Decision No 68/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 1999 amending the basic Decision relating to the Socrates programme so as to include Turkey among the beneficiary countries
Date: 1999-12-13
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: European cooperation, Türkiye, action programme, aid recipient, education policy, international negotiations

14. 1. 2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 10/1

I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

DECISION No 68/2000/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 13 December 1999

amending the basic Decision relating to the Socrates programme so as to include Turkey among the
beneficiary countries

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

(5)

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

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

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

the principle of such an opening-up, however, apart
from giving a tangible sign of the European Union's
oft-repeated willingness to develop sectoral cooperation
with Turkey, makes it possible to undertake preparatory
measures and measures to increase awareness, with a
view to full participation in the said programme or in
the future framework programme which is currently
being drawn up,

Having regard to the opinion of
Regions (3),

the Committee of

the

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (4),

Article 1

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Decision No 819/95/EC of the European Parliament and
the Council of 14 March 1995 establishes the
of
Community action programme Socrates (5)
in which
Turkey does not participate;

Turkey is an associated country whose links with the
Community have been substantially bolstered with the
entry into force of the final phase of the Customs Union;

the economic and trade links instituted by the Customs
Union should be strengthened by closer cooperation in
the field of education, training and youth;

a considerable amount of time needs to be allowed, on
the one hand, between the amendment of the Decision
establishing the said programme, which is the subject of
this Decison, enabling it to be opened up to Turkey and
the end of the negotiations on the arrangements (partic-
ularly financial arrangements) for Turkey's participation
and, on the other, between the end of those negotiations
and its actual participation;

(1) OJ C 186, 26.6.1996, p. 8.
(2) OJ C 158, 26.5.1997, p. 74.
(3) OJ C 293, 13.10.1999, p. 23.
(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 25 February 1999 (OJ C
153, 1.6.1999, p. 19), common position of the Council of 12 July
1999 (OJ C 249, 1.9.1999, p. 1) and Decision of the European
Parliament of 28 October 1999 (not yet published in the Official
Journal).

(5) OJ L 87, 20.4.1995, p. 10.

The second sentence of Article 7(3) of Decision No 819/95/EC
shall be replaced by the following:

‘This programme shall be open to the participation of
Cyprus, Malta and Turkey on the basis of additional appro-
priations in accordance with procedures to be agreed with
the countries in question, taking as a starting point the
rules applied to the European Free Trade Association coun-
tries, and in compliance with the provisions of Article 3 of
the current Financial Regulation.’

Article 2

This Decision concerns full or partial participation at
the
earliest possible date by Turkey in the Socrates programme in
its current form, to the extent permitted by negotiations, as
well as the launch of preparatory measures or measures to
increase awareness with a view to such participation or to that
provided for under the future framework programme (2000 to
2004).

Article 3

The purpose of the participation of Turkey in the Socrates
programme is to enable genuine exchanges to take place
between young people from both sides and the staff accompa-
nying them, while respecting their linguistic, educational and
cultural diversity,
in accordance with Article 149(1) of the
Treaty, and the rights of minorities.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

14. 1. 2000

The European Parliament shall be kept informed of the various measures taken to implement this Decision.

Article 4

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

Article 5

Done at Brussels, 13 December 1999.

For the European Parliament

The President

N. FONTAINE

For the Council

The President

S. HASSI