REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT The European Schools' system in 2009
Date: 2010-11-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European school, education policy, educational administration, enlargement of the Union

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EUROPEAN COMMISSION 

Brussels, 19.11.2010 
COM(2010) 595 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

The European Schools' system in 2009 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

The European Schools' system in 2009 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

For the system of the European Schools, 2009 was a year of progress in some fields but also 
the confirmation that some structural issues still need to be addressed within the system.  

The formal decision concerning the reform process in spring 2009 was a big achievement and 
the  benefits  will  be  felt  in  years  to  come.  The  possibility  for  local  schools  to  seek 
accreditation,  fostered  by  the  possibility  for  accredited  schools  to  receive  an  EU  financial 
contribution  for  children  of  staff  attending  the school,  is  widening  the  access  to  the  general 
public of the European curriculum.  

The strive to render the system more efficient in terms of governance also resulted in reforms 
on central and local level with more autonomy for local schools within the boundaries of the 
existing rules and financial regulations.  

Efforts in the area of cost-sharing were difficult to achieve and already signs are evident that 
more needs to be done in this field combined with cost-cutting efforts. 

The overall  economic situation  obviously had an impact on the  schools' finances. Revenues 
from contracts with outside organisations and revenues based on school fees diminished. The 
demands on the EU financial contribution were substantial. A reflection on how to improve 
the economic efficiency of the system will result in continued efforts to modernise and adjust 
the  rules.  The  Commission  will  continue  to  actively  drive  this  discussion  in  relation  to  the 
economic reality in 2010. The issues of irregular expenditures that have been identified for the 
2008  budget  will  continue  to  be  examined  in  order  to  assure  a  correct  interpretation  and 
execution of the rules. 

It  is  clear  that  some  systemic  problems  persisted  and  even  became  more  serious  during  the 
year 2009. The unresolved problem of a constant lack of seconded teachers is continuing to 
put undue strain on the EU financial contribution to the system. The Member States' delays or 
non  provision  of  sufficient  infrastructure  in  the  locations  of  the  overpopulated  schools 
continued to affect the quality of life for students and parents. It also had major implications 
on the enrolment policies. 

Planning ahead for the years to come, which will prove particularly difficult in Brussels and 
Luxembourg,  has  resulted  in  firm  commitments  from  both  host  countries  to  provide 
temporary facilities until the permanent solutions are available (programmed for the start for 
the school year 2012).  

The school year of 2009 started with a high level of alert in relation to the H1N1 virus. The 
Secretary  General,  the  Commission  and  the  schools  elaborated  action  and  information 
strategies which proved useful, even if the impact of the epidemic was lower than feared; it 
showed that the system was ready to face this type of health and communication challenges.  

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2. 

SITUATION IN THE SCHOOLS  

2.1. 

Alicante 

The  school  population  in  Alicante  has  stayed  stable  with  slightly  more  than  1000 
pupils.  Some  infrastructural  improvements  took  place  during  the  year,  both  inside 
and outside the school. 

2.2. 

Bergen 

Despite  the  ongoing  phasing  out  of  the  Italian  and  German  sections,  the  school 
population  increased  with  almost  4  %  in  2009.  However,  the  proportion  of  pupils 
being  children  of  staff  of  the  Institutions  is  low  at  approximately  17  %.  Some 
important renovation and maintenance works have been programmed for the school. 

2.3. 

Brussels 

The  saturation  of  pupils  in  Brussels  I,  II  and  III  continued  to  put  strains  on  the 
schools  during  2009.  Despite  this,  the  enrolment  policy  for  2009/2010  managed  to 
achieve  a  high  satisfaction  rate  with  90%  of  pupils  getting  the  school  of  their  first 
choice. 

However,  the  overcrowding  situation  in  Brussels  is  becoming  dramatic  and 
according to estimates of future pupil populations, the coming school years will be 
critical  and  additional  facilities  will  be  absolutely  necessary  for  September  2011. 
Negotiations with the Belgian authorities for additional space in view of the delayed 
opening of the permanent fourth school in Laeken (now programmed for 2012) are 
ongoing,  in  addition  a  request  for  a  5th  school  in  Brussels  has  officially  been 
presented to the Belgian authorities on behalf of the Board of Governors1.  

Following a letter from Vice-President Kallas addressed to then Prime Minister Van 
Rompuy in November 2009, the newly appointed Prime Minister Leterme answered 
that  additional  temporary  infrastructures  will  be  made  available  by  the  Régie  des 
Bâtiments2 for September 2011, and if necessary even for September 2010. 

The  "Groupe  de  Suivi"  (where  Belgian  authorities,  Commission,  Local  Staff 
Committee of the Commission, Parents and Schools are represented) meets regularly 
to  discuss  in  details  the  concrete  options  considered  by  the  Belgian  authorities 
regarding  additional  infrastructures.  The  meetings  also  serve  the  purpose  to  verify 
that the renovation works for Brussels IV are running according to the timetable and 
without delay. 

The  school  of  Brussels  I  has  been  in  the  forefront  of  the  reform  process  and  has 
actively participated as a pilot school in elaborating the new standard school plan and 
also in elaborating plans for the School Advisory Council to be set up in school as 
the  forum  for  internal  consultation  among  other  things  (see  point  3.1.  below). 

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The  European  Commission  has  given  its  agreement  subject  to  completion  of  the  information  of  the 
budgetary authority procedure, as defined in point 47 of the Interinstitutional Agreement on budgetary 
discipline and sound financial management (OJ C 139, 14 June 2006, p.1). 
The "Régie de Bâtiments: The Belgian agency in charge of federal buildings and their maintenance. 

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Furthermore, the school underwent an audit exercise by the internal auditor based on 
the work program3 decided by the Board of Governors (see point 3.2. below).  

For  Brussels  II,  the  approval  by  the  local  authorities  of  the  building  permit  for  the 
bus  parking  was  welcome  news  after  several  years  of  administrative  delays. 
Currently,  the  more  than  50  school  busses  park  on  the  play  ground  of  the  school 
twice a day. To place the parking on premises outside the playground of the children 
will constitute a big improvement for the school. Since the administrative procedure 
now  is  finalised,  the  construction  work  should  start  without  further  delay  and 
according to a tight time schedule to be defined together with the Belgian authorities.  

Brussels  III  underwent  maintenance  works  during  the  year  and  for  the  start  of  the 
school year welcomed the largest increase of school population among the saturated 
Brussels schools with 6.1 % in September 2009. 

Brussels  IV  (Berkendael)  continued  to  be  the  school  with  most  spare  capacity  and 
welcomed pupils in the primary cycle with a population of 594 pupils; an increase of 
36%.  The  school  is  preparing  to  open  up  the  first  year  of  the  secondary  cycle  in 
2010.  

2.4. 

Culham 

The gradual phasing out until 2017 as a type 1 European School continued according 
to the decision of the Board of Governors of 2007, taken because of the future move 
of  the  Joint  European  Torus  to  France  in  2016.  The  Commission  is  committed  to 
backing  up  the  British  wish,  supported  by  the  parents,  to  turn  the  school  into  an 
"Academy"  within  their  national  education  system,  with  a  specific  emphasis  on 
delivering  a  European  curriculum.  The  school  in  Culham  is  preparing  to  continue 
activities  as  an  accredited  school  in  close  cooperation  with  the  European  Schools 
system, see point 3.3.  

2.5. 

Frankfurt 

The school in Frankfurt is saturated and the situation worsened in 2009 as the school 
population continued to increase. The approval for the proposed restructuring of the 
school by the German authorities has not yet been communicated.  

2.6. 

Karlsruhe 

The  school  population  stayed  stable  but  the  proportion  of  pupils  being  children  of 
staff  of  the  Institutions  was  still  well  below  20  %.  Renovation  works  continue  and 
the new canteen was operational for the start of the school year. 

2.7. 

Luxembourg 

Overpopulation continued to be a problem on the site of Luxembourg I school that 
currently  hosts  the  temporary  set-up  of  the  Luxembourg  II  school  as  well.  The 

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Document: 2511-D-2007-fr-2 Decision of the Board of Governors 22+23 January 2008 

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Commission  welcomes  that  the  Luxemburg  Authorities  confirmed  in  a  meeting  in 
November 2009 that additional transitory infrastructures will be  made available  for 
September  2010,  but  regrets  the  further  overcrowding that will be the  result on the 
Luxembourg I, (Kirschberg) site until the permanent structure of the Luxembourg II 
school is opening in 2012 in Betrange Mamer.  

Discussions  concerning  the  practical  aspects  of  the  Luxembourgish  authorities' 
decision  to  organize  and  run  a  specific  public  school  transport  for  the  pupils  of 
Luxembourg  II  to  Bertrange/Mamer  continued  during  the  year.  The  Commission 
considers that school transport is a crucial issue for the whole school community and 
welcomes this effort by the Luxembourg authorities. 

2.8.  Mol 

The school in Mol continued to grow but the trend is towards a declining proportion 
of children of staff of the European Institutions. The new English section prospered 
while the German section showed feeble attendance. The evolution of the language 
sections will be monitored as decided by the Board of Governors while creating the 
English section4.  

2.9.  Munich 

Major  building  works  were  undertaken  and  additional  temporary  infrastructure  (11 
classrooms)  was  added  during  the  year.  Infrastructural  improvements  are  essential 
for  the  years  to  come  especially  considering  the  steady  increase  in  the  school's 
population observed. 

2.10.  Varese 

The  school  population  is  remaining  stable  and  the  European  School  in  Varese  is 
continuing to suffer from a lack of appropriate infrastructure. Vice President Kallas 
sent a letter on this subject to Prime Minister Berlusconi in May 2009. Unfortunately 
the letter remained unanswered. The Commission will continue to insist on action by 
the Italian authorities.  

3. 

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND CHALLENGES  

3.1. 

Reform 

The process of reform that was launched by European Parliament resolutions in 2002 
and  2005  came  to  a  close  in  April  2009  at  the  Board  of  Governors'  meeting  in 
Stockholm5. 

Among  the  major  achievements,  is  the  opening  up  of  the  system  of  the  European 
Schools  via  the  possibility  of  accreditation  of  national  schools,  in  order  to  enable 
them  to  deliver  the  European  curriculum  and  possibly  also  the  European 
Baccalaureate. The European curriculum is taught in Parme, Dunshauglin, Heraklion, 

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Ref: 2007-D-129-fr-4. Decision 23+24 January 2008 
Ref: 2009-D-353-en-4 

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Helsinki,  Strasbourg  and  Manosque6.  A  school  in  Bad  Vilbel  is  currently  going 
through the process of accreditation. In addition, the European School in Culham is 
in the process of preparing a transition with the aim to apply for accreditation which 
will  be  a  valuable  experience  for  the  system  of  the  European  Schools.  The  Dutch 
authorities  have  also  expressed  their  intention  to  prepare  an  application  for 
accreditation for a school in The Hague. 

The  reform  includes  the  possibility  for  accredited  schools  to  sign  an  agreement  in 
order to receive a financial contribution from the EU budget in relation to the number 
of children of EU staff attending the school in question7. 

The  problem  of  insufficient  number  of  detachment  of  teachers  from  the  Member 
States  was  addressed  under  the  so  called  "cost-sharing"  part  of  the  reform.  It  was 
agreed  to  open  up  the  possibility  for  countries  to  second  non  native  speakers  in 
certain limited cases in order to reduce the burden on the Member States seconding 
teachers  for  the  three  vehicular  languages.  The  full  effects  of  the  possibility  of 
detachments of non-native speakers in certain cases could not yet be noticed in 2009. 
The cost of paying for locally recruited teachers in order to make up for the short-fall 
still falls heavily on the Commission. In 2009, this represented a cost of 2.1 million 
€. 

Governance on the central and local level was another cornerstone of the reform. At 
local level, the internal rules of the Administrative Boards of the European schools 
have  been  reviewed.  Increased  autonomy  for  the  schools  at  local  level  was  agreed 
within  the  general  framework  of  the  regulations  and  decisions  of  the  Board  of 
Governors,  including  the  Financial  Regulation,  which  specifies  the  limits  and  the 
obligations.  For  each  school,  a  road  map  setting  out  the  objectives  (annual  school 
plan)  and  resources  (draft  budget)  and  also  the  control  mechanisms  and  reporting 
obligations are tools to be used in the new framework. It will be used as a basis for 
evaluation, both internal and external, of the schools. The road map is presented to 
the Board of Governors to provide all necessary information for the approval of the 
budget. The school year 2009/2010 has been a transitory year for the implementation 
of these aspects of the reform. 

Furthermore,  a  School  Advisory  Council  is  set  up  in  the  schools,  as  the  forum  for 
internal  consultation.  It  will  be  chaired  by  the  Director  and  assemble  partners  and 
stakeholders in the school community. 

On central level, an inventory of the appropriate instance to take relevant decisions 
has  been  defined  in  detail  in  the  reform.  Decisions  concerning  organisational 
questions  entered  into  force  on  1st  September  2009  and  a  transitory  period  was 
agreed to allow a revision of some existing rules to be completed at the latest on 1st 
September 2010. 

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The  European  section  for  secondary  students  in  years  1-4  opened  at  the  International  school  of 
Manosque  in  September  2009.  The  European  School  inspectors  conducted  an  audit  of  the  school  in 
February 2010 and which will be presented to the Board of Governors in December 2010. Depending 
on a positive outcome; the Convention of accreditation can then be formally signed. 
The calculation of the respective contributions for the primary and secondary cycles, will be based on a 
balanced mix  of the average pupil costs in the European Schools system on the one hand, and of the 
average pupil costs in the national system on the other hand as described in Document 2009-D-681-en-1 
presented to the Board of Governors in January 2009  

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3.2. 

Internal Audits 

Already  in  2007,  the  Board  of  Governors  decided  to  establish  an  internal  control 
function. Later the same year a "Service Level Agreement" was concluded with the 
Internal Audit Service (IAS) of the European Commission. In early 2008, the Board 
of  Governors  approved  the  strategic  plan  to  be  carried  out  during  the  period 
2008/20108. The first audit performed according to the work program covered human 
resources  management.  The  audit  was  conducted  in  the  Office  of  the  Secretary-
General  and  in  three  schools,  Luxembourg  I,  Brussels  I  and  Varese.  The  audit 
fieldwork took place in late 2008. Successive drafts of the reports and the responses 
were discussed during 2009. 

The final outcome of this audit was six separate reports. The first of these on “Cross-
Cutting  Issues  in  Human  Resources  Management”  was  presented  to  the  Board  of 
Governors in December 20099. That report set out findings that apply to all European 
schools  with  proposals  for  a  common  approach  for  implementing  the  resulting 
recommendations.  The  next  step  is  the  preparation  of  an  action  plan.  The  other 
reports "Corporate Responsibilities of the Office of the Secretary-General for Human 
Resources Management in the European Schools” and four reports on “Management 
of  Human  Resources”  separately  for  the  Office  of  the  Secretary-General  and  the 
Schools  of  Luxembourg  I,  Brussels  I  and  Varese  were  presented  to  the  Board  of 
Governors in 2010. 

The  follow-up  of  these  reports  are  of  extreme  importance  for  an  improved 
functioning  of  the  system  of  the  European  Schools.  The  recommendations  range 
from  pointing  out  serious  problems  to  more  formal  lack  of  procedures.  The 
recommendations  resulted  in  action  plans  that  have  been  approved  by  the  IAS  and 
that  must  be  taken  seriously  by  the  concerned  parties.  There  are  cases  where  the 
office  of  the  Secretary  General  must  take  the  lead  to  issue  recommendations  and 
guidance to the schools. The Commission will follow this issue closely. 

3.3. 

Culham 

During the year 2009, the UK authorities advanced the process of transforming the 
European School in Culham to become an "academy" with their national schooling 
system for which they have the intention to request an accreditation in order to allow 
the continued teaching of the European curriculum in Culham with the possibility of 
delivering the European Baccalaureate. 

In April 2009, the UK authorities signed a declaration of intention as the first step to 
create  the  "academy".  A  consultant  was  contracted  to  realise  a  feasibility  study, 
constituting the second step, to be finalised before summer 2010.  

In  parallel,  the  general  interest  file  for  accreditation  was  approved  by  the  Board  of 
Governors  of  the  European  Schools  in  December  2009.  Some  outstanding  issues 
concerning the enrolment of children of staff of the Institutions and the conditions for 

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Doc: 2511-D-2007-en-2 
Doc: 2009-D-2110-en-2  

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the teachers need to be clarified in view of the presentation of the conformity file in 
2010, the next step for the accreditation to become an accredited "type II" school. 

3.4. 

Overcrowding/infrastructure 

In several locations, the demand for places has been greater than the supply for some 
years.  The  most  striking  examples  of  this  are  Brussels  and  Luxembourg  but  also 
Frankfurt  and  Varese.  This  situation  is  worrying  and  the  Commission  is  putting 
constant political pressure on the national authorities in order to assure that they fulfil 
their obligations in terms of host country to the institutions and, very importantly, to 
provide adequate facilities for the European Schools. The overpopulated schools are 
dictating a very restrictive enrolment policy, much  to the frustration of  parents and 
pupils,  and  are  in  most  cases  preventing  the  acceptance  of  local  children  whose 
parents are not staff of the EU institutions.  

It is admittedly a costly investment to create a large school. The project of renovating 
the  fourth  school  in  Laeken  in  Belgium  for  example  represents  approximately  60 
million  €  from  the  Belgian  federal  budget.  Similarly,  the  project  for  the  second 
European School in Luxembourg represents  huge building works of more than 230 
million €. But this is obviously a financial obligation that has to be seen in relation to 
the  economic  benefits  the  countries  receive  from  the  presence  of  the  European 
Institutions established on their territory. The obligations are also defined in the host 
country  agreements  and  the  Commission  need  to  continue  to  put  pressure  on  the 
highest levels in order to obtain reasonable infrastructure for the schools whose main 
purpose is to provide education for children of staff in their mother tongue. 

3.5. 

Legal cases 

There are three ongoing legal cases directly involving the Commission: two concern 
the United Kingdom and one concerns Belgium.  

The first relates to the national employment conditions for seconded teachers which 
has  implications  on  the  remuneration  paid  by  the  EU  contribution  to  the  budget  of 
the European Schools.  

The second case concerns seconded teachers from the UK (non-Euro country) whose 
salaries are a combination of national income (conversed into Euro) and a European 
contribution.  In  July  2008  their  staff  regulations  were  adapted  to  take  into  account 
cases of extreme currency depreciation against the Euro, the legal case relates to the 
possible retroactivity of this decision and whether the staff regulations for seconded 
teachers  in  general  is  in  breach  of  the  treaty  of  Lisbon  in  terms  of  equal  treatment 
and free movement of workers under the same conditions.  

The third case concerns a longstanding disagreement over the financing of equipment 
by the Member State when providing the infrastructure to a new school. 

All cases are expected to be pending in 2010. 

Furthermore, there is a case brought before the national court by a locally recruited 
teacher  in  Belgium  regarding  payment  of  holiday  allowance  before  2004.  A 
judgment  is  expected  in  2010  on  the  extent  of  the  retroactivity  of  this  payment  in 
principle before 2004. The payment in itself has already been judged as legitimate. 

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The  outcome  of  the  ruling  on  the  extent  of  the  retroactive  effect  will  influence  the 
budgetary  consequences  especially  as  another  26  locally  recruited  teachers  have 
raised the same claims. 

4. 

BUDGETARY DEVELOPMENTS AND CHALLENGES  

4.1. 

Figures for the execution of the budget 2009 

–  The  overall  number  of  pupils  increased  by  3,15  %  from  21.649  to  22.331  from 
2008 to 2009. The budgetary execution figures show a decrease in the share borne 
by the Member States, in the share accounted for by revenue from contracts with 
private entities (so called category II pupils) and for the revenue from school fees 
(category  III)  and  also  in  the  share  of  other  sources  (mainly  bank  interests). 
Consequently, there is an increase in the share paid from the EU contribution: 

Budget contributions (extracts from Document 2009-D-62-fr-1 & Document 2010-D-62-fr-1) 

2009 
Initial credits  Supplementary 

Final credits 

Incomes 

Final credits 

Incomes 

2008 

55,4 
154,8 
17,7 
15,5 
18,7 
2,3 
2,7 
267,2 

53,8 
151,9 
17,4 
14,3 
18,7 
2,3 
2,9 
261,3 

54,7 
144,1 
16,0 
15,7 
19,6 
2,1 
5,9 
258,0 

54,5 
138,9 
15,4 
14,7 
21,0 
2,0 
7,7 
254,0 

credits 
-2,1 
4,3 
0,0 
-0,2 
-1,0 
0,0 
2,7 
3,6 

Member States  57,5 
150,5 
Commission 
EPO 
17,7 
Category II fees  15,8 
Category III fees 19,7 
Other 
2,3 
Surplus+Reserve0,0 
TOTAL 

263,6 

4.2.  Main events encountered 

Two amending budgets have been approved by the Board of Governors for the year, 
mainly due to a fall of revenues but also an increase of expenses. Compared to the 
initial budget 2009, the EU contribution increased from 150,5 to 154,8 million €) 

A surplus from 2008 was carried over to the budget 2009 (2,9 million €), this surplus 
has  been  used  in  the  amending  budgets  approved  by  the  BoG  to  cover  part  of  the 
additional needs for credits. 

The salary adjustments for teachers and detached staff is linked to the salary increase 
for staff in the Institutions and thereby directly affected by the Council of Minister's 
decision in December 2009. The Board of Governors launched its own procedure as 
a  consequence  (based  on  an  adjustment  of  1.85%),  which  was  closed  in  January 
2010. A commitment corresponding to the amount of 3,1 million €  has been carried-
over and payments have been executed in 2010.  

A budgetary and pedagogical problem is the lack of seconded staff. The figures show 
a cost for non seconded staff of 2,1 million € for 2009. The corresponding posts need 
to  be  filled  with  locally  recruited  staff,  whose  salaries  are  borne  by  the  school's 
individual budget and thus to a large extent by the EU budget. The non-compliance 

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by the Member States of their obligations is problematic and is leading to increased 
structural problems. 

At  the  Board  of  Governors  meeting  in  April  2010,  the  Commission  was  not  in  a 
position  to  grant  discharge  for  the  budget  2008  due  to  the  discovery  of  the  non-
respect of rules concerning some classes of mother tongue language in 5 schools for 
students  without  a  linguistic  section.  There  is  an  ongoing  examination  due  to  this 
non-respect of rules, and the Commission has strong reasons to believe that this also 
applies  to  the  budget  year  2009.  If  this  is  indeed  proven  to  be  the  case,  rectifying 
actions will need to be implemented by the schools concerned. 

5. 

PEDAGOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND CHALLENGES  

5.1. 

The European baccalaureate reform 

In  the  context  of  opening  up  of  the  European  Schools  system  to  the  accredited 
schools, the baccalaureate working group has submitted some proposals to simplify 
the organisation of the examination, to cut costs, to review the examination's content, 
without  jeopardising  the  certificate's  quality  and  while  keeping  in  mind  the  current 
requirements  of  the  universities  and  other  higher  education  institutions.  Some 
proposals were approved by the Board of Governors in December 2009 and will be 
implemented  already  for  the  2010  session:  abolishment  of  the  presentation  of  the 
examination  question  papers;  responsibility  of  each  school  as  examination  centres; 
special  arrangements  for  the  candidates  with  special  needs.  The  working  group 
continues  its  work,  namely  the  marking  system  (internal/external,  types  of  marks, 
number  of  written/oral  tests,  skills  to  be  assessed  etc.)  in  order  to  implement  the 
complete baccalaureate reform for the 2013 session.  

5.2. 

Actions for pupils with Special Education Needs (SEN)  

The  European  Schools  continued  their  efforts  to  integrate  children  with  special 
education  needs,  where  necessary  with  an  adapted  programme  of  studies  and 
appropriate human resources.  

The  report  evaluating  the  SEN  policy  and  practice  in  the  European  Schools  which 
resulted  from  the  study  financed  by  the  European  Parliament,  was  presented  to  the 
Board  of  Governors  in  April  2009.  The  Board  requested  the  SEN  Policy  Group  to 
analyse how the proposed improvements could be implemented. As a consequence, 
the  SEN  procedures  in  the  secondary  and  the  special  arrangements  which  can  be 
offered  to  SEN  students  in  years  6  and  7  and  at  the  time  of  the  European 
Baccalaureate examinations have been adapted.  

During  the  school  year  2008/09,  there  were  457  pupils  under  a  SEN  convention, 
meaning an increase of 10,1% compared to the previous year. The Commission has 
continued  to  make  the  necessary  financial  resources  available  by  agreeing  the 
transfer  of  credits  which  allow  the  adjustment  of  credits  to  real  costs  supported 
during  the  year.  The  SEN  executed  budget  increased  from  3.426.685  €  in  2008  to 
4.441.142 € in 2009, nevertheless, there is concer n about this continuing increase and 
the  necessity  to  analyse  in  depth  the  SEN  criteria  in  order  to  focus  resources 
optimally. 

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6. 

FUTURE CHALLENGES 

The evolution of the budgetary demands observed for the European Schools combined with 
the  current  economic  situation  has  led  the  Commission  to  request  a  revision  of  certain 
expenses  in  the  system  of  the  European  Schools.  A  more  cost  efficient  approach  and  fairer 
distribution  of  the  financial  burden  is  necessary.  The  future  budgetary  planning  needs  to  be 
kept under control and the Commission made the approval of the 2011 budget conditional on 
a certain number of revisions of expenses.  

The  infrastructure  situation  is  going  to  be  very  worrying  in  the  coming  years  in  several 
locations.  The  Brussels  and  Luxembourg  schools  welcome  more  than  60  %  of  the  overall 
pupils of the system and both locations will suffer in the coming years before the permanent 
solutions will be provided in 2012 by the host countries responsible. Temporary solutions of 
prefabricated buildings have been proposed for both locations in the meantime. Even though 
this will solve the problem of the immediate lack of classrooms, it will create other issues due 
to  the  continued  expansion  of  the  number  of  pupils  on  the  sites  of  the  existing  schools, 
making  the  situation  in  the  school  yards,  canteens,  gymnastic  halls  and  for  the  school  bus 
transport  etc  very  difficult.  Several  schools  are  already  obliged  to  rent  outside  facilities  in 
order to organise the obligatory classes in the curriculum.  

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