3 Youth in Action programme 2007-13
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11586/04
COM(04) 471
+ ADD 1
| Draft Decision creating the "Youth in Action" programme for the period 2007-2013
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| Legal base | Article 149(4) EC; co-decision; QMV
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| Document originated | 14 July 2004
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| Deposited in Parliament | 28 July 2004
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| Department | Education and Skills
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 1 September 2004
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | 15/16 November 2004
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Not cleared; further information requested
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Background
3.1 The Community's current Youth programme began in January 2000
and expires on 31 December 2006.[3]
The document before us for scrutiny sets out the Commission's
proposals for the successor programme, covering the period from
the beginning of 2007 to the end of 2013.
3.2 Article 149(1) of the Treaty establishing the
European Community (the EC Treaty) provides that the Community
is to "contribute to the development of quality education
by encouraging cooperation between Member States and, if necessary,
by supporting and supplementing their action". Article 149(2)
provides that Community action is to be aimed at, among other
things, "encouraging the development of youth exchanges and
of exchanges of socioeducational instructors". Article 149(4)
provides that, in order to contribute to the achievement of the
article's objectives, the Council is to adopt "incentive
measures".
The document
3.3 The document comprises a draft Decision and the
Commission's explanatory memorandum on it. The latter says that,
in preparing the draft Decision, the Commission took account of
the findings of the interim evaluation it made of the current
programme earlier this year and the views expressed during the
Commission's public consultations in 2002. Both called for the
continuation of a Community Youth programme with modifications
to widen participation and make the grant procedures simpler and
more flexible.
3.4 The proposed general objectives of the new programme
(set out in Article 2(1) of the draft Decision) are:
"(a) to promote young people's active citizenship
in general and their European citizenship in particular;
(b) to develop solidarity among young people,
in particular in order to reinforce social cohesion in the European
Union;
(c) to foster mutual understanding between peoples
through youth;
(d) to contribute to developing the quality
of support systems for youth activities and the capabilities of
civil society organisations in the youth field; and
(e) to promote European cooperation in youth
policies."
Article 2(2) proposes specific objectives in support
of each of the general objectives.
3.5 Article 4 proposes that the objectives should
be pursued through the following five "actions":
- Youth in Europe:
to support exchanges of young people and projects for their participation
in democratic life.
- European voluntary service: to
support young people's participation in various forms of voluntary
activities.
- Youth of the World:
to support youth exchanges and projects with neighbouring countries
and those which have signed association agreements with the Community.
- Youth workers and support systems:
to support youth organisations active at a European level and,
in particular, the European Youth Forum, to promote the exchange
and training of youth workers and to provide support for innovative
schemes for youth activities.
- Support for policy cooperation: to
provide support for the exchange of information and ideas between
young people and youth workers and policy makers and to contribute
to the development of cooperation in youth policies.
The Annex to the draft Decision provides details
of the measures that would be supported under each of the actions.
3.6 Article 6(2) proposes that participation should
be open to young people aged 13 to 30 (the current programme is
open to those aged 15 to 25).
3.7 Article 6(5) proposes that countries should take
action:
"to remove obstacles to the mobility of participants,
so that the latter have access to health care, retain their social
protection and are able to travel and reside in the host country.
This applies in particular to the rights of entry, residence and
free movement. Countries participating in the programme shall,
if necessary, take appropriate measures to ensure that beneficiaries
from third countries are admitted to their territory."
Article 4(4) of the Decision setting up the current
programme merely requires participating countries to endeavour
to take measures to ensure that people taking part have access
to health care and that those taking part in voluntary service
retain their social protection.
3.8 Article 8 of the draft Decision proposes that
participating countries should be required to appoint and monitor
"national agencies" to implement the programme locally.
3.9 Article 13 proposes that the total budget for
the programme between 2007 and 2013 should be €915 million.
The budget for the 2000-2006 programme is €520 million.
3.10 Article 15 proposes that the Commission should
produce a report on an interim evaluation of the programme by
the end of March 2011 and a report on the continuation of the
programme by the end of that year; a final report on the programme
should be produced by the end of March 2016.
The Government's view
3.11 The Minister of State for Lifelong Learning,
Further and Higher Education (Alan Johnson) tells us that the
activities proposed in the draft Decision fit well with the Government's
policy for young people and, in general, would add value to the
UK's activities. He is satisfied that the proposed legal base
for the draft Decision is appropriate.
3.12 The Minister adds that it will not be possible
to agree the budget for the new programme until the Financial
Perspective for 2007-13 has been settled. The outcome of the negotiations
on the next Financial Perspective may affect the targets and priorities
of the proposed youth programme.
3.13 The Minister says that the Government will want
to explore a number of differences between the proposed programme
and the current one:
"The age group eligible to take part in this
programme is 13 to 30 year olds compared with 15 to 25 year olds
in the current youth programme. The UK Government is not convinced
of the need to extend the age range and will argue that young
people of 13 have very different needs and expectations from those
of 30, with a very different duty of care. The key to success
in previous programmes has been that participants take part as
equals. This is less likely to be achieved with a wider age range.
"The UK Government is concerned to ensure that
normal immigration procedures are not breached by this programme.
The 'Youth of the World' strand must be fully consistent with
existing immigration policy and visa requirements.
"The Commission has long promised a simplification
of procedures for the programme and the interim evaluation of
the current Youth programme called on the Commission to make sure
that this and a greater decentralisation were features of this
proposal. We will be pressing this point in negotiations as it
is not clear from this first draft that more decisions will be
taken at the national level and that application procedures will
be simpler and easier to follow.
"We will also be pressing for plans for effective
programme monitoring and evaluation and that the results of best
practice are identified and widely disseminated."
3.14 Finally, the Minister tells us that the Commission
hopes that political agreement on the draft Decision will be reached
at the Youth Council on 15/16 November. The negotiations on the
next Financial Perspective are unlikely to be completed until
the middle of 2005.
Conclusion
3.15 In our view, the draft Decision does not
raise issues of subsidiarity or proportionality and the proposed
legal base appears appropriate.
3.16 We are grateful for the Minister's full and
helpful Explanatory Memorandum. We note that, while broadly content
with the Commission's proposals, there are a number of points
which the Government will be pursuing in the negotiations. We
ask the Minister to keep us informed of the progress of those
negotiations.
3.17 Article 8(6) of the draft Decision proposes
that participating countries should appoint national agencies
to implement the programme locally. We should be grateful if the
Minister would tell us what the arrangements would be in the United
Kingdom; would there be one agency or separate agencies for England
and the devolved administrations?
3.18 Pending the Minister's response, we shall
keep the document under scrutiny.
3 Decision No. 1031/2000/EC, OJ No. L 117, 18.5.00,
p.1. Back
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