European Parliament resolution on the Commission report to the Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the implementation, results and overall assessment of the European Year of Lifelong Learning (1996) submitted pursuant to Article 8 of European Parliament and Council Decision 2493/95/EC (COM(1999) 447 — C5-0205/1999 — 1999/2163(COS))
Date: 2000-09-08
Institutions: Committee on Culture and Education, European Parliament
Subjects: European Economic Area, European cultural event, continuing education, education policy, project evaluation, vocational training

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Invites the Commission to report again to Parliament before the end of 2000 on developments in

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Fiji;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
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and parliaments of the Member States and applicant states, the legitimate government of Fiji as well as the
‘Interim Civilian Administration’, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Secretary-General of the
Commonwealth, the ACP-EU Council of Ministers and the ACP-EU Joint Assembly.

2. European Year of Lifelong Learning (1996)

A5-0200/2000

European Parliament resolution on the Commission report to the Council, the European Parlia-
ment, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the implementa-
tion, results and overall assessment of the European Year of Lifelong Learning (1996) submitted
pursuant to Article 8 of European Parliament and Council Decision 2493/95/EC (COM(1999) 447
/ C5-0205/1999 / 1999/2163(COS))

The European Parliament,

, having regard to the Commission report (COM(1999) 447 , C5-0205/1999),

, having regard to European Parliament and Council Decision No 2493/95/EC of 23 October 1995

declaring 1996 the European Year of Lifelong Learning (1),

, having regard to the conclusions of the Lisbon and Feira European Councils,

, having regard to Article 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,

, having regard to the report of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport and

the opinion of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs A5-0200/2000),

A. whereas all individuals have a fundamental right to a proper level of education and training in order

to develop their potential and achieve economic, social and cultural integration,

B. whereas the development of lifelong learning should further the fight against the failure at school level

which leads to social marginalisation,

C. whereas training should follow the four main lines of action established by the Luxembourg Extraor-
dinary Council, namely improving employability, developing entrepreneurship, encouraging adaptabil-
ity in businesses and their employees, and strengthening equal opportunities policy,

D. whereas the European year is to involve training for women, particularly immigrant women, as mem-

bers of minority groups with greater needs,

E.

having regard to the present very rapid growth and development of skills and knowledge in all areas,
requiring individuals to adapt constantly to new specialities and demanding the constant adaptation of
educational and training systems,

F. whereas Europe, if it wishes to be competitive, must promote lifelong training for those working on
cutting-edge technologies at the highest academic levels, since they will be responsible for passing on
their knowledge and skills to businesses and training centres,

(1) OJ L 256, 26.10.1995, p. 45.

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G. whereas the growth in information technology has made it a crucial factor both in the topics and
methods of learning and training, and one which should feature strongly in any attempt to further
the principle of lifelong learning;

Friday 8 September 2000

H. whereas there are still too many rigidities and barriers between education and training, and not
enough opportunities to move from one to the other or to experience new forms of teaching on a
lifelong basis,

I. whereas it is necessary to promote improved cooperation at all levels between education and training

structures and the world of business,

J. whereas training should be viewed as an investment and not a matter of current expenditure,

K. whereas lifelong learning has a far from negligible role to play in the fight against social exclusion,

L. whereas under the principle of the mutual recognition of diplomas and qualifications institutions and
businesses throughout the EU should recognise diplomas issued by and training received in any recog-
nised educational establishment within the European area,

M. whereas the European Union should encourage the teaching of new technologies in rural and periph-

eral areas, so as to ensure that equal opportunities are available to all Europe’s inhabitants,

N. whereas lifelong learning should contribute to awareness of the fact that in Europe there is a constant

passing-on of knowledge, on the basis of a shared cultural heritage and values,

O. whereas the European Year should help to integrate policies and initiatives scattered between the var-
ious programmes established by the Union with a view to linking the sectors concerned with imple-
menting them in each country, so that all may benefit from a process of mutual enrichment,

1.
Observes that training, in all its aspects, should constitute a priority consideration for the Member
States when adopting any initiative designed to implement the guidelines laid down for employment poli-
cies for 2000;

Stresses that Lifelong Learning is also an efficient way of improving the quality of labour and making

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work organisations more human and more efficient;

3.
Points out that general education and vocational training are not only of major significance to per-
sonal development and to improving one’s chances for the future; they also represent a significant factor in
the Member States’ attempts to meet the challenges of global competition;

4.
Stresses that Lifelong Learning is also crucial in order to secure personal fulfilment, social integration
and participation in democratic decision-making processes and can, therefore, not be seen merely in terms
of demand and supply;

Stresses that the impact which the year had on businesses and social forces in terms of awareness-

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raising was positive;

6.
Regrets the slow start of the activities under the European Year and calls upon the Commission to
speed up preparatory work and internal procedures in order to allow for a timely launch of Community
actions in future;

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Stresses the importance of the necessary attention being paid to the lifelong learning factor in the

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implementation of the new generation of programmes such as Socrates II and Leonardo;

Recalls that the Lisbon and Feira European Councils have called on the Commission and the Member
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States to define coherent strategies and practical measures to make lifelong education and training acces-
sible to all;

Budgetary aspect

Regrets the fact that the budget for the European Year of Lifelong Learning 1996 was only ECU 8,4

9.
million for the fifteen Member States and their three EEA partners;

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Believes that the fact that the ECU 8,4 million budget was trebled by the cofinancing provided by
the participant countries, thus bringing the total budget to ECU 34 million, proves how much interest
there is in initiatives of this kind in Europe;

The Commission’s report

Believes that the general terms in which the request for projects to be submitted was formulated,
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with no definition of lifelong learning, resulted in an ambiguity which makes it difficult to devise criteria
for the quality of the programmes or the aspects which need to be selected when issuing future requests
for submissions;

Regrets the notorious lack of qualitative data in the Commission’s report which makes it virtually
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impossible to assess whether the programme has been implemented in accordance with the European
Parliament’s priorities; calls upon the Commission to improve the quality of future evaluation reports;

Regrets that the report does not contain sufficient information about examples of good practise,
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their dissemination at European level and their possible transfer into other Community policies, nor an
analysis of the weaknesses of the Community intervention; calls upon the Commission to establish a com-
pendium of projects to be disseminated at European level;

Regrets the fact that the report did not offer a basis for a full and detailed assessment of the

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initiative;

Regrets the fact that the report does not evaluate the involvement of democratically elected local

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and regional bodies;

Requests to the Commission

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The Commission (following the EU’s experience in these matters) and the Member States are urged
to define various concepts and aspects of vocational training and lifelong learning more precisely in future
programmes, distinguishing between:

, training designed to correct failure at school level, or to provide less-favoured or minority groups with

basic teaching,

, training for a first job and for joining the working population, whatever the age of the pupil,

, training for sporting practitioners who, having previously abandoned their studies and/or employment

to dedicate themselves full-time to sporting activity, now wish to enter the world of work,

, the acquisition of new qualifications and the adaptation and updating of skills,

, distance learning for adults in areas conducive to both general and cultural education, including new

technologies,

, vocational qualifications required for formal and non-formal education,

, lifelong learning for teachers and researchers as a means of updating knowledge and skills;

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17.
Asks that in the requests for submissions the objectives should be clearly defined as regards both
designing and assessing the projects, using new technology and the Internet to publish the criteria and
including all the projects sought, with those promoting them and the results of the final selection;

Observes that under the guidelines laid down by the Luxembourg Extraordinary Council of 1997
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training courses should provide adaptable and flexible training which will enable students to develop their
entrepreneurial spirit;

19.
Calls on the Commission to rapidly implement action programmes and specific measures in the
context of a strategy for lifelong education and learning, in coordination with the Socrates II and Leonardo
programmes;

20.
Urges the Commission and the Member States to devise specific measures to encourage relations
between formal education, vocational training and lifelong learning, so as to develop integrated training
and open up channels of communication between the various educational models;

21.
Asks that the contents of the various professional occupations and training courses be defined, so as
to facilitate mutual recognition of professional qualifications and render the labour market more transpar-
ent;

Asks that lifelong training be applied likewise to the highest levels of excellence and to the univer-

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sity world, as well as to traditional occupations, especially in the crafts sector;

23.
Urges the Commission to create European networks of vocational training centres and enterprises
with a view to identifying the most frequent technical and professional problems, the content of the key
skills required, etc.;

Urges the Commission to ensure that the priority projects include vocational training in the sectors

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where innovation and change are most urgently needed;

Requests to the Member States and the Commission

Calls on the Member States to cooperate with the Commission in the collection of data concerning

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lifelong learning, with a view to ensuring the future comparability of data at European level;

Calls on the Member States to extend the information networks so as to ensure wide public access

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to targeted information on the existing programmes in this field;

*

*

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27.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council and the govern-
ments and parliaments of the Member States, the Republic of Iceland, the Kingdom of Norway and the
Principality of Liechtenstein.