission is
thus called upon to ensure that the obstacles faced by
European citizens are automatically removed when they
wish to participate. The possibility for people to refer
to an alternative independent instance for solutions to
any specific problem they are facing is an idea that
should be encouraged.

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3.3. Promoting employment

3.3.1.
The ESC also agrees with the link established in
the Commission communication between employment
policies and policies for education, training and youth.
But it would emphasize from the start that we should
not expect more from education and training than they
are able to deliver, thereby raising false hopes. Education
and training are certainly crucial to a person’s employa-
bility, but they alone will not solve the unemployment
problem.

3.3.2.
The point of the above comment is that the
expectations placed on education and training policies
should not be unrealistically high, and at the same time
care must be taken to avoid erroneous conclusions about
the methods for dealing with the serious problem of
unemployment.

3.3.3.
The ESC considers the six main types of action
proposed (1) to reflect a sound approach, as they cover
a broad spectrum of the needs in question. It considers
the full achievement of physical mobility to be especially
important, and therefore proposes that particular
emphasis should be placed on this action, while at the
same time seeking a balance between the different areas
(education, training and youth) so that total distribution
of funding is acceptable and the best possible outcome
is achieved in terms of quality.

3.4. Building a Europe of knowledge

3.4.1.
The ESC particularly supports the Com-
mission’s position, which is also the Council’s position,
that particular emphasis should be placed on achieving
a high standard of basic general education and a range
of skills (technological, social and organizational), which
encourage innovation and cultivate a spirit of enterprise.
However, the Committee feels that for many reasons
the changes that are called for in basic general education
cannot be made by, and under the sole responsibility of,
national education systems. The pace of development
of knowledge and technology is such as to require
flexible and up-to-date monitoring mechanisms. These
developments also produce a need for an immediate
response to any impact they might have, or measures to
creatively exploit the opportunities that they offer. The
ESC therefore asks the Commission to create all the

(1) Physical mobility, virtual mobility, cooperation networks,
language skills and understanding of different cultures,
and improvement of Community sources of reference.

preconditions needed to mobilize and make use of
national education systems and the huge potential they
contain.

3.4.2.
The ESC’s comments on mobilizing national
education systems so that they become involved in
building a Europe of knowledge are based on the
certainty that these systems are not sufficiently involved
in the evolution of Europe, and even less in the goal of
building a Europe of knowledge.

3.4.3. Obviously, these comments are not intended
to diminish the value of Europe’s multilingual and
multicultural dimension. On the contrary, the ESC
has repeatedly stated that it considers this crucially
important dimension to be a positive factor in the
development of the EU as an institutional entity, and in
the development of the wider European space in general.
However, it believes that in the context of the EU’s new
policy of international cooperation, and of any future
expansion of this policy, certain timeless and invaluable
cultural features that can be counted as part of Europe’s
cultural heritage should be sought out, identified and
preserved (2).

3.5. The European educational area

3.5.1.
The ESC has the following comments on the
gradual creation of an open and dynamic ‘European
educational area’ and achievement within this frame-
work of the goal of ‘lifelong learning’.

3.5.2.
The ESC endorses in principle the dimensions
and scope of the European educational area as put
forward by the Commission. It also agrees with the
objectives behind this concept, and with the idea that it
should be built up gradually. In general terms, the ESC
considers that:

— the opportunity for the general public to have free
and constant access to the latest knowledge will give

(2) The two and a half millennia over which Europe has
steadily developed and evolved represent a rich heritage
for all Europeans, and an invaluable resource when it
comes to finding ways of solving or overcoming any of the
complex problems created by the transition towards a
globalization of economic and other activities. It is, of
course, the responsibility of everyone to cultivate this
heritage, but it is primarily the responsibility (legally and
formally) of the EU institutions. The ESC therefore calls
upon the Commission, within the framework of the Treaty,
to incorporate into its plans measures to trace, document
and promote Europe’s common cultural heritage.

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people new horizons and objectives, new tools to
use, and new means of action;

3.6. Parties involved

— the development of

international, bilateral and
intercultural
joint actions will certainly help to
cultivate and consolidate European citizenship,
which, looking ahead, is a prerequisite for the next
joint step to be taken by Europeans and the European
Union towards further integration;

— an added bonus would be the continuous updating
of skills to keep up with new developments affecting
the economy, production and work (globalization
of the economy, automation of production, new
ways of organizing work). Combined with unlimited
access to knowledge, this will contribute to changing
the relationship between man and work, which will
certainly be to the benefit of man. Specifically, the
creativity, or greater versatility and efficiency, that
people are able to acquire may enhance the hitherto
strictly utilitarian relationship between the European
citizen and work.

3.5.3. However, the ESC considers that there are two
basic factors influencing European citizens’ acceptance
of the European educational area and thus its effective
development:

— economic problems and in particular the outcome

of the fight against unemployment;

— the relationship that will evolve between the Euro-
pean educational area and national education sys-
tems.

3.5.4. On the specific question of the relationship
between national education systems and the European
the ESC draws attention to the
educational area,
potential value of the Commission developing virtual
education based on new communication and infor-
mation technologies (1).

3.5.5.
The ESC considers that the experience and
views of CEDEFOP should be brought to bear in
developing the European educational area.

3.6.1.
The ESC also attaches great importance to the
section of the communication dealing with the parties
involved in the process of transition towards a Europe
of knowledge. The views put forward represent very
significant proposals for the development of social
dialogue as a general approach, but also for the
development of social dialogue with respect to education,
training and youth. The ESC particularly supports these
views.

3.6.2.
In view of the above, the ESC draws the
Commission’s attention to the need for a more precise
definition of the collective remit of those involved in
education, and of the remit of each party involved in
the educational process, sector by sector. The whole
venture, which of course requires a great deal of care,
must not result in all parties becoming equally involved
in everything. On the contrary, the whole system
must be kept in balance as it develops and wherever
contradictions arise, by establishing an ongoing, wide-
ranging and effective dialogue based on the fact that
each party involved has specific knowledge and authority
in its particular area. Obviously, this argument does not
apply to the traditional providers of education, i.e.
teachers and pupils themselves, whose
the family,
knowledge, views and suggestions must receive particu-
lar attention.

3.7. A more integrated system

3.7.1.
The ESC considers a key issue in the develop-
ment of the European educational area, and in European
education policy generally, to be the consolidation
of relevant policies (education, training, youth) and
integration of the relevant action programmes. Policies
on education, training and youth must be incorporated
within a single framework of action and integrated from
inception and adoption right through to implementation.
This view derives not so much from the fact that
initiatives on education still exclude certain areas, but
more from the need to adopt a centralized policy
approach. It derives from the need at last for there to be
a single strategy on education, training and youth, as
well as integrated planning of measures.

(1) This concerns the use and introduction into education of
new technologies in general, where the EU is lagging behind
the United States and Japan. (In its White Paper on
education and training, the Commission notes that suf-
ficient experience has already been acquired here with the
development of the telematics applications programmes.).

3.7.2.
In view of the above, the ESC endorses the
Commission’s proposal to limit the number of objectives
and to make activities more focused. It also agrees with
the specific goals and activities proposed, these being

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consistent with views it has already expressed in its
opinion on the White Paper and in its Opinion on the
Review of reactions to the White Paper ‘Teaching and
learning: towards the learning society’ (1).

special frameworks for action in the sphere of education,
training and youth, which relevant decisions are intended
to accomplish. The ESC believes that both the scope of
common points of reference and actions, as well as the
framework for action in each individual area, must be
clearly defined.

3.7.3.
As a complement to the above-mentioned
objectives and actions, the ESC would refer to the
proposal it made to adopt, promote and generalize the
system of in-school assistance(2).

3.8. Public funding

3.7.4.
The ESC makes particular reference to the
framework laid down by the Commission for the
development of relevant activities. The requirement is
for integrated activities and, clearly, activities that make
full and effective use of the relevant investments. In
other words, there should be:

— definite general and specific goals,

incorporated

within a wider framework;

— a specific timetable for achieving the goals;

— specific opportunities for any corrective measures

during the course of implementation;

— a way of making use of the results of these actions
to fuel new actions with more ambitious goals.

3.7.5.
In this connection, the ESC approves the
Commission’s call for a ‘common framework of activi-
ties, coordination and monitoring’ that will ‘detail the
objectives, types of measures, common and experimental
activities and the monitoring of good practices’. How-
ever, it would highlight the question of defining the

(1) COM(95) 590 final and COM(97) 256 final.
(2) This is similar to the system of ‘accelerated schools’
developed in the United States. The aim of this system is
to combat the premature exclusion of children from
learning and knowledge. Such exclusion, which is not
always total, is attributable to the difficulties faced by
many children — usually at an early stage of their schooling
— in becoming productively integrated into school life.
These adaptive difficulties, which have various causes, are
generally dealt with by providing in-school assistance,
which consists in diagnosing the problem and resolving
it through appropriate educational approaches and by
offering partially or completely individualized teaching. It
is proposed that in-school assistance should be provided
within the existing education system, during and outside
of normal school hours, by specially trained educators. It
is also proposed that in-school assistance should be given
not just to weak pupils but also to children whose
educational performance is considered to be above the
average for their age level and who for this precise reason
are also finding it difficult to integrate productively into
school life.

But the ESC feels that successful development
3.8.1.
of the European educational area and hence the achieve-
ment of a modern and competitive European educational
concept hinge on the funding earmarked for these
objectives. It considers current funding for the develop-
ment of European education, training and youth policy
to be inadequate given the magnitude and seriousness
of the problems it aims to solve. The ESC therefore calls
on the Commission, and on the other Community
institutions, to re-evaluate their position on the matter
and to decide without delay to provide sufficient funding
to meet actual needs.

3.8.2. With regard to the Commission’s specific
proposal on the financing of measures, the ESC:

— believes that all parties fully accept the principle of
co-financing for programmes. However, the impact
of a programme in the Member States depends both
on the scope of the programme and on the amount
of funding provided by the Community. This means
that there is a level of Community funding for
programmes below which its credibility, and that of
the Union, would be called into question;

— stresses that the system of co-financing is already
working efficiently in such a way that funding is
being used exclusively for the stated objectives;

— believes that the general objectives of the Agenda
2000 action programme on structural policy, as
well as the specific proposal to introduce a new
Objective 3 (3), are important prerequisites for a new
approach to securing public funding for education.

4. Conclusions

4.1.
The speed of developments in the sciences, and
particularly in technology, as well as the — to some
extent consequent — developments in the economy and
the labour market, oblige the EU to speed up its process

(3) To help the Member States adapt and modernize their

systems of education, training and employment.

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of modernizing and completing its institutions. In this
context, the ESC attaches great importance to the
Commission’s central proposal on the ‘capitalization of
knowledge’ partly through the development, dissemi-
nation and full utilization of the means of acquiring it.
The ESC also regards as timely and appropriate the
Commission’s initiative in presenting its proposal on
the Community’s future action in the fields of education,
training and youth.

not be interpreted as a centralizing logic or approach.
On the contrary, it should be seen as an additional,
continuing central effort to achieve:

— increasing transparency and publicity in decision-
making procedures, greater clarity in presenting the
reasons for choices and more precise definition of
terms and scale;

4.2.
In principle, the ESC generally endorses the
substance, content and legal basis of the Commission
proposals. It also agrees with the course of action
proposed for completing the procedures so that the new
measures on education, training and youth come into
force on 1 January 2000. The ESC’s comments and
suggestions are thus intended to clarify and supplement
the Commission Communication.

The ESC stresses the importance for the EU’s
4.3.
overall perspective of the Commission proposal for the
‘gradual construction of a ... European educational
area’.

It takes the view that the proposal:

— clearly covers an area which is not covered by the

national educational systems;

— contributes — still in the context and under the
terms of the Treaty — to coordinating the national
educational systems, so as to make them more
effective and competitive both in the production of
knowledge and in the processes by which it is
acquired by young people and citizens in general;

— can lead the European citizen, through the system of
‘lifelong learning and training’, to levels of personal,
productive and socio-political activity corresponding
to the spirit and expectations of the times and in
touch with the basic values which gave rise to
European civilization (a humanist orientation,
excluding none and enabling citizens to participate
responsibly and practically in social life).

4.4.
In the ESC’s view, the main responsibility for
building a Europe of knowledge lies with the EU bodies
and particularly the Commission. This observation must

— increasingly widespread and substantive partici-
pation by European citizens and their public rep-
resentatives in the procedures for planning, drawing
up and implementing the relevant programmes;

— closer linkage of the policy choices and specific
actions on education, training and youth with the
main contemporary problems, and particularly with
that of employment;

— simplified management of programmes, with better
utilization of resources to ensure unfettered, more
widespread participation of European citizens in
those programmes.

4.5.
The ESC lays particular stress on the importance
for the entire effort of upgrading the quality of the
general basic education provided, and of coordinated
exploitation of the vast potential contained in the
national educational systems as a whole. It therefore
calls upon the Commission to make the most of
all available ideas and take well-judged measures to
overcome the ingrained habits which keep nearly all the
national educational systems tied to outdated oper-
ational frameworks. To that end, an approach which is
worth pursuing and implementing — among others —
is the creation — backed up by specific measures — of
a climate of competition within the community (schools,
education regions, national educational systems) and
the cultivation of a competitive attitude towards the
educational systems of non-member countries (1).

4.6. On the Commission’s other proposals, the ESC:

— agrees with its views on the number of objectives
and the concentration of efforts, stressing in particu-

(1) This idea derives from the need to create a climate in
which national education systems can break free from the
inertia they have largely fallen into. It is proposed that an
‘Olympics of learning’ be launched, the aim of which
would be to award prizes to groups of pupils or students,
or school groups and educational institutions and centres in
general for their contribution towards achieving objectives
drawn up by the Commission. Awards could take the
form of: special subsidies for specific activities; mobility
programmes; grants; infrastructure support, depending on
the recipients of the award.

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lar the role of virtual mobility as a tool of the
European educational area for building a Europe of
knowledge;

— regards the views expressed by the Commission on
the way of developing activities and the role of the
socio-economic actors concerned as proposals of
great importance for the future prospects of the
social dialogue;

— feels that the integration of the new policy on
education, training and youth in the perspective of
enlargement, and the new approach to follow-up

and coordination of efforts (legal instruments) are a
step in the right direction. However, it emphasizes
that the limits of each distinct sector and the need to
record in the meantime the ‘common European
cultural heritage’ must be clearly defined.

— Finally, as regards public funds and the management
of the programmes, the ESC stresses the need to
treat education, training and youth as policies of the
highest priority. Endorsing the adoption of the third
objective, it underlines that special attention must
be devoted to the system for co-financing the
programmes to ensure that it operates reliably and
efficiently.

Brussels, 25 March 1998.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

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APPENDIX

to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee

The following amendments were approved by more than a quarter of votes cast, but were rejected
during the debate:

Point 3.8.2

Delete the last two points.

Reason

The second point does not indicate exactly what we wish. Do we or do we not think that it is a good
thing for the system to involve additional Community funding?

The third point concerns the proposed Structural Funds’ Objective 3; here we should wait before taking
a stand until the specific opinion to be delivered on these Funds is ready. In addition public funding
cannot be guaranteed through the Structural Funds — only the Community’s contribution.

Result of the vote

For: 22, against: 37, abstentions: 11.

Point 4.5

Replace ‘the creation .... of a climate of competition’ in the last sentence by ‘the stepping up ... of
exchanges of experience’.

Reason

A climate of competition between schools, education regions and national educational systems is
inappropriate in this context. Effective competition means that the most effective party will oust the
others. A national educational system cannot be replaced by another. What we should aim to do is to
learn from each other so that all of us will have more effective educational systems.

Result of the vote

For: 29, against: 38, abstentions: 2.