Report from the Commission - European Commission Interim Report on the Start of the Operational Implementation of the Second Phase of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme (2000-2006)
Date: 2002-06-14
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, action programme, education, innovation, vocational training

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 14.06.2002
COM(2002) 315 final

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION

European Commission Interim Report on the Start of the Operational Implementation
of the Second Phase of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme (2000-2006)

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION

European Commission Interim Report on the Start of the Operational Implementation
of the Second Phase of the Leonardo da Vinci Programme (2000-2006)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.

2.

2.1.

2.2.

From Leonardo I to Leonardo II

The Policy Framework

Overall Strategy

Complementarity between policies

3. Management Organisation and Procedures

3.1. Management Organisation

3.2.

Functioning of the programme management

4. Activities 2000 and 2001

4.1.

4.2.

4.3.

4.4.

4.5.

Procedure A: Mobility projects

Procedure B: Pilot Projects, Language Competences, Transnational Networks

Procedure C: Reference Material, Thematic Actions, Joint Actions

The Euroguidance Network

Project Participation and Targeting

4.5.1.

Involvement of enterprises, especially SMEs

4.5.2. Gender equal opportunities

4.5.3.

Participation of the Candidate Countries

5.

Project Follow-up

5.1. Monitoring the Current Projects

5.2.

5.3.

Disseminating the Results of Leonardo da Vinci Projects

Valorising the output of Leonardo da Vinci projects

6. Conclusion and Further Steps

Annexes

3

3

3

5

6

6

7

10

10

11

13

14

15

15

15

17

17

17

18

19

19

2

Introduction

Leonardo da Vinci is the Community Action Programme for the implementation of a
vocational training policy in Europe. It aims at developing quality, innovation and European
for
dimension in vocational
implementing lifelong learning at European level.

training systems and practices and is a key instrument

Because of its importance, all programme stakeholders agreed to examine plans for
implementation at an early stage. Therefore, the Council Decision of 1999 in Article 13.5 asks
the Commission to submit
the
Economic and Social Committee and to the Committee of the Regions "a first interim report
on the initial operational implementation of this programme by 30 June 2002". The present
report fulfils this mandate.

to the European Parliament,

the Council of Ministers,

The methodology applied here is that of an analysis of the activities undertaken by the
programme stakeholders during the first two years of the programme. This activity report is
is too early in the
not an evaluation of efficiency, effectiveness and impact, because it
programme's life-span. Rather, it serves as a basis for the forthcoming evaluations of the
programme. This report draws on sources available in the Commission and on material
provided by some of the participating countries.

1.

FROM LEONARDO I TO LEONARDO II

The second phase of Leonardo da Vinci is based on the experiences of its first phase from
1995 to 1999. The establishment of the second phase of the programme was an opportunity to
remedy many of the structural deficiencies of the past:

• The number of programme objectives was reduced from 19 to 3.

• The number of programme measures was reduced from 23 to 5.

• Two of the five measures have been clearly prioritised: mobility measures (39 % of the

budget) and pilot projects (36 % of the total budget).

• The total budget has been increased from 620 Mio.

€

for 1995-1999 to 1.150 Mio.

€

for

2000-2006.

• The programme now funds fewer projects of higher potential impact.

• The calls for proposals are now valid multi-annually (instead of one year), in order to

increase reliability and predictability for potential users.

• A two-step application process with pre-proposals, followed by full proposals has been

introduced in order to make the process more user-friendly and transparent.

2.

THE POLICY FRAMEWORK

2.1.

Overall Strategy

The Leonardo da Vinci programme promotes co-operation in the field of education and
vocational training with a view to encouraging lifelong learning. The overall orientation and

3

structure of the programme are based on Article 150 of the Treaty, the primary legal base for
the decision establishing the second programme phase. This article gives the European
Community the mandate to implement a European training policy which supports and
supplements the action of the Member States while fully respecting their responsibility for the
content and organisation of vocational training.

In this context, the Leonardo da Vinci Programme has three main objectives:

1.

2.

3.

improve the skills and competences of people, especially young people, in initial
vocational training;

improve the quality of, and access to continuing vocational training, and

promote and reinforce the contribution of vocational training to the process of
innovation.

In order to make these objectives more operational for the purposes of submitting
proposals,
the Commission, with the assistance of the programme Committee, set six
priorities for the first call for proposals:

• Priority 1 - Employability

• Priority 2 - Partnership between training bodies and companies

• Priority 3 - Social inclusion for persons disadvantaged in the labour market

• Priority 4 - Adaptability and entrepreneurship

• Priority 5 – Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

• Priority 6 - Transparency of qualifications.

In contrast to the first programme phase, the second phase makes a clear reference to lifelong
learning as a transversal objective. The programme is aimed at people in vocational training
at all ages and all occupational categories. It incorporates elements of bridge-building
the joint actions with
between training and related policy fields such as, for example,
education and youth programmes.

Heads of State and Government at the European Council of Lisbon in March 2000
confirmed the role of lifelong learning in making Europe the most competitive and dynamic
knowledge-based society in the world. Following a Europe-wide consultation in which 12,000
experts and citizens participated,
the Commission in November 2001 adopted the
Communication "Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality" (COM(2001)678
final). Herein, six priorities for action were set out for implementation at all levels. The
document also sets out a policy framework for the development of education and training in
Europe, as well as the essential elements of coherent and comprehensive lifelong learning
strategies at national level.

For the future, lifelong learning will be the guiding principle for all activities within the
programme. The Commission will utilise the programme as a key tool to implement its
lifelong learning strategy. Three of the six priorities for action proposed in the Commission
Communication on "Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality" [COM(2001)678
final] were chosen by the Commission in co-operation with the programme Committee for the

4

next call for proposals for 2003 and 2004, as they are principally intended to support
implementation at the European level. All proposals submitted under the programme will
therefore have to relate to one of these priorities:

• Valuing learning: Proposals may contribute to the identification, assessment and
recognition of non-formal and informal learning, as well as to the transfer and mutual
recognition of formal certificates and diplomas.

• New forms of learning and teaching and basic skills in vocational education and
training: Proposals may contribute to the development of new learning methods for the
improvement of basic skills, inter alia the foundation skills (e.g. learning to learn), the new
skills (e.g. ICT skills) and mobility skills (e.g. foreign languages).

• Guidance and counselling: Proposals may contribute to improving the European

dimension of guidance and counselling by exchanging experiences and standards.

The reduction from six priorities to three will further rationalise and clarify the programme
for the benefit of the users. The intention is not to replace the existing three programme
objectives but rather to make the objectives operational in the perspective of lifelong learning.
The programme will benefit by this rationalisation in that it will be even better positioned to
generate impact and added European value.

2.2.

Complementarity between policies

A lack of complementarity with other related policy fields has been acknowledged as a
weakness for the first programme phase (1995-99). Therefore, the Commission has developed
a more strategic and systematic approach to ensure co-operation with other Community
programmes. A concrete result of this co-operation will be higher visibility of Leonardo da
Vinci in the policy development of other Commission services.

Lifelong learning has been taken into account as one research priority under the priority
theme "Citizens and governance in a knowledge-based society" in the proposal for the Sixth
Framework Programme for Research of the EU for 2002 to 2006. This approach will increase
complementarity between Leonardo da Vinci and the new Research Programme at strategic
and at project level.

Complementarity between Leonardo da Vinci and both the European Employment Strategy
and the European Social Fund (ESF) is crucial because both contribute to the development
in Europe. A paper presented by the Commission to the
of human resource potential
programme Committee in November 2001 outlined an overall approach and suggested a
series of concrete actions to improve complementarity between Leonardo da Vinci and the
ESF. It aims at reducing possible double-funding and opens a further opportunity for using
Leonardo da Vinci results in the implementation of ESF. The same document was also
presented to, and discussed by the ESF Committee in March 2002.

For the immediate future the Commission will strengthen co-operation with related policy
fields, as foreseen in the Communication on lifelong learning.

5

3.

MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION AND PROCEDURES

The final report on the first programme phase (1995-99) acknowledged as a major weakness
the management of the programme. To correct this weakness, the Council Decision reinforces
the role of national structures - the National Agencies - as indicated in Article 5 and annex III.
The scope of the activities of the National Agencies is wide: they play an important role all
over the life cycle of the projects from counselling to selection and monitoring of projects
until the payment of the last project balance.

3.1.

Management Organisation

In terms of managing the programme, the triangular relation between the Commission,
National Authorities and National Agencies has reinforced the partnership between these
three actors. Following discussions between the Commission and the Member States, the
Commission adopted a Decision on the “Provisions relating to the responsibilities of the
Member States and of the Commission with regard to the Leonardo da Vinci National
thereby ensuring that clear Community
Agencies" (C(2000)402 final of 18.02.2000),
guidelines and rules be drawn up, and precise and clear responsibilities be specified.

• The role of the European Commission

The Commission is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the programme in
accordance with the Council Decision.

In order to fulfil
the internal organisation of the
responsible Commission service has been adapted to the needs of implementing the
programme.

this role effectively and efficiently,

The Commission contracted a technical assistance office following an open call for tender.
In contrast to the first programme phase, this office assists the three programmes Leonardo da
Vinci, Socrates and Youth. This is a positive rationalisation of the technical assistance at
Community level. The Technical Assistance Office fulfils organisational and secreterial tasks
in relation to the assessment of proposals as well as supporting functions on a number of
issues (monitoring of projects, organisation of meetings, preparation of contracts,) necessary
for the smooth running of the programme at Community level.

• The role of the Leonardo da Vinci Committee

The role of the programme Committee is to assist the Commission in the implementation of
the programme. It is composed of two representatives from each Member State and chaired
by the Commission. Also, representatives from the candidate countries participating in the
programme are present. Representatives from the Social Partners from national and from
European level participate in the Committee as observers.

The Committee has been and continues to be fully involved in the relevant decisions to be
taken to implement the programme.

Since mid-2001, following the strict implementation of the Council decision on Comitology
(1999/468/EC) and the subsequent agreement with the European Parliament, the latter has
been fully informed about all activities concerning the management of the programme: all
documents presented by the Commission to the programme Committee have been forwarded
to the EP and a four week "droit de régard" period has been introduced between an opinion of
the Committee and the related Commission decision.

6

• The role of the National Authorities

In accordance with the increased decentralisation in managing the programme, the role of the
national authorities has been strengthened in contrast to the first programme phase.

According to the Commission decision of 18 February 2000 [C(2000)402 final] the national
authorities, within their areas of competence, are now responsible for securing the co-
ordination, the integrated management and the follow-up for the attainment of the programme
objectives. In doing so, they involve all parties concerned by vocational training. They are
also responsible for ensuring that relevant information about the programme is provided to the
public, and they also adopt measures to remove obstacles to access to this programme. In
general, they take the necessary steps to ensure the efficient running of the programme at a
national level.

• The role of the National Agencies

Following the decentralisation of management, National Agencies administer ca. 83 % of
the programme budget. Their specific tasks, which go beyond pure administration, relate to

– the organisation and publication of information on the calls for proposals,

– the organisation of the assessment of proposals for procedures A and B and of the selection

for procedure A projects,

– the preparation, dispatch, monitoring, control and liquidation of agreements with

promoters under the decentralised actions/measures of the programme,

– the information and advisory activities for the participants in the programme as well as the

dissemination of project results.

3.2.

Functioning of the programme management

The implementation of the second phase has focused on rationalising the management
structure, and simplifying and accelerating the procedures. The findings of the final
national evaluation as well as the external evaluation of the first programme phase (1995-
1999) all pointed to complex management procedures that impeded the functioning of the
programme in the past. The Commission in its final report on this first phase acknowledged
this and proposed several measures to improve procedures.

• Interplay of the management structures

During the transition from the first to the second programme phase, the Commission and the
national authorities co-operated to put the necessary management organisation in place. The
Member States selected the appropriate national management structures and informed their
public about
the programme. The Commission with the assistance of the programme
Committee published the call for proposals with its six priorities. Also, the Commission and
the programme Committee took care that the guidelines for promoters and the Internet
presentation were user-friendly.

is above all

the functioning of

the
It
implementation of large parts of the programme. National Agencies were established during
the first half of 2000 in all participating countries. These structures were nominated by the
respective national authorities. Their functioning contract is with the Commission. All the

the National Agencies which is crucial

for

7

structures have been established in time to organise the first round of applications in 2000
smoothly.

The Commission and the national authorities both closely monitor the functioning of the
National Agencies. The national authorities undertake audits inside the structures. The
Commission organises regular meetings with representatives from the National Agencies in
Brussels to discuss management matters of common interest. In addition, Commission staff
visit the structures regularly to supervise their running. Monitoring of National Agenciees is
also undertaken through audits.

The first two years of implementing the provisions on the National Agencies showed their
gradual empowerment in terms of qualitative and financial management of the programme.
Feedback has generally been positive, namely in relation to the consistency of these structures
with the Community guidelines. Problems encountered in a minority of cases in relation to
these new structures are not affecting the general management of the programme. It should
also be noted that one main advantage of the management by a network of national agencies
is that when a problem occurs in one country, this does not have a negative impact on the
promoters/beneficiaries of the other participating countries.

The national authorities fulfilled their obligation to provide information to the public right
from the start by organising launch or start-up events in early 2000 to make the programme
known to potential user groups. The Community co-financed these events, which drew a large
and relevant audience.

An in-depth evaluation of the implementation of the provisions on the National Agencies
should be undertaken in 2002 in a co-ordinated way between Leonardo da Vinci, Socrates and
Youth, as foreseen in the respective Commission Decisions.

• Management cost

The cost of managing the programme under the Leonardo da Vinci budget consists of the
contribution to the functioning of
the Commission's
administrative expenditure for technical assistance. These cost were as follows:

the National Agencies and of

Budget

Year

2000

2001

EU grant for the National
Agencies

EU expenditure for technical
assistance at European level

Total

(% of total budget)

(% of total budget)

11 010 995

(6.4)

11 269 948

(6.4)

€

€

€

€

€

€

4 418 588

(2.6)

3 321 073

(1.9)

7 739 661

(2.2)

€

€

€

15 429 583

(9.0)

14 591 021

(8.3)

30 020 604

(8.6)

8

Total

22 280 943

(6.4)

With this 8.6 % share, the management is more efficient than in the first programme
phase (1995-99), when this share was 10.0 %.

• Payments to projects

The disproportionate delay in payments to projects during the first programme phase was a
major problem. The Commission acknowledged this in its final report on the first programme
phase. To remedy this, the Commission has taken several steps.

Firstly, with the decentralisation of the programme management, the National Agencies
make payments directly to the project promoters. Unlike the central management structure
during the first phase, the National Agencies are closer to the projects on the ground and are
given appropriate flexibility in handling the payments.

Secondly, the Commission has introduced the decentralised financial management scheme
called for by the internal Commission reform into those programme parts that are directly
administered by the Commission. Payments are handled by those units directly responsible
for managing the programme.

• Simplifying the procedures

Simplifying and speeding-up the procedures for the benefit of the users has been a key issue
in the first
two years of the programme. The following initiatives were taken by the
Commission in co-operation with the programme Committee and were based on feedback
from the National Agencies and the promoters on the ground.

As early as 2000, the formal eligibility criteria for applicants were rationalised. Some of the
less relevant of these criteria have been abolished in favour of greater clarity.

The Commission reduced the length of the application forms to one third the length of the
forms of the first programme phase (1995-99). The financial and administrative handbook
was also considerably rationalised in comparison with the first programme phase. The amount
of data demanded from the projects has been reduced to the necessary minimum.

The Commission, assisted by a group of experts named by the national authorities, performed
a thorough review with subsequent simplification and rationalisation of all reporting and
assessment documents to be used for the various activities relating to the life span of a
project.

Standardised forms were produced for the assessment of interim and final reports and made
available to all National Agencies. This guarantees a unified and rational approach to
monitoring projects without unduly burdening the running of these projects.

A major concern has been reducing the time between the submission of a proposal and the
final selection. The Council decision limited the selection duration to a maximum of nine
months. Currently the time needed to process and select the applications stands at an average
of seven months. For the mobility projects the situation is even more advantageous with an
average selection time of three months.

9

4.

ACTIVITIES 2000 AND 2001

An overview of the programme activities in terms of input (ex-post budget) and output
(number of mobility beneficiaries and number of projects, global financing breakdown per
participating country) is given in Annexes 1 and 2.

4.1.

Procedure A: Mobility projects

The mobility measure's general aim is to give individual people in vocational training the
financial means to gain a learning or working experience abroad within a mobility project. It
is the single most important programme part with 39 % of the total budget to be allocated
to mobility projects. Each project
is dealing with a number of individuals undergoing
mobility, within the same target group.

This "decentralised" procedure is managed at national level with the help of the National
Agencies. Nevertheless, the global supervision and definition of specifications remains at
Community level with the Commission and the Member States co-operating within the
programme committee. Proposals for mobility projects are submitted under the rules defined
in the Community call for proposals by organisations (not individuals) directly to the National
Agency in the country of the project promoter. The National Agency, under specifications
defined at Community level and acting on behalf of the Member States, proceed to select
projects.

the Commission allocates annual global grants to each
In line with the Decision,
participating State on the basis of certain criteria. The detailed application of these criteria
was decided within the programme Committee on the initiative of the Commission. Now, a
reliable and commonly agreed basis for allocating the grants to each country is in force.

€

An overall 141.2 Mio.
EU funds have been allocated in the two years under analysis. In all,
around 4,800 projects have been selected with a subsequent 75,500 grants committed to
individual beneficiaries for a learning or working experience abroad. The figures on
individual grants may be subdivided as follows:

• ca. 35,500 grants for people undergoing initial vocational training (placements of

normally 3 weeks to nine months in training institutions or undertakings abroad),

• ca. 15,400 grants for students (placements of 3 to 12 months in undertakings abroad),

• ca. 14,000 grants for young workers and recent graduates (placements of 2 to 12 months

in training institutions or undertakings abroad),

• ca. 10,600 grants for training professionals (i.e. human resource managers, training
programme planners, trainers and guidance specialists, trainers and mentors in the area of
language competences for transnational exchanges between 1 week and 6 weeks). In this
target group, the candidate countries are particularly well represented.

Leonardo da Vinci is unique among EU Community programmes in offering mobility to
these particular target groups. It
the programme includes 30
participating countries (15 Member States, 3 EEA countries and 12 candidate countries).

is also to be noted that

• The mobility measure was particularly successful among the public. In some countries
the National Agencies received applications for three times the funds available. In order to

10

better match demand and supply, the Commission in co-operation with the programme
Committee decided to increase the mobility budget from 2000 to 2001 by 3.6 %. During
these first two years the programme was able to fund ca. 37 750 grantees per year, which is
an increase of more than 45 % against the first programme phase.

the Commission,

Building upon this popularity,
in co-operation with the responsible
management structures will place more importance on the quality of the stays abroad. One
among other instruments for achieving more quality is the “Europass –Training”. It entered
into force in January 2000 as the core of the Council decision on "European pathways for
work-linked vocational
training and apprenticeship according". The links between the
"Europass-Training" and the programme are many-fold:

– Firstly, the "Europass-Training" originated from a Leonardo da Vinci project.

– Secondly, by issuing the Europass to the Leonardo da Vinci grantees,

the
programme helped to make popular this new European initiative. In 2000 and
2001, a good number of European pathways took place within Leonardo da Vinci,
though its weight varied considerably from one country to another .This is partly
due to the institutional link: many National Contact Points for the Europass-
Training, are also National Agencies for Leonardo da Vinci.

– Thirdly, the stays abroad of Leonardo da Vinci participants gain in quality by
utilising the Europass. With the “Europass-Training” individual people can
their concrete achievements gained during a working or learning
document
experience abroad.

For the next call for proposals valid 2003/2004, the Commission will strongly recommend
documentation of individual stays, either by the “Europass-Training” or by other instruments
recognising or certifying the experiences abroad.

4.2.

Procedure B: Pilot Projects, Language Competences, Transnational Networks

This "semi-decentralised" procedure consists of a two-step selection process whereby the
participating states assess and select
the pre-proposals and the Commission, with the
assistance of independent experts, is responsible for assessing and ranking the full proposals.
Each country and the Commission consult on their findings, and the Commission then
establishes the final selection list. This procedure applies to the following actions:

• Pilot projects

The pilot projects are the second largest part of the programme with 36 % of the total
testing and assessment of
budget. The programme supports the design, development,
transnational pilot projects to develop or disseminate innovation in vocational
training.
Community support of up to 75 % of the eligible project expenditures with a ceiling of
200.000

per year and per project is available for up to three years.

€

In order to generate European added value, transnationality is a must for all projects: all
projects must bring together partners from at least three participating states working together
towards a common aim. The average duration of these projects is three years.

11

In 2000 and 2001, 373 pilot projects were selected under this measure. This measure has also
been particularly successful among the public. Therefore, the Commission in co-operation
with the programme Committee decided to raise the available budget by 8 %.

Selection year

Number of projects
selected

Total EU grant in
Mio.

€

Average EU grant per
project in

€

2000

2001

174

199

59.6

64.4

353 000

331 000

Leonardo I pilot
projects, 1995-99,

Average per year

514

62.0

120 000

During the entire first programme phase an average of 514 comparable pilot projects per year
EU funding
(2 569 for 1995-99) received an average of 120 000
for 1995-99). Thus, the second phase of Leonardo da Vinci put into practice what had been
envisioned at the outset: to fund fewer projects with a higher amount. The advantages are
clear: a smaller number of projects is easier to manage, but more importantly, bigger
projects are more likely to generate higher impact.

per project (310.06 Mio.

€

€

• Language competence

language
These projects cover three major fields:
learning or training tools, and dissemination projects in the field of languages. In 2000 and
. In 2001 the
2001, 45 projects were selected with a total EU grant of ca. 13.6 million
number of full proposals decreased while their global quality increased.

language and communication audits,

€

The language measure should lead to a greater diversification of the languages taught and the
promotion of less widespread languages. Each project targets an average of 3 or 4 languages.
Less widespread languages are represented, although English, followed by German and
French, are very predominant.

As to the partnerships, even though bilateral partnerships were eligible, the selected projects
involve, on average, partners from 5 different countries. This strong transnational
dimension should lead to valuable results for many countries. Moreover, the partnerships
seem to be well anchored at national level with an average of 10 partners per project, i.e.
nearly two partners per participating country. This fact should guarantee an impact of the
project results on national systems.

Later this year, the Commission will launch an evaluation study on the impact of the
education and training projects on language learning and multi-lingualism in Europe.

• Transnational networks

These networks regroup multiple players in vocational training to carry out three specific
activities: a) to pool knowledge in a specific domain at a regional or sectoral level and to
share experience, b) to identify trends and skills requirements and c) to disseminate the results

12

€

€

€

(4.0 million

in 2000, 4.1 million

of the work undertaken by such networks. In 2000 and 2001, 27 networks were selected with
in 2002). Since EU
a total EU grant of ca. 8.1 million
funding for projects under this measure is, according to the Decision, limited to 50 % of the
eligible costs and the general objectives of this measure are considered complex, a
comparably low number of proposals was submitted. In order to differentiate this measure
from the others and to simplify matters,
the Commission in October 2001 issued an
"explanatory note" which focussed the measure on its primary aims and replaced the former
special guide for transnational networks. This note was shared with all National Agencies.
The Commission has some indications that for the selection round 2002 simplification and
clarification will result in proposals of a higher quality than before.

4.3.

Procedure C: Reference Material, Thematic Actions, Joint Actions

This "centralised" procedure consists of a two-step process where the Commission selects
both the pre-proposals and the full proposals, the latter with the assistance of independent
experts. Contracting, management and follow-up of these projects is assured by the
Commission. Procedure C also applies to projects submitted under all measures by
organisations with a European outlook (the so-called EUR organisations). In 2000 and 2001,
19 EUR projects with a total EU budget of 6.0 Mio.
were selected. Procedure C applies to
the following actions:

€

• Reference Material

This measure supports actions undertaken on a transnational basis on priority themes of
common interest. The main goal is to establish comparable data on training systems or
arrangements as well as to produce quantitative and qualitative information, analysis and best
practices in support of policies.

€

In the first two years, 26 projects were selected (19 in 2000, 7 in 2001). The total EU
in 2001). A general trend has been that
funding is 9.9 Mio.
the number of proposals decreased while the overall quality of the proposals increased.
Concerning statistics projects however, the number of projects submitted has been below
expectations and needs.

in 2000, 2.7 Mio.

(7.2 Mio.

€

€

The Commission in co-operation with the programme Committee will implement a statistical
work programme optimising the procedures for the statistics projects. The aim is to better
coordinate statistical projects under Leonardo with activities carried out by Eurostat and the
OECD.

• Thematic Actions

This is a sub-measure under the pilot project measure. Its aim is to support a small number of
projects on themes of particular interest at Community level. In 2000 only 2 projects had
sufficient quality to be selected out of 14 eligible full proposals. In 2001, 3 projects have been
selected. Of the five projects one operates in the area of social inclusion, two in transparency
and certification, and one in the area of valorising results. The total EU funds for the two
€
years were 2.6 Mio.
, which represents 0.75 % of the total budget. So far, the quality of
many of the applications has been below expectations. This may be due to a lack clarity in the
Council decision provision on this measure.

The Commission in co-operation with the programme Committee will clarify further the
scope of this measure.

13

• Joint Actions

The Joint Actions between the Leonardo da Vinci programme and the Community
programmes in the fields of education and youth are considered to be a first concrete step
towards a consistent lifelong learning approach.

After the formal adoption of the Socrates and Youth programmes in 2000, the Commission
launched the first specific call for proposals in early 2001. In order to manage these actions
properly, a joint committee has been established with members of the three programme
committees.

The first selection round was completed by the end of the same year, with the following
result:

- 3 projects were selected under the theme ‘transfer and accumulation of training credits’,

- 3 under the theme ‘guidance and advisory services’, and

- 1 under the theme ‘multipurpose centres and e-learning’.

A total EU grant of ca. 1.8 Mio.
Vinci).

€

has been allocated (of which 0.6Mio

€

from Leonardo da

For the future , the Commission will substantially increase the scope of the Joint Actions, by
including other dimension and programmes, and the budget. For the 2002 selection round a
total of 3.5 Mio.

from Leonardo da Vinci) has been allocated.

(1.2 Mio

€

€

4.4.

The Euroguidance Network

Euroguidance is the European network of the National Resource Centres for Vocational
Guidance. The network, which was set up in 1992-93, currently includes more than 50
centres in all participating countries co-financed by Leonardo da Vinci and the relevant
national authorities. For the first two programme years, Community co-financing amounted to
€
).
3.1 Mio.

€
, 2001: 1.6 Mio.

(2000: 1.5 Mio.

€

In 2000 and 2001, the Commission rationalised the objectives of the network. Euroguidance
now primarily promotes mobility in Europe through a) providing information on education
and training opportunities mainly for guidance practitioners, but also citizens, companies and
institutions, and b) supporting the exchange of information on education and training systems
and on qualifications in Europe. As a concrete output, numerous seminars have been
organised as well as publications, books, information packages.

The Commission intends to utilise the Euroguidance network for implementing lifelong
learning. In the Commission's initiative to set up an Europe-wide Internet portal on learning
opportunities, the resource centres will act as local portal teams helping to launch a pilot
version in October 2002. Also, the network will play a crucial role in the European
Guidance Forum starting in 2002, which will contribute to a lifelong learning approach to
guidance.

14

4.5.

Project Participation and Targeting

4.5.1.

Involvement of enterprises, especially SMEs

The Commission final report on the first programme phase (1995-99) acknowledged that the
participation of enterprises, especially small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), had been
below expectations. Since involvement of the private sector is crucial for the economy, job
creation and training in Europe, the intention was to increase their participation for the second
programme phase.

The following table shows the number and percentage of all project promoters and
partners participating in the pre-proposals of procedure B in the selection year 2001
(according to self-assessment in the application forms):

Type of organisation

Number

% of total

Small and medium size enterprises (less than 250 workers)

1 097

16.0

Large Enterprises (250 workers and more)

Group or association of companies

Training organisation

Universities

Other organisations

195

138

1 757

1 117

2 555

2.8

2.0

25.6

16.3

37.3

These data indicate that about 20 % of all project promoters and partners assess themselves as
enterprises (see the first three rows). The small and medium enterprises are the third most
common type of organisation participating in the programme (16 % of all promoters and
partners). Also, SMEs are the most common type of organisation participating in projects
concerned with gender equality, and rank second in the number of projects targeting people
with disabilities (see below). The reason may be that these type of projects are strongly
employment-oriented, which necessitates the involvement of enterprises.

It must also be noted that although enterprises participate as partners, they rarely figure as
project applicants or promoters. The Commission acknowledges that the reason seems to be
that the application procedures are still too cumbersome for enterprises. Therefore, further
simplification will most likely enhance their participation also as promoters.

In order to further clarify the actual participation in pilot projects and mobility alike, the
Commission will launch a study on this particular issue in the near future. The findings of
these studies should contribute to further encouraging enterprises, especially SMEs,
to
participate more in the programme.

4.5.2. Gender equal opportunities

This issue was one objective under the first programme phase as well as a priority field for
action in Community policies. The Commission in its final report on the first programme
phase acknowledged that the results in terms of data, projects and impact had been modest. In
the second phase, gender equal opportunities is highlighted as a transversal programme
objective.

15

Available data suggest that the mobility projects in particular show strong participation of
women. The share of female participants in mobility measures 2000-2001 in the
programme Leonardo da Vinci has been consistently high:

Mobility target group

2000

2001

% women

% women

People in initial vocational training

Students

Young workers and recent graduates

Human resource managers, trainers, etc

Trainers in linguistic competences

Total

54

57

57

54

74

55

57

52

50

47

56

53

(Source: Commission calculation based on data provided by the National Agencies on 25.02.02)

The situation is somewhat different when it comes to the pilot projects addressing gender
equality. Leonardo da Vinci projects, in general, address the needs of more than one target
group and thus gender equality is often included in projects targeting disadvantaged groups at
€
large. 10 projects (out of 496 procedure B and C projects) with EU funds of 4.7 Mio.
address equal opportunities per se.

However, the number of projects must be assessed against their potential for generating
impact. Generally, these projects promote the employability and access of women to jobs, by
enhancing the participation of women in training towards employment in job-growth areas or
in traditionally male-dominated sectors, e.g. through target setting. The projects contribute to
overcoming the training gap and/or gender balance in specific sectors. These sectors include
traditionally female-dominated areas such as the health and care sector, administration and
customer service but also male-dominated sectors such as IT and transport. The projects will
provide a review of best practice of women in scientific careers, which through dissemination
will have an impact in the context of continuous training/retraining practices in SMEs. These
projects are developing real opportunities to challenge gender stereotypes.

Partners in these 10 transnational projects are some 125 organisations from 19 participating
countries. Generally, SMEs take the lead as partners in gender equality projects, followed by
training organisations and research centres.

In 2000 and 2001, several Commission activities aimed at raising awareness for the
importance of gender equal opportunity. The goal was to make equal opportunities a quality
issue for the whole programme. In January 2000, guidelines were issued on how to treat equal
opportunities in the programme. On a special web-site, the Commission published a guide to
gender impact assessment methods for projects and links to a special project partner search
database.

In order to further highlight this issue, the Commission will, in the frame of its evaluation
activities for 2002, treat gender equal opportunities as a priority. More specifically, the
Commission will launch a study on the impact on gender equal opportunities of the
Community education and culture programmes.

16

4.5.3.

Participation of the Candidate Countries

Beyond the EU Member States and the countries of the European Economic Area, the
Council decision opened the programme to the associated central and eastern European
countries as well as Cyprus, Malta and Turkey. In 2000, the Association Councils adopted the
necessary agreements with almost all the candidate countries. A new feature vis-à-vis the first
programme phase is that
the financial contribution to be paid by these countries for
participating (the "entry ticket") is no longer matched by a "just return".
€

All candidate countries contributed an "entry ticket" of ca. 47.1 Mio.
in 2000 and 2001
(excluding "administrative expenditure"), which is a share of 14 %. Among the 496 procedure
B and C projects of 2000 and 2001, 71 projects were submitted by promoters from the 12
candidate countries. A special priority of candidate country promoters are the language
competence projects with 16 out of 45 projects. These data suggest that their degree of
participation is generally comparable with their overall weight and that the promoters follow
certain priorities. However there are imbalances, especially in procedure C where only one
candidate country project was selected among 55.

The Commission plans to address these imbalances. As a first step,
the forthcoming
evaluations and special studies will analyse the participation of these countries and provide
recommendations to improve access.

The sole candidate country not yet participating is Turkey. Its participation was still in a
preparatory stage at the time of drafting this report.

5.

PROJECT FOLLOW-UP

5.1.

Monitoring the Current Projects

Two types of monitoring exist: individual project monitoring and collective thematic
monitoring. Individual monitoring is an ongoing process and concerns all contractual and
administrative matters related to each project right from the start. This monitoring is
undertaken by the National Agencies (procedure A and B projects) and the Commission
(procedure C projects).

As regards collective thematic monitoring,
the Commission in co-operation with the
programme Committee decided in 2001 to launch this dynamic process in order to allow for
cross-fertilisation between projects, to follow-up the progress of the projects, and to allow for
the experiences coming from the projects to improve the implementation of the programme.

Thus, collective thematic monitoring effectively started at the end of 2001. In accordance with
the programme priorities and the current development of policies in vocational training, five
themes were chosen by the Commission in co-operation with the programme Committee:

17

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Labour market integration for problem groups

Developing skills in businesses, particularly SMEs

Adapting training supply and new training methods — the quality of training

Transparency, evaluation and validation

E-Learning

In addition, language projects have been followed up more closely. Besides their participation
in the collective thematic monitoring, language projects were also invited to ad hoc seminars
to discuss issues specific to their activities.

In January 2002, the Commission in co-operation with the National Agencies decided on a
two-year workplan in respect of these five themes. This work will be carried out jointly by
the lead National Agencies and the associated agencies under the supervision of the
Commission. CEDEFOP or other “fora” will also be associated as appropriate.

For 2002, the following work is planned:

– identification and clustering of all B and C projects by theme,

– establishment of a thematic database accessible by Internet,

– collaboration with various “fora” at national and Community levels (social partners,

decision makers, experts, etc.),

– development of an information sheet to demonstrate the projects.

5.2.

Disseminating the Results of Leonardo da Vinci Projects

The Commission in co-operation with the programme stakeholders has developed a strategic
approach to dissemination relating to the results of the first and the second programme
phase. Dissemination is to be made a condition for all projects. Each application must contain
a dissemination plan. Thus, dissemination is a quality criterion for selecting projects.

The first programme phase (1995-99) left a heritage of experiences and products:

• ca. 7 300 mobility projects with 127 000 participants containing a wealth of mobility

experiences, and

• ca. 3 300 transnational pilot projects in all measures, each providing a concrete product in

form of training modules, curricula, analyses, etc.

Dissemination of these results has been identified as a weakness for the first programme
phase (1995-99). Following the announcement in the final Commission report on the first
phase, the Commission has undertaken several concrete steps to improve the dissemination of
results from projects under the first programme phase.

As a first important step, the Commission collected the available material and created an
internet-based product database. This database can be searched according to relevant
search criteria and is open to the public. Furthermore, the Commission is currently preparing

18

several brochures destined for distribution to a wider public. This material, published on
paper and on the web-site in several languages, contains information about best practice
projects in a given field, such as for example "Women and technical professions" or "Training
and Healthcare".

Work on the completion and the improvement of the results database will continue.

From 2003 onwards, the selected projects will be required to create a web-site presenting
progress and (interim) results on the Internet. Links will be established between these sites
and the Community database.

5.3.

Valorising the output of Leonardo da Vinci projects

Valorisation has been defined as the process of enhancing or optimising project outcomes
through experimentation and exploitation with a view to increasing their value and impact.

An analysis of around 800 of the outcomes of the projects started in 1995, 1996 and 1997
has already been made. Analysis of the results of projects started in 1998 and 1999 is
continuing as and when they become available.

A discussion document prepared by the Commission and containing a number of ideas that
are intended to shape the future strategy for the valorisation of the products of Leonardo da
Vinci has been discussed at a conference under the Spanish Presidency (Madrid 29-30 April
2002).

Some concrete proposals are made with a view to improving the conditions surrounding
project development and increasing the transferability of project results into education and
training systems and enterprise practices. The importance of creating links between
monitoring, assessment and valorisation activities is highlighted.

A number of recommendations are made with a view to ensuring that project outcomes find
their way into mainstream practice and that the lessons of the programme are transferred
into policy development. Among the valorisation measures proposed are the establishment of
links with other Community initiatives, the use of networks to exploit results, and the setting
up of a co-ordination mechanism. Moreover it is stressed that responsibility for valorisation
must be shared between the Commission and the Member States.

Two prior conditions for valorisation are identified: the development of clear quality criteria
to be applied throughout the life cycle of a project and the active dissemination of its results.
Effective information systems must be introduced at both European and national levels to
broadcast the results of the programme, with the Commission taking the lead in establishing a
proactive information policy.

A valorisation action plan will be drawn up by the end of 2002 and a thematic analysis of
the first phase of the programme will be finalised.

6.

CONCLUSION AND FURTHER STEPS

The Council Decision of 1999 establishing the second phase provides a solid basis for
remedying many of the structural deficiencies of the past. At the start of the second phase, all

19

necessary programme structures were put in place by the Commission and the participating
states for the benefit of the programme users.

• The policy framework provided by the Council decision and the 2000 call for proposal
contributed to the development of European training policy in the perspective of lifelong
learning. Thus, the programme provided a coherent and clear framework for the project
promoters to develop their project ideas.

In the future, the Commission in co-operation with the Member States will further
rationalise
strengthen
complementarity between Leonardo da Vinci and other related Community policies in
the perspective of lifelong learning.

objectives. The Commission will

programme

the

• The roles of the programme management structures have been clarified with the
centralisation of political functions and the decentralisation of management functions. The
Commission in co-operation with the programme Committee took the necessary measures
to implement the programme. The national authorities with the help of the National
Agencies managed the majority of the funds for the benefit of the end-users on the ground.

• The Commission in co-operation with the programme Committee has taken a number of
decisions targeted towards the rationalisation, simplification and acceleration of
management and procedures. Thus, the overall management costs remained modest, the
payments to projects have been considerably accelerated, formal eligibility criteria have
been simplified and the duration of the selection procedures, especially in the mobility
action reduced.

The Commission in co-operation with the programme Committee will further
rationalise procedures. The forthcoming programme evaluations, and in particular the
findings of the external evaluation foreseen for 2003, will provide the elements for
further optimising the procedures in accordance with the Council Decision.

Programme activities throughout 2000 and 2001 were particularly successful:

• The demand for mobility exceeded (in some cases three times) the available funds.
Nevertheless, the programme was able to fund ca. 32 000 grantees per year, which is an
increase of 40 % against the first programme phase.

• The procedure B pilot project measures were popular, demand exceeded supply here as
well. Fewer but bigger projects were selected compared to 1995-99. Thus, all 496
procedure B and C projects selected promise to generate valuable results.

The Commission in co-operation with the programme Committee will take measures
to strengthen the quality aspect of the projects. This is particularly relevant for the
mobility measures, where an effort
towards better documenting individual
achievements will be made later in 2002. Lifelong learning will especially be
strengthened in the procedure C projects.

As for project participation and targeting, available data suggest that

• the involvement of enterprises currently stands at 20 % of all partners and promoters with

the SMEs being the third largest single type of organisation.

20

• the gender equal opportunities aspect is particularly relevant in the mobility measure with

55 % of all grantees being women.

• the legal conditions for the candidate country promoters is progressively equalising with
those of the other countries; their participation in the different measures reflect their
particular interests.

The Commission will in accordance with the Council Decision contribute to increase
the participation of particular target groups and the candidate countries. As a first
step, the forthcoming evaluations and studies will analyse appropriate measures to
further enhance access to the programme for enterprises, women and candidate
countries promoters.

• The dissemination of results from the first phase of the programme (1995-99) is currently
underway. Several initiatives, among them a comprehensive database, have been launched
and a strategic approach to dissemination with the Commission and the National Agencies
closely co-operating.

• The collective thematic monitoring of the current projects has just started with the

establishment of five thematic groups.

• The concept of valorisation of the output of all projects has been clarified by the
Commission in co-operation with the Member States and is understood to mean the
enhancing of project outcomes though experimentation and exploitation.

The Commission will in the near future increase its efforts to transfer programme
outcomes into policy development. In the specific area of valorisation, an action plan
will be drawn up by the end of 2002.

In summary, the first two years of implementing the second phase of Leonardo da Vinci has
generally been efficient and effective. For the future, the Commission will, in close co-
operation with the programme Committee, further optimise the potential of the programme
in the perspective of lifelong learning and for the benefit of the user.

21

The following table is an overview of the programme activities in terms of input (ex-post
budget) and output (number of mobility beneficiaries and number of projects):

ANNEX 1

Budget in Mio.

€

2000

2001

Total

2000

2001

Total

Number
of
beneficiaries

projects/

Procedure A

69.3

71.8

141.1

2,550/

2,250/

4,800/

Mobility

37,500

38,000

75,500

Procedure B

69.6

74.9

144.5

Pilot Projects

59.6

64.4

124.0

174

199

373

Number of projects

Language Competence

Transnational Networks

Procedure C

Reference Material

Thematic Actions

Joint Actions

(EUR-organisations
projects)

6.6

3.4

11.1

7.2

1.0

---

2.9

6.9

3.6

8.0

2.7

1.6

0.6

3.1

13.5

7.0

19.1

9.9

2.6

0.6

6.0

20

11

19

2

---

9

25

12

6

3

6

10

45

23

25

5

6

19

Total B and C

235

261

496

22

Accompanying Measures

15.0

15.7

30.7

Euroguidance network

Misc.

1.5

2.5

1.6

2.8

National Agencies

11.0

11.3

Administrative expenditure

Technical Assistance (EU-
level)

5.6

4.4

5.5

3.3

3.1

5.3

22.3

11.1

7.7

Miscellaneous

1.2

2.2

3.4

Total Budget

170.6

175.9

346.5

23

ANNEX II : Breakdown of financing (in

€

) per participating country and per measure (AGN = co-financing of National Agencies)

Proc A

Proc B

Year ===>

Country
A
B (nl)
B (fr)
B (de)
D
DK
E
EL
F
FIN
I
IRL
L
NL
P
S
UK
Total EU-15
ISL
FL
N
Tot. EFTA/EEA
BG
CY
CZ
EE
HU
LT
LV
MT
PL
RO
SI
SK
Total PAC
Total

1.522.634
954.787
677.327
33.308
11.454.466
1.003.101
6.798.169
2.075.869
8.144.309
1.167.815
8.963.113
1.257.460
351.658
2.421.339
1.981.812
1.544.237
7.419.458
57.770.862
339.003
100.000
908.209
1.347.212
1.218.000
n.a.
1.028.804
330.078
1.028.804
539.574
446.194
257.300
2.489.998
1.742.958
390.166
829.864
10.301.740
69.419.814

2.000

Proc C

0
0
0
0
2.353.479
0
859.980
344.719
442.022
381.450
1.319.858
0
438.487
453.898
556.385
0
544.410
7.694.688
0
0
0
0
606.024
n.a.

0
0
0
0
0

n.a.

0
0
0
0
606.024

AGN

total

Proc A

Proc B

2.001

Proc C

AGN

452.411
265.233
188.839
16.412
936.057
377.862
950.666
400.602
668.790
405.013
1.002.606
249.161
217.800
564.618
343.764
456.624
1.038.606
8.535.064
270.667
54.715
392.050
717.432
128.325

n.a.

177.945
31.410
116.476
72.750
77.346
29.000
364.914
140.291
64.122
50.246
1.252.825

4.494.659
2.461.125
1.819.011
582.997
22.299.559
2.859.509
14.476.626
5.074.697
16.287.793
4.144.760
18.154.218
2.979.925
2.145.581
5.772.143
4.833.399
3.864.066
16.488.726
128.738.794
1.508.477
534.715
2.819.715
4.862.907
3.897.133
0
3.176.196
729.069
3.204.382
1.055.718
915.287
286.300
4.990.912
3.792.661
1.031.078
1.234.125
24.312.861

1.502.520
993.442
704.750
34.657
11.981.140
1.039.455
7.106.395
2.162.551
8.515.793
1.083.661
9.372.907
894.121
357.450
2.524.266
2.064.082
1.605.978
7.756.832
59.700.000
350.322
100.000
938.535
1.388.857
1.252.482
192.096
1.057.949
339.112
1.057.949
554.763
458.780
174.227
2.560.602
1.792.218
400.000
853.669
10.693.847

2.812.498
1.418.612
1.209.758

9.633.725
1.525.984
6.515.268
2.200.033
7.444.045
2.290.719
7.114.881
1.601.000
980.541
2.444.695
2.178.661
2.143.882
7.664.151
59.178.453
615.156

1.645.489
2.260.645
1.415.436
314.001
1.620.094
428.080
1.511.222
831.876
619.972
334.863
2.845.641
1.939.347
542.876
1.016.609
13.420.017

0
0
0
0
548.580
0
0
1.251.838
363.511
0
1.411.053
0
0
0
0
0
791.439
4.366.421
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

466.210
252.467
179.101
8.807
1.266.350
416.339
902.612
376.864
1.083.227
389.252
1.040.280
301.831
212.675
490.063
398.736
462.647
1.030.000
9.277.461
270.667
84.898
392.050
747.615
132.480
30.198
166.306
48.878
166.312
87.210
72.143
27.389
250.000
140.871
63.077
60.013
1.244.877

total

4.781.228
2.664.521
2.093.609
43.464
23.429.795
2.981.778
14.524.275
5.991.286
17.406.576
3.763.632
18.939.121
2.796.952
1.550.666
5.459.024
4.641.479
4.212.507
17.242.422
132.522.335
1.236.145
184.898
2.976.074
4.397.117
2.800.398
536.295
2.844.349
816.070
2.735.483
1.473.849
1.150.895
536.479
5.656.243
3.872.436
1.005.953
1.930.291
25.358.741

2.519.614
1.241.105
952.845
533.277
7.555.557
1.478.546
5.867.811
2.253.507
7.032.672
2.190.482
6.868.641
1.473.304
1.137.636
2.332.288
1.951.438
1.863.205
7.486.252
54.738.180
898.807
380.000
1.519.456
2.798.263
1.944.784
n.a.
1.969.447
367.581
2.059.102
443.394
391.747

n.a.
2.136.000
1.909.412
576.790
354.015
12.152.272

69.688.715

8.300.712

10.505.321

157.914.562

71.782.704

74.859.115

4.366.421

11.269.953

162.278.193

24