the 'Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the basic Decision relating to the Socrates programmes to include Turkey among the beneficiary countries', the 'Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the basic Decision relating to the third phase of the Youth for Europe programme to include Turkey among the beneficiary countries', and the 'Proposal for a Decision of the Council amending the basic Decision relating to the Leonardo programme to include Turkey among the beneficiary countries'
Date: 1999-06-03
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU programme, Türkiye, vocational training, young person

13.10.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 293/23

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on:

— the ‘Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the
basic Decision relating to the Socrates programmes to include Turkey among the beneficiary
countries’,

— the ‘Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the
basic Decision relating to the third phase of the Youth for Europe programme to include
Turkey among the beneficiary countries’, and

— the ‘Proposal for a Decision of the Council amending the basic Decision relating to the

Leonardo programme to include Turkey among the beneficiary countries’

(1999/C 293/06)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to to the list of Commission proposals pending at 1 May 1999 for which the entry into
force of the Treaty of Amsterdam implies a change in the legal base and/or a change in procedure
(SEC(1999)581 final);

having regard to Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the
basic Decision relating to the Socrates and Youth programmes to include Turkey among the beneficiary
countries and the proposal for a Decision of the Council amending the basic Decision relating to the
Leonardo programme to include Turkey among the beneficiary countries (COM(96) 199 final; 96/0130
(COD) 96/0131 (COD) and 96/0132 (COD) — formerly 96/0132 SYN) (1);

having regard to the decision taken by the Council on 11 May 1999, under Article 149, Article 150 and
the first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to consult the
Committee of the Regions on this matter;

having regard to the Decision of its Bureau of 7 May 1999 to appoint John Evans as Rapporteur General
— to draw up an opinion on this subject, in accordance with Rule 39 of the Rules of Procedure of the
Committee of the Regions;

having regard to the Committee of the Regions Opinion on the new Socrates, Leonardo and Youth
Programmes [COM(1998) 329 final, COM(1998) 330 final; COM(1998) 331 final) (CdR 226/98 fin)] (2)
(Rapporteur: John Evans), adopted 19 November 1998,

adopted the following opinion at its 29th plenary session of 2-3 June 1999 (meeting of 3 June).

On 18 May 1999, the COR received a request from the
Council of the European Union to issue an Opinion on the
Commission’s proposal for a European Parliament and Council
Decision amending the basic decision relating to the Socrates
for a Council
and Youth programmes and the proposal
decision amending the Leonardo programme,
to include
Turkey among the beneficiary countries. This concerns the
period of the programmes from 1995 to 1999.

(1) OJ C 186, 26.6.1996, p. 8, 9, 10.
(2) OJ C 51, 22.2.1999, p. 77-85.

The Committee of the Regions strongly regrets the fact that
the Council has not respected the procedure of Article 265 of
the Treaty establishing a deadline which in any case may not
be less that a month after the communication from the Council
has been received by the president of the Committee of the
Regions. The letter from the Council concerning this referral is
dated 11 May 1999, registered at
the
Regions on 20 May 1999 and the time limit was fixed by the
Council for 11 June 1999.

the Committee of

In its Opinion on the new Socrates, Leonardo and Youth
programmes establishing the new phase of the programmes
from the year 2000 onwards adopted on 19 November 1998
(rapporteur: John Evans) the COR supported the European
Commission’s proposal to open the three new programmes to
Turkey.

C 293/24

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

13.10.1999

The COR notes that the proposal to include Turkey in the
programmes during the current programming period will
enable preparatory measures to be undertaken with a view to
supporting Turkey’s participation in the future programmes.

In conclusion, the COR supports the Commission’s proposal
to open the current programming period (1995-1999) of
the Socrates, Leonardo and Youth programmes to include
Turkey.

Brussels, 3 June 1999.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Manfred DAMMEYER

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Housing and the homeless’

(1999/C 293/07)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the decision of its bureau of 16 September 1998 under the fourth paragraph of
Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community to draw up an opinion on the subject
and to direct Commission 4 for Spatial Planning, Urban Issues, Energy and Environment to prepare the
opinion;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 376/98 rev. 1) adopted by Commission 4 on 4 February 1999
(rapporteur: Mr François Geindre),

adopted the following opinion at its 29th plenary session on 2 and 3 June 1999 (meeting of 3 June)
unanimously.

1.

Introduction

The Committee of the Regions has for some time wished to
address the issue of homelessness. Although homelessness
assumes different forms from country to country in the EU,
and may not at first sight appear to fall within the Community’s
remit, the presence of homeless people in our towns and cities
nevertheless remains one of the most serious signs of social
exclusion in the European Union, primarily affecting local and
regional authorities. This opinion basically reflects the point
of view of these authorities.

1.1. The basis for EU action on the homeless

1.1.1.
Homelessness is one of the core issues in Community
discussions on housing. It is also tied in with the desire to
strengthen European social policy, and is encompassed by
European initiatives and programmes to combat exclusion, as
well as by guidelines for urban policy.

1.1.2.
action to assist and provide care for homeless people.

A number of legal bases may be invoked to underpin

Title XIV of the Treaty establishing the European
1.1.3.
Community (Maastricht)
is concerned with economic and
social cohesion, with Articles 130a to 130e governing Com-
munity action to reduce disparities between the levels of
development of the various regions and the backwardness of
the least-favoured regions (provisions organizing the machine-
ry of the structural funds).

Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty, which will apply
1.1.4.
once the Treaty itself comes into force, aims to combat
inequality and discrimination in access to the employment
market. It will open the door to assistance for projects designed
to prevent and reverse the processes of social exclusion.
Article 137 of the Amsterdam Treaty will provide explicit
authority to act in the field of social exclusion. At present, the
EU has to fall back on Article 235 of the Treaty establishing the
European Community which, subject to Council unanimity,
allows action to be taken where there is no specific provision
in the Treaty. This state of affairs sometimes produces deadlock
which is extremely damaging to Community social policy.