WRITTEN QUESTION E-0828/02 by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Teaching entrepreneurial skills in schools.
Date: 2002-03-26
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: education policy, entrepreneurship, teaching curriculum

C 205 E/222

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

29.8.2002

Further to the statement made by Commissioner Wallström to the European Parliament on 12 March, is
the Commission satisfied that Mr Currie has complied in full with Article 16 of the regulations and rules
applicable to officials of the European Community?

Is the Commission calling upon Mr Currie to step down from his position, and if not, why not?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(19 April 2002)

Former permanent officials and other servants who have left the service are required to comply with
Articles 16 and 17 of the Staff Regulations.

Article 16 provides that, after termination of service with the Institution,
obligations of integrity and discretion in relation to the acceptance of certain duties or functions.

the official must respect

Article 17 relates to the necessary discretion with regard to the information acquired during the course of
the official’s (former) duties.

In the specific case referred to by the Honourable Member, the Commission can confirm that it is in the
process of examining whether the former Director-General of DG Environment at the Commission will be
in a position to comply with the relevant provisions of the Staff Regulations (Articles 16 and 17) in joining
the board of directors of British Nuclear Fuels UK as an independent non-executive member. This
examination should be finalised in the course of April. Meanwhile, the Commission has received a reply to
its letter to the former official in which he indicates that he has not yet accepted the post in question.

The Commission advises the Honourable Member that, in considering such cases, the Commission expects
its officials to refrain from accepting employment if this could lead to a conflict of interest with their
former post in the Commission. Such a conflict is generally considered to be evident if the new activity is
related to a dossier for which the official was responsible in the Commission and involves him/her in
intervening against the position of the Commission with regard to this dossier. The same situation occurs
where the official might profit from confidential information gained during his/her previous functions.
Where the Commission suspects a violation of its professional rules it acts immediately to check the matter
and, if necessary, takes measures to penalise such a violation.

In its proposal for modification of the Staff Regulations in the context of Administrative Reform, the
Commission proposes to further strengthen Article 16 by placing an obligation on a former official to
notify the Institution if he or she proposes to take up a professional activity within two years of
termination of service. Similarly, it is proposed that Article 17 be strengthened in respect of the divulgation
of information not yet in the public domain.

(2002/C 205 E/243)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0828/02

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Teaching entrepreneurial skills in schools

(26 March 2002)

At the recent meeting in Aranjuez (Spain) of EU Ministers responsible for small and medium-sized
businesses, remarks were made regarding the need to encourage entrepreneurial skills in school children,
starting at primary level.

Such a suggestion should certainly be seized upon and be put into practice, even if this would require a
well-defined strategy in order to ensure that the intended benefits of the initiative are reaped.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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Does the Commission not therefore think that it should launch a programme to compile a list of such
initiatives throughout the EU, so as to be able to present a comprehensive syllabus for the teaching in
schools of basic facts designed to promote entrepreneurial skills amongst European school children who
will be the EU’s businessmen and women of the future?

Answer given by Ms Reding on behalf of the Commission

(8 May 2002)

The Lisbon European Council of 23 and 24 March 2000 stressed the need to strengthen entrepreneurship
in European societies, to introduce a favourable climate for the creation and development of innovative
enterprises and to make general progress in this area in Europe.

The Commission report of January 2001 on the future objectives of education systems confirmed these
conclusions. The messages that are sent to most children during their education do not encourage then to
consider the creation of their own enterprise as a viable alternative to being in someone else’s employ. And
yet, studies show that, in practice, decisions of this kind are taken at the age of 12 or 13 years already.
Moreover, entreprise is more than just a commercial activity; it is also an active and reactive spirit that
society as a whole should exploit to the full.

Entrepreneurship and, in particular, autonomy, the ability to take risks, to solve problems, to adapt and to
work as part of a team have therefore become some of the basic skills that each and every European
citizen should be able to acquire through education.

At the European Council of Barcelona in March 2002, the Council and the Commission presented a report
on the future objectives of education systems in Europe, together with a detailed work programme. The
implementation of this programme is based on the open method of coordination, involving, among other
things, the characterisation, by means of indicators, of the basic skills that have already been identified D
notably entrepreneurship, including for teacher training. It also foresees the task of checking how these
skills might be incorporated into school curricula, without overloading them at the same time.

The corresponding initiatives adopted will be taken by the Member States and the Commission,
accordance with their respective powers in the area of education and the principle of subsidiarity.

in

The notion that enterprise education should be an essential part of a lifelong learning approach is now
generally accepted: the development of entrepreneurial attitudes and skills can be encouraged in people of
all ages, starting from primary school.

In most Member States, initiatives exist already that tackle this issue. The Commission has collected a
certain amount of qualitative information on existing good practice in Europe. There is now a need to take
stock of measures undertaken, and to assess their scope and impact. This is why D in the framework of
the Multiannual Programme for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship (2001-2005) D the Commission has
launched a ‘Best Procedure’ project on education and training for entrepreneurship.

This project tries to identify and compare initiatives from across Europe that aim to promote the teaching
of entrepreneurship in the education systems, from primary school to university. In order to achieve this
objective, the Commission is working in close cooperation with experts nominated by the national
administrations of 16 countries. Final results of this project will be available in September 2002, and will
include an overview of existing measures and cases of good practice in Europe, a comparative analysis of
the situation in the participating countries and relevant policy conclusions.