87/327/EEC: Council Decision of 15 June 1987 adopting the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (Erasmus)

COUNCIL  DECISION
of 15 June 1987
adopting the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (ERASMUS)
(87/327/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Articles 128 and 235 thereof,
Having regard to Council Decision 63/266/EEC of 2 April 1963 laying down general principles for implementing a common vocational training policy (1),
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (3),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (4),
Whereas the fundamental objectives of the common vocational training policy set down in the second principle of Decision 63/266/EEC aim in particular at enabling every person to reach the highest possible level of vocational training which is necessary for his professional activity, and refer also to broadening vocational training to meet requirements arising from technical progress, linking the different forms of vocational training to social and economic developments;
Whereas on the basis of the sixth principle of that Decision it is the Commission's responsibility to encourage direct exchanges of vocational training specialists in order to enable them to acquaint themselves with and study the achievements and new developments in the other countries of the Community;
Whereas the action programme in the field of education contained in the resolution of the Council and Ministers of Education, meeting within the Council, of 9 February 1976 (5) enable the Commission to implement initial measures for the promotion of university cooperation in the Community;
Whereas the Council and Ministers of Education meeting within the Council confirmed on 3 June 1985 the importance which they attached to promoting an intensification of inter-university cooperation in the Community and noted with satisfaction the Commission's intention to submit proposals in this regard before the end of 1985;
Whereas the Council has adopted measures with a view to strengthening technological cooperation at Community level and providing the necessary human resources for this purpose, notably through the programme on cooperation between universities and enterprises regarding training in the field of technology (COMETT) (6);
Whereas the European Parliament on 13 March 1984 adopted a resolution on higher education and the development of cooperation between higher education establishments (7);
Whereas the European Parliament on 14 March 1984 adopted a resolution on the academic recognition of diplomas and of periods of study (8);
Whereas the European Council, at its meeting on 28 and 29 June 1985, approved the report of the ad hoc Committee on a People's Europe and mandated the Council and the Commission, acting within their respective powers, to ensure the implementation of the proposals contained therein;
Whereas the Commission, in following up the People's Europe initiative of the European Council, has attached the highest priority to university cooperation;
Whereas, in following up the European Council meeting in June 1984, the Commission has drawn up a proposal for a Council Directive on a general system for the recognition of higher education diplomas awarded on completion of vocational courses of at least three years' duration (1);
Whereas the further development of the Community depends to a large extent on its being able to draw on a large number of graduates who have had direct experience of studying and living in another Member State;
Whereas the competitiveness of the Community in world markets depends on ensuring that the entire intellectual resources of the universities in the Member States are harnessed to provide top quality levels of training for the benefit of the Community as a whole;
Whereas the intellectual potential of the individual universities throughout the Community could be much more effectively exploited by providing a network for increasing student and university teacher mobility and other forms of inter-university cooperation throughout the Community;
Whereas the Conference on Higher Education Cooperation in the European Community, convened by the Commission at the initiative of the European Parliament from 27 to 29 November 1985, called for urgent and comprehensive action to boost support for university cooperation, and in particular the mobility of students in the Community;
Whereas the 10 years of pilot Community funding have generated a significant body of relevant experience in the field of practical cooperation between universities, thereby providing the basis for the measures set out in this Decision;
Whereas the commitment entered into at Community level as regards the stimulation of student mobility also involves the Member States, who are called upon to make their contribution to the effort which is necessary for the objectives of ERASMUS to be attained;
Whereas an increase in exchanges of university teaching staff between the Member States also contributes to the objectives set out above;
Whereas the ERASMUS programme supports and complements the measures by the Member States which were considered by the Council and the Ministers of Education meeting within the Council on 2 June 1983 as being necessary for the promotion of mobility in the field of higher education; whereas it is necessary, for the achievement of the objectives of the ERASMUS programme and for going beyond those objectives, that Member States and institutions of higher education should reinforce their efforts to implement the joint conclusions identified by that meeting;
Whereas this action programme includes aspects relating to education which, at the present stage of development of Community law, may be regarded as falling outside the scope of the common vocational training policy as provided for in Article 128 of the Treaty; whereas these aspects of the programme can, together with the vocational training objectives to which they are closely linked, contribute to the harmonious development of economic activities throughout the Community; whereas to this extent the Treaty has not provided the necessary powers, and action for this purpose appears necessary to attain, in the course of the operation of the common market, one of the objectives of the Community,