ISSN 1023-3725

Le Magazine EDUCATION AND CULTURE IN EUROPE ISSUE 19 - 2003

n t › m e rge n la ‹ E

European Commission Directorate-General for Education and Culture In the field the In Dossier Reproduction isauthorisedprovided thesourceisacknoledged. Graphic designandillustration: Office forOfficialPublications oftheEuropeanCommunities, 2003 The viewsexpressedin thispublicationarenotnecessarilythoseof theCommission. Production: Editor: Education andCultureDG,Fax(32-2)2964259,E-mail:[email protected] Internet:http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm , Alain Dumort Qwentès 18 Promoting a common cultural areaculturalcommon Promotinga 18 values promotingEU and countriescandidate the of identity Preservingthe 11 21 East Europeans now ready to play in the MEDIA club MEDIA the in play readytoEuropeans now East industry fragilemovierenaissance A the of 21 neighbours the know to Getting 20 19 Voyagediscoveryof Youngheart at 17 west the in worksgovernment learnhow students Hungarian 16 15 horizons its expands Erasmus fruition to14Ploteus comes 12 23 LOKI fosters integration through language and culture LOKIand fostersthroughintegrationlanguage countriescandidate the in Foreignskills language 23 22 6 On the road to accessionroadto the On enlargement EU in Culture:pioneers and Education 6 WallBerlin the of fall the of wake the enlargementin EU 6 5 members futureEU the of outline 4An 8 Spotlight on education and training: the challenges for the candidate countriescandidate the challengesfor the training: and education on Spotlight 8 . Brussels. Enlar B-1049 BrusselsTel. (32-2)29911 11, Fax(32-2)29501 38 Rumeurs and Mostra! Brussels. Printed inBelgium. © EuropeanCommunities, 2003 Directorate-General for Education andCulture

#19 Summary 2 gement

#19 Editorial 3 sustain theverycontrasts thatmaketheEurope of25+sorichandcomplex.Educationtraining, beingattheheartofthese Cultural andlinguisticdiversity willincrease withenlargement, thusrequiring aredoubling ofoureffortstounderstand, respect, and r pean identity. Collaboration ensures thattheseprojects haveaEuropean dimension atallstagesoftheir want ustothinkbeyondnationalboundarieslookattherole ofculture inthedevelopmentofaEuro- mote theshared culture andhistoricalheritageofthepeople ofEurope. Aswitheducationandtraining, I entertainment andinsightsthathelpfostermutualunderstanding. Butitisequallyourresponsibility topro- ro On thewidercultural arena, Europe-wide media—television,film,musicalready playacrucialcultural training. Europe isuniquelyplacedtodevelopasaworldwidecentre ofexcellenceinthefieldeducationand Furthermore, allofthesestrategies haveimplicationsbeyond Europe’s boundaries.Inhavingsomuchtooffer, wherever theyhavebeenacquired andatwhateverstage in life,toberecognised throughout theUnion. I shallbeforging aheadwithmeasures thatwillallowEuropeans tohavetheirdiplomasandqualifications, tion fortomorrow’s Europe. Commission ispromoting anintegrated strategy toencompassallthenecessaryaspectsofeducation,training, research andinnova- classrooms toallowlifelonglearningbecomeareality. Itiswiththisobjective—thecreation ofa'knowledge-based'EU— needs ofmutualunderstanding, butitwillalsoneedsystemsthatreach beyondtheconfinesoftraditional schoolandunive ours, willbecomeevenmore importanttotheenlarged .Inthebroadest sense,educationwillhavetorespond tothe ealisation. le inhelpinguscross nationalboundariesasarmchairtravellers, givingusakaleidoscopeofinformation, nurture oursocialandcultural strengths toenhancethequalityoflivesallourcitizens. cooperation. Itisauniqueopportunitytobuildonourfirmeconomicfoundationsand,justasimportantly, to approximately 475millionEuropeans, ushers inanewera ofpolitical,economicandsocialconsolidation of negotiationsfortheaccession10 newMemberStatesinMay2004.Thishistoricagreement, uniting On 13December2002 inCopenhagen,EUheadsofstateorgovernmentannouncedthesuccessfulconclusion Foreword Viviane Reding, its distinctandindividualcultures. new genuinelyEuropean area foreducationandculture thatbothunitesallofitsnationsandpreserves so thatEuropeans willhavea world-classeducationsystem,accessibletoall,andwillbeparticipantsina confidence tobeevenmore ambitious inthefuture. We haveasetofagreed objectivestoachieveby2010 ments havegivenusvaluableexperienceonwhichtobuild.We knowwhatwecandoandthisgivesus of education,training andyouth, followedbytheCulture 2000programme andMEDIAPlus.Theseachieve- grammes thathavehelpedusachievesomuch:Tempus, Socrates, Leonardo daVinciandYouth inthefield At thiscrucialpointinEurope’s history, itisfittingthatweshouldlookbackonthe successfulactionpro- Member oftheEuropean Commission,responsible forEducationandCulture. thatthe

endeav- rsity S S S P P C HUNGARY P C ESTONIA P C CZECH REPUBLIC P C LATVIA G G G G G P P P P P P OF POST WITH P OF POST WITH P C CY OF POST WITH P OF POST WITH P OF POST WITH N N N N N S S ca from thepresent situationinEUMemberStates. Thefollowing overview oftheirbasicindi- new Member States in2004.Their social andeconomic profile is,insomeways,different Thirteen countries have appliedfor EUmembership. Ten ofthemare ontrack to become the situationin2000. (Statistical Office oftheEuropean Communities)andreflects, unless otherwisementioned, RAEAREA URFACE AREA URFACE AREA URFACE AREA URFACE AREA URFACE OPULATION A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION BI XEDTR NEUAINA A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION PTLCITY APITAL CITY APITAL CITY APITAL CITY APITAL CITY APITAL OSDMSI PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS ME FMBL PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER GDP ( ( GDP ( GDP GDP ( GDP ( PRUS tors 3 3 3 3 3 - - - - - :74% ): 7.4 % ): 4.4 % ): 5.7 :63% ): 6.3 % ): 4.7 EODR EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY :1 :0 :2 :1 :1 :Riga : Budapest :T :Pr :Nicosia , centred ontheeconomy andeducation, isbasedondata collected byEurostat :64 :93 :45 :78 : 9251 km 0.3 million 0 million .757 million .4 million .4 million allinn ague 589 km 030 km 227 km 866 km (per capita)( (per capita)( (per capita)( (per capita)( (per capita)( 2 ( ( ( ( ( 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 ): 31 ): 39 ): 41 ): 27 ): 16 4% : 14 : : : % : 25.2 30—34 30—34 30—34 30—34 30—34 23% 32.3 96% 19.6 % 14.9 % % % % % 1 1 1 1 1 ): 6700 ): 11 500 ): 8600 ): 13200 ): 19400 C SLOVAKIA C POLAND C MALTA S S S S G G G G P P P P C LITHUANIA P P P P OF POST WITH OF POST WITH P OF POST WITH P OF POST WITH P P N N N N RAEAREA URFACE AREA URFACE AREA URFACE RAEAREA URFACE BI XEDTR NEUAINA A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION BI XEDTR NEUAINA A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION PTLCITY APITAL CITY APITAL CITY APITAL CITY APITAL OSDMSI PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS ME FMBL PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER ME FMBL PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER D ( GDP GDP ( ( GDP ( GDP 3 3 3 3 - - - - :43% ): 4.3 % ): 5 % ): 4.7 % ): 6.5 EODR EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY : :0 : 3.7million :5 :Brati :Warsaw :Va : Vilnius 38.6 million : :3 : 316 km :6 .391 million .4 million 49 035km2 lletta 12 685km 5 300km slava 2 (per capita)( (per capita)( (per capita)( (per capita)( ( ( ( ( 2 2 2 2 2 2 ): 14 ): 21 ): 17 ): 30 of thefuture EUMembers : :10.8% :10.9% :n.c. 30—34 30—34 30—34 30—34 65% 46.5 % % % % 1 1 1 1 ): 7500 ): 10 800 ): 8900 ): 12600 N N N N S S C P C SLOVENIA P C subject tothefulfilmentofpoliticalcriteria) P C P P P P G G G OF POST WITH P OF POST WITH P OF POST WITH P OF POST WITH P S S P G (4) Basedonnational sources (1998). cator oflifelonglearning (3) (2) Per 100 population.EU 15=41 (in1999). (1) Inpurchasing powerstandards (PPS). RAEAREA URFACE RAEAREA URFACE AREA URFACE AREA URFACE BI XEDTR NEUAINA A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION BI XEDTR NEUAINA A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION A AS EDUCATION ON EXPENDITURE UBLIC AGED POPULATION OF ROPORTION OPULATION PTLCITY APITAL PTLCITY APITAL CITY APITAL CITY APITAL OSDMSI PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS OSDMSI PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS PRODUCT DOMESTIC ROSS ME FMBL PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER ME FMBL PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER PHONES MOBILE OF UMBER D ( GDP D ( GDP GDP ( GDP ( Source: Eurostat, European report onqualityindi- 4 3 3 3 - - - - :6% ): 6 ): notavailable % ): 3.4 ): notavailable EODR EDUCATION SECONDARY EODR EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY EDUCATION SECONDARY :2 : : : (initiation ofaccessionnegotiations :Ljub :An : : Bucharest 65.3 million 22.4 million 8.2 million Sofia (accession plannedfor2007) : : : : (accession plannedfor2007) million 20 273km 769 604km 238 291 km 110 kara ljana 971 km (per capita)( (per capita)( (per capita)( (per capita)( ( ( ( ( 2 (2002). 2 2 2 2 2 2 ): 55 ): 22 ): 9 ): 2 9 : : % : 8.9 % : 19.3 30—34 30—34 30—34 30—34 71% 17.1 not available % % % % 1 1 1 1 ): 15600 ): 5900 ): 5200 ): 6 300

#19 Dossier 4 European Union

Accession planned for 2004

Estonia

Accession planned Latvia for 2007 Lithuania

Poland Initiation of accession negotiations subject to the fulfilment of political Czech Rep. criteria Slovakia

Hungary Slovenia Romania

Bulgaria

Turkey

Malta Cyprus

EU enlargement in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall

1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall. 1999 The Helsinki European Council decides to open accession nego- The European Community creates the Phare programme to pro- tiations with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and vide financial support to the reform process of central and Slovakia. eastern European countries. The Helsinki European Council confirms Turkey as a candidate 1990 Cyprus and Malta apply for EC membership. country for EU membership. Launch of the Tempus programme, focused on the reform of the 2000 Accession negotiations begin with Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, higher education sector in central and eastern European countries. Malta, Romania and Slovakia. 5 1993 The European Union (EU) replaces the European Community. The Nice European Council endorses the European Commission’s The European Council establishes the Copenhagen criteria, which enlargement strategy laying out the 'road map' for accession all candidate countries must fulfil before becoming EU Member negotiations. The Nice Treaty provides for the reforms of the EU’s States. The criteria include having stable political institutions institutions by setting down the number of votes in the Euro- that guarantee democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and pean Council, the number of seats in the European Parliament, protection of minorities. Candidate countries must also have a and the number of commissioners in the European Commission. #19 Dossier functioning market economy and transpose all EU laws — known 2002 12-13 December: The Copenhagen Council confirms the suc- as the acquis communautaire — into national legislation. cessful conclusion of accession negotiations with Cyprus, the 1994 Hungary and Poland apply for EU membership. Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, 1995 Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia apply Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Bulgaria and Romania continue for EU membership. their preparation for accession with 2007 as their target date for 1996 The Czech Republic and Slovenia apply for EU membership. membership. For Turkey, the initiation of accession negotiations 1997 The Commission’s Agenda 2000 examines the impact of enlarge- remains subject to the fulfilment of the political criteria. ment on EU policies and recommends opening negotiations with 2003 16 April: Signature of the Accession Treaty by the current EU the best-prepared candidates. Member States and the 10 acceding countries (Cyprus, the Czech The Luxembourg European Council gives its green light for the Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, beginning of the accession negotiations. Slovakia and Slovenia) in Athens. Opening of the Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci and Youth pro- 2004 1 May: Candidate countries which have concluded accession grammes to the candidate countries (except Turkey, applicant negotiations and ratified their enlargement treaty are expected country since 1987). to join the European Union. 1998 Accession negotiations begin with Cyprus, the Czech Republic, June: 25 Member States participate in the European Parliament Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. elections. in theEuropean Parliament electionsofJune2004. ForBulgaria candidate countries tobecomeMembers intimeforparticipation didate countries concerned.Thisshouldthen allow these10 have tobedrafted andratified byallMember Statesandthecan- in Copenhagenfor10 ofthem,andnowtheaccessiontreaty will Malta, RomaniaandSlovakia).They concludedinDecember2002 Slovenia), andin2000withsixothers (Bulgaria,Latvia,Lithuania, (the CzechRepublic,Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Accession negotiationsbeganinMarch 1998withsixcountries months toseveral years. be provisionally closed.Thewholeprocess maytakefrom several tion are necessaryorwhetherthechapterundernegotiationcan with theacquis,anddecidewhetheramendmentstolegisla- examine thenationallegislationthoroughly toseeifitisinline legislation totheEU.Atthatstage,EUanditsMemberStates required lawsintotheirnationallegislationandpresent therevised national law. Thecandidatecountriesthenincorporate the T T grammes were thefirst torespond tothispolicy. Bythen, Tempus candidate countriesinpreparation foraccession.Educationpro- Copenhagen, 1993),itwasdecidedtoopenEUprogrammes tothe Once accessioncriteriahadbeenagreed (European Council, participating countries. institutions ofhigherlearninginEUMemberStatesandthose cation sectorinthesecountries,encouraged cooperation between 1990 specificallytorespond totheneedreform thehigheredu- of educationandculture. TheTempus programme, establishedin set of EU legislation, known as the as known legislation, EU of set a process ofnegotiating,chapter bychapter, howthey willadopt, implement andenforce theentire Before candidate countries can become Member States of the European Union they must go through enlargement. on negotiations the beforelongof conclusion participation the their ensuring so 1997, in grammes pro-culture and education its to accesscountries candidate the offeredfirst Union European The On the roadthe On Education and Culture:and Education ation withcentral andeasternEurope countriesintheareas when theEUtookitsfirst steptowards developingcooper- he falloftheBerlinWall wasstillfresh inthemindsofmany tries andindicatingthe EU clearlyspellingoutwhatitexpectsfrom candidatecoun- he negotiationsare amulti-stepprocess thatstartswiththe acquis pioneers in EU enlargementEU in pioneers they needtotranspose into to accessionto acquis communautaire acquis visual policyinvolved inthetelevisionwithoutfrontiers directive. straightforward. Themain legislativeworkconcerned theaudio- tries andtherefore thenegotiations process hasbeenfairly a great dealofEUlegislationtobetransposed bycandidatecoun- remain primarilytheresponsibility ofMember Statesthere isnot audiovisual policy. Sinceeducationand culture are areas that with educationandtraining, andChapter 20coveringculture and aspects ofeducationandculture: Chapter18dealingspecifically Out ofatotal31 negotiationchapters, twoofthemfocuson political criteriaformembership. assessment ofthereforms implementedinTurkey tofulfilthe sion negotiationswillbetakeninDecember2004afteran country havenotstartedyet.Adecisionontheopeningofacces- from apre-accession strategy, accessionnegotiations withthis same criteriaastheothercandidateStates,andbenefitingalso candidate countrydestinedtojointheUniononbasisof ship, whichtheyintendtocompleteby2007. WhileTurkey is a been approved tosupportthemintheirpreparation formember- and Romania,negotiationsare continuingand‘road maps’have lion from theEUandanotherEUR1.3millionfrom Turkey itself. mil- 4.7 2004. Theseagreements are supportedfinanciallybyEUR Socrates, Leonardo daVinciandYouth programmes assoon four agreements toprepare Turkey forparticipationinthe In December2002, Turkey andtheEuropean Commissionsigned Turkey, whose accessionnegotiationshavenotyetbeenopened. A similarschemeisnowavailabletothe13thcandidatecountry, gramme (forthelatter, seearticlebelow). known asYouth) and,later, Culture 2000andtheMEDIApro- grammes asLeonardo daVinci,Socrates, Youth forEurope (now experience, from 1997,fullparticipationinsuchimportantpro- was drawing toaclose,butthecandidatecountrieswere ableto .

#19 Dossier 6 © EC Education and culture: transmission of events of major importance) and encourages focusing on cooperation countries to promote European audiovisual works and European works produced by independent producers. EU action in the fields of education and culture consists mainly of promoting the European dimension and encouraging cooperation, Chapter 20 was provisionally closed (after analysis of the level of establishment of networks and exchange of good practice transposition in each candidate country and discussions with each between the institutions of the Member States, in particular country’s authorities) with the first of the candidates in 1998, with through different programmes (Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Youth, the last of the 10 leading candidates (Hungary) in July 2002, and Culture 2000). Since the pre-accession strategy allowed the can- with Romania in December 2002. Monitoring of the implementa- didate countries to participate in these programmes well before tion of the new audiovisual legislation and of the development of the conclusion of accession negotiations, it can be said that an appropriate administrative capacity continues. enlargement is already a reality in these fields. The MEDIA programme supports the audiovisual sector with a Apart from the programmes, Chapter 18, on education and series of measures. Its opening to candidate countries is not training, includes a directive(1) dealing with the access to free edu- directly linked with the negotiations on Chapter 20, but is condi- cation for children of migrant workers, as well as the foundation tional on the country having reached a significant level of of two bodies: the European Centre for the Development of Voca- legislative alignment at the time of its participation. As several tional Training (Cedefop) and the European Training Foundation countries have delayed the entry into force of important provi- (ETF). The candidate countries need also to ensure that, from the sions of the directive until the time of their accession, only nine date of accession, citizens from the Member States will enjoy the countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, same treatment as their own nationals; for example, students Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) will be able to partici- coming from other Member States will pay the same tuition fees pate in 2003. as local students. The chapter was provisionally closed with all the candidate countries shortly after the beginning of negotiations: in 1998 for the first group, and 2000 for the second group.

Audiovisual policy: television without frontiers and MEDIA Plus

The negotiations on Chapter 20, on culture and audiovisual policy, were more complex. The provisional closure of the negotiations on audiovisual policy depended on the adequate transposition into the legislation of each candidate country – with effect at the latest by the time of accession – of the provisions of the televi- sion without frontiers directive. This directive sets the conditions for a common market in television broadcasting (freedom of reception, rules on advertising and teleshopping, on the protec- (1) A directive is a piece of EU legislation which binds Member States as to the objec- tives to be achieved within a certain time limit, while leaving the national authorities tion of minors and public order, on the right of reply, on the the choice of form and means to be used.

7

Cedefop

‘Cedefop’ is the acronym derived from the French title of #19 Dossier the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Centre Européen pour le Développement de la Formation Professionnelle). Located in Thessalonica (Greece), the agency helps the European Commission, the Member States and social partner organisations across Europe make informed choices about vocational training policy. The European Contact Training Foundation Tel. (30) 23 10 49 01 11 Fax (30) 23 10 49 00 49 The foundation began its activities in E-mail: [email protected] January 1995. Internet: http://www.cedefop.eu.int Based in Turin (Italy), its mission is to Interactive website: http://www.trainingvillage.gr contribute to the process of vocational education and training reform currently taking Liaison Office in Brussels place within its partner countries and Av. d'Auderghem, 20 territories. B-1040 Brussels Tel. (32-2) 230 19 78 Contact Fax (32-2) 230 58 24 Tel. (39-011) 630 22 22 E-mail: [email protected] Fax (39-011) 630 22 00 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.etf.eu.int Spotlight on education and training: the challenges for the candidate countries

EU accession provides both opportunities and challenges for the countries of eastern and cen- tral Europe as they seek to become competitive, knowledge-based economies. Impressive results have been achieved in education and training but much remains to be done.

Candidate countries are implementing far-reaching reforms to deep-rooted challenges. In spite of high educational attainment their education and training systems to respond to the needs of a and enrolment rates, candidate countries overall need to upgrade market economy and a democratic society. Over the last 10 years, the skills of the workforce, whose knowledge and competencies impressive results have been achieved: participation in education are often outdated and ill-suited to new challenges. In a know- has increased markedly, curricula for general education have been ledge-based society, individuals need to become lifelong learners, revised, schools have been given more autonomy. However, sub- continually adapting to change and seizing new opportunities stantial challenges remain as they build the foundations of a both at work and beyond. knowledge society. To address these issues, priority should be given to improving out- Human resources for the knowledge-based economy dated technical equipment, particularly for vocational education and training. Moreover, deteriorating conditions for teachers need With high rates of educational attainment, reputed strengths in to be improved as teachers are the key players in the field. New mathematics and sciences, a solid tradition of scientific and tech- ways must also be found to increase the critically low level of pri- nical research, and long-established university systems, these vate investment if efforts to develop lifelong learning across the countries appear, at first glance, to have a firm basis for meeting board are not to be thwarted. the challenges of the knowledge-based economy.

However, the legacy of centralised government control, inflexible systems of research and higher education, as well as rigid distinc- tions between education and vocational training still pose EC ©

EC EC 8 © ©

1.PUBLIC EXPENDITURE 2. EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF THE POPULATION ON EDUCATION AGED 25—64 HAVING COMPLETED AS % OF GDP (1999) AT LEAST UPPER SECONDARY LEVEL (2001) #19 In the field

8 100 7.40 86.486.0 85.0 84.0 7 6.50 80.4 6.30 79.1 77.4 6.00 80 75.3 6 5.70 5.70 71.1 70.6 70.1 5.20 63.8 5.00 4.70 4.70 5 4.50 60 4.40 4.30 51.6 3.70 48.1 4 3.40 40.1 40 3

2 19.8 20 1

0 0 EE LT LV SI* CY PL HU MT CZ SK RO EU GR ES PT CZ EE SK LT PL LV SI BG RO HU MT* CC11 EU15 GRES PT

Source: Labour Force Survey, Eurostat, European report on quality indicators Source: of lifelong learning (2002). Eurostat, Labour Force Survey, 2001. * National Sources, 1998. *Data from national sources. NB: No available data for Bulgaria. Greece, Spain and Portugal have been chosen as ref- erences because they belong to the so-called “cohesion countries” (i.e. their level of development is below the EU average). #19 In the field 9 10 20 30 40 50 0 3. E needs tobeimproved andupdatedtodealwiththerequire- with average salariesinthecandidatecountries.Theirtraining orating. Ingeneral, teachers’ salarieshavenotprogressed in line with EUcountries.However, thesituationofteachers isdeteri- active populationisoftenveryhighinsomecountriescompared Furthermore, thenumberofteachers asaproportion ofthe resulted inlowstudent-to-teacherratios. to drops instudentnumbers inuppersecondaryeducation schools intheearly1990sanddemographic changesleading In manycountries,thecombinationofrapid openingofnew resourcesteaching of most the Making Malta). funding remains verylow(withtheexceptionofCyprusand countries, suchastheBalticStates(seeTable 1).Secondly, private %EUaverage, despitebeinghigherinafew Europe thanthe5.2 expressed asapercentage ofGDP, isgenerally lowerincentral shows twomajortrends. Firstly, publicspendingoneducation, The analysisofcandidatecountries’publicspendingoneducation Source: LabourForce Survey 2001, Eurostat. *Provided byNational Sources. Filling the gap in public spending on education on spending public in gap the Filling 45.0 ETAYLEVEL TERTIARY LT AGED UAINLATIMN FTEPOPULATION THE OF ATTAINMENT DUCATIONAL 29.4 EC GL IH LC KMT* SK CZ PL HU SI LV BG CY EE 26.8 25—64 21.3 18.1 AIGCOMPLETED HAVING 14.1 14 11.7 11.6 10.7 RO 10 7 13.9 C1EU15 CC11 21.6 23.5 RPT GR 17.1 ES © EC 9 tion. effort toachievetheEUlevelforparticipationintertiaryeduca- Nevertheless, almostallcandidatecountriesare makingastrong (see Tables 2and3). % cation intheEU,candidatecountries’average isonly14 %havecompletedtertiaryedu- However, whileanaverage of22 %forEUmembers. %oftake-upasagainst64 an impressive 77 EU. Inuppersecondaryeducationthecandidatecountriesachieve with theexceptionofLithuania,substantiallylowerthanin tertiary graduates, especiallyinscienceandtechnology, whichis, Candidate countrieswillalsoneedtoincrease theproportion of education tertiary on focus special A e-Learning. use ofinformationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICT) pedagogical andmethodologicalapproaches, includingthe ments ofthenewcurriculabeingdevelopedand U5 15Member States, average EU15: 11 candidatecountries, average : CC11 Portugal Greece PT : : :Spain GR ES Slovakia Slovenia SK : Romania SI : Poland RO : Malta PL : Latvia MT : Lithuania LV : Hungary LT : Estonia HU : Czech EE : Republic Cyprus CZ : Bulgaria CY : BG : K EC EY ©

© EC 10 20 30 40 50 0 to theInternetisgrowing quickly. comparable toEUcountriesandthenumberofschoolsconnected Internet access.Asaresult, theratio ofstudentspercomputeris has beeninvestedinequippingschoolswithcomputers and schools oftenfailtoreceive appropriate funding.However, money As forbasicICTskills,technicalequipmentisoftenoutdatedand (seeTable %) 4). thanintheEU(19.3 %) (12.9 ever, thedrop-out rate isstilllowerincandidatecountries number ofearlyschoolleavers hassubstantiallyincreased. How- countries inadaptingtheireducationandtraining systems,the as aresult ofsocialproblems anddifficultiesfacedbycandidate countries, althoughtherate isstilllowerthanintheEU.Mainly Drop-out rates, ontheotherhand,are increasing incandidate upper secondarylevelinrecent years. resulted inamarkedincrease inparticipationeducationat ment ofthepopulationandatincreasing individualchoiceshave However, activepoliciesaimedatraising theeducationalattain- average. ticipation atage24onlySloveniaandPoland are abovetheEU forparticipationatage20,andpar- % the EUaverage of48.9 the ageof17.OnlyPoland andEstoniahavescores higherthan participationdrops %, after coming abovetheEUaverage of84.2 in thecandidatecountries,withsevencountries Although participationinuppersecondaryeducationisveryhigh Providing basic skills for all for skills Providingbasic *National sources. on lifelonglearning Source: LabourForce Survey 2001, Eurostat, European report onqualityindicators 4. E (18—24 RO 21.3 RYSHO LEAVERS SCHOOL ARLY 20.3 GE TH IP UG SPT ES GR EU PL SI HU LT EE BG YEAR 14.5 (2002). - OLDS 14.2 ) 13.2 © EC 8.3 7.3 19.3 16.5 28.6 45.2 f7 %. of 72 some formoftraining, placingthemwellbelowtheEUaverage %ofcompaniesincandidatecountriesconducted In 1999,40 offering training totheirworkforce thanthecandidatecountries. 2002), EUMemberStateshaveahigherpercentage ofcompanies employees training opportunities.According toEurostat (CVTS2– nies isincreasing, ithasnotyetreached levelstoofferenough learning policiesand,althoughspendingontraining bycompa- Poor accesstoCVTcanjeopardise theimplementationoflifelong companies in (CVT) training vocational Continuing involvement withsocialpartners invocationaleducation). and regions andtoencourage partnerships atalllevels(e.g. especially inorder toreach outtothemostdisadvantagedgroups blocks andstrengthen theoverall coherence oftheirstrategies, tries, more needstobedonedevelopthenecessarybuilding (see Table 5).Althoughinitiativeshavebeentakeninmostcoun- %fortheEU against8.4 %, average forcandidatecountriesis3.6 up ofeducationandtraining for25—64year-oldsiswide.The The gapbetweencandidatecountriesandEUintake- Promotinglifelonglearning European report onqualityindicators onlifelong learning Source: LabourForce Survey 2001, Eurostat, 10 4 5 6 7 9 3 8 0 2 1 5. P ( EE 5.3 OUAINAGED POPULATION RIIAINI DCTO N TRAINING AND EDUCATION IN ARTICIPATION LS TH GR UE TGR PT ES EU RO BG HU LT SI PL 5.2 3.7 3.7 25—64) 3 1.5 1.1 (2002). 8.4 4.9 3.3 1.4

#19 In the field 10 Internet: http://www.socrates.lt E-mail: [email protected] Fax (370-5) 212 2481 Tel. (370-5) 212 3364 Jurga Sondeckiene Contact 5 #19 In the field 11 makes theEUso rich.Schoolscansetup understanding ofthecultural diversity that pean identityand,onthe other, an develop, ontheonehand,acommon Euro- nity ofteachers andpupilsworking to and beyond—formingaunique commu- Member Statesandcandidatecountries group ofmore than600schools—from supported bytheSocrates programme, isa in ICT. ThemyEUROPEschoolsnetwork, while helpingstudentsbecomecompetent crucial meansofexchanginginformation of Socrates, Internet-basedactivitiesare a tion technologies(ICT)anothermainfocus travel. Withinformationandcommunica- across Europe eveniftheyare unableto Such programmes canalsobenefitlearners months.’ of Europe’s universities forthree orsix have hadtheopportunitytostudyinone year andsincethenabout2000students gramme startedinthe1999/2000academic institutions are involved.TheErasmus pro- adult educationissuesinwhichLithuanian about 250projects onschool,higherand programme since1998.Thisyearthere are ‘Lithuania hasparticipatedintheSocrates able toolinthisendeavour’,shesays. values. ‘TheSocrates programme isavalu- promote traditional European cultural tural identitybut,atthesametime,to important itistopreserve Lithuaniancul- gramme agencyinLithuaniaexplainshow Jurga SondeckieneoftheSocrates pro- myEUROPE schools network schools myEUROPE of the candidate countriescandidate the of identity Preservingthe ioiy r esr nw lnugs B fclttn a aid ag o educational of rangerespects. these varied in countries candidate a the to benefits facilitatingobvious offer can it By partnerships and exchanges languages. known of lesser enhancement the or and minority opportunities equal identity, cultural of issues emphasises Socratesrelevancecountries.special candidate a programmethe haveSocratesfor the As enlargement moves closer, the opportunities available in the field of education under young peoplecanhaveareal voice.’ join thediscussionsothatchildren and schools across Europe anopportunity to debate onthefuture ofEurope togive ‘This eventhasbeenorganised totriggera March 2003,explains: project beginning21 Spring DayinEurope, arelated Internet Brigitte Parry, pedagogicalcoordinator of mation ontheEUanditsinstitutions. towns aswellreveal awealthofinfor- transport themtodifferent countriesand mouse cantakevisitors insideschools, develop theirownprojects. Aclickofa their ownwebpagesonthesiteand European cooperation projects.’ tion, encouraging themtotakepartin people involvedinschooloradulteduca- ties. Seminars andconferences are heldfor about howtostudyinEuropean universi- tions office,where staffanswerquestions education schoolhasaninternationalrela- on cooperation ineducation.Eachhigher about EUeducationpolicyandprogrammes ‘Lithuanian studentsare wellinformed up inLithuanianschoolsandcolleges: the supportingactivitiesthathavebeenset ties bythecandidatecountriesisclearfrom The great valueplacedonsuchopportuni- and promoting EU values promotingEU socrates.html http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/ Internet: education. in Encouraginginnovation • in mobility Promotingcooperationand • European Improving knowledgeof • Europeandimension Strengtheningthe • objectives: Fourspecific Todevelopmentof the tocontribute • objective:Overall Socrates E-mail: [email protected] Fax (32-2)2966992 Head oftheMultimediaUnit for EducationandCulture Directorate-General Maruja Gutierrez Diaz Information http://futurum.eun.org/ index_myeurope.cfm and http://www.eun.org/eun.org2/eun/en/ Internet: E-mail: [email protected] Brigitte Parry Contact 5 of education at all levels.all at education of lifelonglearning. encourageand education quality all areas of education. areasof all languages.

© EC to celebrate the1millionmilestone. education andculture, whoawarded themcommemorative medals Commission, andCommissionerVivianeReding,responsible for summit briefing,RomanoProdi, President oftheEuropean of theEuropean Parliament, whogavethemapersonal eve-of- Fogh Rasmussen,chairingtheEuropean Council,Pat Cox,President The 30'Erasmus ambassadors' metDanishPrimeMinister, Anders teachers aswellstudents. to takepartintheprogramme havebeenrisingfastestamong emony, 12were from thecandidatecountries,where applications participants invitedtorepresent themillionthstudentatcer- students intheenlarged EU.Ofthe30pastandpresent Erasmus its launchin1987butalsounderlinedsignificanceforfuture October, notonlycelebrated thesuccessofschemesince 24 The Erasmus Week, culminatingwithaceremony inBrusselson to join the European Union in 2004. in EuropeanUnion the join to summit meeting of government leaders confirmed that sivelyextended to progres-been studyinghas programme,which Erasmus the under Europe in abroad students million a than More milestone was marked by a week of events in events of week a by marked was milestone In theirownwords… as Europeans.as identity developprospectstheir and backgrounds,improvecareer their peoplefromdifferentlearn,meet opportunity: this on placethey value high the to testifycountries applicant from the students Erasmus 30 countries30 Dora well-earned reward. by Braganca Municipalityfeltlikea the openairdrawing contestorganised vision almostovernight.Fourthplaceat senses meltedtheinnercataract ofmy desire tosieveallthrough thefilterofmy beautiful newlocationandmyinstinctive The raw perception ofreality ina Portugal unleashedmyinspiration again. sensual freeze, theamazinglandscapesof After afour-yearpaintingblockand together. from different backgrounds canlive and civilisations,toshowthat people increase myknowledgeofothercultures different countriesIwillbeableto I thinkthatbymeetingpeoplefrom Rosen (C and will shortlyTurkishwill include and also universities. This YPRUS (B ULGARIA ) ae o set at f hi hge education higher their of part spent now have ) © EC Erasmus studentstoboththeirhomeandhostuniversities. full recognition ofstudiesabroad, aswelltheobligationsof abroad. Itoutlinestheirbasicentitlements,suchasfree tuitionand which eachstudentwillreceive infuture before goingtostudy students by2010 andlaunchedtheErasmus StudentCharter, Mrs Redingalsoannouncedatarget ofreaching 3millionErasmus Erasmus October 2002 October 10 more countries Tomas never haveoccurred inmyhomecountry. Europe. Thatkindofpossibilitywould the phonewillbesoldinstores all around that from thebeginningofthisautumn, could actuallybeproduced. Theresult is and wantedtodeveloptheidea so thatit company wasimpressed withourwork into anactualdesignprocess. The telephone foraGermancompanyevolved started outasaschoolproject todesigna and Itookaproject withhim.What University hadjustgotanewprofessor The designdepartmentoftheLund Lasse environment asawhole. I gathered from theinternational background ofsubsequentknowledge my future career, butasanessential just apastexperiencethatcontributedto I don’tseethetimespentinIreland as , at the same time as a as time same the at , (E (C STONIA ZECH ) R EPUBLIC ) were eligible

#19 In the field 12 expands

#19 In the field 13 Inesa the media. opportunity totrydifferent branches of offered tomeinFinland.Ihadthe knowledge withthepractical education so Ihadtomatchmytheoretical places muchemphasisonthetheoretical, In Hungaryoureducationalapproach and visuallyindifferent fieldsofmedia. Hungary helpedmetodeveloppractically educational systemsinFinlandand The great difference betweenthe Tadas teaching methodsusedinbothcountries. study howtoteachbycomparingthe not onlytostudyeconomics,butalso in Germanyitwasveryinteresting forme At Coburg University ofAppliedSciences Adèl Joseph expectations. of theexaminationssurpassedmy University ofKiel.Evenmore, theresults the FacultyofLawChristian-Albrechts- I feltfineattheendofsemester subjects oversuchashortperiodoftime, in radically different lawbranches and master thespecificsoflegalterminology my initialworriesaboutnotbeingableto parties andbooks,books!Despite Fantastic picnics,dashingtrips,staggering people. concept of‘onesingleEurope’ inyoung instrument whichbeginstoinstil the an objectiveinitself.Erasmus isan stepping-stone forfurtherobjectivesand The Erasmus experienceisbotha Studi diBolognainItalyforonesemester. I willbestudyingattheUniversità degli (H (L (L UNGARY ATVIA ITHUANIA (M ALTA ) ) ) ) dissertation withourcompany’. opportunity todoyourfinal-year and wewouldliketoofferyouthe submitted lastyearhasbeenaccepted me that’yourapplicationforaplacement was aletterfrom Alcatelwhichinformed chance toreturn toParis, andthistimeit programme. AyearlaterIwasgiventhe taking partintheEuropean Erasmus paper whichstatedthatIwasastudent and mygriptightenedonthepieceof window, myheartbegantobeatfaster the majesticEiffelTower through thebus Evry, nearParis. WhenIarrivedand saw National Telecommunications Institutein I didmyErasmus placementatthe Milhaela my skillsasaninterpreter. nine monthsinGermersheim enhancing exams successfullyandspentafurther in Conference Interpreting. Ipassedthe graduate programme, European Masters qualifying examinationsforapost- Germersheim. Theyalsomentionedthe offered meachancetowritemyPhDin Germersheim. TheacademicsImet University attheFASKDepartmentin five monthsattheJohannes-Gutenberg Thanks toanErasmus scholarship, Ispent Jana able touseeverythingIlearnedthere. permanent jobasanarchitect, Iwillbe architect ordesigner. WhenIgeta after university graduation, asan I learnedhowtheyapplytheirknowledge also apractical approach. Intheoffice, as atheoretical experience,butIfound I wentthere tounderstand architecture Architecture, University ofGenoa,Italy. the Erasmus experienceattheFacultyof My lifehasbeensignificantlyaffectedby Malgorzata (S LOVAKIA (R its horizons its OMANIA ) (P OLAND ) ) and how their universities work.universities their how and culture their about out find to countries candidate to go can States Member fromthe students that also but States, Member existing the of one in study of period a up take to opportunity the have States fromfuturestudentsMember onlythat mean not Enlargementdoes Susan we are allEurope! ex-communist countriesandthat for metodevelopafeelingthe Going toHungarywasthebestthing Dominic C treated likevisitingroyalty. Campus ofMendelUniversity, andwas first UKstudenteverattheLednice when Iwasanundergraduate. Iwasthe enjoyed twoprevious fieldtripsthere of 55.IchosetheCzechRepublic,having I undertookmyErasmus visitattheage have anyopportunitytospeakit. have learntitformanyyears, butIhardly 2002. IamquitegoodatEnglishsince scheduled foroneyearfrom September My Erasmus periodatLeuven,Belgium,is where IhavealsostudiedPolical Sciences. Faculty oftheUniversity ofLjubljana I amcurrently astudentintheTheology Elisabeth ZECH R EPUBLIC ( RMTHE FROM (S LOVENIA ( ) FROM U A NITED ) SRATO USTRIA K NDMT THE TO INGDOM H UNGARY ) Ploteus comes to fruition ploteus.net

The Commission has launched a revamp of the Euroguidance network, which provides public information on learning opportunities in Europe. The finishing touches are being put to the European portal, which will help anyone with Internet access to find the course abroad best suited to them.

The Internet link-up, Ploteus (the The global annual budget is some EUR 1.1 million, which covers portal on learning opportunities about 50 % of the cost of the centres, helping to pay for staff, throughout the European space), builds operating costs, conference organising and publications. Each par- upon the already impressive achieve- ticipant country receives between EUR 60 000 and 80 000 in ments of the network set up in 1992 financial support. and which now includes more than 50 national resource centres in 30 European countries. In addition to the 15 EU Member States, When a baker discovers new confectionery products the network has gradually been extended to cover Switzerland, and (members of the European Free Trade Associ- To take one centre as an example, the pivotal figure of the net- ation). Twelve of the 13 EU candidate countries have been work in Flanders for the past nine years has been Mr Jozef integrated into the project since 1994, and negotiations are under Vanraepenbusch. ‘We answer about 5 000 questions each year, way to bring on board the last one not yet linked up, Turkey. Since drawing on a staff of 25 or 30, some full-time, some part-time’, the beginning, the candidate countries have been treated in the he says. He believes the network is especially valuable for enabling same way as the others, including being granted equal funding people to acquire skills abroad that are not available in their own and access to information. The Euroguidance centres cater for a country, and which can give them an edge over competitors: ‘A wide range of people, including school-leavers, whether employed self-employed bricklayer went to France and learned about tech- or self-employed, and those wanting to do a traineeship or voca- niques used to colour the façades of buildings. One baker went to tional training. Cologne and Aachen in Germany, discovered new confectionery 14 products and then extended his product range in Belgium when They describe courses and available job placements as well as the he came home’. He says the three most popular destinations for education and training systems in Europe, which vary widely. They those who contact his centre are France, the United Kingdom and also provide information about social security and employment the Netherlands. Asked whether the current funding level is suf- regulations in each country. ficient, he says, it is never enough, but we are managing for now’.

National autonomy and Commission supervision 5 #19 In the field

It is up to each national authority to organise its centre(s) as it Information wishes, so they are all structured differently. Some of them already Laura Cassio existed when Euroguidance was set up, while others were created Directorate-General for Education and Culture in response to the network. The Commission coordinates and Vocational training policy Unit supervises the network, holding about two meetings a year with Fax (32-2) 295 78 30 representatives from each centres. It has been installing the com- E-mail: [email protected] puter software and hardware needed to create the Internet portal, Internet: http://www.euroguidance.org.uk while the centres are supplying it with the actual data contained Internet: http://www.ploteus.net in the portal.

The Euroguidance network is co-funded by the Leonardo da Vinci vocational training programme and will run until at least 2006. With Hungary's accession to the European Union looming ever closer, the Commission's Leonardo da Vinci vocational training programme is giving young Hungarians a chance to see first-hand how public administration in the west really operates. Hungarian students learn how government works in the west

© By courtesy of Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration Leonardo da Vinci

‘They work more efficiently than in Hun- Leonardo da Vinci is the action programme for implementing vocational training gary’, according to Kapalin Gabeli, a policy in the EU. student in the Public Administration Fac- Three objectives: ulty of Budapest's University of Economic • Improving the skills and competencies of people, especially young people, in Sciences. She has completed a three-month initial vocational training. placement in the mayor's office in the city • Improving the quality of, and access to, continuing vocational training and the of Dettingen in Baden Wuertenberg, lifelong acquisition of skills and competencies. • Reinforcing the contribution of vocational training to the process of innovation Germany, which she describes as ‘very in business. useful’. Internet: http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/leonardo_en.html This student mobility scheme is still in its infancy – this is only its second year. The university has so far dispatched about 20 of its finest to do work experience in local authorities, mostly in Germany, as it has A practical experience of close links with the University of Ludwigs- the structure and working methods One of the long-term aims of the project is burg. Two students have been sent to of public administration to increase their opportunities to work in 15 Rodeiro in Spain, while one has just public administration in an EU country. Of returned from a three-month stint in The placements give the students practical course, with accession in view, the need for Ireland, where her host university was the experience of the structure and working such projects will become even more University of Limerick. methods of public administration in the EU. pressing. They also provide an excellent opportunity Ms Agatha Bobos, who helps to arrange for improving language skills and learning these placements, is very keen to build about different cultures more generally. 5 #19 In the field upon the Irish link. ‘Working in an Eng- Kapalin says she spoke German throughout lish-language environment has been her placement, and was moved into a dif- Contact especially valuable. And this particular ferent department every two weeks, Cecilia Ivancsics student was given real responsibility in ranging from personnel, finance, taxation, Budapest University of Economic Sciences the finance department of a local to social and cultural administration. and Public Administration, Faculty of authority near Limerick’, she says. Public Administration The students were also able to take part in Hungary This pilot project receives funding from the board meetings in the municipalities. Apart Tel. (36-1) 385 21 22 (ext. 1200) long-running EU vocational training pro- from their daily work, they attended lec- Fax (36-1) 386 94 29 gramme, Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo tures on public administration held by their E-mail: [email protected] funding helps pay for travel expenses, host institution. In addition, they went on insurance and daily allowances, but it professional excursions, including to the comes nowhere near to covering all the European Parliament in Strasbourg and to costs. ‘The student in Limerick had to get different State and governmental bodies in another part-time job, because the cost of Berlin. This variety of experiences helped living was so high’, says Ms Bobos. the students greatly in writing their theses when they arrived back in Hungary. 5 5 Contact Information Reet Kost Pierre Mairesse Youth Estonian National Agency Directorate-General Tel. (372) 697 92 20 for Education and Culture Fax (372) 697 92 26 Head of the Youth Unit E-mail: [email protected] Fax (32-2) 299 40 38 Internet: http://euroopa.noored.ee Young at heart E-mail: [email protected] (in Estonian and Russian) EC ©

The EU’s Youth programme reaches out to candidate countries

With 75 million people in the 15—25 age group, an enlarged Europe must ensure that its young people have opportunities to express their views, contribute to society and fulfil their potential. The EU White Paper, A new impetus for European youth, has set out ways in which cooperation across Europe can be strengthened both to benefit young people and fully involve them. Its approach and strategy are being extended to the candidate coun- tries, where the population is younger on average than in the European Union (see box below).

What kind of Europe do young people want?

Reet Kost, Head of the Youth Estonian ised. ‘This’, she says, ‘highlighted the impor- schemes involving greater mobility and National Agency, explained just how valu- tance of making the Whiter Paper widely voluntary work are new to Estonia and her able the White Paper is in encouraging the available and translating it into Estonian’, a agency will make it a priority to implement youth of her country to take a pro-active plan that will reach fruition in 2003 in projects that involve non-formal learning role in developing the Europe of the future cooperation with the non-governmental methods. She stresses, too, how important in ways that can meet their needs. The organisation European Movement in it is that candidate countries should be process began with meetings, including the Estonia, the Ministry of Education and her fully consulted and involved. ‘Given the Estonian Youth Forum II on 31 October that own agency. fact the EU will become much larger in the attracted some 200 young people and near future, the candidate countries should youth workers. As well as panel presenta- The Youth programme, she believes, can not play less of a role. All the aspects of the tions of the priorities described in the help identify the problems that concern White Paper are equally important for White Paper and of how various national young people and find new solutions that young people in Estonia as elsewhere in youth policies were realising its aims, a bring better opportunities and greater Europe.’ workshop for those directly involved in accessibility to all young people, especially youth work and policy-making was organ- the disadvantaged. Non-formal learning 16

In the candidate countries, Objectives of the Youth programme the population is younger on average #19 In the field

Overall objective: People aged 0—14 years • Allowing young people to acquire knowledge and skills as % of the total population and to exercise responsible citizenship. Bulgaria 15.9 Three specific objectives: Cyprus 23.2 • Inducing a greater sense of solidarity. Czech Republic 16.6 • Involving young people in the European ideal. Estonia 18.3 • Encouraging a spirit of initiative, enterprise Hungary 17.1 and creativity. Latvia 17.8 Internet: Lithuania 19.8 http://europa.eu.int/comm/education/youth.html Malta 20.4 Source: Poland 19.6 The data from the national statistical offices of the candidate countries and assembled by Romania 18.5 Eurostat reflect the situation in 2000. Slovakia 19.8 http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/docs/pdf /eurostatjune2002.pdf Slovenia 16.1 Figures for Bulgaria, Malta and EU-15 are from Turkey 29.7 1999. Figures for Cyprus are from 1998—99. EU-15 16.9 Voyage of discovery

Aboard the lugger, Lovis, young people share responsibility, study the environment and learn about other cultures as part of the EU Youth programme.

National agencies, youth groups and All aboard Protection, who helped coordinate the organisations in the candidate countries as Harbour 2000 project in Estonia, appreci- well as in Member States are devising joint Organisers of groups who have participated ated this opportunity as well the original schemes in which young people can meet in a Lovis trip explain how young people nature of the experience: ‘It seemed to me other nationalities and participate in activ- benefit from this unique experience. In the different from others, unique and definitely ities that help tackle social and confined space of a ship, where the group not typical. It was fun, educative and the environmental problems. Such schemes are has responsibility for arranging the itin- purpose was good. It attracted a lot of press being implemented as part of the EU Youth erary, cooperation is essential. Young attention and in Estonia we were shown on programme. people learn a lot about working together TV and we wrote an article for the local and understanding each other, even when newspaper.’ Indeed, several organisers noted Baltic Youth Cooperation is sponsoring an there are language problems to overcome. the importance of press coverage, because 17 imaginative project in cooperation with a On board, English is the language used but that not only encouraged the participants German association, Bildung, Ökologie, not all the participants are equally profi- but also highlighted the environmental Erleben (BÖE e.V.) that takes place aboard cient; this means they have to be creative issues. By courtesy of BÖE e. V.

the lugger, Lovis. The project draws in finding ways of communicating effec- © together participants from Scandinavia, tively. But misunderstandings can occur as Once in a lifetime Poland and the Baltic republics and pro- a result of cultural differences as well lin- vides an educational tour of the Baltic Sea. guistic obstacles. Signe Christensen-Dalsgaard People who have taken part in a Lovis trip #19 In the field of Nature and Youth, Denmark, accompa- stress that it is a once-in-a-lifetime oppor- With its unique natural features, the Baltic nied 12 young people on the Harbour Tour tunity to experience life on board a makes an ideal setting for young people to in 2000 and noted: ‘Even within a relatively traditional sailing ship, to exchange ideas find out about the challenges to fragile small area like the Baltic Sea there are very with people from widely differing back- ecologies and what is being done in nature different ways of thinking, behaving and grounds and to be involved in positive steps reserves and conservation plans to protect reacting. At some points this causes frus- to protect a precious environment. them. The traditional 100-foot sailing ship trations but these misunderstandings were 5 has been rebuilt and equipped with an discussed so they wouldn’t cause major engine and bunk accommodation. It can problems.’ Contact take up to 30 young people in the 15—27 BÖE e. V. age group, but particularly targets school Moreover, the participants had the chance Tel. (49) 38 34 77 68 46 groups. Although BÖE e. V. provides to really involve themselves with environ- Internet: http://www.lovis.de seminar leaders, the groups themselves mental protection in different countries. E-mail: [email protected] organise the journey and choose the theme. Ester Kokkota of Estonian Youth Nature Promoting a common cultural area

Cultural cooperation is a cornerstone of European integration, building upon east—west solidarity through mutual appreciation and understanding. Integration is already a reality in the Culture 2000 programme as cultural interchanges are building bridges with candidate countries.

Ethel G. The Culture 2000 programme ©

Culture is the fabric that holds a society classes, exhibitions, artistic creations, tours, Culture 2000 is the first EU framework programme in together. Because Europeans share both cul- and conferences. They address artists and cul- the area of culture. It is a five-year programme (2000— 2004), implemented through three types of actions: tural diversity and a common heritage, the tural operators as well as a broader audience, aim of the five-year Culture 2000 programme including young people and socially and eco- •specific innovative and/or experimental actions; is to promote a ‘common cultural area’ by nomically underprivileged groups. •integrated actions covered by structured, multiannual, transnational cultural cooperation agreements; cooperative projects in all artistic and cultural • special cultural events with a European or sectors, including performing arts, visual and Many literary translation projects are also international dimension. plastic arts, literature, heritage, and cultural cofinanced by the Culture 2000 programme, history. involving poetry and novels being translated Internet: http://europa.eu.int/comm/culture/eac/index_en.htm from the languages of candidate countries Since 2001, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, into the languages of EU countries and vice Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and versa. For example, a selection of works by Slovakia have participated in projects under German poet, Erich Fried, is being translated the Culture 2000 programme. In 2002, these into Slovenian and anthologies of Slovenian 18 countries were joined by Slovenia. In 2003, poets, Fruili and Kärnten are being translated Cyprus and Malta will participate in this pro- into German and Italian. Greek novels and gramme. poetry are being translated into Bulgarian; many Polish and Croat books are being trans- In order to facilitate the participation of cul- lated into Italian. Other exchanges are taking tural operators from future Member States in place between Poland and Spain as well as 5 the Culture 2000 programme, cultural contact between Hungary and Norway. #19 In the field points have been established in each of these Information countries. In 2001, a total of 143 cultural Apart from Culture 2000, a dialogue on the Sylvain Pasqua operators from candidate countries were issues raised by enlargement is also taking Directorate-General involved in annual and multi-annual projects. place at European level through conferences, for Education and Culture In 2002, participation increased to a total of seminars and workshops thanks to the help Culture Unit 251. given by the EU to organisations of European Fax (32-2) 296 69 74 cultural interest such as EFAH (European E-mail: [email protected] Activities supported under the programme Forum for the Arts and Heritage) and IETM include festivals, co-productions, master (Informal European Theatre Meetings). © EC #19 In the field 19 Getting to know Guide toBalticSeaStates’Affairs task. Theencyclopaedicreference work, tory ofthediverse Balticregion isnoeasy Compiling acultural overviewofthehis- are alsodiggingupscores oflittle-known mation ongeneral topics,project researchers While thefinalproduct willincludeinfor- says Martin. period, theycall“blankspots”inhistory’, of knowledge,which,asintheSoviet sians eliminatetheirmisperceptions orlack past andpresent. ‘We wanttohelptheRus- approach totheinterpretation ofevents, Russian authoritiessticktoanalternative guage editionisbadlyneededbecausethe prepare tojointheEU.TheRussianlan- valuable asEstonia,LatviaandLithuania lish languageeditionisparticularly know verylittleabouteachother. TheEng- Martin, becauseneighbouringcountries tance’ according toproject leaderJüri This publicationisof‘paramount impor- Finnish, EnglishandRussian. Estonian, Latvian,Lithuanian,Swedish, available onCD-ROMinsevenlanguages: ture andenvironment. Itwillbemade differences inoutlookoftheregion’s cul- scientists’ analysesandexplanationsofthe ences ofthevarious countries intheregion. the Balticregion are drawing upacomprehensive guideto thecultural similaritiesanddiffer- With thehelpofCulture 2000programme, EUMemberStates andcandidate countries of the neighbours includes final product hasbeencompiledandrefer- A listofkeywords tobeincludedinthe denominator T Rovaniemi University inFinland. (Sweden) andtheArctic Centre of Business SchoolofKalmar University Humanities atLatviaUniversity, theBaltic University (Lithuania),theRiga Instituteof Relations andPolitical ScienceatVilnius (Tallinn), theInstituteofInternational Estonian Euroinfo Society–Eurouniversity three-year project bringstogetherthe With anEUgrant ofEUR576 666,the nations. the historyandculture ofEuropean tural dialogueandstimulatethestudyof cultural integration, todevelopacross-cul- for findingbetteropportunitiestoadvance The project isalsoexpectedtocreate abase this orthatnation.’ actions thatservebettertocharacterise often it’s thesmallevents,institutionsor national achievementsmakehistory. Quite that notonlybigwars, conflictsorinter- cases andeventsintheregion. ‘We believe eamwork —findingacommon unique perspective totheproject. tributors bringarichknowledge and enthusiastic abouttheoutcome,asallcon- other toughissues.However, Martinis authors worktogethertocollaborate on These typesofchallengescontinuetodayas easy tofindacommondenominator.’ ferent languages,whichdoesnotmakeit has hisorherownviewsandofcourse dif- countries’, explainsMartin.‘Eachpartner complicated withsomanyparticipating build teamwork,whichoftenbecomesvery ‘One ofthemostimportantthingsisto coordination work. contact withparticipantsanddoesthe graduate studentmaintainsdailyelectronic enced articlesare beingwritten.ATallinn E-mail: [email protected] Fax (372)611 5805 Te Euroülikool Contact 5 l. (372)611 5801

© EC A fragile renaissance of the movie industry Photos © Chronos Film Chronos 2001

In 2004, 10 countries from eastern Europe and the Baltic area will join an enlarged European Union, followed by two others three years later. Some have rich cinema traditions and have nurtured a well- known — if not flourishing — film industry, with such acclaimed creators as Polish directors, Andrzej Wajda and Roman Polanski. On the eve of European reunification, how is the audiovisual industry faring in the candidate countries? Film 2001 Photo Chronos ©

The transition of east and central Euro- good film-production year in central and Member State for a total of 2.2 million pean economies from communism to south-eastern Europe, the most significant viewers and a market share of just 0.054 %. capitalism dealt a heavy blow to their increases being in Poland(2), Romania and audiovisual sector. Short of funds, the Cyprus. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Hun- Since membership negotiations began in nearly ruined audiovisual industry feared a gary, Latvia and Slovakia also saw 1998, the audiovisual landscape in the can- total invasion of US products through the increases in the volume of production. A didate countries has evolved substantially powerful American distribution machine. Czech film, Jan Sverak's war drama Dark as regards public policies and the regula- However, starting in the mid-1990s, the Blue World, topped the box office in the tory framework. In most of these countries, film industry in eastern Europe experi- Czech Republic, while in Poland the year’s the broadcasting sector has been liberalised enced a sort of renaissance sparked by three top spots were all national produc- and new legislation has been adopted to scores of local hits and a multiplex devel- tions (historical drama, Quo Vadis by Jerzy put them in line with the EU acquis in the opment(1) frenzy. Kawalerowicz, Gavin Hood’s In Desert and area of audiovisual policy (the television Wilderness and Filip Bajon’s Spring to without frontiers directive). They are now a The professionalism of the local industry Come). The market share of locally pro- party to the Council of Europe Convention has long been recognised. A number of duced films even reached 41.6% that year. on Transfrontier Television and its Hollywood studios have regularly taken In Hungary, the most successful local film amending protocol. In some cases, further advantage of the region’s low labour costs was Gabor Koltai’s Sacra Corona, while legislative fine-tuning in the definition of to shoot such films as Blade 2, Bad Com- two local comedies, Vizontele by Yilmaz European audiovisual works and the pro- pany (aka Black Sheep) and Hart’s War in Erdogan, and Komser Sekspir by Sinan motion of European and independent 20 the Czech capital’s renowned Barrandov Setin, headed the top 10 in Turkey. projects is required. Efforts are also needed and Prague Studios. to reinforce the capacity of the administra- As far as viewing audiences are concerned, tive bodies created to monitor the In Poland, the film industry has seen a a number of central and south-eastern implementation and control of the new metamorphosis from a small, State-backed European countries reported significant rules. sector of art-houses into an industry growth in 2001, a 7.8 % increase in backed by private investors. Polish Televi- Slovakia, 18.8 % in the Czech Republic, #19 In the field sion (TVP) and Canal Plus Polska are the 20 % in Estonia, 13.7 % in Hungary, and an main backers of the 20—25 projects pro- impressive 40 % rise in Poland. duced annually. Polish distributors are investing in home-grown films, which The market share of western European 5 have proved to be a more lucrative busi- films in these countries is generally less ness than western European imported than in EU Member States. Owing to their Contact films. The same is true in the Czech vulnerable economic situation, the candi- European Audiovisual Observatory Republic, where audiences have rediscov- date countries are not in a position to Internet: http://www.obs.coe.int/ ered their local creators after the huge resist the massive influx of American films, success of Jan Sverak’s films Kolya (1996) which acquired between 60 and 85% of and Dark Blue World (2000), and Jan Hre- the market. Much of the western Euro- (1) The number of screens has been declining since the bejk’s black comedy Divided We Fall pean market remains relatively closed to late 1980s with the closure of small theatres in several (2001). productions from candidate countries: countries (Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic). between 1996 and 2001, only 42 films Between 1993 and 2000 the number of screens in cen- tral Europe decreased from 3 639 to 2 835. The European Audiovisual Observatory from central and eastern Europe were dis- (2) A total of 29 films were produced in comparison to points out that in general 2001 was a tributed commercially in at least one EU an overall total of 22 films in 2000. #19 In the field 21 tries asinthecurrent EUMemberStates. and industrialistsintheaudiovisualsectorofapplicantcoun- cipating intheMEDIAprogramme isthesameforfilmproducers and therest viathePhare programme. Theprocedure forparti- contribution totheprogramme, partlythrough itsnationalbudget Each newcountryparticipatinginMEDIAwillmakeafinancial nating from thenewlyparticipatingcountries. and promoting filmsandaudiovisualworkswithintheEUorigi- distributors canalsoreceive EUfinancialsupportfordistributing example, todistributeEUfilmsintheirhomecountry. Likewise,EU gible toreceive financialsupportfrom theMEDIAprogramme, for Projects from thesenewparticipatingcountriesare nowfullyeli- programme. ernments havealready takenstepstoparticipateinthe Slovenia andSlovakiawillnowjointhemin2003,astheirgov- Commission lastsummer. Theircolleaguesfrom Cyprus,Lithuania, ofunderstanding theysignedwiththeEuropean memorandum already participatingintheMEDIAprogramme, followingthe (Poland, Latvia,Estonia,theCzechRepublicandBulgaria)are Creators, producers anddistributors from fivecandidatecountries competitiveness intheinternationalmarket. oped withintheEuropean Uniontoincrease theirskillsand those whowishtoparticipateinalltraining initiativesdevel- distribute andpromote theirworks. Thedoorsare alsoopenfor 2004, before theycanreceive EUfinancialsupporttodevelop, not havetowaituntiltheofficialdateofenlargement, May Film andTVprofessionals from several candidatecountrieswill Eastern EuropeansEastern in now the MEDIA the ready to play readyto E-mail: [email protected] Fax (32-2)2999214 Head oftheMediaprogramme Unit Directorate-General forEducationandCulture Jacques Delmoly Information 5 The http://europa.eu.int/comm/avpolicy/index_en.htm Internet: works.Europeanaudiovisual and new media), as well as the distribution and promotion of projects production animation documentaries, drama, of television films, (feature development the and fessionals pro- industry audiovisual for initiatives training co-finances MEDIA measures.support of series a Europeancompetitivenesswith the industryaudiovisual of EI programme MEDIA rns upr bt bfr ad fe pouto. It production. after and before both support brings club is t teghnn the strengthening at aims Plus Romanians havethehighestpercentage countries asincurrent Member States. ever, isnotusedasmuchinthecandidate able toholdaconversation. French, how- %ofSlovakians %ofCzechsand20 27 %ofSlovenians, second languagewith38 German isthenextmostwidelyused the candidatecountries. which hasthelowestpercentage among %inTurkey, %inBulgaria and10 lish, 13 %ofpeople inHungaryspeakEng- only 14 Atthe otherendofthespectrum, %). (46 andSlovenia %) Malta comeCyprus(57 official languagesforsometime.After %),where it hasbeenoneofthe Malta (84 English fares bestasasecondlanguagein %inLithuania. Romania toashigh83 inHungary, % Sloveniaand from just2-3 ages ofpeopleabletoconverse varywidely of thesecountries,althoughthepercent- most widelyspokenforeign languageinsix Russian, notEnglish,topstheleagueas widelymost spoken Russian first language. of residence asasecondrather thanasa speak themothertongueoftheircountry minorities inmanyofthesecountriesoften ease. Anotherfactoristhatthelarge ethnic F or so intercommunicate withrelative skills in the candidate countriescandidate the in skills e related Slaviclanguagesand One reason somanypeople six ofthemuseclosely in thecandidatecountries are almostbilingualisthat ign tries can hold a conversation in a language other language a conversationin a hold can tries than their mother tongue. This finding shows finding This tongue. mother their than in the 13 European Union pre-accessionEuropeanUnion 13 coun-the in the candidate countries on a par with the with par a on countriescandidate the of language skills, nearly half the people the half nearly skills, language of 15 existing Member States. existingMember 15 l a According to two recentAccordingsurveys two to n g worse thansevenofthecandidatecoun- Portugal, Ireland andtheUKstillperform States suchasFrance, Italy, Greece, Spain, and Slovakia12th.Evenso,large Member Slovenia occupiessixthplace,Latvia10th then Maltaranks secondafterLuxembourg, and thefigures are adjustedaccordingly, foreign tongues,are takenintoaccount languages, whichmakethemlessdistinctly However, ifthesimilaritiesbetweenSlavic league, justbehindHungary. The UnitedKingdomisbottomofthis Estonia14th. • Latvia 12th; • the CzechRepublic10th; • Slovakiaisseventh; • ranks Malta fifthoutofthe28countries; • Sloveniafallsintosecondplaceafter • citizens: numbers oftheirbilingualandmultilingual shining manyoftheexistingMembers in into thetophalfofrankings, out- six ofthecandidatecountriesmoveeasily foreign languageskillsintheMemberStates, countries isintegrated withstatisticson When raw informationaboutthecandidate largerpictureThe converse inFrench. ofpeoplecan % Estonia andLatvia,only1 %.In Malta with9%andCyprus6 %), (13 of French speakers Luxembourg; uage next come to theirneeds. about thelanguagethatwillbemostsuited useful basisformakinganinformedchoice business, thesenewfindingsprovide a language fortravelling, studyingordoing Whether European citizenslearnasecond 10 %forFrench. • 11 %forRussian; • 16%forGerman; • 35%forEnglish; • Union, thosefigures wouldchangeto: centage canspeakRussian.Inanenlarged %French butnosignificantper- German, 16 %speak hold aconversation inEnglish,18 %ofEuropeans can Europe of15,where 40 ferent foreign languagesprofile from the An enlarged Europe wouldpresent adif- tries, andtheUKstilllagsbehindthemall. E-mail: [email protected] Fax (32-2)2996321 Language Policy Unit for EducationandCulture Directorate-General Paul Holdsworth Information 5

#19 In the field 22 23 #19 In the field through fostersintegration LOKI language up withthesocialandcultural identity of exist inavacuumbutisintimately bound firmly onthetenetthatlanguagedoesnot culture. Thissuiteofmaterialsisbased An interactive approach tolanguageand tance language-learningsystemofLINC: complements theexistingsuccessfuldis- Integration through languageandculture, Lingua action.Thepackage,entitledLOKI: within theframework oftheSocrates Antwerp’s Centre forLanguageandSpeech sortium coordinated bytheUniversity of the courses are beingproduced byacon- Romania, theCzechRepublicandHungary, and easternEuropean countries:Poland, tural awareness. Focusingonfourcentral language acquisitionwithsocialandcul- media learningpackagethatcombines Help isonhand,however, withamulti- exists. clear thataconsiderable informationgap tries’ cultural andsocialnormsitis EU citizensare unfamiliarwiththesecoun- cover them.Addtothatthefactmany public sectorcourses foradultsseldom schools andtraditional commercial or systematically taughtinMemberStates' European countries,forexample,are not difficult tograsp. Thelanguagesofeast tural hurdles makethoseopportunities many peoplefindthatlinguisticandcul- throughout thecandidatecountries,but ness andstudyhavebeenopeningup EU, greater opportunitiesfortravel, busi- Even before theformalenlargement ofthe and culture The materialscanbeused in formal as negotiating,presentations andauditing. ered, withsectionsdealingareas such and discussing.Businessskillsare alsocov- such asoutlining,summarising,criticising objectives, thecourse covers keyactivities reading). For thosepursuing educational writing) andreceptive skills(listeningand active languageskills(speakingand learners, LOKIprovides general training in Targeted atawidespectrumoflanguage guages. intermediate andadvancedinallfourlan- LOKI isavailableatthree levels:beginner, Van Elst,oneoftheproject coordinators. lary andgrammatical structure’, saysSven formal languageelementssuchasvocabu- evant toeachcountryastheylearnthe able toabsorbthecultural informationrel- countries themselves.Learners willthusbe and privatetraining groups withinthefour developed inpartnership withuniversities the factthattheyare beingselectedand ‘Their cultural authenticityisguaranteed by topical interest allwithaEuropean bias. ment, poverty, healthcare —subjectsof current affairs, socialissues,theenviron- The materialsusedforLOKIrange through which toplacethelanguagebeinglearnt. the destinationcountryasaframework in tion aboutthewayoflifeandcustoms thus beforearmed withvaluableinforma- business orasatourist,thetraveller can the societyinwhichitisused.Whetheron Focusing on four central and eastern Europeaneasterncountries and central fourFocusing on — the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania — Romania and Poland Hungary, Republic, Czech the — the LOKI project helps overcomeLOKIprojecthelps the linguistic and cultural hurdles with a multimedia learning multimedia hurdlesa cultural with and package combining language acquisition with acquisition language combining package social and cultural awareness.cultural and social

© EC Internet: http://linc-www.uia.ac.be/linc E-mail: [email protected] Fax (32-3)8202786 Tel. (32-3) 8202788 Initiatief Nederlands Centrum voortaalenspraak Universitaire InstellingAntwerpen Universiteit Antwerpen Contact 5 LOKI shouldbeavailableearlyin2003. their ownpace.Followingitstestphase, learners canaccessintheirowntimeandat way, LOKIprovides aflexiblepackagethat able. Bycombiningnewtechnologiesinthis entirely alonewillfindthisbackupinvalu- self-discipline andmotivationtowork room. Thoselearners wholackthe and obtainfeedbackfrom avirtualclass- website providing additionalinformation CD-ROM, learners canaccessadedicated and exercises provided ontheinteractive Besides thevideoclips,reading material support Learner viduals. adapted toautonomouslearningbyindi- teaching situationsbutare especially EN Education and Culture

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