WRITTEN QUESTION E-1731/00 by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Commission linguistic policy and the safeguard and promotion of minority and regional languages.
Date: 2000-05-31
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, education policy, language teaching, minority language, regional language, youth policy

13.2.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 46 E/211

(2001/C 46 E/254)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1720/00

by Cecilia Malmstr(cid:246)m (ELDR) to the Commission

(20 May 2000)

Subject: IGC

In his speech at Humboldt University on 12 May, the German Foreign Minister suggested that the
European Commission might be replaced by the European Council as the executive of the Union.

He also said that (cid:145)enhanced cooperation means nothing more than increased intergovernmentalisation.(cid:146)

Does the Commission agree with Mr Fischer on either of these points?

Answer given by Mr Prodi on behalf of the Commission

(21 June 2000)

The Commission welcomed in a first reaction the direction in which the speech (cid:129) declared as a private
statement by Mr Fischer (cid:129) is oriented. It remains however the Commission(cid:146)s steady line not to comment
on isolated points taken out of their context.

(2001/C 46 E/255)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1731/00

by Daniel Varela Suanzes-Carpegna (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(31 May 2000)

Subject: Commission linguistic policy and the safeguard and promotion of minority and regional languages

The conference of the Education Ministers from the 15 EU Member States, the three European Economic
Area (EEA) countries and the 13 applicant states hosted by the Portuguese presidency in Lisbon on 17 and
18 March marked the launch of the new phases of the Community education, training and youth
programmes (Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth) for the period 2000-2006.

Given the enormous success of initiatives under the Lingua programme (a sub-programme of Socrates
aimed at promoting language teaching and learning), which were partially included as horizontal measures
in the previous phase of
the Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci programmes (1995-1999), can the
Commission confirm whether in the new period 2000-2006, measures connected with language teaching
and learning under the Lingua or any other programme will be wholly or partly included as horizontal
measures in the EU(cid:146)s education, training and youth programmes? What is the total amount of funding the
Commission plans to set aside for these purposes?

Could the Commission state whether these initiatives in the field of language learning and teaching also
apply to minority and regional languages, and, if so, the percentage concerned?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(27 June 2000)

The Lingua actions of the Socrates programme aimed to promote a qualitative and quantitative improve-
ment in the teaching and learning of the official languages of the Community as foreign languages.

(a) Since 1991, almost € 22 million has been invested in multinational projects between teacher-training
establishments, which aim to improve the quality of language teacher training by sharing best practice
and innovation.

C 46 E/212

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.2.2001

(b) Between 1995 and 1999,

in-service training grants totalling € 39 million have helped
34 600 teachers of a foreign language to improve their skills. This is in addition to the 19 000
teachers who benefited between 1990 and 1994.

individual

(c) Between 1995 and 1999 over 2 800 future foreign language teachers received a bursary enabling
them to spend up to eight months teaching their mother tongue in a school abroad, as part of the
Lingua assistantship scheme.

(d) Support has been given to the development of innovative language teaching methods and learning

tools, and the development of instruments for the assessment of language skills.

(e) Each year, grants have enabled about 30 000 young people to improve their foreign language skills by
working with counterparts in a school abroad on a project related to their education and training;
they have then travelled abroad to work with them face-to-face, and spend time in their families,
thereby making practical use of their new foreign language skills.

The Commission is pleased to confirm that the actions referred to under (a) (b), (c), and (e) above will
continue in the second phase of the Socrates programme, within the Comenius action, whose objectives
now include the promotion of language teaching and learning. The actions referred to under (d) above will
continue under the new Lingua action, which will also contain new measures to raise public awareness
about the importance of language learning, improve citizens(cid:146) access to language learning opportunities,
and share information on best practice and innovation in the field.

The promotion of language teaching and learning in the field of vocational training continues to be a
priority in the Leonardo Da Vinci programme.

The Socrates decision lists as target languages the 11 (cid:145)official(cid:146) languages of the Community, plus Irish and
Letzebuergisch. The national languages of the European economic area (EEA) countries (cid:129) Norwegian and
Icelandic (cid:129) and the national languages of the newly participating countries are also eligible. Regional and
minority languages are not eligible to be target languages under the Socrates programme.

The Leonardo Da Vinci programme does not identify target languages.

(2001/C 46 E/256)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1734/00

by Antonio Di Pietro (ELDR) to the Commission

(20 May 2000)

Subject: The Ispra Joint Research Centre(cid:146)s new research staff policy

The new research staff policy, which is also applied at the Ispra JRC, has made it possible to introduce
more flexible arrangements for the employment of specialist staff
(in those sectors in which the
Commission does not have reserve lists) by offering fixed-term contracts to enable temporary staff to
occupy permanent posts for a maximum of three years.

As this system applies to 25 % of the entire establishment plan, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the
termination of the contracts in question inevitably slows down the progress of ongoing research projects,
while the replacement of the staff concerned incurs considerable administrative costs (e.g. in terms of the
preparation of notices of competition, the carrying out of recruitment procedures, the training of new
temporary staff, and the unemployment benefits payable for two years to staff who are unemployed).

This being so, has the Commission carried out a cost/benefit analysis of the new staff policy? Has it
compared the costs involved in replacing the staff concerned with the cost of extending their contracts for
an indefinite period? If so, what were its findings?