52000PC0656(01)

Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION concerning the signature of the Agreement between the European Community and the United States of America renewing the co-operation programme in higher education and vocational education and training

(presented by the Commission)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

I. Introduction

1. The Treaty establishing the European Community calls for the Community and the Member States to foster cooperation with third countries in the field of education and the sphere of vocational training. Such cooperation is to take place against the backdrop of the Community's general development of quality education and its implementation of a vocational training policy, whilst fully respecting the responsibility of the Member States for the content and organisation.

2. Existing and past European Community education and vocational training programmes have had, and continue to have, a highly positive impact on the development of Member States' education and vocational training policies and systems. They have contributed to the emergence of a European space for education and vocational training through, in particular, the encouragement of mobility and increasing recognition of study and training periods, as well as the creation of transnational structural co-operation networks.

3. In its 1995 White Paper "Teaching and learning - Towards the learning society", the Commission stated that the emergence of the learning society entailed encouraging the acquisition of new knowledge and, to this end, providing motivation to learn at every opportunity.

4. The conclusions of the Lisbon European Council (23-24 March 2000) emphasised the fact that the European Union has been confronted with a quantum shift resulting from globalisation and the challenges of a new knowledge-driven economy. If Europe is to meet the challenge and seize the opportunities - in terms of economic growth, as well as enhanced employment and social welfare - that this rapidly changing environment presents, then Member States' education and vocational training systems need to adapt to the demands of the knowledge society.

5. In this new era of globalisation and interdependence, the Community's search for new strategies in education and vocational training cannot be confined only to the geographical limits of the European Community or the wider Europe. Rather, it should also be conducted in co-operation with countries and regions outside the European Community, and in particular with those whose education and vocational training systems have achieved a high degree of development.

6. Increasingly, the presence of foreign students, trainees and staff in a given country is taken as an indication of the perceived value of that country's education and vocational training systems. At the same time, for the country concerned the presence of foreign students, trainees and academic staff is increasingly valued as a source of new ideas and a potential enrichment of its education and training systems. Third country education and vocational training co-operation schemes may contribute to a better understanding of the standards that determine world academic and vocational training mobility and project a more dynamic and attractive image of the European learning space to third country students, teachers and administrators. They may also lead directly to employment opportunities, both in the Community and elsewhere.

7. Co-operation with third countries, as provided for in Articles 149.3 and 150.3 of the EC Treaty, is therefore no longer an option but rather a necessary dimension of the Community's overall strategy for education and vocational training.

8. In addition, co-operation in areas such as education and vocational training contributes to the strengthening of relations with third countries. The consolidation of the European Community on the international scene must be accompanied by concrete, positive co-operation actions.

9. The present proposal to renew the Agreement between the European Community and the United States of America establishing a co-operation programme in higher education and vocational training should be seen against this general backcloth. More particularly, the US is an acknowledged world economic leader and plays a prominent role in the emergence of the new knowledge-based economy and the globalisation process. Cooperation in these fields is of mutual benefit.

10. The changes in the world scene that have taken place over the last decade prompted a revision of the traditional partnership between the European Community and the United States. As a result, both the European Community and the United States committed themselves, inter alia, actively to encourage closer links between the peoples on both sides of the Atlantic.

11. The existing Agreement [1] has proved to be a highly positive component of Transatlantic relations and has been acknowledged by both sides as having been amongst the most concrete contributions to building bridges of friendship and understanding between the peoples and institutions of the European Community and the United States. It has thus embodied the new partnership. The cooperation that was set up under the agreement has been very successful in creating innovative and structural institutional links that have a clear added value to existing bilateral cooperation schemes. The proposed renewal of the Agreement would build on and consolidate these results.

[1] OJ No L279, 22.11.1995

II. Background

1. Following the signature of the 1990 Transatlantic Declaration by the European Community and its Member States, the Commission presented a Communication [2] to the Council on possible avenues for co-operation between the European Community and the United States of America in the fields of education and training. The Council consequently invited the Commission to consider the preparation of a draft agreement with the United States. An exploratory phase of co-operation involving higher education institutions from the European Community and the United States of America was launched in 1993. The European Parliament played a supportive part in encouraging the establishment of cooperation with third countries in general and, as a twin-arm of the budgetary authority, in the development of the pilot project in particular.

[2] SEC(92) 1023 final

2. Drawing from the positive experience of this pilot phase, the current Agreement between the European Community and the United States establishing a co-operation programme in higher education and vocational training was concluded in 1995, for a duration of five years (1995-2000). The 1995 New Transatlantic Agenda and the Joint EC/US Action Plan were adopted shortly afterwards, and it should be noted that the EC/US Action Plan recognised under Action IV - Building Bridges across the Atlantic - the value of the Agreement as a catalyst for a broad spectrum of innovative and co-operative activities of direct benefit to students and teachers.

3. As set out in the Agreement, the first two objectives of the 1995 cooperation programme were: the promotion of mutual understanding between the peoples of the European Community and the United States of America, and the improvement of the quality of human resource development in both the European Community and the United States. The programme pursued its objectives primarily by means of student-centred structural co-operation carried out by joint consortia. The joint consortia were composed of a minimum of three active partners on each side, including at least two partner higher education or training institutions on each side in different Member States of the Community and different States of the United States of America.

4. Internal monitoring of progress, sustained by an independent evaluation carried out in 1999, revealed the high added value of EC/USA co-operation in that:

- it contributes to reinforcing intra-Community links;

- it complements and diversifies traditional bilateral co-operation arrangements;

- it provides a testing ground for Community co-operation methods, such as the recourse to multilateral networks or the use of the European Credit Transfer Scheme;

- it provides a wider framework for the development of new education and training strategies and methodologies;

- it provides a framework for sustained multilateral co-operation involving the EC, its Member States and the United States of America.

5. The internal monitoring and the results of the external evaluation led the Commission to conclude that:

- the multilateral network project approach (joint consortia) as well as the focus on students contributed successfully to the achievement of the programme's objectives;

- greater emphasis, however, needed to be placed on the recognition of periods of study and training within projects;

- co-operation on vocational training had not been significantly developed and a more proactive, tailor-made approach would be required to this end;

- in order to achieve all of the above, the programme would need to be endowed with higher financial resources.

6. Exploratory talks revealed the firm desire of the United States of America to continue and widen the existing co-operation.

7. In view of all of the above, the Commission tabled Recommendations for a Council decision authorising the negotiation of the renewal of the existing 1995 Agreement [3]. The decision was adopted by the Council on 22 May 2000.

[3] SEC(99)2075 final

8. Negotiations duly took place in Washington on 10-11 July 2000 and resulted in the attached draft agreement.

III. Description of the programme

1. The programme is consistent with the negotiation directives issued by the Council and also reflects the views of the United States of America as to the objectives and the means to achieve them. It therefore:

- encompasses both higher education and vocational training;

- maintains and reinforces the multilateral network approach (joint consortia) as a model for co-operation: joint consortia will be formed by a minimum of three partners from three European Community Member States and three partners from three states in the United States of America; they will be funded for a period of up to three years;

- provides - through preparatory and project development activities - a mechanism for the development of innovative co-operation, both in terms of partners and themes, designed in particular to encourage greater involvement of the vocational training sector;

- clearly positions the provision of Fulbright/European Union scholarships as one of the axes of EC/USA co-operation;

- provides a framework for wider co-operation in the fields of education and training through complementary measures.

IV. Complementarity and subsidiarity

1. The programme will continue to build on intra-Community links, thus reinforcing the European dimension of education and, at the same time, will contribute to the diversification of existing bilateral co-operation between the United States of America and Member States.

2. The joint consortia model of co-operation will help higher education and vocational training institutions which already have experience in certain areas of transatlantic co-operation to enter new ones. It will also allow institutions with no experience of transatlantic co-operation to become involved and thus gain valuable experience, either as project leaders or as project partners. Complementary measures will enhance the benefits of the programme, allow experimentation with new forms of co-operation in education and training and help to exploit synergies with other relevant Community initiatives involving the United States of America.

3. The support provided though the programme will, in particular, benefit vocational training institutions. While there is a well-established intra-Community co-operation in the field of vocational training, it is a fact that vocational training institutions are less equipped for transatlantic co-operation than higher education institutions. The vocational training sector and those involved in it must be given real opportunities to benefit from all the gains that transatlantic cooperation may produce.

4. Through multilateral co-operation, which involves cultural and linguistic preparation, as well as through the provision of Fulbright scholarships, the programme will contribute to an increasing understanding of the cultural and linguistic diversity of the European Community.

5. The programme's Joint Committee will provide a forum for multilateral discussion that will benefit the relevant authorities of the parties involved.

V. Conclusion

1. The programme renewed by the draft agreement attached to the present draft Council decision will complement existing Community co-operation in the fields of education and vocational training and fully respect Member States' bilateral activities. The programme will provide a framework for the search for innovative solutions to the challenges posed by the emerging knowledge-based economy, through student-based structural co-operation and other co-operative activities with a durable impact.

2. The draft agreement furthers the co-operation strategy as set out in the 1995 New Transatlantic Agenda and the EC/US Joint Action Plan. The Agreement will contribute further to strengthening links between the peoples from both sides of the Atlantic.

3. The Commission considers that the draft agreement is acceptable to the Cpmmunity. Accordingly it proposes that the Council:

a) approves the results of the negotiation;

b) decides to sign the agreement and

c) initiates the procedure for its conclusion.

4. Hence, the Commission proposes that the Council adopt the attached proposal for a decision.

Indicative timetable leading to the conclusion of the Agreement

Mid-October // Submission of Council proposals by the Commission

Early December at the latest // Council decides on signature

18 December // Signature at the US-EU Summit

January/February // European Parliament gives opinion

Council decides on conclusion and carries out notification as provided for in article 12 of the agreement

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DECISION

concerning the signature of the Agreement between the European Community and the United States of America renewing the co-operation programme in higher education and vocational education and training

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 149 and 150 in conjunction with the first sentence of article 300 (2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1) by its Decision of 22 May 2000 the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate agreements for cooperation in higher education and vocational training between the European Community, Canada and the United States of America;

(2) the Community and the United States of America expect to obtain mutual benefit from such co-operation, which must, on the Community's side, be complementary to the bilateral programmes between the Member States and the United States of America and provide a European added value;

(3) it is necessary to sign the Agreement between the European Community and the United States of America renewing a co-operation programme in higher education and vocational education and training,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The signature, subject to conclusion, of the Agreement between the European Community and the United States of America renewing the co-operation programme in higher education and vocational education and training is hereby approved on behalf of the Community.

The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.

Article2

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person or persons empowered to sign the Agreement on behalf of the Community.

Done at Brussels.

For the Council

The President