Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Annual Report on the Operation of the Third Phase of the Tempus Programme in 2006
Date: 2007-07-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, activity report, cooperation in the field of education, cooperation policy, higher education, third country

EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 16.7.2007 
COM(2007) 420 final 

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

Annual Report on the Operation of the Third Phase  
of the Tempus Programme in 2006 

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

Annual Report on the Operation of the Third Phase  
of the Tempus Programme in 2006 

1. 

FOREWORD 

The  Tempus  III  Programme  (2000-2006)  focuses  on  the  development  and  modernisation  of 
higher  education  in  the  26  partner  countries  of  the  Western  Balkans,  Eastern  Europe,  the 
Mediterranean  region  and  Central  Asia.  Higher  education  institutions  are  considered  to  be  of 
particular  importance  for  the  social  and  economic  transition  process  in  the  partner  countries. 
Higher  education  institutions  are  also  pools  of  expertise  and  centres  for  the  development  of 
human resources. They provide for the training of new generations of leaders both in the EU and 
the  partner  countries.  In  addition,  people-to-people  exchanges  as  promoted  by  the  Tempus 
programme contribute to enhancing mutual understanding between the European Union and the 
partner countries. 

Since its inception in 1990, the Tempus programme has contributed successfully to promote the 
reform  and  modernisation  of  higher  education  in  the  partner  countries.  Higher  education 
institutions  are  key  players  for  the  successful  transition  to  a  knowledge-based  economy  and 
society. Higher education institutions are important factors of growth and competitiveness, and 
play a crucial role in the reform agenda of both EU Member States and the partner countries. The 
modernisation of higher education has been acknowledged as a core condition for the success of 
the  Lisbon  Strategy  which  the  European  Union  launched  in  March  2000  and  which  aims  at 
restructuring  the  economic  and  social  systems  within  the  EU.  At  the  same  time,  the  Tempus 
programme  has  assisted  partner  countries  in  reforming  their  higher  education  systems  in  line 
with the principles of the Bologna process such as the new degree system, quality assurance and 
recognition  of  degrees  and  study  periods.  The  Bologna  process,  which  the  European 
Commission  actively  supports,  is  a  common  reference  point  for  both  EU  Member  States  and 
partner countries. 

In 2006, Tempus was funded through three external cooperation regional programmes: CARDS 
(Western  Balkans);  MEDA  (Eastern  and  Southern  Mediterranean)  and  Tacis  (Eastern  Europe 
and  Central  Asia).  The  Tempus  budget  in  2006  amounted  to  €  53.45  million  broken  down  as 
follows between the three regions: Tacis: € 18.25 million, CARDS: € 17.2 million, MEDA: € 18 
million. 

A detailed description of the Tempus programme can be found at the following URL: 

http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/programmes/tempus/index_en.html 

The  present  annual  report  is  presented  in  accordance  with  Article  11  of  the  Council  Decision 
establishing the Tempus programme (OJ L 120 of 8 May 1999). 

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2. 

IMPLEMENTING TEMPUS IN 2006: THE MAIN ACTION LINES 

The implementation of the programme in 2006 was guided by the following priorities: 

(1) 

reinforcing the dissemination and exploitation of project results; 

(2) 

strengthening field monitoring activities; 

(3) 

consolidating the role of National Tempus Offices; 

3. 

REINFORCING THE DISSEMINATION AND EXPLOITATION OF PROJECT RESULTS 

In  2006,  the  Directorate-General  for  Education  and  Culture  (DG  EAC)  launched  a  number  of 
initiatives to increase the visibility of Tempus across the partner countries, starting with simple 
tools  like  guidelines  on  visibility  rules,  producing  a  DVD  showing  "Tempus  in  action",  a  new 
leaflet,  new  promotional  material,  up  to  thematic  events  such  as  the  conference  on  university-
enterprise  cooperation  in  Amman  and  the  related  study  "linking  the  worlds  of  work  and 
education through Tempus". The conference in April 2006, which was hosted by the Jordanian 
Ministry  of  Higher  Education  and  Scientific  Research,  and  the  study  raised  awareness  among 
universities,  businesses  and  education  officials,  on  the  importance  of  promoting  cooperation 
between  universities  and  enterprises  to  enhance  graduate's  employability  and  open  new 
opportunities both for universities and enterprises. Examples of innovative practice from Tempus 
projects were presented at the conference, and described in the study. 

In  November  2006,  a  training  session  on  communication,  dissemination  and  exploitation  of 
projects results was organised for the National Tempus Office's coordinators. During the annual 
grant-holders'  meeting  which  took  place  in  January  2006,  a  specific  session  dedicated  to 
visibility and dissemination was organised. 

The  Directorate-General  for  Education  and  Culture  launched  a  series  of  regional  studies  to 
illustrate  the  impact  that  Tempus  has  had  on  higher  education  institutions,  individuals  and 
systems in its partner countries since its inception, through a number of direct interviews and a 
large e-survey of key actors involved or informed about Tempus operations in their country. A 
total of 940 questionnaires were sent out. The studies were carried out by external experts (both 
from the EU and the partner countries) who visited all partner countries in May-July, and held 
individual  and  group  interviews  of  university  management  and  staff,  teachers,  students, 
employers, NGOs, regional and national education authorities. 

For the vast majority of people interviewed for the impact studies, Tempus is seen as an essential 
door to the European academic world that has greatly helped building cooperation with European 
universities. Through its true European dimension, Tempus has provided opportunities to work 
with  more  than  one  EU  country  and  to  strengthen  regional  cooperation.  Tempus  is  the  only 
programme that deals with all aspects of higher education, while other donors usually cover only 
single element of the system. It is appreciated for its continuity, for having generated a “critical 
mass”, thanks to which approaches and attitudes have been positively influenced. These positive 
changes  have  been  recognised  by  national  education  authorities  in  most  partner  countries.  The 
results of the impact studies will be used for the discussions on the future design of Tempus. 

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Tempus  National Contacts Points in the Member States  continued to  play an important role in 
the programme implementation facilitating the involvement of EU higher education institutions 
through information activities and assistance in partner searching. In 2006, Tempus information 
days were organised in most partner countries as well as in a number of EU Member States. 

4. 

STRENGTHENING FIELD MONITORING ACTIVITIES 

In  2004,  DG  EAC  adopted  an  overall  policy  for  field  monitoring  of  the  Tempus  programme, 
which comprises two complementary groups of activities: 

•  field  monitoring  carried  out  jointly  by  the  European  Training  Foundation  (ETF)  and  desk 
officers  in  DG  EAC  which  targets  approximately  10%  of  running  projects  (30  projects  per 
year). The second campaign took place in autumn 2005 and spring 2006. 

•  field monitoring carried out by National Tempus Offices (NTOs) which targets in principle all 
ongoing projects in their country (Joint European Projects and Structural and Complementary 
Measures). This activity started at the beginning of 2006, after a specific training delivered to 
the National Tempus Offices. 

A total of 44 projects covering all regions were visited during the 2005-06 monitoring campaign 
by desk officers in DG EAC/ETF. 80 projects were visited by NTOs. 

The  overall  findings  about  the  areas  of  investigation  are  positive  despite  some  marginal 
weaknesses. Many projects are sound with good results. The needs analyses are generally well 
outlined and projects usually match faculty or university strategies which have been developed in 
the  framework  of  national  priorities.  Moreover  active  participation  of  consortium  members, 
mobility plans, support by institutions and recognition of results are among the strong points of 
the  projects.  However,  there  are  still  a  number  of  less  successful  projects  and  areas  which  are 
generally weaker. Limited involvement of wider target groups or end users which affects impact 
and sustainability, lack of internal monitoring of changing needs and assumptions as well as lack 
of  staff  capacity  building  can  be  considered  as  examples  of  weaknesses.  These  issues  have 
started to be addressed more intensively. All projects visited receive a feedback letter after the 
monitoring  visits, 
including  recommendations  on  corrective  measures  and  areas  for 
improvement. 

The  launch  of  field  monitoring  by  National  Tempus  Offices  is  a  positive  development  which 
provides  a  new  opportunity  to  enrich  the  Tempus  monitoring  system,  but  also  represents  a 
challenge in terms of harmonisation of practices and overall coordination. It is crucial to secure a 
smooth  and  coherent  integration  of  various  inputs  from  different  actors  (project  grant  holders, 
desk  monitors,  EAC,  ETF  and  NTO  field  monitors)  into  a  single  system.  Such  a  system  was 
designed in 2006, comprising in particular some guiding criteria to grade projects' performance, 
a grading processor and guidelines to follow up on NTOs' monitoring visits. 

"Preventive monitoring" also plays an important role in the programme implementation system. 
In this respect, in January 2006, a grant-holders' meeting was organised in Brussels, focusing on 
projects management issues. 

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5. 

CONSOLIDATING THE ROLE OF NATIONAL TEMPUS OFFICES 

The  efforts  to  consolidate  the  role  of  National  Tempus  Offices  (NTOs)  continued  in  2006, 
through  a  number  of  key  initiatives,  such  as  their  active  involvement  in  field  monitoring 
activities. After the development of a strategy for the involvement of NTOs in field monitoring, 
and a specific training session delivered to them in October 2005, all NTOs started to monitor 
Tempus  projects  in  their  countries.  Around  80  projects  were  visited  for  this  first  monitoring 
campaign  carried  out  by  the  NTOs.  The  initial  training  was  followed  by  a  review  of  NTO 
monitoring practices and a more practical training on reporting techniques in November 2006. 

The  role  of  NTOs  in  project  selection  was  reinforced,  with  a  formal  role  given  to  them  in  the 
assessment of Individual Mobility Grants. 

Two meetings involving NTOs from the partner countries and National Contact Points from the 
EU were organised in Brussels in May and November, addressing issues such as communication, 
visibility, project selection and monitoring. 

Tempus  information  campaigns  were  carried  out  in  all  the  partner  countries  where  calls  for 
proposals were organised in 2006, jointly with the ETF. 

New grant agreements for the period July 2006 - June 2007 were concluded with Jordan, Russia, 
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. The NTO of Tajikistan was temporarily closed down. 

6. 

PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT 

Five selection procedures were concluded during 2006. This comprises the selection rounds for 
Joint  European  Projects  (deadline  of  15  December  2005),  Structural  and  Complementary 
Measures (deadlines of 15 October 2005 and 15 February 2006) and Individual Mobility Grants 
(deadlines of 15 February and 15 October 2006). The number of applications per selection round 
has remained consistently high, which means that the programme continues to attract the interest 
of  the  academic  community.  In  particular,  the  number  of  applications  for  Structural  and 
Complementary Measures is increasing and their content is more strongly focusing on horizontal 
issues  which  are  of  importance  for  the  reform  and  modernisation  of  higher  education  in  the 
partner  countries.  The  detailed  results  of  the  selection  procedures  concluded  in  2006  are 
available on the programme's website. 

•  Joint  European  Projects  (JEPs)  selected  in  2006:  103  for  a  total  amount  of  €  43.1  million. 
JEPs  involve  higher  education  institutions  in  the  EU  Member  States  and  the  26  partner 
countries. 

•  Structural and Complementary Measures (SCMs) selected in 2006: 95 for a total amount of € 

11.7 million. SCMs target higher education systems and focus on strategic issues. 

•  Individual Mobility Grants (IMGs) selected in 2006: 156 for a total amount of € 0.66 million. 
IMGs provide academic and administrative staff  from higher education institutions with the 
opportunity to benefit from limited mobility periods abroad. 

The  selected  Joint  European  Projects  fall  in  the  areas  of  curriculum  development  (70%), 
university management (15%) and institution-building (15%). Curriculum development projects 
cover  a  wide  range  of  areas  such  as  applied  sciences,  technology,  business  administration  and 
social sciences. Institution building and university management projects support reforms related 

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to quality assurance, teaching quality or the financial management of universities in the partner 
countries.  In  a  majority  of  countries,  the  selected  Structural  and  Complementary  Measures  are 
clearly  linked  to  the  action  lines  of  the  Bologna  process.  The  selected  projects  under  this 
programme component typically concern issues such as the design of quality assurance systems 
or  the  introduction  of  credit  transfer  mechanisms.  Projects  also  focus  on  the  modernisation  of 
university  operations  and  services,  including  the  updating  of  training  programmes,  the  use  of 
information  and  communication  technologies  and  the  strengthening  of  international  relations. 
The  selected  Individual  Mobility  Grants  concern  mainly  retraining  and  study  periods  (79%) 
followed by preparatory activities for Joint European Projects (13%) and participation in specific 
conferences and seminars (8%). Globally speaking, it can be observed that the submitted projects 
are increasingly in line with the national priorities established by the partner countries. Almost 
all selected projects adhere to national priorities. 

At  a  general  level,  during  2006,  commitments  and  payments  under  Tempus  proceeded  in  line 
with the established planning. Certain grant agreements could not be dispatched according to the 
foreseen  timetable  due  to  the  late  adoption  of  financing  decisions  or  due  to  delays  in  the 
signature of financing agreements by partner countries. 

Other financial commitments in 2006 included: 

•  Grants to National Tempus Offices: 5 amounting to € 0.31 million. 

•  Grant  to  the  European  Training  Foundation's  Tempus  Department  that  provides  technical 

assistance to DG EAC: € 0.87 million. 

•  Conferences and seminars: € 0.63 million. 

Work  on  the  elimination  of  the  Tempus  litigation  files  has  progressed  consistently  throughout 
2006.  So  far,  164  litigation  files  could  be  closed  from  EAC's  point  of  view  (corresponding  to 
69% of all cases). The closed files include 81 cases, where the litigious amounts were written off 
in  compliance  with  the  Financial  Regulation,  61  cases  where  the  beneficiary  reimbursed  the 
requested  amounts  directly  to  the  Commission  and  for  22  cases,  debit  notes  were  sent  to  the 
beneficiaries.  A  total  amount  of  €  1.1  million  was  recovered  in  2006  either  through  direct 
reimbursement or through the offsetting procedure. 

7. 

CONCLUSION 

The  implementation  of  the  Tempus  programme  in  2006  was  guided  by  a  number  of  strategic 
objectives  which  have  all  been  satisfactorily  achieved.  The  continuous  dialogue  with  national 
authorities and their close involvement in the definition of priorities and the selection of projects 
ensures that funded activities are relevant to the country’s needs and in line with national reform 
objectives.  This  ensures  ownership  by  national  governments  and  increases  the  impact  of  the 
programme’s interventions. National Tempus Offices in the partner countries have been further 
reinforced and play an important role in liaising with national authorities and other stakeholders. 
Feedback  from  national  authorities  and  the  results  of  the  field  monitoring  have  confirmed  that 
Tempus continues to be a highly relevant programme for assisting partner countries in reforming 
and modernising their higher education systems. 

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TEMPUS 2006 – FINANCIAL OVERVIEW 

Tempus 2006 - Amounts committed per region in € 

JEP 

IMG 

SCM 

NTO 

ETF  

Other 

Total 

CARDS 

13.043.103 

71.300 

2.848.398 

0 

255.000 

190.500 

16.408.301 

Tacis 

16.959.989 

114.760 

5.919.744 

262.093 

328.000 

273.977 

23.858.563 

ANNEX 

MEDA 

3.164.222 

114.940 

1.140.609 

49.898 

287.000 

171.611 

4.928.280 

Tempus 2006 – Projects selected per region/Amounts awarded in € 

CARDS 

Amount awarded to selected projects 

JEP (deadline of 15 December 2005) 

SCM (deadline of 15 October 2005) 

SCM (deadline of 15 February 2006) 

IMG (deadline of 15 February 2006) 

IMG (deadline of 15 October 2006) 

Total 

32 

5 

18 

16 

22 

93 

13.043.103 

650.001 

2.198.397 

71.300 

106.320 

16.069.121 

Tempus 2006 – Projects selected per region/Amounts awarded in € 

Tacis 

Amount awarded to selected projects 

JEP (deadline of 15 December 2005) 

SCM (deadline of 15 October 2005) 

SCM (deadline of 15 February 2006) 

IMG (deadline of 15 February 2006) 

IMG (deadline of 15 October 2006) 

Total 

42 

24 

34 

35 

32 

167 

17.256.709 

3.112.606 

3.927.775 

128.250 

138.810 

24.564.150 

Tempus 2006 – Projects selected per region/Amounts awarded in € 

MEDA 

Amount awarded to selected projects 

JEP (deadline of 15 December 2005) 

SCM (deadline of 15 October 2005) 

SCM (deadline of 15 February 2006) 

IMG (deadline of 15 February 2006) 

IMG (deadline of 15 October 2006) 

Total 

29 

8 

6 

30 

21 

94 

12.831.132 

990.609 

829.906 

114.940 

99.640 

14.866.227 

•  JEP:  Joint  European  Project;  SCM:  Structural  and  Complementary  Measure;  IMG:  Individual 

Mobility Grant; NTO: National Tempus Office; ETF: European Training Foundation. 

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