Common Position (EC) No 49/2003 of 16 June 2003 adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a programme for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries (Erasmus Mundus) (2004-2008)
Date: 2003-06-16
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU programme, cooperation policy, higher education, third country

7.10.2003

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I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COMMON POSITION (EC) No 49/2003

adopted by the Council on 16 June 2003

with a view to adopting Decision No . . ./2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of . . . establishing a programme for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the
promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries (Erasmus
Mundus) (2004 to 2008)

(2003/C 240 E/01)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 149 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

(3) The Stockholm European Council (23 to 24 March 2001)
indicated that work on the follow-up of the objectives of
education and training systems should be assessed in the
a worldwide perspective. The Barcelona
context of
European Council
(15 to 16 March 2002) confirmed
that opening up to the wider world is one of the three
basic principles of the Work Programme for 2010 for
education and training systems.

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and
Social Committee (2),

Having regard to the opinion of
Regions (3),

the Committee of

the

(4) The European Ministers of Education, meeting in Bologna
(19 June 1999), stated in their Joint Declaration that it is
necessary to ensure that the European higher education
system acquires a worldwide degree of attractiveness
appropriate to Europe's major cultural and scientific
achievements.

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article
251 of the Treaty (4),

Whereas:

(5) The European ministers in charge of higher education,
meeting in Prague (19 May 2001), further emphasised,
inter alia, the importance of enhancing the attractiveness
of European higher education to students from Europe and
other parts of the world.

(1) The European Community should contribute to the devel-
inter alia through coop-

opment of quality education,
eration with third countries.

(6)

(2) The conclusions of the Lisbon European Council (23 to 24
March 2000) emphasised that if Europe is to meet the
challenge of globalisation, Member States need to adapt
their education and vocational
training systems to the
demands of the knowledge society.

(1) OJ C 331 E, 31.12.2002, p. 25.
(2) Opinion delivered on 26 February 2003 (OJ C 95, 23.4.2003,

p. 35).

(3) Opinion delivered on 10 April 2003 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 8 April 2003 (not yet
published in the Official
Journal), Council Common Position of
16 June 2003 and Decision of the European Parliament of . . .
(not yet published in the Official Journal).

In its Communication on reinforcing cooperation with
third countries in the field of higher education,
the
Commission argued that greater internationalisation of
higher education is necessary to respond to the challenges
of the process of globalisation, identified overall objectives
for a third-country cooperation strategy in this field and
suggested concrete measures for achieving these objectives.

(7) The Council Resolution of 14 February 2002 on the
promotion of
linguistic diversity and language learning
in the framework of the implementation of the objectives
of the European Year of Languages 2001 (5) underlines the
need for the European Union to take into account the
principle of linguistic diversity in its relations with third
countries.

(5) OJ C 50, 23.2.2002, p. 1.

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(8) The academic institutions in the European Union aim to
increase the share of internationally mobile students. There
is wide recognition of the great potential represented by
the combined individual strengths of European higher
education institutions, by their educational diversity and
their wide experience in networking and in cooperation
with third countries, which enable them to offer courses of
great quality unique to Europe and allow the benefits of
international mobility to be shared more widely within the
Community and its partner countries.

(9) European higher education institutions must remain at the
leading edge of developments. To this end they should
encourage
cooperation with third-country institutions
that have achieved a level of development comparable to
that of higher education institutions in the Community.

(10) The aim of this programme is to contribute to improving
the quality of higher education in Europe and at the same
time to have an impact on the visibility and perception of
the European Union around the world, as well as building
a capital of goodwill among those who have participated
in the programme.

(11) The Community action should be managed in a way that
is transparent, user-friendly, open and comprehensible.

(12) In promoting international mobility,

the Community
the phenomenon commonly

should be mindful of
known as ‘the brain drain’.

(13) There is a need to step up Community efforts to promote
dialogue and understanding between cultures worldwide,
bearing in mind the social dimension of higher education
as well as the ideals of democracy and respect for human
including gender equality, especially as mobility
rights,
fosters
social
discovery of new cultural
environments and facilitates understanding thereof, and
in so doing to ensure that no group of citizens or of
third-country nationals is excluded or disadvantaged, as
mentioned in Article 21(1) of the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the European Union.

and

the

(14) In order to reinforce the added value of Community action
it is necessary to ensure coherence and complementarity
between the actions implemented in the framework of this
policies,
Decision
sixth
instruments
framework programme
research established by
for
Decision No 1513/2002/EC (1) and external cooperation
programmes in the higher education sector.

relevant Community

particular

actions,

other

and

and

the

in

(1) Decision No 1513/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 27 June 2002 concerning the
sixth framework
programme of the European Community for research, technological
development and demonstration activities, contribution to the
creation of
the European Research Area and to innovation
(2002-2006), (OJ L 232, 29.8.2002, p. 1).

(15) The Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA
Agreement) provides for greater cooperation in the field
of education, training and youth between the European
Community and its Member States, on the one hand,
and the countries of the European Free Trade Association
participating in the European Economic Area (EEA-EFTA
States), on the other; the conditions and the detailed rules
for
in this
programme should be established in accordance with the
relevant provisions of the EEA Agreement.

the above countries

the participation of

(16) The conditions and the detailed rules for the participation
of the associated central and eastern European countries
in this programme should be established in
(CEEC)
accordance with the provisions
laid down in the
European agreements,
in their additional Protocols and
in the decisions of the respective Association Councils.
With regard to Cyprus, participation should be funded
by additional appropriations
in accordance with the
procedures to be agreed with that country. With regard
to Malta and Turkey, participation should be funded by
the
additional
provisions of the Treaty.

accordance with

appropriations

in

(17) This programme should be regularly monitored and
evaluated in cooperation between the Commission and
the Member States in order to allow for readjustments,
particularly as regards the priorities for implementing
the measures; the evaluation should include an external
and independent evaluation.

and exchanges of

(18) Since the objectives of the proposed action concerning the
contribution of European cooperation to quality education
cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, inter
alia, because of the need for multilateral partnerships and
multilateral mobility
information
between the Community and third countries, and can
therefore be better achieved at Community level owing
to the transnational dimension of Community actions
and measures, the Community may adopt measures in
accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out
In accordance with the
in Article 5 of
principle of proportionality as set out
in that Article,
this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in
order to achieve those objectives.

the Treaty.

(19) This Decision lays down for the entire duration of the
programme a financial framework constituting the prime
reference, within the meaning of point 33 of the Inter-
institutional Agreement of 6 May 1999 between the
European Parliament, the Council and the Commission
the
on budgetary
budgetary procedure (2),
the budgetary authority
during the annual budgetary procedure.

improvement of

discipline

and

for

(2) OJ C 172, 18.6.1999, p. 1.

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(20) The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council
Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the
procedures
implementing powers
the exercise of
conferred on the Commission (1),

for

has
who
experience;

outstanding

academic

and/or

professional

4.

‘graduate or postgraduate studies’ means courses of higher
education study that follow a first degree lasting a minimum
of three years and lead to a second or further degree.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Establishment of the programme

Article 3

Objectives of the programme

1.
This Decision establishes a programme — ‘Erasmus
Mundus’ (hereinafter ‘the programme’) — for the enhancement
of quality in higher education within the European Union and
the promotion of intercultural understanding through coop-
eration with third countries.

1.
The programme's overall aim is to enhance the quality of
European higher education by fostering cooperation with third
countries in order to improve the development of human
resources
and understanding
between peoples and cultures.

and to promote dialogue

2.
The programme shall be implemented over a period
starting on 1 January 2004 and ending on 31 December 2008.

The programme shall support and supplement action
3.
taken by and in the Member States while fully respecting
their responsibility for the content of education and the organi-
sation of education and training systems, and their cultural and
linguistic diversity.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Decision:

1.

2.

‘higher education institution’ means any institution which
according to national legislation or practice offers qualifi-
cations or degrees at
such estab-
lishments may be called;

level, whatever

that

‘third-country graduate student’ means a national of a third
country other
than those from EEA-EFTA States and
candidate countries for accession to the European Union
who has already obtained a first higher education degree,
who is not a resident of any of the Member States or the
participating countries as provided for in Article 11, who
has not carried out his or her main activity (studies, work,
etc.) for more than a total of 12 months over the last five
years in any of the Member States or the participating
countries and who has been accepted to register or is
registered in an Erasmus Mundus Masters
course as
described in the Annex;

3.

‘third-country scholar’ means a national of a third country
other than those from EEA-EFTA States and candidate
countries for accession to the European Community who
is not a resident of any of the Member States or the partici-
pating countries as provided for in Article 11, who has not
carried out his or her main activity (studies, work, etc.) for
more than a total of 12 months over the last five years in
any of the Member States or the participating countries and

2.

The programme's specific objectives are:

(a) to promote a quality offer in higher education with a
distinct European added value, attractive both within the
European Union and beyond its borders;

(b) to encourage and enable highly qualified graduates and
scholars from all over the world to obtain qualifications
and/or experience in the European Union;

(c)

to develop more structured cooperation between European
Union and third-country institutions and greater European
Union outgoing mobility as part of European study
programmes;

(d) to improve accessibility and enhance the profile and visi-

bility of higher education in the European Union.

3.
The Commission shall, when pursuing the objectives of
the programme, observe the Community's general policy on
equal opportunities for men and women. The Commission
shall also ensure that no group of citizens or third-country
nationals is excluded or disadvantaged.

Article 4

Programme actions

The objectives of the programme as set out in Article 3

1.
shall be pursued by means of the following actions:

(a) Erasmus Mundus Masters courses;

(b) a scholarship scheme;

(c) partnerships with third-country higher education insti-

tutions;

(d) measures enhancing the attractiveness of Europe as an

educational destination;

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

(e)

technical support measures.

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These actions shall be realised using the procedures
2.
described in the Annex, and through the following types of
approaches, which may be combined where appropriate:

(d) seek synergies and develop joint actions with other
in the field of

Community programmes and actions
higher education and research.

(a) support

for

the

development

of

programmes and cooperation networks
exchange of experience and good practice;

joint

educational
facilitating the

(b) enhanced support for mobility, between the Community
and third countries, of people in the field of higher
education;

(c) promotion of

language skills and the understanding of

different cultures;

(d) support

for pilot projects based on transnational part-
nerships designed to develop innovation and quality in
higher education;

(e) support for the analysis and follow-up of trends in, and
education in an international

evolution of, higher
perspective.

Article 5

Access to the programme

2.

The Member States shall:

(a) take the necessary steps to ensure the efficient running of
involving all the
the programme at Member State level,
concerned in education in accordance with
parties
national practice,
such
including endeavours
measures as may be deemed appropriate to remove legal
and administrative barriers;

to adopt

(b) designate appropriate structures to cooperate closely with

the Commission;

(c) encourage potential

synergies with other Community
programmes and possible similar national initiatives taken
at Member State level.

The Commission, in cooperation with the Member States,

3.
shall ensure:

(a) appropriate information, publicity and follow-up with

regard to actions supported by the programme;

Under the conditions and arrangements for implementation
specified in the Annex and bearing in mind the definitions in
Article 2, the programme is aimed in particular at:

(b) the dissemination of the results of the actions undertaken

within the framework of the programme.

(a) higher education institutions;

(b) students having obtained a first degree awarded by a higher

education institution;

(c) scholars or professionals who lecture or conduct research;

Article 7

Implementing measures

The following measures necessary for the implementation
this Decision shall be adopted in accordance with the

1.
of
management procedure referred to in Article 8(2):

(d) staff directly involved in higher education;

(a) the annual plan of work, including priorities;

(e) other public or private bodies active in the field of higher
education which may take part only in actions 4 and 5 in
the Annex.

Article 6

Implementation of the programme and cooperation with
the Member States

1.

The Commission shall:

(a) ensure the effective implementation of

the Community
actions covered by the programme in conformity with
the Annex;

(b) take account of bilateral cooperation with third countries

undertaken by Member States;

(c) consult the relevant associations and organisations in the
field of higher education at European level and inform the
Committee referred to in Article 8 of their opinions;

(b) the

the
selection criteria
composition and internal
the
Selection Board, and the results of selections for action 1,
with due regard to the provisions set out in the Annex;

including
rules of procedure of

and procedures,

(c)

the general guidelines for implementing the programme;

(d) the annual budget, the breakdown of funds among the
different actions of the programme and indicative grant
amounts;

(e)

the arrangements
for monitoring and evaluating the
programme and for the dissemination and transfer of
results.

for decisions
selections

results of
2.
Proposals
selections, except
for action 1, and all other
measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision
shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure
referred to in Article 8(3).

concerning

the

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Article 8

Committee

1.

The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at two months.

3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the
provisions of Article 8 thereof.

4.

The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 9

Funding

1.
The financial framework for the implementation of the
programme for the period specified in Article 1 is hereby set at
EUR 180 million. For the period following 31 December
2006, this amount shall be deemed to be confirmed if it is
consistent for this phase with the financial perspectives in force
for the period commencing in 2007.

The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the
financial

authority within the

limits of

the

2.
budgetary
perspective.

Article 10

Consistency and complementarity

The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Member
1.
States, ensure overall consistency and complementarity with
instruments and actions,
other relevant Community policies,
in particular with the
for
research and with external cooperation programmes in the
field of higher education.

sixth framework programme

The Commission shall keep the Committee regularly
2.
taken in relevant
informed about Community initiatives
fields, ensure efficient linkage and, where appropriate,
joint
actions between the programme and the programmes and
in the area of education undertaken within the
actions
framework of
cooperation with third
countries,
including bilateral agreements, and the competent
international organisations.

the Community's

European Union in the programme shall be established in
accordance with the relevant provisions of the instruments
governing the relations between the European Community
and these countries.

Article 12

Monitoring and evaluation

The Commission shall regularly monitor the programme
1.
in cooperation with the Member States. The results of the
monitoring and evaluation process shall be utilised when
implementing the programme.

This monitoring shall
paragraph 3 and specific activities.

include the reports

referred to in

2.
The programme shall be evaluated regularly by the
Commission with regard to the objectives referred to in
Article 3, the impact of the programme as a whole and the
complementarity between action under the programme and
that pursued under other
relevant Community policies,
instruments and actions.

The Commission

3.
European
Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions:

submit

shall

the

to

repercussions of

(a) on the accession of new Member States, a report on the
financial
accessions on the
programme, followed, if appropriate, by proposals to deal
with those repercussions. The European Parliament and the
Council will take a decision on such proposals as soon as
possible;

these

(b) an interim evaluation report on the results achieved and on
the

the implementation of

the qualitative aspects of
programme by 30 June 2007;

(c) a communication on the continuation of the programme

by 31 December 2007;

(d) an ex post evaluation report by 31 December 2009.

Article 13

Entry into force

This Decision shall enter into force on the 20th day following
that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Union.

Article 11

Participation of EEA-EFTA States, and candidate countries
for accession to the European Union

. . .

The conditions and detailed rules on the participation of
EEA-EFTA States and candidate countries for accession to the

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

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ANNEX

COMMUNITY ACTIONS AND SELECTION PROCEDURES

ACTION 1:

ERASMUS MUNDUS MASTERS COURSES

ACTION 2:

SCHOLARSHIPS

ACTION 3:

PARTNERSHIPS WITH THIRD-COUNTRY HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

ACTION 4:

ENHANCING ATTRACTIVENESS

ACTION 5:

TECHNICAL SUPPORT MEASURES

SELECTION PROCEDURES

ACTION 1: ERASMUS MUNDUS MASTERS COURSES

1. The Community will select European postgraduate courses which for the purposes of the programme will be called
‘Erasmus Mundus Masters courses’, as provided for under ‘Selection Procedures’ in the second part of this Annex.

2. For the purpose of the programme, Erasmus Mundus Masters courses shall:

(a)

involve a minimum of three higher education institutions from three different Member States;

(b) implement a study programme which involves a period of study in at least two of the three institutions under (a);

(c) have built-in mechanisms for the recognition of periods of study undertaken in partner institutions based on, or

compatible with, the European credit transfer system;

(d) result in the awarding of joint, double or multiple degrees, recognised or accredited by the Member States, from

the participating institutions;

(e) reserve a minimum of places for, and host, third-country students who have been granted financial support under

the programme;

(f) establish transparent conditions for admissions which pay due regard,

inter alia, to gender issues and equity

issues;

(g) agree to respect the rules applicable to the selection procedure of grantees (students and scholars);

(h) put in place appropriate arrangements to facilitate access for, and hosting of, third-country students (information

facilities, accommodation, etc.);

(i) without prejudice to the language of instruction, provide for the use of at least two European languages spoken
in the Member States where the higher education institutions involved in the Erasmus Mundus Masters course are
situated and, as appropriate, for language preparation and assistance for students.

3. Erasmus Mundus Masters courses will be selected for a five-year period, subject to a light-weight annual renewal
procedure based on progress reporting, which period could include a year's preparatory activities before the actual
course begins to run. Balanced representation of different fields of study will be sought over the duration of the
programme. The Community may provide financial support for Erasmus Mundus Masters courses and funding would
be subject to the annual renewal procedure.

ACTION 2: SCHOLARSHIPS

1. The Community will establish a single, global scholarship scheme targeted at the third-country graduate students and

scholars.

(a) The Community may provide financial support to third-country students who have been admitted, through a

competitive process, to Erasmus Mundus Masters courses.

(b) The Community may provide financial support to third-country scholars visiting the Erasmus Mundus Masters
courses, with a view to carrying out teaching and research assignments and scholarly work in the institutions
participating in Erasmus Mundus Masters courses.

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2. Scholarships will be open to third-country students and scholars as defined in Article 2, without any precondition for
participation other than the existence of relations between the European Union and the country of origin of the
students and scholars in question.

3. The Commission shall take steps to ensure that no student or scholar receives financial support for the same purpose

under more than one Community programme.

ACTION 3: PARTNERSHIPS WITH THIRD-COUNTRY HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

1. The Community may support structured relations between Erasmus Mundus Masters courses and third-country
higher education institutions. While having regard to the overarching criteria of quality, a varied geographical
distribution among the third-country institutions participating in the programme should also be taken into
consideration. Partnerships will provide the framework for outgoing mobility of European Union students and
scholars involved in the Erasmus Mundus Masters courses.

2. Partnerships will:

— involve an Erasmus Mundus Masters course and at least one higher education institution from a third country,

— be supported for periods of up to three years,

— provide a framework for outgoing mobility for students enrolled in the Erasmus Mundus Masters courses and the
courses' teachers; eligible students and scholars must be citizens of the European Union or third-country
nationals who had been legal residents in the European Union for at least three years (and for purposes
other than study) before the start of the outgoing mobility,

— ensure recognition of study periods at the host (i.e., non-European) institution.

3. Partnership project activities may also include:

— teaching assignments at a partner institution supporting the project's curriculum development,

— exchanges of teachers, trainers, administrators, and other relevant specialists,

— development and dissemination of new methodologies in higher education, including the use of information and

communication technologies, e-learning and open and distance learning,

— development of cooperation schemes with third-country higher education institutions with a view to offering a

course in the country in question.

ACTION 4: ENHANCING ATTRACTIVENESS

1. Through this action, the Community may support activities aimed at enhancing the profile and visibility of and
accessibility to European education. The Community shall also support complementary activities that contribute to
the objectives of the programme including activities dealing with the international dimension of quality assurance,
credit recognition, recognition of European qualifications abroad and mutual recognition of qualifications with third
countries, curriculum development and mobility.

2. Eligible institutions may include public or private organisations active in the field of higher education domestically or
at international level. Activities shall be conducted within networks involving a minimum of three organisations from
three different Member States and may involve organisations from third countries. Activities (which may include
seminars, conferences, workshops, development of ICT tools, production of material for publication, etc.) may take
place in the Member States or in third countries.

3. Promotional activities shall seek to establish links between higher education and research, and exploit whenever

possible potential synergies.

4. Through this action the Community may support international thematic networks to deal with these issues.

5. The Community may support as appropriate pilot projects with third countries with a view to developing further

cooperation in the field of higher education with the countries in question.

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6. The Community shall support an alumni association of all students (third-country and Europeans) graduating from

Erasmus Mundus Masters courses.

ACTION 5: TECHNICAL SUPPORT MEASURES

In carrying out the programme, the Commission may have recourse to experts, to an executive agency, to existing
competent agencies in Member States and, if necessary, to other forms of technical assistance, the financing of which
may be provided from within the overall financial framework of the programme.

SELECTION PROCEDURES

The selection procedures will be laid down as provided for in Article 7(1). These procedures should respect the
following provisions:

(a) the selection of proposals under action 1 and under action 3 shall be carried out by a Selection Board presided over
by a person whom it elects, composed of personalities of high standing from the academic world who are
representative of the diversity of higher education in the European Union. The Selection Board shall ensure that
Erasmus Mundus Masters courses and partnerships correspond to the highest academic quality;

(b) each Erasmus Mundus Masters course will be allocated a specific number of grants under action 2. The selection of
third-country students will be carried out by the institutions participating in the Erasmus Mundus Masters courses.
Selection procedures shall provide for a clearing mechanism at European level,
in order to prevent serious
imbalances across fields of study and students' and scholars' regions of provenance and Member State of destination;

(c) proposals under action 4 will be selected by the Commission;

(d) selection procedures shall involve consultation with the structures designated in accordance with Article 6(2)(b).

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

1. On 19 July 2002 the Commission submitted to the European Parliament and to the Council a
proposal for a decision, based on Article 149 of the EC Treaty, establishing a programme for the
enhancement of the quality of higher education through cooperation with third countries (Erasmus
World).

2. The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions delivered their

opinions on 26 February 2003 and 10 April 2003 respectively.

3. The European Parliament delivered its opinion on 8 April 2003.

4. In the light of the European Parliament's opinion, the Commission submitted an amended proposal

for decision on 29 April 2003.

5. On 16 June 2003, the Council adopted its common position in accordance with Article 251(2) of

the EC Treaty.

II. AIM OF THE PROPOSAL

The proposal aims to enhance the quality of European higher education by fostering cooperation with
third countries in order to improve the development of human resources and to promote dialogue and
understanding between peoples and cultures.

1. GENERAL COMMENTS

In its common position the Council has approved the Commission's proposal in principle, while
making certain amendments which it thought desirable, and which are in many cases similar or
identical to the Parliament's opinion as well as the Commission's amended proposal.

2. SPECIFIC COMMENTS

2.1. Amendments made by the Council to the Commission's proposal (1)

2.1.1. Name of the programme

The Council has agreed that the programme should be designated ‘Erasmus Mundus’.

2.1.2.

Funding and review clause (Article 9)

The Council believes that a financial framework of EUR 180 million is sufficient to
attain the objectives of the programme, while bearing in mind the need to exercise
budgetary restraint. Furthermore, in view of the fact that the programme includes the
first two years of the next financial perspectives, a review clause has been introduced
into paragraph 1.

2.1.3.

Implementation of the programme and cooperation with Member States
(Article 6)

Paragraph 2 has been reworded so that point (a) now makes the link between the
efficient running of the programme and the removal of
legal and administrative
barriers. A new paragraph 3 has been added concerning, inter alia, information and
the dissemination of results of actions whose wording is based on Article 5(3) of the
Socrates programme.

2.1.4.

Implementing measures (Article 7)

The Council considers that the results of selections under action 1 should be subject to
the management procedure, and has adapted paragraphs 1(b) and 2 accordingly.

(1) References in this section are to the text of the common position.

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2.1.5. Linguistic aspects (recital 7 and action 1(2)(i))

The Council has sought to recall both the importance of the linguistic diversity of the
Union and the desirability for third-country students to have the use of at least two EU
languages.

2.1.6. Selection procedures (Annex, second part)

In the interests of greater clarity and consistency, a specific section on selection
procedures as applied to actions 1 to 4 has been added to the Annex.

2.1.7. Erasmus Mundus Masters courses (Annex, action 1)

The wording of the introductory paragraph now makes it clear that these courses are
selected but not managed at EU level. They have been designated Erasmus Mundus
Masters courses in line with the programme's name.

2.1.8. Scholarships (action 2)

Greater concision has been brought to this action without loss of content. The Council
considers moreover that certain considerations should be dealt with elsewhere, as for
instance the question of braindrain (recital 12), or the balance across fields of study
(Selection Procedures). Reference to equal opportunities is already made in Article 3.

2.1.9. Enhancing attractiveness (action 4)

The Council has simplified the structure of this action without any essential loss of
content.

2.1.10. Other questions

The Council has also introduced other additions, modifications or clarifications to the
text, concerning, inter alia:

— references to the Stockholm and Barcelona European Councils (recital 3),

— principles of management of the Community action (recital 11),

— dialogue and understanding between cultures (recital 13),

— subsidiarity (Article 1(3)),

— objectives of the Programme (Article 3(1) and recital 9),

— consistency and complementarity (Article 10; formerly Articles 9 and 11).

2.2. European Parliament amendments

2.2.1. Parliament amendments adopted by the Commission

The Commission adopted in full, in part or in essence 38 of the 65 amendments
adopted by the Parliament.

2.2.2. Parliament amendments adopted by the Council

The Council adopted in full, in part or in essence 33 of the amendments proposed by
the Parliament and adopted by the Commission. Those amendments are: 1, 4, 5, 9, 10,
11, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 43, 46, 47, 48,
49, 50, 51, 53, 69, 70.

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2.2.3. Parliament amendments not adopted by the Council

In addition to the amendments not adopted by the Commission, and which were not
accepted by the Council, the Council did not accept the following amendments (1) for
the reasons stated:

— Amendment 35

Information on the programme (Article 6(2)(b))

The Council considers that questions relating to information are sufficiently
covered by paragraph 3 of this Article, and that it is not therefore necessary to
specify an information role for the structures designated by the Member States.

— Amendment 59

Partnerships with undertakings (Annex, action 3(5))

The Council has not accepted this amendment introducing the involvement of the
business world, which is not provided for elsewhere in the programme.

— Amendments 62 and 63 (Annex, action 4(2))

Establishment of an Internet gateway

The Council has decided that examples of eligible activities (former actions 4(1) and
4(2)) do not need to be specified, with the exception of a few general references in
4(2), since these are considered indicative and could be dealt with by the
programme committee.

— Amendment 66 (Annex, action 4(1))

Surveys and studies

The Council considers that it is not necessary to promote surveys and studies
within the context of this programme and has deleted this reference.

III. CONCLUSIONS

The Council considers that its common position constitutes a balanced text, providing a good basis for
launching this programme, thereby promoting the attractiveness of European higher education to
students and scholars from third countries and enhancing cooperation in general between EU and
third-country higher education institutions.

(1) The references in this section are to the original proposal.