92002E0094

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0094/02

by Glenys Kinnock (PSE) to the Council

(22 January 2002)

Subject: European Schools

Parents' participation in the governance of schools is becoming more prevalent in EU Member States. This is a welcome development and is in the interests of pupils, families, teachers, the well-being of schools and the strength of the various communities. The exception appears to be the European Schools in Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain and elsewhere since parents have little or no right to participate in the governance of the schools attended by their children. In view of the fact that all of the Member States are represented by national civil servants in the governing bodies of the European Schools, what arrangements are they prepared to undertake in order to ensure that, in the interests of democratic participation and inclusivity, there is appropriate parents' representation on those governing bodies?

The European Schools are quite rightly funded through budgets financed by Member States and are therefore of direct relevance to the European Parliament. Does the Council consider that the current arrangements allow for levels of staffing by qualified teachers and teachers' assistants that are equivalent to levels that are normal in the Member States of the EU at primary and secondary schools in the public sector?

Is the Council aware that the representatives which Member States appoint to the governing bodies of the European Schools are characteristically civil servants who do not live in the countries where the schools are located, do not have children in the schools, and do not have any clear collective responsibility for accounting for their decisions to any plainly defined body or group? The officials concerned may have expertise and experience in their own countries and they are likely to be well motivated. But by what means do Member States ensure that their representatives on the governing bodies of the European Schools are properly acquainted with the daily and strategic teaching and resource needs and with the levels of provision and performance of the schools?

Reply

(21 May 2002)

While the Council notes and understands the concerns expressed by the Honourable Member concerning the effective administration of the European Schools, it recalls that the European Schools were established on the basis of the Convention defining the statute of the European Schools, adopted in 1957, to which the Member States only (and not the European Community) are contracting Parties. The new Convention signed by the Community and the Member States on 21 June 1994, which inter alia modified the decision-making procedure within the organs of the Schools, has to date still only been ratified by 11 out of the 12 Member States signatories, and is consequently not yet entered into force. The questions raised therefore fall outside the institutional competence of the Council, and should be addressed to the Member States which are responsible for appointing the members of the Board of Governors.