Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Proposal for a Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on transnational mobility within the Community for education and training purposes: European Quality Charter for Mobility
Date: 2006-04-27
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: cooperation policy, education, free movement of persons, personal development, student mobility, vocational training

C 206/40

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.8.2006

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Proposal for a Recommendation of the European
Parliament and of the Council on transnational mobility within the Community for education and
training purposes: European Quality Charter for Mobility

(2006/C 206/07)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

Having regard to the Proposal for a Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council on
Transnational mobility within the Community for education and training purposes: European Quality Charter for
Mobility COM(2005) 450 final;

Having regard to the Council decision of 10 October 2005 to consult it on this subject, under Article
265(1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

Having regard to the decision of its President of 10 November 2005 to instruct its Commission for
Culture and Education to draw up an opinion on this subject;

Having regard to the Opinion of the Commission for Culture, Education and Research, adopted on
1 March 2006 (CdR 34/2006 rev. 1) (rapporteur: Mr Luciano Caveri, President of the Autonomous
Region of Valle d’Aosta (IT/ALDE));

adopted the following opinion at its 64th plenary session, held on 26 and 27 April 2006 (meeting
of 27 April):

1. Views of the Committee of the Regions

developing and enhancing their autonomy and communication
skills;

The Committee of the Regions

1.1
notes that, in the Lisbon Strategy, Europe has identified
life-long learning as a crucial element of human and profes-
sional growth. Education and training, not only in preparation
in
for a career but throughout working life, will be crucial,
terms of
for
innovation and competitiveness,
creating jobs and training the people who will take them up;

technological

stresses that

learning is more effective when it

is
1.2
planned and undertaken as an active research process rather
than as a passive reception of facts. Training programmes for
adults are more effective if
the changes they bring about
succeed in producing those skills and competences that meet
the needs of contemporary society. Trainees can then con-
sciously develop their own approaches and future careers,
in
their role as individuals and citizens. Participation in training
programmes comes into its own once individuals take the
initiative in planning their future careers and lives so as to
contribute to both their own personal growth and society's
development;

1.4
declares that vocational training or work placements in
another country, provided they are adequately prepared, guided
and supported, have an importance far beyond that of
a successful conclusion to the individual's vocational training
and are of much wider scope. If culture is taken to mean not
only a range of knowledge but the full gamut of behavioural
patterns, values and the combined practical knowledge of
a given set of people, what better than an experience abroad
to pave the way for developing a genuine culture of
the
European Union?

notes that, given that

1.5
jobs and training provide the
ideal environment to compare and contrast cultural differences
and characteristics, a prerequisite to an intercultural approach
to different situations is a feeling for exchange and empathy.
Indeed,
through the esteem in which jobs and training are
held, the varied and flexible organisation procedures and inter-
personal relations, prejudices and generalisations can be over-
come;

stresses that educational experience, vocational training
1.3
and work placements in a foreign country are particularly
effective tools which encourage individuals to explore their
cognitive maps and strategies and, by applying and adapting
their skills in different environments, also help them to fine-
tune their approach to using their intellectual resources and

believes that the effect of improving the quality of the
1.6
mobility experience would be to create the conditions for the
full recognition of the role of individuals in helping to raise
the level of knowledge and qualifications in the home country,
and in importing new expertise, cultural stimuli, customs and
languages into the host country;

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in line with
1.7 welcomes the Commission's proposal as,
the reasoning outlined here, it serves to raise the overall levels
of European training quality by suggesting a model which, on
the basis of an individual-centred approach, ensures that the
individual concerned and society reap the best possible benefits
from the training opportunity and that it has the best possible
impact;

1.8
emphasises that the value which individuals attach to
their exchange experience must be matched by the value that
the home and host countries,
in turn, attach to each experi-
range of mobility programmes. The
ence and to the full
guidelines set out in the European Quality Charter of Mobility
are therefore a prerequisite for ensuring that participants have
a positive experience not only in the host country but also
upon their return home. As it is at the local and regional
levels that mobility programmes are coordinated and managed,
this paradigm can be brought into sharper focus;

that

believes

local and regional

1.9
communities and
authorities can ensure the grassroots dissemination of accurate
information, motivate people to make use of the opportunity
to travel abroad for learning purposes and ensure that it is an
integral part of their professional development plans and that
the skills acquired are adapted to the working situation in their
home
can therefore play
a significant role in determining the quality and effectiveness
of mobility programmes;

countries. Local administrations

notes that

1.10
regional and local authorities are best
placed implement grassroots awareness measures for the public
at large, and young people in particular, on the opportunities
presented by mobility in terms of cultural and vocational
In fact, mobility ensures that both economic
development.
and cultural obstacles to the professional
fulfilment of an
individual are overcome;

furthermore believes that individual participants must
1.11
be offered not only adequate linguistic, educational and prac-
tical preparation, but also guided support with a view to
developing their own cultural and professional development
project. Now more than ever, European professional mobility
programmes should be fully geared to the individual and seen
as a resource to be brought to the employment market. To this
end, assistance must be provided once the training period is
over
the skills acquired are adapted to the
workplace, not least by implementing the current instruments
designed to recognise and promote acquired skills (for exam-
ple, the Europass – Mobility instrument);

in order

that

considers that in addition to the role of coordinating
1.12
and liaising with organisations in the host countries, with
a view to safeguarding the quality of the logistic and tutoring
support,
it is vital that there be careful and comprehensive
monitoring and evaluation of the impact of the overall mobi-
lity experience on the general public and education and
production systems. To this end, it is crucial to create synergies
drawing in businesses, training institutions, schools and uni-
versities for them to promote, each in their respective areas,
the formal and non-formal expertise acquired by the partici-
pants;

that

the fact

stresses that

implementation of

1.13
the
European Quality Charter for Mobility creates an exchange of
knowledge and encounters between local authorities and spe-
cialist services in various Member States, in such a way as to
be able to outline a jointly shared modus operandi, cannot be
underestimated. These processes will doubtlessly pave the way
for constructive projects in a wide array of areas, from territor-
ial economic development to training and worker exchanges,
thereby creating new relations based on trust and cooperation
which will lay the foundations for mutual recognition.

2. Recommendations of the Committee of the Regions

Recommendation 1

Annex point 1

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR Amendment

European Mobility Quality Charter

European Mobility Quality Charter

1.

Guidance and information

1.

Guidance and information

Potential candidates for mobility should have access to
reliable sources of guidance and information on opportu-
nities for mobility and the conditions in which it can be
taken up.

Potential candidates for mobility should have access to
reliable sources of guidance and information on opportu-
nities for mobility and the conditions in which it can be
taken up.

The local and regional level plays a key role in providing
access to information and, where relevant, contacts with
local and regional authorities should be included in the
mobility programmes of participants.

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Re a so n

level

is where potential participants in exchange programmes first

The local and regional
turn for
information and guidance. It is the level closest to the citizens and the one which is most in touch with
the needs of the general public and is therefore in a better position to highlight existing opportunities,
project guidance and support actions and services to participants, with a view to ensuring maximum
participation and more effective programmes.

Recommendation 2

Annex point 3

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR Amendment

European Mobility Quality Charter

European Mobility Quality Charter

3.

Personalisation

3.

Personalisation

Mobility undertaken for education or training purposes
should fit
in as much as possible with the personal
learning pathways, skills and motivation of the partici-
pants, and be designed to develop or supplement them.

Mobility undertaken for education or training purposes should
fit in as much as possible with the personal learning pathways,
skills and motivation of the participants, and be designed to
them, whether in formal or non-
develop or supplement
formal education, using non-exclusive educational meth-
ods and paying particular attention to the influences of
informal education on younger students.

Re a so n

Formal and non-formal education should be treated as equally important.

Recommendation 3

Annex point 5

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR Amendment

European Mobility Quality Charter

European Mobility Quality Charter

5.

Linguistic aspects

5.

Linguistic aspects

Language skills are essential for effective learning. Partici-
pants, and their sending and host institutions, should pay
special attention to linguistic preparation. Mobility ar-
rangements should include:
— before departure, language assessment and the oppor-
tunity to follow courses in the language of the host
country and in the language of instruction, if differ-
ent;

— in the host country, linguistic support and advice.

Language skills are essential for effective learning. Partici-
pants, and their sending and host institutions, should pay
special attention to linguistic preparation,
in particular
where minority languages are spoken,
in order to facil-
integration. Mobility arrangements should
itate greater
include:
— before departure, language assessment and the oppor-
tunity to follow courses in the language of the host
country and in the language of instruction, if differ-
ent;

— in the host country, linguistic support and advice.

Reason

National and Community agencies should work closely with local and regional authorities and universities
in areas where minority languages are spoken, to encourage more students to take courses in these
languages before departing for their chosen exchange programme.

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Recommendation 4

Annex point 8

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR Amendment

European Mobility Quality Charter

European Mobility Quality Charter

8.

Recognition

8.

Recognition

If a study or placement period abroad is an integral part
of a formal study or training programme, this fact should
be stated in the learning plan, and participants should be
provided with assistance to ensure its adequate recogni-
tion and certification. The way in which the recognition
will work should be set out in the learning plan. For
other types of mobility, and particularly those in the
context
training,
a certificate should be issued so that the participant is
able to demonstrate his or her active participation and
learning outcomes in a satisfactory and credible way.

non-formal

education

and

of

If a study or placement period abroad is an integral part
of a formal study or training programme, this fact should
be stated in the learning plan, and participants should be
provided with assistance to ensure its adequate recogni-
tion and certification. The way in which the recognition
will work should be set out in the learning plan. For
types of mobility, and particularly those in the
other
context
training,
a certificate should be issued so that the participant is
able to demonstrate his or her active participation and
learning outcomes in a satisfactory and credible way.

non-formal

education

and

of

The CoR stresses the importance of recognition and calls
on the Member States to put the existing instruments for
recognition into practice or to create them if they do not
yet exist. Full use should be made of the existing instru-
ments for recognition, in particular the Europass mobility
document, to ensure a positive conclusion to the partici-
pants’ experience.

Re a so n

The importance of the recognition of skills and qualifications acquired during an exchange programme
must be emphasised in order that the transparency of qualifications is improved and,
in the process,
greater mobility of workers and students is achieved. The CoR calls on Member States to put the existing
instruments for recognition into practice.

Recommendation 5

Annex point 9

Text proposed by the Commission

CoR Amendment

9.

Reintegration and evaluation

9.

Reintegration and evaluation

On return to their home country, participants should be
given guidance on how to make use of competences and
skills acquired during the stay. Appropriate help with
reintegration into the social, educational or professional
environment of the home country should be available to
people returning after long-term mobility. The experience
gained should be properly evaluated by participants,
together with the organisations
to assess
whether the aims of the learning plan have been met.

responsible,

On return to their home country, participants should be
given guidance on how to make use of competences and
skills acquired during the stay. Appropriate help with
reintegration into the social, educational or professional
environment of the home country should be available to
people returning after long-term mobility. The experience
gained should be properly evaluated by participants, to-
gether with the organisations
to assess
whether the aims of the learning plan have been met.

responsible,

The relevant authorities should enlist or recruit, as appro-
priate, successful participants to act as ‘Ambassadors for
Mobility’, to encourage others to follow their example and
to provide others with first hand knowledge and advice.

Brussels, 27 April 2006.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Michel DELEBARRE