Council Conclusions of 14 October 2002 on Special Report No 2/2002 by the Court of Auditors on the Socrates and Youth for Europe Community action programmes
Date: 2002-10-14
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU programme, cultural cooperation, education, management, report, young person

22.10.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 253/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS

of 14 October 2002

on Special Report No 2/2002 by the Court of Auditors on the Socrates and Youth for Europe
Community action programmes

(2002/C 253/01)

and

1. The Council welcomes the special report on the Socrates
(1995-1999)
(1995-1999)
Community action programmes and has taken due note
of the comments and recommendations of the Court as
well as the replies given by the Commission which are
annexed to the report.

Europe

Youth

for

and

actions

disparate

many
Socrates
programme, while still remaining relatively complex in
structure, has remedied many of the shortcomings of the
previous
and
implementation.

administration

programme

regards

current

the

as

2. More specifically,

the Council has

taken note of

the

following:

— the programmes have contributed to the strengthening
of cooperation between various actors involved in the
education field in the European Union and in the other
participant
and have made multicultural
exchange activities possible for young people,

countries

— criticism of the design of the programmes, in particular
the complexity of the Socrates programme, and the lack
of synergy between the programme actions as well as
with other Community programmes,

— as far as centralised activities are concerned, various
deficiencies
the Technical
Assistance Offices (TAOs) were identified especially in
terms of accounting procedures,

functioning of

in the

— as far as decentralised actions were concerned, there was
an urgent need to clarify the legal status of national
agencies and to address the question of the lack of
means at their disposal,

— delays and inadequate management
implementation of the programmes,

in regard to the

— delays and deficiencies in the evaluation process.

the Council acknowledges that

3. With respect to the report of the Court of Auditors and the
in
Commission's replies,
drawing up the current Socrates (2000-2006) and Youth
programmes many
(2000-2006) Community
in relation to their
improvements have been introduced,
administrative
and
accessibility
coherence,
procedures. The current Youth programme has rationalised

legibility,

action

4. Having regard to the TAOs, the Council notes the reforms
under way whereby the Commission proposes to replace
the TAOs with executive agencies under its direct control
in accordance with a framework regulation.

5. Having regard to the National Agencies, the Council notes
the improvements that have been introduced in the current
programmes whereby obligations and responsibilities have
been clearly defined for both the Commission and national
authorities (i.e. contractual relations within a strict
legal
framework) and that further improvements are envisaged
in the future.

6. The Council stresses the importance of Community action
in the fields of education and youth as a cornerstone in the
promotion of a European area of knowledge both through
developing a European dimension in education and training
(having particular
for
education and training systems in Europe for 2010), and
a European area of cooperation in youth policy based on
non-formal and informal learning.

regard to the future objectives

7. The Council consequently looks forward to the preparation
of the new generation of Community actions in the fields of
education,
training and youth which will draw on the
lessons of the past, which will be structurally clear and
coherent, avoid unnecessary complexity and provide ease
of access to the target publics. These actions should make
a major contribution, together with other initiatives, and in
particular the detailed work programme on the follow-up of
the objectives of education and Training systems in Europe,
to the creation of a European area of knowledge and the
in the
attainment of
conclusions of
the
for
European Union to become the world's most dynamic
knowledge-based economy.

the
set out
the Lisbon European Council

strategic objective