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:
For Comenius:
To involve at least three million pupils in joint educational
activities, over the period of the programme;
For Erasmus:
To have supported an overall total of three million individual
participants in student mobility by 2012;
For
Leonardo da Vinci:
To increase placements in enterprises to 80,000 per year
by the end of the programme;
For Grundtvig To
support the mobility of 7,000 individuals involved
in adult education per year, by 2013.
> 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
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
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:
