What is the new programme about?

Following an extensive process of consultation, the European Commission has adopted ambitious proposals for a new generation of education and training programmes for the period 2007-2013. These will succeed the current Leonardo, Socrates, e-learning, Jean Monnet and Tempus Programmes, whose final activity year is 2006.
Following the period of consultation between November 2002 and February 2003 (in which the social partners participated), the European Commission published a Communication, "the new generation of Community education and training Programmes after 2006", outlining the content of two major new Programmes:

• An Integrated Action Programme in Lifelong Learning, for mobility and cooperation between EU, EEA/EFTA and Candidate Countries, which will subsume the existing Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and e-learning Programmes, and the Jean Monnet strand.

• A Tempus Plus Programme, for the countries neighbouring the EU and the existing Tempus countries, which will focus on cooperation and development in higher education, vocational training, and school and adult education.

After the publication of the Communication, the Commission refined its policies and in July 2004 presented these as a proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and the Council (COM (2004)474 final). The Commission saw its proposal as responding to four key factors:

• Changes across the EU whereby education and training systems were becoming increasingly integrated in a lifelong learning context;

• A growing awareness among Member States of the importance of placing education and training at the heart of the Lisbon strategy, aimed at making Europe the most competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010. This is echoed by the Bologna (higher education) and Copenhagen (vocational education and training) processes which are intended to strengthen the coherence and quality of European policies in their respective fields;

• A need to address the perceived fragmentation and lack of synergy present in the current Programmes;

• A need to simplify and rationalise the Community legislative instruments and administrative systems.

The Integrated Programme comprises four specific sectoral Programmes: Comenius, for pre-school and school education; Erasmus, for university level and advanced vocational education; Leonardo, for vocational education and training; Grundtvig, for adult education.

It also includes a new "Transversal Programme" with four Key Activities, focusing respectively on: policy development, language learning, information and communication technologies, and dissemination. The Integrated Programme also incorporates the former "Jean Monnet" activity which aims to support the development of bodies and institutions active in the field of European integration.

The overall budget finally agreed for the period 2007-2013 is € 7 billion.

Objectives

The overall policy objective is to contribute, through lifelong learning, to the development of the Community as an advanced knowledge society, with sustainable economic development, more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. It aims to foster interchange, cooperation and mobility between education and training systems within the EU, so that they become an internationally-recognised reference for quality.
The objectives assigned relate to the contribution of the Programme in terms of quality, innovation and accessibility of education and training provision; they set goals in terms of creativity, competitiveness, employability, personal fulfilment, social inclusion and European citizenship; they highlight priorities in the areas of language learning and equal access for citizens of all ages and conditions.
Within the sectoral Programmes, operational objectives have been set some of which are similar in order to underline the consistency of the integrated Programme as a whole.

Types of supported activities

• mobility of workers, students and trainers in lifelong learning systems in Europe

• multilateral projects designed to improve national education and training systems; unilateral and national projects; multilateral projects and networks

• surveys, statistics, actions to support transparency and recognition of qualifications, actions to support cooperation in quality assurance

• operating grants for organisations active in the fields covered by the Integrated Programme

• accompanying measures.

What's new

1. A simpler more flexible and decentralised Programme
2. More focus on European policy debates (Lisbon, Copenhagen, Bologna process)
3. no more sub-committees in the Programme Committee
4. decentralised funds, with 80% of the funds being administered by the national agencies
5. new decentralised selection procedure
6. The Western Balkans and Switzerland may participate in the future
7. A clearer separation of tasks between Commission, the national agencies and the Member State authorities

Eligible applicants and countries

Social partners, vocational training centres, research bodies, companies and small and medium enterprises from the 27 EU Member States, Turkey and EEA/EFTA countries.

Please keep checking the website of Executive Agency, for updates on the eligibility and the participation of new countries.

Priorities of the 2008 Call for proposals for Leonardo da Vinci subprogramme, and interest for Trade Unions

Trade unions are particularly interested in the specific priorities of the Leonardo da Vinci sub-programme. The 2008 Leonardo Call for Proposals is implemented through:

1. mobility projects and
2. partnerships
3. multilateral projects for transfer and development of innovation and networks,
4. thematic networks,
5. accompanying measures

Strategic priorities General call for proposals 2008-2010 (download document here)

Accompanying measures will support communication and thematic monitoring of projects.
The most interesting area for project proposals from trade unions, particularly in the field of trade union education, might be the "transfer and development of innovation and networks" (for example, a project aiming to adapt an educational multimedia database developed in certain countries for the benefit of schools and training centres or universities in other countries).

Details on the duration of activities, partnership arrangements, the EU contribution, advices and tips for trade unions projects can be found in the ETUI-REHS "The EU Lifelong Learning programme: a handbook for trade unions"

If you need special assistance in preparing your project proposal or suggestions on looking for partners, please contact us.

The Call for Proposals, including funding, eligibility rules, application packages and relevant contact details for further information, are also posted at the following EC web addresses :

http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/newprog/index_en.html

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/static/en/llp/index_en.htm