Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty concerning the Common position of the Council on the adoption of a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council establishing the European Training Foundation (recast)
Date: 2008-11-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Training Foundation, action programme, budget estimate, development region, improvement of housing

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 19.11.2008 
COM(2008)707 final 

2007/0163 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

Common position of the Council on the adoption of a proposal for a Regulation of the 
European Parliament and the Council establishing the European Training Foundation 
(recast)  

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2007/0163 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to the second paragraph of Article 251 (2) of the EC Treaty 

concerning the 

Common position of the Council on the adoption of a proposal for a Regulation of the 
European Parliament and the Council establishing the European Training Foundation 
(recast)  

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and the Council:  

COM/2007/443final – 2007/0163(COD)]: 25 July 2007  

Date of the opinion of the European Parliament, first reading: 22 May 2008 

Date of adoption of the Common Position: 17 November 2008 

The  European  Training  Foundation  (ETF)  was  created  in  1990  to  support  implementation  of  the 
PHARE external assistance programme in the vocational training field. At the present date, it also 
covers the countries of the previous TACIS, CARDS and MEDA programmes. The ETF Regulation 
was amended three times (in 1994, 1998 and 2000) to extend the geographical scope and a fourth 
time in 2003 to bring it into line with the Financial Regulation. 

Since 2003 there have been important developments in the European Union's policy outlook in both 
education  and  training  and  external  relations  fields,  while  new  instruments  have  been  adopted  to 
implement these policies. Accordingly, a new amendment to the ETF founding Regulation became 
necessary to take into account recent developments, to update its role and function and to provide a 
sound basis for its future work.  

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

The Commission's proposal has the following objectives: 

•  Clarify the functions of the ETF 

•  Update the mandate of the ETF redefining its geographical and thematic scope 

•  Modernise its governing structures with a view to promote effective decision-making 

•  Provide a sound basis for ETF's future work. 

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3. 

COMMENTS ON THE COMMON POSITION  

3.1 

General Comment on Common Position 

The text of the Common Position is, in substance and to a large extent, in line with the Commission's 
proposal and therefore can be supported fully. It is the result of intense inter-institutional negotiations, 
following the Commission's proposal on the revision of the regulation 1360/90 of 7 May 1990. The 
Commission sent its proposal to Council and Parliament on 25 July 2007. 

3.2 

Agreement at Common Position Stage  

A detailed examination of the articles was conducted at the Education committee in the Council and, 
in parallel, in the Employment Committee of the European Parliament.  

The  dialogue  with  the  Council  and  the  Parliament  has  been  constructive  and  produced  a  series  of 
amendments that improve the clarity of the original version 

Within  this  context,  informal  and  technical  meetings  have  pinpointed  avenues  for  compromise  on  a 
number  of  outstanding  issues:  thematic  remit,  functions,  legal  basis,  geographical  scope,  budgetary 
implications,  composition  of  the  Governing  board  and  procedure  for  appointing  the  director  of  the 
ETF.  

On  30  April  2008,  COREPER  gave  mandate  to  the  Presidency  on  a  compromise  package  which 
should allow a first reading agreement. The first reading agreement was not, however, accepted by the 
European Parliament at the plenary session on 22 May 2008. 

The main subjects of negotiation on which an agreement had been reached were the following: 

The  thematic  remit:  The  ETF  recast  foresees  a  wider  perception  of  training  in  the  context  of  a 
lifelong  learning  as  a  key  factor  for  the  development  of  economies  and  knowledge  societies  in 
accordance  with  the  Lisbon  objectives.  Moreover,  the  recast  regulation  would  allow  the  ETF  to 
assume  a  leading  role  in  the  reform  of  vocational  education  and  training  (VET)  and  related  labour 
market  issues  in  partner  countries  as  part  of  a  wider  programme  of  Human  Capital  Development 
(HCD).  

The functions: The introduction of the new external relations policy instruments, which are designed 
to help partner countries achieve reforms in different sectors, marks a significant step towards policy-
driven rather than programme-driven approach to external assistance. In this context the ETF needs a 
mandate that allows it to fully play its role as a centre of expertise assisting both partner countries and 
European Commission in the development of policies and appropriate reform strategies.  

Concerning the partner countries, the ETF will assist them in capacity building and in the definition 
and implementation of reform strategies adapted to the national context. 

Moreover, the ETF will promote networking and exchange of experiences and good practices between 
the EU and partner countries and among partner countries themselves.  

Legal  basis:  The  Commission's  proposal  replaces  the  previously  used  Article  235  of  the  Treaty 
establishing the European Community by Article 150 as ETF remains closely related to the EU policy 
in  vocational  education  and  training  (VET).  This  legal  basis  provides  more  clarity  in  the  work  and 
functions of the ETF. Nevertheless, VET needs to be understood not in its traditional sense but in the 
global  context  of  a  lifelong  learning  policy,  including  aspects  such  as  labour-market  issues,  social 
inclusion  and  civic  participation.  In  this  sense,  Article  150  provides  a  sufficient  legal  basis  for  the 
work of the ETF within its new broader thematic remit. 

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Geographical  scope:  The  ETF  maintains  its  geographical  focus  in  accession  and  neighbouring 
countries of the EU through the Instrument for Pre-accession (IPA) and the European Neighbourhood 
and  Partnership  Instrument  (ENPI).  However,  the  new  regulation  also  provides  the  ETF  with  the 
possibility to operate in other regions, in accordance with EU external relations priorities and on the 
basis of an ad hoc decision taken by the ETF Governing Board on proposal from the Commission.  

Budgetary  implications:  This  proposal  does  not  introduce  any  new  activities  for  the  ETF.  Its 
objective is rather to provide for an updated and clearer definition of ETF's current functions, under a 
wider  thematic  remit  and  a  renewed  geographical  scope.  There  are  not  budgetary  implications, 
however,  the  new  focus  on  information  and  policy  analysis  tasks  is  a  labour  intensive  work  and 
requires an important investment on behalf of the ETF in terms of staff training and qualification. 

As regards the two remaining issues, the position of the Commission is as follows: 

Composition of the Governing Board: Although the Commission regrets that its original position on 
the issue has not been accepted by Council and Parliament (six representatives of Member States and 
six  representatives  of  the  Commission)  it  can  accept  the  compromise  solution  consisting  of  one 
representative  per  Member  State,  three  representatives  of  the  Commission  and  three  non  voting 
experts  from  the  European  Parliament,  as  well  as  three  representatives  of  partner  countries  as 
observers.  

Procedure for appointing the director of the ETF: The Commission can accept the proposal that the 
candidate  selected  by  the  Governing  Board  would  be  invited  for  a  hearing  by  the  competent 
committee/s of the EP. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Common Position meets the aims of the Commission's initial proposal. The Commission 
therefore supports the text. Since the two co-legislators have reached a political agreement on 
the  Common  Position,  second  reading  proceedings  of  Parliament  in  accepting  the  Council's 
Common Position should be concluded relatively swiftly. 

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