CELEX: 51988PC0166
Language: en
Date: 1988-03-22
Title: REVISED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ON A COMMUNITY ACTION IN THE FIELD OF LEARNING TECHNOLOGY DELTA ( DEVELOPING EUROPEAN LEARNING THROUGH TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCE )

No C 146/14                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                3. 6. 88
             The recent adoption by the Council of Decision 87/600/Euratom of 14 December 1987 on
             Community arrangements for the early exchange of information in the event of a radiological
             emergency (') constitutes a very important step and will, through the coordination of the
             various systems, allow information concerning radiological emergencies which in some cases
             may affect consumer products to be fed into the system. A short description of the new system
             is attached as Annex IV.
                                                      VI. Conclusions
             The Commission considers, at it already stated in its interim report, that the system has proved
             its functioning capacities and efficiency. The system has proved its usefulness as a warning
             system and as an instrument of crisis management through the various crises which the
             Community has had to face since its creation.
             The system will also, as the number of notifications increases, provide a valuable instrument for
             the prevention of accidents involving consumer products by focusing attention on those
             products or categories of products which have been the subject of frequent measures in
             Member States and, as a result, by establishing priorities for action, both at Member State and
             Community level.
             The fact that the general consumer safety directive and the Rapid Exchange System are closely
             linked makes it advisable not to introduce at this point in time any changes in the Decision.
             The solutions given in the general consumer safety directive to the various problems in the field
             of safety will undoubtedly affect the functioning of the Rapid Exchange System. This is why
             the Commission considers that the period of validity of the Decision should be extended for six
             more years, a reasonable term to allow the adoption by the Council of the general consumer
             safety directive.
             Accordingly, the Commission submits this report to the Council with a proposal for a decision,
             attached as Annex I.
             0) OJ No L 371, 30. 12. 1987, p. 76.
             Amended proposal for a Council Decision on a Community action in the field of learning
                  technology (') DELTA (Developing European learning through technological advance)
                                                    COM(88) 166 final
             (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to the third paragraph of Article 149 of the Treaty on
                                                      24 March 1988)
                                                       (88/C 146/09)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                         Whereas the Community has as its task, by establishing a
                                                                 common market and progressively approximating the
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European            economic policies of Member States, interaction to
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130Q               promote throughout the Community a harmonious
(2) thereof,                                                     development of economic activity and close relations
                                                                 between the Member States;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
In cooperation with the European Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                 Whereas education and training will play a decisive role
Social Committee,                                                in the future economic development of the Community,
                                                                 and whereas advanced information and telecommuni-
                                                                 cations technologies offer new and more effective means
C) OJ No C 265, 5. 10. 19S7, p. 28.                              to support learning activities;
 ---pagebreak--- 3. 6. 88                                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                              No C 146/15
Whereas the Heads of State and Government, meeting in                  justified w h e r e research contributes inter alia t o the
Stuttgart,      Athens,        Fontainebleau     and    Brussels,      strengthening of the e c o n o m i c a n d social cohesion of the
emphasised the importance of strengthening the tech-                   C o m m u n i t y and the p r o m o t i o n of its overall h a r m o n i o u s
nology base and competitiveness of industry and have                   development, while being consistent with the pursuit of
underlined the necessity of making better use of human                 scientific and technical quality; w h e r e a s it is intended
resources by means of increased cooperation between                    that the D E L T A action should contribute to the
higher education and industry;                                         achievement of these objectives;
Whereas the Heads of State or of Government in their
meeting of 28 and 29 June 1985 approved and endorsed                   W h e r e a s the d e m a n d for education and training is
the Commission memorandum on the strengthening of                      steadily m o u n t i n g , increases in diversity and requires
technological cooperation in Europe covering, among                    improvements in accessibility; whereas progress in
priority subjects on which to propose action, the tech-                learning technology coincides with the e m e r g e n c e of
nologies of education and training;                                    advanced communications services and e q u i p m e n t which
                                                                       can be harnessed, at incremental cost, to s u p p o r t
                                                                       learning and thus to enable d e m a n d for training a n d
Whereas a better understanding of learning and training                retraining to be met m o r e economically;
which can be met by learning technology is beneficial for
strategies in this domain;
                                                                       W h e r e a s learning t e c h n o l o g y represents a strategically
Whereas the European Parliament has emphasised                          i m p o r t a n t g r o w t h area for e q u i p m e n t and services w o r l d -
repeatedly the importance it sees in education and                     w i d e , being the subject of strongly focused development
training for the future economic and social welfare of                  and investment efforts by other regions;
the Community, and adopted in May 1983 a
resolution (') calling for greater efforts in education
and training; whereas the Parliament adopted on                        W h e r e a s national and C o m m u n i t y actions in information
 11 November 1986 a resolution inviting the Commission                  technologies, telecommunications and s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n
to prepare an action for the utilization of technology in               lay the g r o u n d for i n t r o d u c i n g advanced learning
education ( 2 );                                                        support, yet additional efforts will be required to realize
                                                                        the full potential of this n e w field;
Whereas the Economic and Social Committee has
stressed the importance of using new information and
telecommunication technologies to maintain a highly                     Whereas            the       Council        has   adopted      the      Comett
 skilled workforce capable of adapting to changing job                  programme                (86/365/EEC)           strengthening        industry-
 requirements, thereby making a contribution to the                     university cooperation                     in education       and      training
 reduction of unemployment caused by lack of skills;                    including the e n c o u r a g e m e n t of distance learning, a n d
                                                                        the         Comett            programme          would       benefit       from
                                                                        improvements in the technologies, tools, e q u i p m e n t a n d
Whereas, by Decision 87/516/Euratom/EEC (3), the                        infrastructure required to s u p p o r t distance learning ( 5 );
 Council adopted             a Framework        Programme of
 Community activities in the field of research and techno-
 logical development (1987 to 1991) providing for                       W h e r e a s p r e p a r a t o r y investigations on behalf of the
 research to be undertaken in the field of the application               Commission have laid the g r o u n d w o r k for a p r o g r a m m e
 of information technology and telecommunications to                     of w o r k responding to the trends of expert opinion in
 meet common social needs; whereas the Framework                         the M e m b e r States; w h e r e a s the presentation of this
 Programme contains special provision for a Community                   w o r k has attracted a full representation from academia,
 action in the field of educational technology (4),                      industry and publishing; w h e r e a s a P e e r G r o u p of
                                                                         academic advisers has contributed to the formulation of
 Whereas the Council Decision of 28 September 1987                       a preliminary plan of w o r k ;
 concerning the Framework Programme for Community
 activities in the field of R & T & D provides that a
 particular aim of Community research shall be to                        W h e r e a s the D E L T A pilot phase will benefit from the
 strengthen the scientific and technological basis of                    results of Esprit and R A C E as well as the o n - g o i n g
 European industry especially in strategic areas of high                 efforts in s t a n d a r d i z a t i o n ;
 technology and to encourage it to become more
 competitive at international level; whereas the same
 Decision further provides that Community action is                      Whereas            the       Scientific      and      Technical      Research
                                                                         C o m m i t t e e ( C R E S T ) has expressed its opinion,
 O O J N o C 135,24. 5. 1983.
 (2) O J N o C 3 2 2 , 15. 12. 1986.
 (3) OJ N o L 302, 24. 10. 1987, p. 1.
 (") Action Line 2.3, new services of common interest.                   (') OJ No L 222, 8. 8. 1986, p. 17.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 146/16                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                    3. 6. 88
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:                                         taking. Within each project at least one partner should
                                                                   represent training or learning interests. The invitation to
                                                                   tender shall be published in the Official Journal of the
                           Article 1
                                                                   European Communities.
 1.    A pilot phase of a Community action in the field of
learning technologies, called DELTA, is adopted for an             3.     In exceptional cases concerning projects indis-
initial period of 18 months commencing 1 June 1988.                pensable for implementing key requirements of the
                                                                   workplan:
2.     The action is designed to stimulate incremental
research and development which will enable new tech-               — where a proposal would involve
nologies to be incorporated in the tools and infra-
                                                                         (i) unreasonable burden on the participants,
structure supporting advanced learning, in particular
                                                                             particularly small and medium-sized enterprises
open and distance learning, in the Community. The
                                                                             and research establishments;
action will be based on concertation with the corre-
sponding activities of the Member States of the                         (ii) only one independent partner;
Community, in order to make available to the final users,              (iii) only independent partners established in the
at minimum cost and with minimum delay, the learning                         same Member State, or
equipment and systems which will enable an increased
demand for education, training and retraining to be met           — where an open tendering procedure would be unjus-
in the most economical way.                                            tified on grounds of cost or efficiency,
                           Article 2                                   or
The action shall consist of pre-normative and pre-                — where the amount of the Community's contribution
competitive technology exploration as required for the                 to the cost does not exceed 0,25 million ECU,
objective of concerting European efforts in the domain
of learning technology, building notably on RACE and
Esprit work.                                                       it may be decided, in accordance with the procedures
                                                                   laid down in Article 8, to depart from the general
                                                                   provisions set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article.
The field of application of the action includes:
1. Learning systems research                                       4.     The contracts for all parts of the action shall be
                                                                   concluded with undertakings, including small and
2. Collaborative development of advanced learning tech-            medium-sized enterprises, publishing houses, universities,
    nology                                                         research establishments and other bodies established in
                                                                   the Community.
3. Testing and validation
4. Interoperability                                                                           Article 4
                                                                  Where Framework Agreements for scientific and
5. Investigation of related factors.                               technical      cooperation      between     non-Community
                                                                   European countries and the European Community have
The summary and objectives of the DELTA pilot phase                been concluded, organizations and enterprises estab-
are set out in more detail in Annex II.                            lished in these countries may, in accordance with the
                                                                   procedures laid down in Articles 3 and 8, become
                           Article 3                               partners to a project undertaken within this action.
1.     Projects relating to the action shall be executed by
means of shared cost contracts. Contractors shall be                                          Article 5
expected to bear a substantial proportion of the costs,
                                                                   1.     The funds estimated as necessary for the
which should normally be at least 50 % of the total
                                                                   Community contribution to the execution of the pilot
expenditure.
                                                                   phase amount to 20 million ECU over 18 months,
                                                                   including expenditure on staff (9 A, 2 B, 4 C temporary
Alternatively, in respect of universities and research
                                                                   officials).
institutes carrying out projects or actions, the
Community may bear up to 100 % of the additional
expenditure involved.                                              2.     The indicative allocation of these funds is set out in
                                                                  Annex I.
2.     The proposals for projects shall, as a rule, be
submitted in reply to an open invitation to tender and             3.     The final amount of appropriations and the number
involve the participation of at least two independent              of staff shall be determined on the basis of decisions
partners not all established in the same Member State. At          taken annually by the budgetary authority in accordance
least one of the partners shall be an industrial under-           with real needs.
 ---pagebreak--- 3. 6. 88                                Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 146/17
                           Article 6                               2.     Under this procedure, the representative of the
                                                                   Commission, who acts as chairman, refers the draft of
1.    The Commission shall ensure that the action is               the measures to be adopted to the Committee. The
properly performed and establish the appropriate                   Committee delivers an opinion within a time limit which
implementation measures.                                           shall normally be one month and shall in no case exceed
                                                                   two months. The opinion is delivered by the majority
2.    The Commission shall establish a draft workplan              specified in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty for decisions
defining the detailed objectives, the type of projects and         which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal
actions to be undertaken and the corresponding financial           from the Commission, the votes of the representatives of
plans.                                                             the Member States being weighted as indicated in that
                                                                   Article. The chairman does not vote.
3.    The procedure laid down in Article 8 shall apply
to:                                                                3.     The Commission shall adopt measures which shall
                                                                   apply immediately. However, if these measures are not in
— the establishment of the workplan referred to in                 accordance with the opinion of the Committee, they
    paragraph 2 of this Article,                                   shall be communicated by the Commission to the
— any departure from the general conditions laid down              Council forthwith. In that event:
    in Article 3(1) and (2),                                       — the Commission may defer application of the
                                                                        measures which it has decided for a period of not
— the evaluation of work undertaken in the execution                    more than one month from the date of such
    of each part of the pilot phase by appropriate organ-               communication,
    izations, groups and other bodies,
                                                                   — the Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take
— the assessment of the proposed projects for the                       a different decision within the time limit referred to
    implementation and the estimated amount of the                      in the previous paragraph.
    Community financial contribution for a project when
    this contribution is in excess of 0,4 million ECU,                                       Article 9
— the participation in any project by European organiz-             1.    The result of the action shall be reviewed by the
    ations and enterprises not established in the                  Commission after 12 months. The Commission shall
    Community as provided for in Article 4.                        report to the Council and the European Parliament on
                                                                   the results of this review.
4.    The Commission may consult the Committee
referred to in Article 7 on any matter falling within the          2.     After the completion of the action, the Commission
scope of this Decision.                                            shall send to Council and European Parliament a report
                                                                   on the performance and results of the action.
                           Article 7                               3.     The abovementioned report will be carried out in
                                                                   relation to the precise objectives set out in Annex II to
The Commission shall be assisted in the performance of
                                                                   this Decision and in conformity with the provisions of
its tasks by a committee, hereinafter referred to as 'the
                                                                   Article 2 (2) of the Framework Programme.
Committee'. The Committee, consisting of two represen-
tatives of each Member State, shall be set up by the
Commission on the basis of nominations by the Member                                         Article 10
States.                                                             1.    With regard to the concertation activities provided
                                                                   for in Article 1 (2), the Member States and the
Members of the Committee may be assisted by experts or              Commission shall exchange all appropriate information
advisors depending on the nature of the issues under               to which they have access and which they are free to
consideration.                                                      disclose concerning activities in the areas covered by this
The Committee shall be chaired by a Commission                      Decision, whether or not planned or carried out under
representative.                                                     their authority.
The proceedings of the Committee shall be confidential.             2.    Information shall be exchanged according to a
The Committee shall adopt its own rules of procedure.               procedure to be defined by the Commission after
The secretarial services shall be provided by the                   consulting the Committee, and shall be treated as
 Commission.                                                        confidential at the supplier's request.
                                                                                             Article 11
                           Article 8
                                                                    This Decision shall apply from 1 June 1988.
 1.    "Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to
be followed, the chairman shall refer the matter to the                                      Article 12
 Committee, either on his own initiative or at the request
 of one of its members.                                             This Decision is addressed to the Member States.