asked the Minister for Education if he will strive to secure better communication between EEC member states on education, on the improvement of statistics and documentation and on the Community recognition of academic diplomas and qualifications.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - EEC Education Co-operation.
59.
Mr. R. Burke
Yes. Resolutions adopted at the meeting of Ministers for Education held on 6th June last in Luxembourg had reference to the matters mentioned in the question from the Deputy.
I propose, with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to have a copy of these resolutions circulated with the Official Report.
Following are the resolutions:
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EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES |
Brussels, 18 June 1974 |
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T/309/74 (EN) |
The Council
NOTE
Subject: Summary of Decisions taken at the 290th Council meeting and the Conference of Ministers of Education of the Member States of the European Communities on 6 June 1974.
—European University Institute:
Progress report by the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee:
The Ministers of Education, meeting within the Council,
—approved the report by the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee;
—noted with satisfaction that the three ratifications still pending were about to be made, thus enabling the Convention to enter into force by mid-July 1975;
—emphasized their unanimous intention of expediting the preparatory work thereby enabling the Institute in effect to open its doors to research workers by the autumn of 1975;
—asked the Preparatory Committee to take appropriate steps to enable appointed members of the future High Council to meet on an informal basis at an early date in accordance with the most appropriate procedure;
—recognized that the standing of the Institute would be finally determined during the initial period by the choice of the teaching staff responsible for the academic work of the Institute;
—expressed their unanimous intention that this choice should be so made, in close collaboration with the appointed Principal of the Institute, as to guarantee achievement of the highest quality standards.
—Mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications.
[R/1384/74 (EN 36) (E.S. 101), R/677/74 (EN 14) (E.S. 54), 803/74 (ASS 517)]
The Council adopted the following Resolution:
The Council of the European Communities,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission of 11 March 1974;
Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament of 23 April 1974;
Whereas certain principles and guidelines should be laid down for the promotion of work relating to the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications,
T/309 e/74 (EN) ans/JH(el)
EEC:
Has adopted this Resolution:
I.The Council
—acknowledges that Directives on the right of establishment, in particular those concerning the liberal professions, are of importance in connection with education policies;
—emphasized that such Directives should be so drawn up that they do not impede efforts towards educational reform in the Member States of the Community;
—considers it appropriate that educational policies should make a positive contribution to freedom of establishment, in particular with regard to the liberal professions.
II.The Council expresses the wish that the further work in the field of the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications be guided by the endeavour to introduce flexibility and quality. In this connection, the Council agrees with the following guideline:
Given that despite the differences existing between one Member State and another in the courses of training there is in practice board comparability between the final qualifications giving access to identical fields of activity, the directives for the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and for the co-ordination of the conditions of access to the professions should resort as little as possible to the prescription of detailed training requirements.
III.In order to put this guideline into effect:
—lists of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications recognized as being equivalent should be drawn up,
—Advisory Committees, the terms of reference and composition of which are still to be determined, should be set up.
IV.The Council instructs the Permanent Representatives Committee to ensure, in co-operation with the Commission, that this Resolution is implemented, especially as regards the examination of the proposals for directives on the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications.
The Danish delegation provisionally agreed to accept this Resolution.
The Council also agreed that this Resolution would be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities for information purposes, after finalization in the official languages of the Communities.
—Co-operation in the field of education
[R/1351/74 (EN 34) + Corr. 1; R/676/74 (EN 13) + Corr. 1 + Corr. 2 (e) + Corr. 3 (i); R/676/1/74 (EN 13 rev. 1) (f); R/967/73 (EN 42) + Corr. 1 + Corr. 2; 1673/73 (EN 95); 193/74 (EN 8) + Corr. 1; 804/74 (ASS 516)].
Taking into account the Statements in the Minutes, given on page 7 below, the Ministers adopted the following Resolution:
"The Ministers of Education meeting within the Council,
—referring to the Final Communique of the Conference of Heads of State or of Government held at The Hague on 1 and 2 December 1969, and in particular to point 4 of this Communique in which the need to safeguard in Europe "an exceptional source of development, progress and culture" is affirmed and to the Final Communique of the Conference of Heads of State or of Government held in Paris on 19 and 20 October 1972.
—recalling the conclusions of their discussions on 16 November, and the proceedings of the Working Party of Senior Officials,
—taking account of the Commission communication of 6 March 1974 on education in the European Community,
—confirming the need to institute European co-operation in the field of education and their desire to achieve that co-operation by progressive stages in matters agreed upon in accordance with a procedure to be laid down.
HAVE ADOPTED THIS RESOLUTION:
I.Co-operation on Education shall be based on the following principles:
—the programme of co-operation initiated in the field of education, while being conducive to the progressive harmonization of the economic and social policies in the Community, must be adopted to the specific objectives and requirements of this field;
—on no account must education be regarded merely as a component of economic life;
—educational co-operation must make allowance for the traditions of each country and the diversity of educational policies and systems. Harmonization of these systems cannot, therefore, be considered an end in itself.
II.At the present stage, this co-operation will relate mainly to the following priority spheres of action:
—better facilities for the education and training of nationals of other Member States of the Communities and of non-member countries and their children;
—promotion of closer agreement between educational systems in Europe:
—compilation of up-to-date documentation and statistics on education;
—increase in co-operation between institutions of higher education;
—improvement in the possibilities of academic recognition of both diplomas and periods of study;
—encouragement of freedom of movement for and mobility of teachers students and research workers, in particular by the removal of administrative and social obstacles to free movement for such persons and the improvement of the teaching and learning of foreign languages;
—endeavours to create equal opportunity of free access to all forms of teaching and learning.
It is self-evident that there must be no bar to broaching any subject the study of which would appear to be necessary for the attainment of the results sought in these fields.
III.This co-operation must not hinder the exercise of the powers conferred on the Institutions of the European Communities.
IV.In order to define the spheres of action mentioned under point II, an Education Committee shall be set up, composed of representatives of the Member States and the Commission. Its Chairman shall come from the country which holds the office of President of the Council of Ministers. The Committee will report to the Education Ministers before 30th June 1975, in accordance with customary procedures.
Statements in the Minutes:
(1)It is expressly noted that point II presents certain essential aspects unquestionably falling within the competence of Community policies.
(2)in adopting point III, the Ministers stress the fact that the Commission and other Institutions and bodies of the Communities have both the right and authority to undertake initiatives within the scope of their respective competences.
(3)attention is drawn to the procedure adopted under point IV, which for the practical application of the consequences of decisions as presented under point II, creates a link between the tasks of the Council, of the Member States and of the Commission respectively.
(4)by way of a compromise, the words "the Council" and "the Representatives of the Member States" are not employed in the introduction which reads as follows: "the Ministers of Education meeting within the Council".
The Danish delegation agreed provisionally to accept this Resolution.
The Ministers agreed that this Resolution would be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities for information purposes, after the text had been finalized by the legal and linguistic experts.