CELEX: 51984PC0265
Language: en
Date: 1984-05-19
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ESTABLISHING A THIRD JOINT PROGRAMME TO ENCOURAGE THE EXCHANGE OF YOUNG WORKERS WITHIN THE COMMUNITY

13.6.84                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            No C 153/5
              Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a third joint programme to encourage the
                                   exchange of young workers within the Community
                                                   COM(84) 265 final
                            (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 18 May 1984)
                                                     (84/C 153/07)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                     provision should continue to be made and extended
 COMMUNITIES,                                                   for study training periods of short duration which
                                                                offer young workers the opportunity of establishing
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                   close contact with the working and living
 European Economic Community, and in particular                 environment of the host country;
Article 235 thereof,
                                                                Whereas the Community institutions must make a
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,              substantial contribution to the implementation of the
                                                                third joint programme;
Having regard to the opinion of the European
Parliament,                                                     Whereas the participation of bodies or groups
                                                                operating at European level which, by virtue of their
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                structure, type of activities and operational capacities,
Social Committee,                                               are able to make an effective contribution to
                                                                implementing the programme should be ensured;
Whereas the Community is called upon to take
concrete measures to help young workers;                        Whereas the establishment of a third joint programme
                                                                to encourage the exchange of young workers within
Whereas it is the responsiblity of the Member States,           the Community appears necessary to attain one of the
under Article 50 of the Treaty, to encourage, within            objectives of the Community; whereas the Treaty has
the framework of a joint programme, the exchange of             not provided the necessary specific powers for this
young workers;                                                  purpose,
Whereas it is important to offer young workers                  HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
greater opportunities to broaden their vocational
training and their cultural, linguistic and human
knowledge in a Member State other than that in                                          Article 1
which they reside;                                              1.    For the purposes of this Decision, 'exchanges of
                                                               young workers' means operations involving the
Whereas the exchange of young workers should be                 organization of training periods for young workers
developed alongside measures taken to promote                   and young job-seekers under the conditions laid
youth employment, while at the same time retaining              down in Article 2, in a Member State other than the
its individual character by its objectives and the              Member State in which they reside, aimed at:
nature of the operations;
                                                               — developing their vocational knowledge              and
Whereas the experience gained in the implementation                 enriching their practical experience,
of the second joint programme to encourage the
exchange      of    young     workers      within     the       — promoting their awareness of the problems of the
Community (*), proved positive and consequently the                 working world,
underlying principles shoud the reaffirmed in the
context of a third programme;                                  — bringing them into contact with the working
                                                                    environment of the host country,
Whereas, in view of the present employment                     — improving their knowledge of living conditions
situation, the exchange programme should be                         and social relations in the host country, and
extended to young job-seekers;
                                                               — promoting         adequate     information    on    the
Whereas, in addition to training periods of long                    Community's objectives and how it functions.
duration of a predominantly vocational nature,
                                                                2.    The training periods referred to in paragraph 1
O OJ No L 185, 21. 7. 1979, p. 24.                              may be of long or short duration.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 153/6                          Official Journal of the European Communities                               13. 6. 84
                        Article 2                              and living environment of the host country. These
                                                               training periods shall, in principle, last for between
1.    Young workers and young job-seekers who are              three weeks and three months.
nationals of a Member State shall be eligible for
exchanges if they:
                                                                                       Article 7
— are between 18 and 28 years of age, and                      1.     Within the framework of existing legislation, the
                                                               Member States shall lend their support to the
— have received basic vacational training or have              implementation of exchanges, particularly as regards
    practical working experience.                              social protection.
2.    Following the consultations provided for in              2.     The Member States shall designate the
Article 9, the Commission may, by way of exception,            competent authority or authorities and, where appro-
make eligible for exchanges young workers and                  priate, the coordination service which the bodies or
young job-seekers who do not fulfil the conditions set         groups referred to in Article 3 should contact to
out in paragraph 1 but for whom exchanges are of               examine exchange projects and to obtain help in
particular interest.                                           organizing and implementing the training periods.
                                                               The Commission shall request the opinion of the
                         Article 3                             Member States concerned before approving the
Without prejudice to the powers of the employment              exchange projects.
services of the Member States, the implementation of
exchanges shall be entrusted to bodies or groups
                                                                                       Article 8
operating at European level by the Commission,
having regard to their ability to carry out exchanges          To facilitate the development of exchanges, the
effectively.                                                   Commission may, in so far as appropriations entered
                                                               in the Communities' budget allow, grant aid
                                                               comprising:
                         Article 4
'Training periods of long duration' means training             — contribution, not exceeding 75 % of the expense
periods of a predominantly vocational nature lasting                incurred, towards the cost of the (return) journey
beween four and 16 months with an employer in the                   between the place of residence and the place of
host country. These training periods shall be designed              training, of which the amount may vary
in particular to enable participants to develop their               depending on the distance,
vocational knowledge by familiarizing themselves
with life in an undertaking.                                   — a flat-rate weekly contribution per trainee or, in
                                                                    certain cases, a subvention for each exchange
                                                                    operation.
                         Article 5
Young workers participating in training periods                 A supplementary aid per trainee and per week of
provided for by this Decision shall benefit, within the         language training may be granted.
framework of existing legislation, from a system as
favourable as that introduced under Articles 58, 49
 and 51 of the Treaty to bring about freedom of                 Any aid granted by Member States, regional or local
 movement for workers who are nationals of Member               authorities or promoters shall be taken into
 States.                                                        consideration when establishing the Commission's
                                                                contribution.
 Participants not classified as 'young workers' shall,
 for the purpose of social protection, be treated as                                   Article 9
 young people enrolled in a vocational or other
                                                                The Commission shall consult, in the cases for which
 training course in their country of origin.
                                                                provision is made in this Decision and on all matters
                                                                of importance concerning its application, the repres-
                                                                entatives of the Governments of the Member States,
                         Article 6
                                                                 of employers' and workers' organizations as well
 'Training periods of short duration' means study                as of European         organizations with       specific
 training periods designed in particular to enable parti-        responsibilities for and direct experience of
 cipants to establish close contact with the working             exchanges.
 ---pagebreak--- 13.6.84                            Official Journal of the European Communities                         No C 153/7
                      Article 10                                                    Article 12
The Commission shall adopt the measures necessary             The Council, acting on a proposal from the
to implement this Decision.                                   Commission, shall review this Decision not later than
                                                              30 June 1989.
                      Article 11
The Commission shall submit to the Council every
two years a report on the progress of the exchanges,                                Article 13
including   an     overall    assessment     of    their
implementation.                                               This Decision shall apply from 1 July 1984.