Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2006)274-2 - Conclusion of the Agreement with the government of Canada establishing a framework for co-operation in the fields of higher education, training and youth - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2006)274-2 - Conclusion of the Agreement with the government of Canada establishing a framework for co-operation in the fields of ... |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2006)274  |
| date | 07-06-2006 |
The present proposal is set against the dual background of the European Union higher education agenda and EU/Canada relations which call, respectively, for higher education to become a world reference for relevance and excellence and for broader education cooperation.
Education has become an essential component of the Lisbon strategy, which calls for European Union education to become a world reference by 2010. Such an objective can only be achieved by keeping European education tuned to world developments and in particular by collaborating and testing approaches and standards against those in the world’s most developed countries like Canada.
The relations with Canada are characterised by a steady expansion of which the most recent expression is the adoption in 2004 of a “Partnership Agenda” which mentions the upgrade of the existing Agreement by improving access for all higher education and training institutions, and by increasing exchanges in number and scope. A specific reference is made to the inclusion of activities in the youth area not linked to formal education structures.
The current agreement was concluded in 2000 and renewed the EC/Canada programme for another five years ending in 2005. An external evaluation was undertaken from October 2004 to March 2005. The independent evaluation concluded that the programme is a powerful tool for establishing long lasting partnerships and synergies in higher education and vocational training over the Atlantic and that this has contributed to improving mutual understanding and the quality of human resource development. On 27 June 2005 the Commission adopted a communication on the results of this evaluation.
In accordance with the negotiating directives in the Annex to the Council decision of 24 October 2005 authorising the Commission to open negotiations for a new agreement with Canada, the Commission has negotiated a new agreement with Canada.
The present proposal concerns the signature and conclusion of an agreement between the European Community and the government of Canada establishing a framework for co-operation in the fields of higher education, training and youth (hereafter ‘the agreement’) for the period 2006-2013.
Objectives
1. The general objectives of this Agreement shall be to:
a) Promote mutual understanding between the peoples of the European Union and Canada including broader knowledge of their languages, cultures and institutions;
b) Improve the quality of human resources in both the European Community and Canada, by facilitating the acquisition of skills required to meet the challenges of the global knowledge-based economy.
2. The specific objectives of the Agreement shall be to:
a) Reinforce a European Community and a Canadian value-added dimension to transatlantic cooperation in higher education, training and youth;
b) Contribute to transatlantic exchanges between citizens of both the European Union and Canada;
c) Contribute to the development of higher education and training institutions, as well as youth structures and organisations;
d) Promote and/or enhance partnerships among stakeholders active in the areas of higher education, training and youth in the European Community and Canada;
e) Contribute to the professional development of individuals while achieving the general objectives of the Agreement;
f) Develop opportunities for dialogue and exchanges on youth policy and youth work.
3. The operational objectives of the Agreement shall be to:
a) Support collaboration between higher education and training institutions with a view to promoting and developing joint study and/or training programmes and student mobility;
b) Improve the quality of transatlantic student mobility by promoting transparency, mutual recognition of qualifications and periods of study and training, and where appropriate portability of credits;
c) Support collaboration among public and private organisations active in the areas of higher education, training and youth with a view to encouraging discussion and exchange of experience on policy issues;
d) Support transatlantic mobility of professionals (including professionals-in-training) with a view to improving mutual understanding, and expertise, of issues relevant to European Union/Canada relations;
e) Support collaboration among youth structures and organisations as well as youth workers, young leaders and other youth actors with a view to promoting exchanges of good practices and developing networks.
The EU/Canada agreement in higher education, training, and youth would be fully consistent with, and complementary to other EU instruments in these areas, giving the possibility of pursuing objectives of quality education through collaboration between the EU and Canada and bringing in a transatlantic people-to-people cooperation. The agreement would also complement the activities of the network of EU Centres of Excellence in Canadian universities in that it offers additional possibilities for exchanges and encourages structural cooperation between institutions and organisations from both sides of the Atlantic.
Contents
- CONSULTATIONS
- LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL
- BUDGETARY IMPLICATION
- OBJECTIVES OF THE PROPOSAL
- CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER POLICIES
- WITH STAKEHOLDERS
- Options examined
- Possible alternative designs for an expenditure programme
- Renewing the Agreement and expanding the scope of the present programme
- Assessment of positive and negative impacts of the options considered
- Reasons for choosing the present option
- Legal Basis
- Subsidiarity and proportionality
- DESCRIPTION OF THE INTERVENTION
- Higher education and training actions
- Youth action
- Complementary action
- The rationale for a budget increase
- Costing - Reference amounts for calculation purposes
- Higher education and training actions
- Youth
- Complementary action
- Target outputs
- Proposal for a
- Sole Article
- 6. The text of the Agreement is annexed to this decision
- For the Council
- 2001 Study on modalities for cooperation in vocational education and training
The study contracted by the Commission confirmed the value of EC/Canada cooperation in vocational training. Vocational training institutions are not necessarily well prepared for transatlantic cooperation yet there is great potential for mutual enrichment through this type of collaboration, which offers new opportunities for transatlantic mobility to students, trainees and staff who otherwise would not have access to them. The study noted that for a vocational training strand to coexist with higher education, a significant budget increase would be necessary.
- Interim external evaluation
An external evaluation was concluded in early 2005. The evaluation confirmed the effectiveness and relevance of the programme and that the programme is beneficial for the institutions, faculties and students involved. The programme is, however, considered too small to have had an impact on the mutual understanding between the people of the European Union and Canada. The evaluators suggest in particular introducing a system of additional mobility grants for successful projects. On 27 June 2005 the Commission adopted a communication on the results of this evaluation.[1]
- Canada-EU Youth Seminar
A pilot seminar for youth organisations and youth workers from the European Union and from Canada was held in November 2004. The seminar confirmed the interest and the demand on both sides to share experiences in areas of concern for young people, such as citizenship and cultural diversity, volunteering, recognition and promotion of non-formal learning. The main recommendations of the seminar are to continue dialogue among policy makers and to facilitate the exchange of best practices and the sharing of resources among youth work practitioners.
Approaches and instruments : Policy dialogue and co-ordination
Policy dialogue between the European Union and Canada can certainly contribute to a better understanding of education, training and youth strategies, generate exchanges of best practices and ultimately lead to measures that have a direct impact on citizens.
However, policy dialogue alone may not induce bottom-up, people-to-people innovative collaboration, or the enhancement of high quality mobility of young people and better access for young people and organisations to transatlantic exchange experiences. Specific actions are needed to encourage and support such activity.
Integration into existing or proposed frameworks
The existing education and training programmes such as “ Socrates” and “ Leonardo da Vinci” are designed for and exclusively target the public of the Member States. The decision-making process, typology of actions and implementation mechanisms are not well suited for EU/Canada bilateral cooperation in the fields of higher education and training. The same applies to the future Lifelong learning programme.
“Erasmus Mundus” seeks to enhance the quality of higher education in the European Union and promote it world-wide through a scholarship scheme for third country students and scholars. Erasmus Mundus has not been designed for bilateral exchanges, international curriculum development and institutional cooperation. It does not concern vocational training or youth and it focuses on graduate level while the proposed framework for cooperation with Canada focuses primarily on activities at undergraduate level.
Other external programmes are also unsuitable for achieving the objectives of the EU/Canada bilateral cooperation proposed here.
Although the current Youth programme (and, if adopted, the future Youth in Action programme) does allow, in principle, for cooperation with third countries, this cooperation is limited in scope and mainly focussed on the neighbouring countries. It is also not designed for bilateral cooperation. The proposed bilateral EU/Canada agreement would therefore complement this programme.
The proposed agreement and the framework for cooperation it would set up does not represent a radical departure from the present cooperation. However it would respond to the objectives of the EU-Canada Partnership Agenda by enhancing possibilities for exchange, give better access to all potential beneficiaries and provide a new framework for cooperation in the youth field.
The actions in the agreement would take into account the lessons drawn from past experience by differentiating between higher education and vocational training, building on excellence and enhancing exchanges of students and young people.
The evaluation found that the small budget of the present programme has limited the programme’s potential impact on higher education and prevented the development of significant cooperation in the field of vocational training. The framework for cooperation to be created by the proposed agreement entails a budget increase from 0,8m€ to an average of 2m€ per annum.
In achieving its objectives, the actions envisaged in the agreement would have a positive short term and long term impact on young people as well as on institutions and organisations dealing with higher education, training and youth issues.
Transatlantic mobility would give participants valuable experience that will help them to better integrate in today’s society and knowledge economy. Collaboration between institutions would help them to improve their curricula and teaching methods by learning from each other’s best practices and by jointly developing new approaches. In the long term, collaboration would help to maintain the very good level of people-to-people understanding that exists between the European Union and Canada.
There are no conflicts between impacts at social, economic or environmental level.
There is a widespread consensus that higher education should remain a central component of the agreement. At the same time, the actions envisaged in the agreement would also give access to transatlantic cooperation for vocational education and training organisations that would not otherwise engage in such co-operation. The agreement would also be widened in scope so as to cover youth actions, seeking to develop new cooperation in the field of non-formal education for young people between the European Union and Canada.
In the framework of lifelong training, and to reinforce the people-to-people dimension of the EU/Canada relations, the cooperation actions would be open also to young professionals, mainly outside academia and the public administration world, who want to follow studies, or undertake training, in areas of specific relevance to the EU/Canada relationship, which will be identified in consultation with the Canadian authorities.
The impact of the agreement would be enhanced with the introduction of policy-oriented projects with systemic impact and of youth actions. These projects would be aimed at increasing knowledge about, and exchanging best practices regarding lifelong learning that are of common interest for the European Union and partner countries and that can have an impact beyond those directly involved in their implementation .
The proposal is based on articles 149, 150 and 300 of the Treaty.
The agreement would complement bilateral cooperation schemes between Member States and Canada by proposing a multilateral framework for cooperation. It would fully respect Member States’ competence leaving the initiative to target institutions and organisations. The proposed agreement does not contemplate any regulatory approach which would conflict with Member States exclusive competence in this area.
The cooperation envisaged would be a low cost operation with potentially significant impacts. Proportionality is ensured.
The agreement would pursue its objectives through the following actions:
The target public of this action would be higher education and vocational training institutions and organisations, and their staff, students and trainees. The action will respond to two specific objectives, namely, contributing to the development of higher education and vocational training institutions and organisations as well as increasing the mobility of staff, students and trainees.
This type of projects would largely consist of a continuation of the type of joint projects currently funded. Consortia projects would focus on priority fields which are key to EU/Canada cooperation, to be identified in consultation with the Canadian authorities.
Also under this action, projects that prove to be of outstanding quality could receive further financial support at the end of the initial 3 or 4-year period, granted exclusively to fund additional opportunities for student mobility. This measure would enhance the profile of this action, placing the emphasis on excellence. This would increase the motivation of funded projects to deliver and contribute to sustainability of good quality mobility projects.
The target public for this measure would be youth structures, organisations and youth workers and the focus on activities aimed at:
a) facilitating a dialogue and an exchange of best practices as well as the sharing of tools on youth work methodology among policy makers, youth work practitioners, youth organisations, and other structures responsible for youth matters including youth mobility. These activities would include seminars, training courses, job shadowing and study visits on targeted themes, e.g. cultural diversity, volunteering and recognition of non-formal learning.
b) building sustainable new multilateral partnerships and networks with a view to further cooperation and youth mobility among the participating organisations, through meetings, internet platforms, sharing of information etc.
Under this action support may be granted to policy-oriented measures. The target public of these policy-oriented measures would be organisations dealing with higher education and vocational training. These measures would pursue the specific objective of enhancing collaboration between the EU and Canada as regards the development of higher education and vocational training, focusing on priority themes. In the longer term, these measures would have an impact on policy and system development. Activities under this category could include studies, conferences, seminars, working groups, benchmarking exercises.
Under this action support may be provided for the mobility of professionals, mainly from outside the academia and public administration (decision makers, social partner representatives, journalists, etc.) who want to undertake studies or training, in areas of specific relevance to the EU/Canada relationship, which would be identified in consultation with the Canadian authorities.
Financial support may be provided also to an Alumni Association involving students who have participated in exchanges implemented by the EC/Canada consortia in higher education and vocational training.
The proposed actions would cost a maximum of 17.4m€ (of which 1m€ for youth actions) over an eight year period (2006-2013), provided that matching funds are made available by Canada.
The agreement contains a clause allowing a reorientation of activities and, therefore, the reassessment of the budget allocated to the agreement within the limits of the financial perspective.
As indicated under 5.2, the small budget of the present programme has limited its potential impact on higher education and prevented the development of significant cooperation in the field of vocational training.
This section is based on current assumptions regarding the operation of the various actions envisaged in the agreement. However, the definitive costing will depend on annual funding effectively available and the precise implementation modalities of the actions, which are yet to be defined in detail by the Parties.
Consortia: 138.000 € resulting from 120.000 € for mobility grants (1000 € per month + 1000 € for travel per student for average study periods of 4 months for a total of 24 students) and 18.000 € in lump sumps for consortia partners. Where projects do not involve mobility the average grant would be 100.000 €.
Excellence: 100.000 € for additional mobility opportunities (1000 € per month + 1000 € for travel per student for average study periods of 4 months for a total of 20 students).
Exchange of best practices, multilateral partnerships and networks: the calculation is based on an average cost of 20.000 € per project. The EU contribution will mainly cover travel costs for EU participants as well as costs related to the hosting of the activity in the EU (mainly accommodation and daily allowances).
Policy-Oriented Measures: 100.000 €
Individual mobility grants: 32.000 € (5.000 € per month + 2.000 € for travel per grantee for average grant duration of 6 months)
Support for the Alumni association could be estimated at 15.000 € per year.
The envisaged actions will support some 210 projects over an eight year period (see details under point 8 of the Financial Statement). 4.430 EU and Canadian people will participate in mobility activities over the duration of the agreement.
COUNCIL DECISION
on the signature of the Agreement between the European Community and the government of Canada establishing a framework for co-operation in the fields of higher education, training and youth
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article Articles 149 and 150 in conjunction with the first sentence of the first subparagraph of Article 300 i thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission i,
Whereas:
1. By its decision of 24 October 2005 the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate with the government of Canada an agreement renewing the cooperation programme in the fields of higher education, training and youth.
2. On behalf of the Community, the Commission negotiated an agreement with the government of Canada in accordance with the directives in the Annex to the Council decision authorising the Commission to negotiate with the government of Canada an agreement renewing the cooperation programme in the fields of higher education, training and youth.
3. The Community and the government of Canada 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 government of Canada and provide a European added value;
4. It is necessary to sign the Agreement negotiated by the Commission in view of its possible conclusion at a later date.
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:
5. Subject to its conclusion at a later date, the President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person or the persons empowered to sign on behalf of the Community the Agreement between the European Community and the government of Canada establishing a framework for cooperation in the fields of higher education, training and youth.
Done at Brussels,
The President