A new generation of EU programmes for education and training, youth, culture and citizenship in 2007-2013

The European Commission adopted ambitious proposals on 14 July for the next generation of EU programmes for the period 2007 - 2013 in education, training, culture, youth and citizenship. These have now been approved by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, and so should be in operation by the beginning of 2007.

The programmes are:

The Lifelong Learning Programme

The new Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013 replaces the existing Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, and eLearning programmes which expire at the end of 2006. It comprises four sectoral programmes on school education (Comenius), higher education (Erasmus), vocational training (Leonardo da Vinci) and adult education (Grundtvig), and is completed by a transversal programme focusing on policy cooperation, languages, information and communication technology and dissemination and exploitation of results. The final element to the new programme is the Jean Monnet action, which focuses on supporting the teaching of European integration as a subject at universities, and supports certain key institutions and associations active in the field.
The programme budget is € 6,970 million for the period 2007-2013.

The aim of the new programme is to contribute, by emphasising the need for lifelong learning, to the development of the Community as an advanced knowledge society, with sustainable economic development, more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. It aims to foster interaction, cooperation and mobility between education and training systems within the Community, so that they become a world quality reference.

As regards the four sectoral programmes, quantified targets have been set in order to ensure a significant, identifiable and measurable impact for the programme. These targets are as follows:

> Decision No 1720/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing an action programme in the field of lifelong learning


> Press release: ‘Lifelong learning': a new education and training programme to build the Knowledge Society

> Click here for further informations...

 

The Youth in Action

programme aims to develop among young people a sense of personal responsibility, initiative, concern for others, civic participation and active involvement at local, national and European level. The programme will also help to improve support systems for youth activities. The proposed budget for the 2007 - 2013 period is € 885 million. The Youth in Action programme will give funding support to projects under five headings:

• Youth for Europe: This action is geared to reinforcing the active civic participation of young people by supporting appropriate exchanges, mobility and initiatives for young people and their projects.
• European Voluntary Service: This well-known action, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in December 2006, continues in the new Youth in Action programme. It aims to develop young people's solidarity, active engagement and mutual understanding, all in the framework of a charitable or not-for-profit activity. It can take the form of either individual or collective projects to enable young people to express their personal commitments but also to involve them in the EU's solidarity actions.
• Youth of the world: This fosters young people's mutual understanding and active engagement through an open-minded approach to the world. It opens up the programme to projects with the neighbouring countries of the enlarged Europe.
• Youth workers and support systems: Youth workers and support systems: This action helps youth organisations that are active at the European level to promote the development of -

  a. exchange, training and information schemes for youth workers, and
  b. projects to stimulate innovation and quality and partnerships with regional or local entities.

• Support for policy cooperation in the field of youth: This promotes co-operation among decision-makers on youth policy, preparing the participation of young people in democratic life. It also develops representative structures for young people throughout Europe. Furthermore, this action gives assistance to encourage structured dialogue between young people and those responsible for youth policy, and helps co-operation with international organisations, thus promoting discussion and reflection on the European Union's work for young people.

> Decision No 1714/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing the Youth in Action programme for the period 2007 to 2013

> Common Position (EC) No 14/2006 of 24 July 2006 adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Youth in Action programme for the period 2007 to 2013


> Press release: New "Youth in Action" programme stimulates young Europeans to become involved in the community

 

Culture

With a proposed budget of € 408 million, the new Culture Programme is a Community programme established for seven years (2007-2013) that aims to enhance the European cultural area. This will be done by developing cultural cooperation between the creators, cultural players and cultural institutions of the countries taking part in the programme.
The Programme shall be open to the participation of non-audiovisual cultural industries, in particular small cultural enterprises, where such industries are acting in a non-profit-making cultural capacity.
The specific objectives of the programme are:

• to promote the transnational mobility of people working in the cultural sector;
• to encourage the transnational circulation of works and cultural and artistic products;
• to encourage intercultural dialogue.

> Common Position (EC) No 11/2006 of 18 July 2006 adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Culture Programme (2007 to 2013)

Europe for citizens

On 6 April 2006 the European Commission adopted the proposal for a new programme "Citizens for Europe" 2007 - 2013.

This programme will take over the current programme, which ends in 2006. Its overall aim is to help bridge the perceived gap between the general public and the institutions of the European Union.

This future programme will provide the Union with instruments to promote active European citizenship. It puts citizens in the spotlight and offers them the opportunity to fully assume their responsibility as European citizens. It responds to the need to improve citizens' participation in the construction of Europe, and will encourage cooperation between citizens and their organisations from different countries in order to meet, act together and develop their own ideas in a European environment which goes beyond a national vision, while nonetheless respecting their diversity.

Intercultural exchanges will contribute to improving the mutual knowledge of the culture and history of the European peoples. It will bring our common heritage to the fore and strengthen the basis for our common future. Mutual understanding, solidarity and the feeling of belonging to Europe are indeed the building blocks for the involvement of citizens and are reflected by the four different programme actions:

• Action I: "Active citizens for Europe" involves citizens directly, either through activities linked to town-twinning or through other kinds of citizens' projects.
• Action II: "Active civil society for Europe" is targeted to Europe-wide civil society organisations, receiving either structural support on the basis of their work programme or support trans-national projects.
• Action III: "Together for Europe" supports high visibility events, studies and information tools, addressing the widest possible audience across frontiers and making Europe more tangible for its citizens.
• Action IV: "Active European Remembrance" supports the preservation of the main sites and archives associated with the deportations and the commemoration of the victims of Nazism and Stalinism.

A new programme "Europe for Citizens 2007-2013"

> Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing for the period 2007-2013 the programme "Citizens for Europe" to promote active European citizenship, COM(2005) 116 fin


> Common Position adopted by the Council with a view to the adoption of a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing for the period 2007-2013 the programme "Europe for Citizens" to promote active European citizenship:


> Provisional calendar 2007

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Last update: 10 August 2011 | Top of the page | Education & culture DG