Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee - European Training Foundation
Date: 2006-12-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Training Foundation, activity report, vocational training

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 19.12.2006 
COM(2006) 832 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE 
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 

European Training Foundation 

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1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This report is presented under Article 17 of the Council Regulation establishing the European 
Training Foundation (hereafter the ETF), modified by the Council regulation of 20031 which 
requires that the Commission creates a monitoring and evaluation procedure for the ETF and 
reports on its results. 

This report aims to provide an overview of experience acquired in the work of the ETF for the 
period  2002-2005.  It  takes  into  account  changes  in  the  geographical  coverage,  operating 
environment and role of the ETF since 2000, as reflected in the Mid-term perspective on staff 
and financial resources adopted by the ETF Governing Board in November 2000 and in the 
Mid-term Perspective 2004-2006 adopted by the ETF Governing Board in November 2003.  

The  report  draws  on  the  findings,  conclusions  and  recommendations  of  the  independent 
evaluator's  report  provided  by  ITAD,  the  external  contractor  (see  section  3).  The 
Commission's experience in activities and cooperation with the ETF has also been taken into 
account, as have recommendations made by the Commission in its 2003 Communication.  

The  report  also  takes  into  consideration  the  evolution  of  EU  policy  towards  third  countries, 
and  expected  changes  in  EU  policy  instruments  after  2006.  The  current  external  assistance 
programmes (Phare, Tacis, Meda and Cards), which define the scope of the ETF’s activities, 
will  be  replaced  in  2007  by  three  new  external  assistance  instruments,  the  European 
Neighbourhood  and  Partnership  Instrument  (ENPI),  the  Instrument  for  Pre–accession 
Assistance (IPA) and the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI). These changes require 
an  adaptation  of  the  ETF’s  founding  regulation.  The  findings  from  the  external  evaluation 
process will inform the proposed amendment of the Council Regulation on the ETF. 

The  report  has  been  drawn  up  jointly  by  all  services  of  the  Commission  working  with  the 
ETF,  namely  DGs  Education  and  Culture  (the  responsible  DG),  External  Relations, 
Enlargement, EuropeAid and Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. 

2. 

EVOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN TRAINING FOUNDATION, 2002-2005 

2.1. 

Background to ETF 

The  ETF2  is  located  in  Turin,  Italy,  and  has  105  staff.  It  is  a  Community  Agency  legally 
established  by  Council  regulation  (EEC)  no  1360/90  of  7  May  1990.  The  Agency's  overall 
objective,  as  described  by  Articles  1  and  2  of  the  Regulation,  is  to  contribute  to  the 
development of vocational training systems in the four regions within its remit: the Caucuses 

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Council Regulation EC N° 1648/2003 of 18 June 2003 
ETF website: http://www.etf.eu.int/  

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and  Central  Asia3,  the  acceding  and  candidate  countries4,  the  potential  candidate  countries5, 
and  the  southern  and  eastern  Mediterranean6.  Beneficiary  countries  are  known  as  "partner 
countries". 

The  ETF  now  provides  services  to  six  Directorates-General  (DGs)  of  the  European 
Commission:  Education  &  Culture  (the  ETF's  supervisory  DG),  External  Relations, 
EuropeAid,  Enlargement,  Enterprise  (regarding 
the  SME  Development  Fund),  and 
Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. 

In terms of service provision, the ETF's principal interlocutors in the candidate and potential 
candidate  countries  tend  to  be  the  EC  delegations  (with  the  European  Agency  for 
Reconstruction7  the  main  interlocutor  for  Serbia,  Montenegro  and  the  former  Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia). For the other areas (Caucasus, Central Asia and Neighbourhood), it 
is  EuropeAid,  which  is  responsible  for  the  implementation  of  EC  cooperation  activities 
together with the relevant EC delegations. 

2.2. 

Current priorities and activities 

ETF current priorities are derived from the goals set in its Mid-term Perspective 2004-2006 
adopted by ETF Governing Board in November 2003. The operational priorities are based on 
EU external relations policies towards each partner region.  

On an operational level, the ETF uses three main instruments: 

•  Support to EC programmes and dissemination of EU policies. 

•  Capacity building, information and analysis for the partner countries.  

•  Innovation,  Learning  and  Development,  including  pilot  projects  which  analyse 
lessons learned during the application of reform strategies by partner countries.  

2.3. 

Previous evaluations, studies and reviews 

An external evaluation was carried out in 20028 and led to a Commission Communication in 
mid-20039. A Communication of 199710 reported on the findings of a first external evaluation. 

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Armenia,  Azerbaijan,  Belarus,  Georgia,  Kazakhstan,  Kyrgyzstan,  Moldova,  Mongolia,  Russian 
Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan 
Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 
Albania,  Bosnia  &  Herzegovina,  Serbia  including  Kosovo  (under  UN  Security  Council  Resolution 
1244), and Montenegro 
Algeria,  Egypt,  Israel,  Jordan,  Lebanon,  Morocco,  Palestinian  Authority  (West  Bank  &  Gaza  Strip), 
Syria, Tunisia 
See EAR website: http://ear.europa.eu/ 
External  Evaluation  of 
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/index_en.htm#ETFinterim1 

the  European  Training  Foundation, 

ITAD,  November  2002: 

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2.4. 

Funding 

ETF funding comes from the external relations chapter of the Community budget and, since 
2000, has been split between two budget lines - one from DG External Relations (15 03 03; 
ex-B7-664) and one from DG Enlargement (15 03 02; ex-B7-033). 

The  level  of  funding  for  each  year  in  the  period  2002-2005  has  been  planned  under  the 
Governing Board agreements on rolling mid-term perspectives (2002-2004; and subsequently, 
2004-2006).  These  planning  forecasts  are  subject  to  the  annual  budgetary  procedure.  This 
funding constitutes almost the entirety of the ETF's revenue. 

Annex  2  shows  the  full  budget  evolution  (including  funds  committed,  carried  over  and 
unused) to illustrate in a representative way how funds have been allocated.  

3. 

OVERVIEW OF EXTERNAL EVALUATION EXERCISE 

Article 17 of the founding Regulation, modified by the Council Regulation of 2003, stipulates 
that the Commission should evaluate ETF every three years. The current external evaluation 
was launched in late 2004 with a report due in 2006.  

DG  Education  and  Culture  launched  an  open  call  for  tender  for  an  independent  external 
evaluation of the agency. The contract was awarded to ITAD Ltd (the same organisation that 
carried out the previous evaluation). A Steering Committee was established, chaired by DG 
Education  and  Culture  with  representatives  from  DGs  External  Relations,  Enlargement, 
EuropeAid, Employment, three Member States (Governing Board members) and the ETF. 

The overall objectives of the evaluation were: 

•  To  assess  the  extent  to  which  the  commitments  made  by  the  ETF  in  its  2002,  2003  and 

2004 Work Programmes and in the 2003 Action Plan were achieved; 

•  To  assess  the  extent  to  which  the  commitments  made  by  the  Commission  in  its  2003 

Communication were met; 

•  The provision of useful lessons and recommendations for the challenges facing the ETF in 

the programming phase 2006-2008. 

The external evaluator used several methodological tools. A detailed matrix was drawn up in 
order  to  breakdown  the  main  evaluation  questions  summarised  above  and  in  order  for  the 
Steering  Committee  to  see  exactly  how  each  question  was  to  be  answered.  The  evaluators 
reviewed  a  significant  number  of  documents  relating  to  the  agency's  activities  and  its  own 
evaluations  over  the  three-year  period.  Interviews  were  carried  out  with  Commission  staff, 

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COM(2003) 287, 22.5.2003 
COM(1997) 379, 18.7.1997 

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with MEPs and with the majority of ETF’s staff. Complementing this qualitative information 
were two surveys: one aimed at stakeholders in the Commission, in the European Parliament, 
in the Member States, in partner countries and in other bodies; and a separate survey of ETF’s 
staff.  In  addition,  four  case  studies  that  represented  the  different  regions,  types  of  activity, 
thematic  area  and  period  of  implementation  were  selected  and  visits  made  to  four  partner 
countries to explore these cases in depth. 

Initial findings were presented to the Governing Board during its meeting in November 2005; 
the overall conclusions and recommendations from the external evaluation process were also 
discussed at its meeting of 6 June 2006. 

4. 

MAIN  RECOMMENDATIONS  OF  THE  EXTERNAL  EVALUATION 
REPORT WITH COMMISSION'S REACTION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 

In  this  section  the  Commission  summarises  and  analyses  those  findings,  conclusions  and 
recommendations  of  the  evaluator  which,  in  its  view,  deserve  highlighting.  Certain 
recommendations  ask  for  action  by  the  Commission,  others  are  targeted  to  the  ETF.  The 
Commission invites the ETF to analyse and act upon the evaluator’s recommendations and to 
identify  the  actions  it  intends  to  take.  A  follow-up  of  the  findings  will  be  organised  at  the 
agency level (via the Governing Board) and on Commission level.  

The  Commission  will  pay  particular  attention  to  the  recommendations  made  in  the  external 
evaluation report when drafting the amendment of the ETF’s Council Regulation.  

To facilitate cross-reading with the external evaluation report11, this section follows the same 
structure as the ‘Recommendations section’ in that report.  

4.1. 

Policy and Strategy  

The evaluators found that ETF delivers a focused set of services with clear policy objectives, 
articulated  in  the  Mid  Term  Perspective  and  Work  Programme  Planning  documents,  which 
vary  by  region  according  to  EU  external  relations  policy  priorities.  Furthermore,  the 
evaluation  found  that  the  ETF’s  programmes  were  in  line  with  both  EU  and  individual 
country strategies and that the ETF has been able to influence the direction the reform might 
take.  

The  evaluation  confirms  that  the  work  provided  by  ETF  is  seen  as  good  value.  The 
Commission in Brussels and the Delegations have a positive perception of ETF’s provision of 
expertise in VET across a range of services. ETF added value derives from the sustainability 
of  the  institution,  its  understanding  of  the  reform  context,  its  network  of  experts  and  its 
capacity to respond flexibly and rapidly to requests. 

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External  Evaluation 
the  European 
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/index_en.htm#ETFinterim3 

Training  Foundation, 

of 

ITAD, 

5 

June 

2006: 

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The  evaluation  concluded  that  ETF’s  current  thematic  mandate  limiting  it  to  VET  is  too 
restrictive, while appreciating that the mandate has been interpreted over the last years with 
some  flexibility  by  both  the  Commission  and  ETF.  The  upcoming  revision  of  the  ETF’s 
mandate  should  “take  account  of  the  view  that  VET  is  one  part  of  a  wider  programme  of 
Human  resource  Development  (HRD)”  and  the  evaluators  recommend  that  the  planned 
revision  “should  accommodate  the  terms  Human  Resource  Development  (HRD),  VET,  Life 
Long learning and links to the labour market and employment”.  

The  report  also  argued  for  some  increased  flexibility  in  the  ETF’s  geographical  remit.  This 
would  allow  ETF’s  particular  expertise  to  be  used  by  the  Community  in  countries  at 
comparable  stages  of  development  and  facing  similar  socio-economic  challenges.  The 
evaluators  underline  that  any  greater  flexibility  in  interpreting  the  mandate  should  be 
accompanied by the establishment of mechanisms to ensure a rigorous prioritisation of ETF’s 
activities. 

The Commission shares to a large extent the analysis and recommendations of the evaluators, 
in  particular  on  the  thematic  remit  of  the  agency.  The  growing  importance  of  the  lifelong 
learning approach to education and training in the policies and instruments of the EU calls for 
a  wider  thematic  remit  of  the  ETF.  The  Commission  proposes  to  address  this  issue  in  the 
upcoming  revision  of  the  ETF  Regulation  by  broadening  its  mandate  to  ‘contribute,  in  the 
context  of  EU  external  relations  policies,  to  the  improvement  of  human  resources 
development,  in  particular  education  and  training  in  a  lifelong  learning  perspective,  and 
related labour-market issues’. 

The  Commission  considers  that  the  ETF,  which  has  limited  resources,  should  maintain  its 
geographical  focus.  It  is  therefore  proposed  that  the  ETF’s  primary  scope  be  defined  by 
reference to the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) and to the European Neighbourhood and 
Partnership Instrument (ENPI). In order to ensure the possibility to use the ETF’s expertise in 
areas falling outside its primary geographical scope, such as the Central Asian countries, it is 
proposed that a relevant ad hoc decision be taken by the ETF Governing Board on proposal 
from the Commission.  

4.2. 

Efficiency and effectiveness of ETF programmes 

The report assessed the efficiency and effectiveness of ETF’s activities particularly from the 
point  of  view  of  its  work  at  partner  country  level.  The  main  source  of  information  and 
analysis  were  the country studies which look in depth at the  efficiency and  effectiveness of 
ETF  activities  in  a  sample  of  four  partner  countries.  The  evaluators  found  it  challenging  to 
assess  the  specific  results  and  impacts  achieved  by  ETF  given  the  nature  of  the  sector,  the 
scale of ETF’s activities and the range of different stakeholders. 

In general, the report concluded that ETF had been efficient and effective in its contribution to 
VET reform in the partner countries. “From the perspective of both the Commission Services 
in  Brussels  and  the  Delegations,  the  contribution  of  ETF  is  perceived  as  very  positive  as  it 
brings  value  to  its  users  through  provision  of  expertise  in  VET  and  Human  Resource 
Development (HRD) across a range of services.” 

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Equally,  ETF’s  support  to  the  dissemination  of  experiences  in  VET  policy  and  reform  was 
seen as a useful contribution to the reform process, as well as increasing the familiarisation of 
stakeholders  in  the  countries  with  EU  policy  approaches.  The  evaluators  found  that  ETF’s 
own  activities  complemented  Commission  funded  programmes,  and  contributed  to  greater 
efficiency in their implementation. A key issue arising from the report, however, is to ensure a 
close  link  between  ETF  pilot  actions  and  larger  scale  EC  funded  actions,  or  actions  which 
could be funded by other donors.  

In conclusion, the report argued that ETF should provide a mix of different services both to 
the Commission and to partner countries.  

Based  on  this  analysis  and  in  view  of  the  new  external  assistance  instruments,  the 
Commission  proposes  to  review  the  functions  of  the  ETF  in  the  up-coming  revision  of  the 
agency’s  regulation.  The  Commission  considers  that,  in  the  coming  years,  the  ETF  should 
have the following functions:  

•  Provide information, policy analysis and advice on human resources development 

issues and their links to sector policy objectives in partner countries; 

•  Support  stakeholders  in  partner  countries  to  build  capacity  in  human  resources 

development 

•  Facilitate the exchange of information and experience among donors engaged in 

human resource development reform in partner countries;  

•  Support the delivery, follow-up and analysis of Community assistance to partner 

countries in the field of human resources development; 

•  Disseminate information and encourage networking and exchanges of experience 
and good practice between the European Union and partner countries and amongst 
partner countries on human resources development issues. 

4.3.  Monitoring of ETF programmes  

The  evaluation  report  paid  attention  to  the  need  to  raise  the  ETF's  capacity  to  monitor  its 
activities at project and country level. In this respect, the report recognised that the monitoring 
of  ETF  achievements  at  country  level  is  a  complex  area  in  that  much  of  the  ETF’s  work 
cannot be simply “project-ised”; as a set of activities that contributes to specific outputs and 
results. The ETF’s work is more about facilitating the flow of information rather than about 
producing products or outputs (publications, new curricula, etc). Also, in many cases, the ETF 
had essentially acted as a service provider for the EC services in supporting the definition, set-
up and follow-up of projects.  

The report states that the main challenge for the ETF is to monitor not simply the production 
of  a  particular  document,  but  to  measure  the  impact  produced  on  national  plans  and  reform 
actions.  The  evaluation  concluded  that  the  ETF’s  current  monitoring  system,  which  is 

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designed  to  track  performance  at  the  level  of  activities  and  individual  projects,  did  not 
adequately  measure  the  quality  of  the  ETF's  services/products  or  the  ETF's  impact  on  VET 
reform at country level.  

The Commission agrees with the positive conclusions of the evaluators on the efficiency and 
effectiveness  of  the  ETF’s  technical  assistance  to  the  Tempus  programme.  It  appreciates  in 
particular that the ETF's Tempus Department continued to respond to requests for changes in 
the way it works and continued to be organised efficiently in spite of the uncertainties over 
the future of Tempus which characterized the period of the evaluation. 

The Commission shares the analysis and conclusions of the external evaluator that ETF needs 
to  reinforce  its  monitoring  system  on  country  level.  Available  country  programme 
information needs to be collected in a systematic way in order to inform adequately decisions 
at  the  organisational  level.  The  Commission  asks  the  ETF  to  consider  the  criticism  and 
recommendations made by the external evaluator and to develop a relevant monitoring system 
to  address  identified  shortcomings.  As  the  evaluator  states,  “the  challenge  is  to  develop  an 
approach  that  provides  meaningful  information  at  this  level,  and  in  a  way  that  is  not 
cumbersome and mechanistic.”  

4.4. 

Governance structures  

The  evaluators  looked  in  particular  at  the  role  of  the  Governing  Board  and  the  issue  of 
providing  strategic  direction;  membership  qualifications;  conduct  of meetings;  new  member 
induction process, and information and briefing materials provided ahead of meetings.  

The  report  notes  that  the  primary  role  of  the  Governing  Board  is  inter  alia  to  approve  the 
proposed  annual  work  programme  and  budget,  subject  to  final  approval  by  the  European 
Parliament. The evaluators conclude that, although the Board does fulfil its primary role, there 
are questions regarding its effective role in strategic decision making. The report recognises 
that the main strategic direction comes from the Chair and Commission Members; it questions 
to  what  extent  it  is  realistic  to  expect  other  members  to  contribute  meaningfully  to  the 
strategic  vision,  pointing  to  a  lack  of  alignment  between  the  largely  internal  EU  education 
policy  background  of  Board  Members  and  the  predominantly  external  relations  policy  role 
and responsibilities of the ETF.  

On the Advisory Forum, the report concluded that the network provides a good opportunity 
for  dialogue  between  representatives  of  the  European  Commission,  Member  States,  partner 
countries  and  international  organisations.  However  the  evaluation  stated  that  the  Advisory 
Forum  falls  short  of  its  purpose  of  providing  advice  to  the  Governing  Body  on  the  future 
Work Programme.  

The  Commission  shares  to  a  certain  extent  the  analysis  and  recommendations  made  the  by 
external evaluator. However, ETF’s objectives are defined in its legal basis and its activities 
and priorities are to a large extent determined by the external policies and instruments of the 
EU. Therefore it is questionable how strong the strategic role of the Governing Board could 
be and/or should be. The recommendation to establish sub-committees on specific important 

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files needs further analysis. The Commission is not convinced by the proposal to seek funding 
for a post for a desk officer at the ETF to support the Governing Board.  

The Commission has submitted to the European Parliament and to the Council a draft Inter-
institutional  agreement  on  the  operating  framework  for  the  European  regulatory  agencies 
(COM(2005)59;  Feb  2005)  (IIAOFERA).  That  agreement  proposes  that  the  size  of  the 
administrative  boards  of  Agencies  be  limited  in  such  a  way  as  to  promote  highly  effective 
decision-making and minimise operating costs, and that there should be parity in the number 
of  votes  between  the  members  designated  by  the  Council  and  those  designated  by  the 
Commission. The Commission in its proposal for a revised regulation of the ETF will follow 
these principles. 

The Commission shares the conclusion of the evaluator that “the Advisory Forum is de-linked 
from its statutory function”. While the Advisory Forum is an important network, it has largely 
lost its statutory function as an organ of governance of the ETF. The programming of ETF’s 
activities is increasingly decided by a process of dialogue with the Commission on the basis 
of  EU  external  assistance  priorities,  and  the  statutory  opinions  of  the  Advisory  Forum  no 
longer play a significant role in determining the content of the ETF’s activities on an annual 
basis. It is therefore proposed not to include it as a statutory body in the revision of the ETF’s 
regulation.  The  Commission  calls  on  the  ETF  to  analyse  the  evaluator's  recommendations 
when reviewing the Advisory Forum. 

4.5. 

Communications and information dissemination  

The assessment concluded that ETF has a successful and professional communications system 
in operation at corporate level, through its website and publications. The evaluators reported 
that  the  communication  and  dissemination  system  had  greatly  improved  since  the  last 
evaluation.  The  report  showed  that  ETF’s  communications  initiatives,  and  in  particular  its 
website,  workshops  and  exchange  visits,  newsletter  printed  publications  (80%)  were  very 
effective.  

However,  the  report  stated  that  there  might  be  an  overemphasis  on  promoting  ETF  as  an 
institution. The report suggested therefore that ETF should reinforce its capacity to efficiently 
communicate  its  achievements  and  results  as  well  as  to  disseminate  ideas  and  material  on 
thematic  areas  relating  to  VET.  It  should  also  consider  broadening  the  dissemination  of 
materials in partner country languages to increase accessibility of its work to partner country 
stakeholders.  

The  Commission  welcomes  the  positive  developments  in  the  field  of  communication  and 
dissemination  achieved  since  the  last  evaluation.  It  asks  the  ETF  to  analyse  the 
recommendations made by the external evaluator and to propose relevant remedial actions. 

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5. 

CONCLUSION  

The  Commission  shares  the  evaluator's  overall  positive  assessment  of  the  efficiency  and 
effectiveness  of  the  ETF's  work  and  considers  that  the  Agency  has  made  a  valuable 
contribution  to  the  Community's  activities  in  the  field  of  vocational  education  and  training 
and labour market reform in the partner regions. The Commission appreciates the ETF’s work 
in providing expert input for the identification and implementation of projects. 

As highlighted by the evaluators, the ETF has to look at its planning cycle, in particular the it 
is  asked  to  analyse  how  the  links  between  ‘the  mid-term  priorities  –  the  annual  work 
programme – the country plans – the annual activity report’ can be reinforced and be made 
more  explicit.  Relevant  measurable  indicators  should  be  defined  in  order  to  facilitate  the 
follow-up of the set objectives and goals and to ease the assessment of the ETF's impact in its 
areas  of  intervention.  New  approaches  should  be  explored  to  improve  the  development  and 
appropriate dissemination of relevant VET material, and to strengthen the ETF’s capacity to 
communicate its achievements and results.  

The  introduction  of  the  new  external  aid  instruments,  the  IPA  and  the  ENPI,  marks  a 
significant  step  towards  a  policy-driven  rather  than  programme-driven  approach  to  external 
assistance  in  a  sector-wide  perspective.  Both  instruments  are  designed  to  provide  support 
towards  the  achievement  by  partner  countries  of  home-grown  reforms  in  the  sectors 
concerned.  The  objectives  are  defined  by  a  process  of  dialogue  with  partner  country 
governments  and  support  is  provided  to  them  for  the  implementation  of  reform  processes 
designed and managed by them.  

In  this  new  context,  the  ETF  will  increasingly  be  required  to  provide  the  Commission  with 
information and analysis at the policy development and programming phase. The other focus 
of  attention  has  to  be  in  helping  partner  countries  to  build  the  capacity  to  define  and 
implement  indigenous  reform  strategies,  and  in  promoting  networking  and  exchange  of 
experience  and  good  practice  between  the  EU  and  the  partner  countries  and  among  partner 
countries themselves.  

The ETF should adapt its organisation and its way of working to this new environment. The 
agency  must  in  coordination  with  the  Governing  Board  and  the  Commission  establish  clear 
priorities and concentrate its available resources on its core activities. 

For  both  the  Commission  and  the  ETF,  increased  awareness  and  monitoring  of  the  type  of 
services both offered and needed will be required in order to ensure that the activities of the 
Agency continue to be useful and relevant. This implies that the Commission should keep the 
ETF fully informed on new or revised priorities or strategies. Similarly, the ETF should keep 
Commission  services,  in  the  field  and  at  headquarters,  fully  informed  of  its  operations, 
initiatives  and  contacts  with  relevant  stakeholders  in  partner  countries,  other  international 
donors and agencies in order to ensure coherence and visibility of EC action. This demands a 
renewed commitment from both sides to strong communication and exchange. 

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The ETF's management must continue its effort to establish a clear vision within the Agency 
of its position and role as a European centre of expertise in the new institutional landscape.  

Overall, the Commission believes that the external evaluation report provides useful lessons 
and  recommendations  for  the  development  of  the  ETF  as  a  centre  of  expertise.  The 
Commission invites the ETF to submit a draft Action Plan to the Governing Board, outlining 
its analysis and proposed actions on all recommendations made by the evaluator and by the 
Commission in this report.  

The Commission proposal for a revised regulation of ETF will also provide the opportunity 
for discussion and exchange with the European Parliament and the Council on the future role 
of the ETF, its objectives and priorities, and its governance structure. 

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ETF Structure1.1.2006 

Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation

Peter Greenwood

External Communication 

Director 

Bent Sørensen

Muriel Dunbar

Operations Department 

Sandra Stefani 

Tempus 

Marleen Voordeckers 

Administration and Central Services

Olivier Ramsayer 

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Annex 2  

BUDGET EVOLUTION, 2002-2006 

Administration 
and 
infrastructure 
costs 
1 386 050 
(8.0%) 

Operational 
costs 

Establishment 
Plan 

Funds 
committed 

Funds carried 
over to following 
year 

Unused 
funds 

5 523 950 
(29.0%) 

105 

16 795 986 

3 365 833 

4 014 

10 529 000 
(65.0%) 

1 421 000 
(8.0%) 

5 250 000 
(27.0%) 

104 

16 969 378 

1 725 970 

230 622 

10 993 973  
(62.0%) 

1 390 027 
(8.0%) 

5 276 000 
(30.0%) 

104 

11 287 000 
(61.0%) 

1 453 000 
(8.0%) 

5 760 000 
(31.0%) 

104 

11 956 800 
61.0% 

1 688 000 
9.0% 

5 805 200 
30.0% 

105 

17 321 617 

1 537 855 

278 383 

18 089 560 

2 729 149 

410 440 

Year 

Community 
subsidy 

Staff costs 

9 890 000  
(63.0%) 

2002  B7-664: 12.8 

B7-033 4.0 
Total: 16.8m 

2003  15 03 03 13.7 

15 03 02 3.5 
Total: 17.2m 

2004  15 03 03: 15.1 

15 03 02: 2.5 
Total: 17.6m 

2005  15 03 03: 16.0 

15 03 02: 2.5 
Total: 18.5m 

2006  15 03 03: 16.95 

15 03 02 : 2.5 
Total: 19.45m 

Since move to Activity Based Budgeting in 2003: 15 03 02 replaces B7-033; 15 03 03 replaces B7-664 

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