WRITTEN QUESTION E-1460/03 by Bárbara Dührkop Dührkop (PSE) to the Commission. The Comenius programme and intercultural education.
Date: 2003-04-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, Roma, aid system, child of migrant, cooperation policy, cultural pluralism, education policy, exchange of information, project management, self-employed person

21.11.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 280 E/149

That being said, mergers and acquisitions typically lead to corporate restructuring. The ability of firms to
quickly re-deploy their activities is a key factor of competitiveness for the European economy, and
consequently for the creation of jobs in the long run. However, it is also true that most of those operations
may also have a negative impact in terms of employment, as well as in the surrounding environment, at
least in the short run. For that reason, it is important to accompany restructuring operations, to prevent
those likely to be affected from suffering from it. The Commission would like to remind that the Union
has developed throughout
the years a comprehensive policy for dealing adequately with the social
consequences of corporate restructuring, including mergers and take-overs. As a result of that on-going
policy, every restructuring operation must be preceded by effective information and consultation of
employees’ representatives with the aim of avoiding or attenuating its social impact, in accordance with
Community Directives on ‘Collective Redundancies’ (2),
‘European Works
Councils’ (4) and ‘Information and Consultation’ (5).

‘Transfers of Undertakings’ (3),

More generally, the Commission advocates the idea that companies should always take into account the
effects that their decisions can have on their employees as well as on the social and regional context. This
has
recently been underlined in the Commission Communication concerning Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) A business contribution to Sustainable Development (6).

Furthermore, the Commission invited the European social partners to engage in a dialogue on anticipating
and managing change with a view to apply a dynamic approach to the social aspects of corporate
restructuring. The social partners agreed to incorporate this issue in their pluriannual work program 2003-
2004. The Commission very much hopes that their joint work in this field results in a Community
framework which helps companies and their workers to successfully address the social dimension of
corporate restructuring.

(1)

For a general review of the evalutaion of mergers and acquisitions, see for instance the working paper No 243 by
Paul A. Pautler, Bureau of Economics, Tederal Trade Commission; it can be found on the Internet
http://www.ftc.gov/be/econwork.htm; see also http://www.ftc.gov/be/rt/mergerroundtable.htm.

(2) Council Directive 98/59/EC of 20 July 1998 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to
collective redundancies. (This Directive consolidates Directives 75/129/EEC and 92/56/EEC) (cid:1) OJ L 225, 12.8.1998.
(3) Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating
transfers of undertakings, businesses or parts of

to the safeguarding of employees’ rights in the event of
undertakings or businesses (cid:1) OJ L 82, 22.30.2001.

(4) Council Directive 94/45/EC of 22 September 1994 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a
procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of
informing and consulting employees (cid:1) OJ L 254, 30.9.1994.

(5) Directive 2002/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 2002 establishing a general

framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community (cid:1) OJ L 80, 23.3.2002.

(6) COM(2002) 347 final.

(2003/C 280 E/167)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1460/03

by Bárbara Dührkop Dührkop (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: The Comenius programme and intercultural education

(29 April 2003)

Will the Commission say how many projects on intercultural education and the schooling of children of
migrant workers, gypsies and itinerant workers have been undertaken under the Comenius programme
since 1997? Will it also provide a list of those projects and state the total amount of appropriations
earmarked for projects of this kind each year?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(11 June 2003)

When the Socrates I Programme was established in 1995, a specific action (Comenius Action 2) was set up
to promote intercultural education in schools. Annually, about EUR 5 million were provided in the
framework of action 2. The table below indicates the typology of approved project applications and the
grants earmarked for these projects for the years 1997-2000:

C 280 E/150

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

21.11.2003

Typology of approved project applications and grants earmarked under Comenius Action 2
(1997-2000)

Year

1997

1998

1999

2000

Intercultural
Education

Migrants

Gypsies

Occupational
travellers

51

61

59

46

34

32

25

12

12

12

11

9

44

1

4

4

3

12

Total

98

109

99

70

376

Projects

217

103

Grants (euro)

9 756 468

4 774 754

3 148 170

1 943 900

19 663 292

Comenius Action 2 projects could have a duration of up to three years but had to apply for a grant every
year. Therefore, a project could have several applications throughout the years which explains why a high
number of project applications appear in the table above. The average grant per project per year was
EUR 52 000.

Under the Socrates II programme, as approved by the Council and the Parliament, the old Comenius
Action 2 ceased to exist as an independent action. All activities (both intercultural education and activities
envisaged for the specific target groups of old action 2) were integrated into other parts of the Comenius
action, namely into teacher training activities (Comenius 2.1) and thematic networks (Comenius 3).
However, the main part of the old Action 2 type projects was to be funded under the teacher training
oriented Comenius 2. This was to bring traditional Action 2 projects closer to the national initial and in-
service teacher training systems, thus increasing the impact of these projects on the educational systems.

intercultural education projects targeting all

‘pupils at risk’ became over the years more
Moreover,
numerous than projects focusing specifically on marginalised groups such as migrant children, gypsies and
occupational travellers. Thus the table below indicates the total number of project applications and the
amount of grants allocated to these ‘mainstreamed’ intercultural projects per year and no longer the grants
allocated per target groups.

Year

2001

2002

Total

Number of approved
applications

26

13

39

Grant (euro)

3 635 047

489 352

7 124 399

Under Socrates II Comenius projects on intercultural education may also have a project duration of
maximum three years. The novelty, however, is that the project co-ordinator has to apply only once for
the total project duration. Therefore, the number of approved applications appears less high but one has to
note that the grant is approved for a longer period. Moreover, the grants allocated to these projects are
proportionally higher than their ‘Comenius 2 Action’ predecessors, the average grant per project per year
being EUR 67 000.

A copy of the lists of approved project applications for the years 1997-2000 and 2001-2002 which were
co-financed by the Commission is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament’s Secretariat.

Further information on the content of these projects can be found on the following web site: http://
europa.eu.int/comm/education/socrates/comenius/projects.htm#compendia