31992Y0616(01)

CONCLUSIONS OF THE COUNCIL of 1 June 1992 on the assessment of new Community programmes concerning education and training (92/C 151/04)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

In view of the increasing size and importance of Community programmes concerning education and training and the prospects for their future development;

Recalling the conclusions of the Council and of the Ministers for Education meeting within the Council of 6 October 1989 (1) on cooperation and Community policy in the field of education, which emphasize the need for effective management of education activities, taking into account the limits on financial resources,

HAS COME TO THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS:

1. Without prejudice to the evaluation by the Commission of current programmes and in the light of the principle of subsidiarity, all Community programmes concerning education and training should be assessed by means of criteria and procedures appropriate to their individual objectives.

2. Such assessment should involve a report identifying the situation that exists before the implementation of a programme (the initial report), a report on the first two years of the implementation of a programme, proposing any appropriate adaptations (the interim report) and a report drawn up after the conclusion of a programme (the final report).

3. The terms of reference of the assessment, in particular as regards the criteria, the indicators, the methods and the processes to be adopted, should be stated explicitly in the proposal for each programme. The participation and the responsibility of the Commission as well as the Member States in regard to the evaluation should be also made clear.

4. These terms of reference should make it possible not only to assess objectively the impact produced by programmes in relation to their specific objectives in all 12 Member States but also to establish clear links between their benefits and the resources allocated to them.

INVITES THE COMMISSION:

To take account of these conclusions in the preparation of new programmes, in order to ensure consistency between the assessment of common aspects of different programmes and also the necessary independence of the assessment system.

(1) OJ No C 277, 31. 10. 1989.