Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council European Year of Languages 2001
Date: 1999-10-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU financing, EU programme, language teaching, public awareness campaign

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Proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council (cid:151) European Year of
Languages 2001

(2000/C 56 E/14)

COM(1999) 485 final (cid:151) 1999/0208(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 19 October 1999)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL
OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community and in particular to Articles 149 and 150 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of
Committee,

the Economic and Social

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the EC Treaty,

Whereas:

(1) In the preamble to the EC Treaty,

it is stated that the
Member States are:
(cid:145)Determined to promote the devel-
opment of the highest possible level of knowledge for
their peoples through a wide access to education and
through its continuous updating(cid:146);

(2) Article 18 of the EC Treaty establishes the right of every
citizen of the European Union (cid:145)to move and reside freely
within the territory of the Member States(cid:146), and whereas
the ability to use foreign languages is essential to the
ability in practice fully to exercise that right;

(3) The Council Conclusions of 12 June 1995 on linguistic
diversity and multilingualism in the European Union
emphasised that
(cid:145)linguistic diversity must be preserved
and multilingualism promoted in the Union, with equal
the Union and with due
for the languages of
respect
subsidiarity(cid:146), and whereas
regard to the principle of
Decision No 2493/95/EC of
the European Parliament
and Council, adopted on 23 October 1995 and estab-
lishing 1996 as the European Year of Lifelong Learning (1)
highlighted the importance of the role of lifelong learning
in
linguistic,
throughout an individual’s lifetime;

competencies,

developing

including

(1) OJ L 256, 26.10.1995.

(4) The Commission’s 1995 White Paper (cid:145)Education, training,
research: Teaching and learning:
towards a learning
society(cid:146) (2) established as its Objective Four proficiency
for all
in three Community languages and whereas the
Commission’s 1996 Green Paper (cid:145)Education, Training,
to transnational mobility(cid:146) (3)
Research: The obstacles
concluded that
two Community
at
languages has become a precondition if citizens of the
European Union are to benefit from occupational and
personal opportunities open to them in the single market(cid:146);

(cid:145)learning

least

(5) The measures in the Lingua programme, adopted on 28
July 1989 under Decision 89/489/EEC of the Council (4),
were reinforced and partially integrated as horizontal
measures into the Socrates programme established on
14 March 1995 by Decision No 819/95/EC of
the
European Parliament and the Council (5) and modified
on 23 February 1998 by Decision No 576/98/EC (6),
the
and whereas
improvement of knowledge of
the
Union and have thus contributed to greater understanding
and solidarity between the peoples of the Union; whereas
the Council in its common position of 21 December 1998
proposes that those measures be further developed and
reinforced
Socrates
programme (7);

those measures have promoted
the languages of

second phase of

in the

the

results

achieved under

(6) The Leonardo da Vinci programme, established on 6
December 1994 by Decision 94/819/EC (8) of
the
European Parliament and the Council, has, building on
the
the Lingua programme,
supported activities aimed at developing linguistic skills
training measures; whereas that
as part of vocational
support will be further developed and reinforced in the
second phase of the Leonardo da Vinci programme, estab-
lished on 26 April 1999 by Decision 1999/382/EC of the
Council (9);

(2) Commission’s White Paper: (cid:145)Education and Training: Teaching and
learning (cid:151) Towards the learning society(cid:146) (based on COM(95) 590
final, 29 November 1995), Office for Official Publications of the
European Communities, Luxembourg, 1996.

(3) Commission’s Green Paper

(cid:145)Education, Training, Research: The
obstacles to transnational mobility(cid:146) (based on COM(96) 462 final,
2 October 1996), Office for Official Publications of the European
Communities, Luxembourg, 1996.

(4) OJ L 239, 16.8.1989.
(5) OJ L 87, 20.4.1995.
(6) OJ L 77, 14.3.1998, p. 1.
(7) OJ C 49, 22.2.1999, p. 42.
(8) OJ L 340, 29.12.1994.
(9) OJ L 146, 11.6.1999, p. 33.

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(7) A multiannual programme to promote the linguistic
diversity of the Community in the information society
was established by Council Decision 96/664/EC of 21
November 1996;

(8) The Report of the High Level Panel on the Free Movement
of Persons (1) presented to the Commission on 18 March
1997, considered the (cid:145)multiplicity of European languages
(to be) . . . a treasure to be safeguarded(cid:146) and suggested
measures to foster language training and the use of
languages in the Community;

Community-wide

the objectives of

(9) In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as defined
in Article 5 of
the
the EC Treaty,
proposed action cannot be sufficiently achieved by the
the need for a
Member States,
inter alia because of
coherent
campaign
avoiding duplication and achieving economies of scale;
whereas those objectives can be better achieved by the
Community, owing to the transnational dimension of
Community actions and measures; whereas this Decision
does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those
objectives;

information

(10)

is

important

It
to develop appropriate cooperation
between the European Community and the Council of
Europe so as to ensure consistency between actions
undertaken at Community level and those undertaken
by the Council of Europe, and whereas such cooperation
is expressly mentioned in Article 149 of the Treaty estab-
lishing the Community;

a

financial

(11) This Decision lays down for the entire duration of the
framework constituting the
programme,
prime reference, within the meaning of point 33 of the
Interinstitutional Agreement
European
Parliament, the Council and the Commission of 6 May
1999,
for the budgetary authority, during the annual
budgetary procedure (2);

between the

During the European Year, information and promotional
2.
measures will be undertaken on the theme of languages, with
the aim of encouraging language learning by all persons legally
residing in the Member States, notably by raising awareness of
the influence of language competencies on the quality of life
and on economic competitiveness. These measures will cover
the official languages of the Community, together with Irish,
Letzeburgesch, and other languages recognised by the Member
States.

Article 2

Objectives

The objectives of the European Year of Languages shall be:

(a) to raise awareness of the richness of

linguistic diversity

within the European Union;

(b) to bring to the notice of the widest possible public the
advantages of competencies in a range of languages, as a
in intercultural
key element
understanding, in making full use of the rights conferred
by European citizenship and in enhancing the economic
potential of individuals, enterprises and society as a whole;

in personal development,

(c) to encourage the lifelong learning of languages and related
skills by all persons legally residing in the Member States,
whatever their age, background or previous educational
experiences and achievements;

(d) to collect and disseminate information about the teaching
and learning of languages, and about skills, methods and
teaching and learning and/or
tools which assist
different
facilitate
languages.

communication between users of

that

Article 3

Content of actions

(12) The Joint Declaration of 4 May 1999 by the European
Parliament, the Council and the Commission sets out the
the
practical arrangements for the implementation of
procedure laid down in Article 251 of the EC Treaty (3),

The actions designed to meet the objectives set out in Article 2
above may include, in particular:

(cid:151) the use of a common logo and of slogans,

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

(cid:151) a Community-wide information campaign,

Article 1

(cid:151) the organisation of meetings and events at Community,

transnational, national, regional and local level,

Establishment of the European Year of Languages

2001 shall be designated as

1.
Languages(cid:146).

the (cid:145)European Year of

(cid:151) the organisation of competitions and prizes at Community,

transnational, national and regional level,

(1) Report of the High Level Panel on the Free Movement of Persons,
chaired by Mrs Simone Veil, Office for Official Publications of the
European Communities, Luxembourg, 1998, Chapter V.

(cid:151) financial support for initiatives, at transnational, national,
regional and local level, which promote the objectives of
the European Year of Languages.

(2) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999.
(3) OJ C 148, 28.5.1999.

Details of these actions are set out in the Annex.

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Article 4

Implementation

Commission shall ensure a balanced distribution among
Member States and among the different relevant
fields of
activity.

The Commission shall be responsible for the implemen-

1.
tation of this Decision.

2.
Each Member State shall designate an appropriate body
to organise its participation in the European Year, and to be
responsible
coordination and implementation at
the
the actions provided for in this Decision,
national
including through assistance with the selection procedure
described in Article 7.

for
level of

Article 5

Committee

The Commission shall be assisted by an advisory committee
composed of the representatives of the Member States and
chaired by the representative of the Commission.

a draft of

the Commission shall submit

to the
The representative of
committee
taken. The
committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a
time limit which the chairman may lay down according to
the urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote.

the measures

to be

The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition each
Member State shall have the right to ask to have its position
recorded in the minutes.

The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion
delivered by the committee. It shall inform the committee of
the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.

Article 6

Financial arrangements

Actions which are Community-wide

1.
as
described in Part A of the Annex, may be financed in total
by the Community budget.

in nature,

Article 8

Coherence

The Commission, in cooperation with the Member States, shall
ensure:

(cid:151) consistency between the actions provided for

in this
Decision and other Community actions and initiatives, in
particular those in the field of education and training,

(cid:151) optimal complementarity between the European Year and
other existing Community, national and regional initiatives
and resources, where these can contribute to fulfilling the
objectives of the European Year.

Article 9

Budget

1.
The financial framework for the implementation of this
action for the period 1 January-31 December 2001 shall be
EUR 8 million.

The appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary

2.
authority within the limits of the financial perspectives.

Article 10

International cooperation

In the framework of the European Year, and in accordance with
the procedure laid down in Article 5, the Commission may
In
cooperate with
international
particular,
it shall make appropriate arrangements for coop-
eration with the Council of Europe.

organisations.

relevant

Actions which are local, regional, national, or trans-
2.
national in nature, as described in Part B of the Annex, may
be co-financed by the Community budget, up to a maximum of
50 % of the total cost.

Article 7

Application and selection procedure

Applications for the co-financing of actions from the
1.
Community budget under Article 6, paragraph 2, shall be
submitted to the Commission through the body designated
under Article 4, paragraph 2.

Article 11

Monitoring and evaluation

The Commission shall submit, by 31 December 2002 at the
latest, a report to the European Parliament, the Council, the
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the
Regions on the implementation, results and overall assessment
of the actions provided for in this Decision.

Article 12

Entry into force

Decisions on the financing and co-financing of actions
2.
under Article 6 shall be taken by the Commission in
in Article 5. The
accordance with the procedures set out

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.
its
publication.

It shall take effect on the day of

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ANNEX

1. Nature of the actions referred to in Article 3

A. Actions which may be financed up to 100 % from the Community budget

1. Meetings and events:

(a) organisation of meetings on a Community level;

(b) organisation of events raising awareness of linguistic diversity, including the opening and closing events of the

Year;

(c) organisation in each Member State of one or more presentations of the Year;

2. Information and promotional campaigns involving:

(a) the development of a logo and of slogans for the European Year, for use in the framework of all activities linked

to the Year;

(b) an information campaign on a Community-wide scale;

(c) the production of tools and aids, for use throughout the Community, designed to raise public awareness of the

conditions for successful language learning and of effective teaching and learning techniques;

(d) the organisation of European competitions highlighting achievements and experiences on the themes of the

European Year.

3. Other actions:

Surveys and studies on a Community-wide scale, having notably the aim of better defining:

(cid:151) the situation in Europe with regard to languages, their use and language teaching and learning,

(cid:151) the expectations of different target groups with regard to the objectives of the European Year,

(cid:151) the way in which the Community could fulfil those expectations both in the course of the Year and afterwards, in

particular in the framework of its programmes in the fields of education and training,

(cid:151) evaluation studies concerning the effectiveness and impact of the European Year.

B. Actions which may be co-financed by the Community budget

Actions at local, regional, national or transnational level may qualify for financing from the Community budget up to a
maximum of 50 % of the cost, according to the nature and circumstances of what is proposed. These may include, inter
alia:

1. Events around the objectives of the European Year;

2. Information actions and actions disseminating examples of good practice, other than those described in Part 1 A of

this Annex;

3. The organisation of prizes or competitions;

4. Surveys and studies other than those mentioned in 1 A above;

5. Other actions promoting language teaching and learning, provided that those actions would be ineligible for funding

under existing Community programmes and initiatives.

C. Actions receiving no financial aid from the Community budget

The Community will offer its moral support,
including written authorisation to use the logo and other material
associated with the European Year, for initiatives undertaken by public or private organisations, where those organi-
sations can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Commission that the initiatives involved are or will be in progress
during the year 2001 and are likely to contribute significantly to one or more of the objectives of the European Year.

2. Technical assistance

In carrying out the action, the Commission may have recourse to technical assistance organisations the financing of
which may be provided for within the overall envelope for the programme. It can, under the same conditions, have
recourse to experts.