Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the "Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing a Community action programme to promote bodies active at European level and support specific activities in the field of education and training" (COM(2003) 273 final — 2003/0114 (COD))
Date: 2003-10-29
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: ESC opinion, EU financing, EU programme, education policy, vocational training

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The EESC notes that Article 7 (3) states that: ‘The co-
3.5.
financing of an action under this programme shall be exclusive
of any other financing by another programme financed by the
budget of the European Union’.This does not preclude other
measures financed by other Community programmes from
working towards achieving the objectives of the proposal, as
stated in Article 4: ‘If necessary, and as far as possible, the

actions financed under this Regulation are associated with
measures aiming to strengthen democracy and the rule of law’.

3.6.
Article 11 provides for the Commission to present a
report by 2006 and a final report by 2010. The EESC asks to
be consulted accordingly.

Brussels, 29 October 2003.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a European
Parliament and Council Decision establishing a Community action programme to promote bodies
active at European level and support specific activities in the field of education and training’

(COM(2003) 273 final — 2003/0114 (COD))

(2004/C 32/10)

On 27 June 2003 the Council decided to consult the European Economic and Social Committee, under
Articles 149 and 150 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the above
mentioned proposal.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 6 October 2003. The rapporteur was Mr Panero
Flórez.

At its 403rd plenary session of 29 and 30 October (meeting of 29 October) the European Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 124 votes to one with two abstentions.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
For several years now, the European Commission has
co-financed a variety of bodies active in the field of education
and training via a series of agreements signed with the
following institutions:

— College of Europe

— European University Institute, Florence

— European Law Academy, Trier

— European Institute of Public Administration, Maastricht

— European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and

Democratisation

— International Centre for European Training

— European Agency for Development in Special Needs

Education

Similarly, the Commission has funded Community

1.2.
operations in the field of education and training, including:

— preparatory measures in connection with the follow-up
of the concrete future objectives of education and training
systems;

— activities seeking to disseminate information on European
integration in higher education circles, in particular by
means of the Jean Monnet Project.

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The common denominator for all of these projects in
1.3.
financial terms is that to date they have been implemented
without any legal basis to lend them budgetary support.

training. In accordance with the provisions of these articles,
the European Economic and Social Committee is required to
issue a report on the proposal for a decision submitted to it.

Following the

1.4.
adoption of Council Regulation
No 1605/2002 (1) approving the Financial Regulation appli-
cable to the general budget of the European Communities and
the subsequent Declaration of 13 June 2002, the Commission
undertook to submit a proposal for a regulation specifying
overall criteria regarding selection and the awarding of grants
for
in
Article 108(1)(b) of the aforementioned Regulation.

the bodies provided for

functioning of

the

2. Summary of the proposal for a decision

2.1. Objective of the proposal

1.5.
This undertaking is linked to the requirement outlined
in the Financial Regulation to classify Commission expenditure
for the budget year 2004 according to use. This in turn makes
it necessary to draw up acts providing a basis for subsidies
such as those described above.

2.1.1.
The proposal’s explanatory memorandum states that
the objective is to establish a basis for grants to promote
bodies active at European level and to support specific activities
in the field of education and training.

1.6.
Similarly, the detailed work programme on the follow-
up of the objectives of education and training systems in
Europe, adopted by the Council on 14 June 2002 (2), sets out
a programme of activity that requires support at Community
level and which ties in with the perspectives of the proposal
for a decision.

1.7.
A further argument in favour of this proposal for a
decision is the Laeken Declaration annexed to the conclusions
of the European Council of 14 and 15 December 2001 and
which asserts that one of the basic challenges to be resolved
by the European Union is to bring citizens closer to the
European design and the European institutions.

1.8.
Lastly, and once again in support of the proposal, the
document submitted to the Committee for debate outlines the
need to train national judges in the application of Community
law, fundamentally the legal interpretation of Regulation 1/
2003 (3) on the implementation of the rules on competition
laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty. A budgetary
heading currently exists for this area, which will require the
same legal basis as the others from the next budget year
onwards.

The legal basis applicable to the proposal for a decision
1.9.
corresponds to Articles 149 and 150 of
the EC Treaty
governing Community initiatives in the field of education and

(1) OJ L 248, 16.9.2002.
(2) OJ C 142, 14.6.2002.
(3) OJ L 1, 4.1.2003.

2.1.2.
Article one of the proposal states that the general
objective of the programme is to support the activities of
bodies in the field of education and training.

2.1.3.
Point 5.1.1 of the financial statement indicates that
the proposal is primarily informed by the technical need to
place on a solid legal footing operating grants hitherto awarded
under part A of the budget and to provide a response to the
joint declaration of the three European institutions of their
intention to adopt a new financial framework.

2.2. Actions envisaged

The activities which may be carried out by the bodies eligible
for Community funding under the programme are as follows:

Action 1: Support for specified institutions active in the field
of education. These are the seven institutions listed in the
introduction to this opinion.

Action 2: Support for European associations active in the field
of education or training. Such associations must have members
in at least twelve of the Member States of the European Union
and pursue an aim of general European interest in the field of
education or training.

for activities in the field of higher
Action 3A: Support
education concerning European integration,
including Jean
Monnet chairs. Fundamentally, this category comprises the
implementation of European integration studies in universities,
the creation and support of associations of teachers specialised
in this subject and the promotion of reflection and discussion
on the process of integration, etc.

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Action 3B: Support for activities contributing to the achieve-
ment of the future objectives of education and training systems
in Europe. This action is tied to the detailed work programme
on the follow-up of these objectives.

Action 3C: Support for training of national judges in the field
of European law and for organisations for judicial cooperation.
This action aims to support organisations for judicial cooper-
ation and actions designed to promote training in European
law, notably for national judges.

2.3. Budget allocation

The budget established for the programme period is EUR
129.62 million and is to be distributed amongst the different
actions according to the following percentages:

Action 1:

between 58 and 65 % of the overall budget

Action 2:

up to 4 % of the programme budget

Action 3A:

between 20 and 24 % of the budget

Action 3B:

between 7 and 11 % of the budget

Action 3C:

up to 4 % of the programme budget

2.4.

Programme duration

The programme will start on 1 January 2004 and end on
31 December 2008. It may be continued by means of a new
decision from 1 January 2009 depending on the results of the
external evaluation by the Commission.

3. Comments on the proposal for a decision

These grants are listed in the proposal for a decision from the
viewpoint of different reference sources, such as:

— the detailed work programme on the follow-up of the

objectives of education and training systems in Europe;

— the Laeken Declaration on the future of the European

Union;

— Regulation 1/2003 on the implementation of the rules
on competition laid down in Articles 81 and 82 of the
Treaty.

3.2.
The Committee also observes that a variety of aims are
mixed together in this one programme: the need to provide a
legal basis for specific types of grant, support for action
undertaken in the field of education and training and ongoing
training activities for national judges in the Member States.

The Committee feels that in light of the above, the programme
detailed in the proposal for a decision is more a set of
several different programmes linked by a common element
determined by the application of the financial regulation as of
2004.

3.3.
Analysis of the proposal for a decision clearly shows
that the majority of the actions outlined under the programme
concerned are largely already in place. In short, although the
programme does not yet exist as such, it has effectively been
underway for several years now.

The Committee therefore welcomes the proposal’s commit-
ment to create an executive agency to take on the task of
managing the programme, either in whole or in part, if the
agency results from a unification of the present technical
offices of Socrates and Leonardo and does not imply an
increase in the management costs to be deducted from the
meagre funds awarded to this programme.

Nonetheless, the Committee strongly endorses the
3.4.
support and assistance granted to the bodies mentioned above
and partly funded by the European Union. The activities
carried out by these bodies and the benefits they bring, each in
their own field, merit special recognition by the Committee,
which is favourably disposed to the continuation and reinforce-
ment thereof for the purposes of stability and continuity.

3.1.
The Committee has considered this proposal for a
the programme outlined therein
decision and notes that
comprises a series of different activities which are all based on
the need to provide a legal basis for specific types of grant
which were awarded without any legal basis, before the new
financial regulation was adopted.

The proposal for a decision establishes a programme
3.5.
of Community action in the field of education and training,
with as its legal basis Articles 149 and 150 of the Treaty,
which provide a detailed definition of the role to be played by
the Community in these two areas.

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The comprehensive information provided in the annex to the
proposal as well as the detailed information on the initiatives
planned make it clear that the majority of the actions described,
into the field of
apart from that outlined under 3B, fall
training,
education, higher especially, and not vocational
taking account of the concept to be applied to each in
accordance with the aforementioned Articles of the Treaty.

Whilst maintaining its support for this initiative, in order to
ensure the stability and continuity of
the
Committee feels that this list should not be restricted, so that
other significant institutions and bodies might be added who
also pursue an aim of general European interest, whether
extensively or more specifically within one concrete area.

the activities,

Similarly the Committee notes that in the proposed decision
only Action 3C contains a measure which could be described
as life-long learning. The Committee considers that life-long
learning should cover measures in both the educational and
training spheres; such actions should be promoted as a means
of achieving the Lisbon objectives.

Irrespective of

3.6.
the intended financial neutrality of
the proposal, the Committee considers that the funding is
inadequate, also in view of the imminent enlargement of
the European Union, and feels that it should be increased
accordingly.

Although the programme budget is based on those headings
currently assigned to the activities planned under the different
actions plus the percentage annual increase for each successive
year, the Committee notes that funding for activities in the
field of education can reach between 82 % and 93 % of the
programme budget approximately, while funding for training
activities remains at between 7 % and 11 % of the budget,
approximately.

3.7.
In view of the general comments made, the Committee
feels that the Commission should consider giving a different
name to the proposal for a decision, more in line with the
actual content of the programme and the objectives it pursues.

3.8.
Article 2 of the proposal for a decision outlines those
bodies eligible for the programme grants. It does not determine
how many bodies are able to take advantage of these grants.

Under Action 1, the annex to the proposal determines those
bodies at whom the proposal is targeted. In concrete terms,
these are institutions that may receive operational and adminis-
trative support. The list provided in the annex is limited to
those bodies mentioned in the introduction to this document.

3.9.
The Committee agrees that it is necessary to promote
training for national judges pursuant to Regulation 1/2003 on
the implementation of the rules on competition laid down in
Articles 81 and 82 of the Treaty.

In view of its highly specific nature, this initiative can be
defined as ongoing training for professionals, both because it
is exclusively intended for a specific group and in view of its
highly selective subject matter. With this in mind, the Com-
mittee finds it unusual for this issue to be included in the
proposal for a decision under discussion here.

The Committee therefore feels that Action 3C should be
removed from this proposal and included in another piece of
legislation, unless it is broadened, in the sphere of lifelong
learning, to cover other professions and sectors of the same
European level of interest as those in this Action.

3.10.
Action 3B, which covers support for activities con-
the future objectives of
tributing to the achievement of
education and training systems in Europe, provides for aware-
ness-raising activities in these fields, the promotion of initiat-
ives of the European Union with respect to these systems,
improving their quality, facilitating access for all and opening
up European education and training systems to the wider
world.

These various information and publication actions must, the
Committee feels, take great care not to overlap with activities
already up and running as part of the Socrates and Leonardo
programmes. For this, effective coordination of all Commission
services concerned and of the agencies entrusted with the
management of the different programmes will be required.

3.11.
In line with the general comments made above in
relation to the need to create a management agency for the
programme and in view of the fact that most of the activities
concerned have to some extent been underway for some time
already, the Committee would question the need for the
agency’s budget
to include sums earmarked for studies,
meetings of experts in charge of implementing the programme
and information, publication and promotion initiatives, etc.

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Given that this is not an ‘ex novo’ programme, the Committee
believes that these amounts would be better used to fund those
activities receiving the least support under the proposal as
presented, i.e. those in the field of training.

4. Conclusions

4.1. With the exception of
the
Committee fully supports all the various initiatives outlined in
the proposal for a decision. The majority are already up and
running and have been shown to be suitable for further
continuation.

the above comments,

4.2.
Actions intended to strengthen, improve and promote
Europe’s education and training systems, both inside and
outside the Union, are always to be welcomed by the
Committee. The Committee therefore believes, taking account
of its comments on this aspect of the proposal, that actions of
this type should be encouraged, achieving a better balance in
the EU budget.

Brussels, 29 October 2003.

Those activities whose aim it

is to support such
4.3.
prestigious bodies as those listed under Action 1 in the
proposal for a decision, merit special mention by the Com-
mittee. These institutions carry out important work, each in
their own specialist field, reflecting the most positive values
that are closest to citizens and that are necessary to secure the
success of the European integration process. The Committee
therefore expresses its support
for continuing the grants
received by these bodies via the measures outlined in the
proposal.

4.4.
The Committee also feels it to be necessary to support
training of national judges in such essential issues as Regu-
lation 1/2003, mentioned above. In consequence, the Com-
mittee backs the initiatives outlined in the proposal for a
decision, subject to the reservations expressed under point 3.9.
of this working document.

The Committee calls to mind that this proposal for a
4.5.
decision is one of a set of seven proposals presented subsequent
to the application of the Financial Regulation. The Committee
would ask the Commission to adopt a coherent approach
when drawing up this type of proposal, in particular with
respect to the criteria governing access to funding.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH