PROMOTING ACTIVE EUROPEAN CITIZENSHIP:
NEW IMPETUS FOR EUROPEAN YOUTH (11957/06, 12060/06)
Letter from the Chairman to Bill Rammell
MP, Minister for Life-long Learning, Further and Higher Education,
Department for Education and Skills
You Explanatory Memorandum dated 31 August was
considered by Sub-Committee G on 12 October.
You will see from our correspondence with your
predecessor about the earlier documents related to this initiative
that we have had reservations over the lack of clarity in some
of the earlier proposals. We also questioned the practicality
of implementing some aspects and had some concerns over the use
of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), which we commend to
your attention.
While we have implicitly endorsed the overall
policy in clearing the earlier documents from scrutiny, we are
still concerned about the ambitious scale of this exercise and
have doubts about the value of some aspects. We look to the Government
to ensure that any activities generated by it are appropriate,
soundly-based, proportional and likely to be of lasting practical
value.
We note from your EM that the Commission have
not attempted to analyse the effectiveness of the initiatives.
We would urge the Government to press for rigorous analysis in
the future. We also note the reported difficulties over the methodology
in implementing some of the objectives, especially where Member
States have difficulty in knowing where to start and how to identify
indicators in evaluating progress. We recommend that the Commission
should be pressed to suggest practical solutions to these problems.
On the other hand, we wonder whether the reported
lack of resources at local level may simply be a fact of life
which the Commission and Member States will have to recognise,
given the pressure on local authority resources and the need to
address other priorities. Better co-ordination may help, as the
Commission has suggested, but the limitations should be understood.
We note that the Commission plans to reinforce
the OMC mechanism. As a general rule, we expect the Government
to ensure that the contribution of OMC is guided by clearly-defined
agreed objectives that do not infringe on the competence of Member
States or the principle of subsidiarity. In our view, OMC should
concentrate on adding significant practical value, be carried
out with as light a touch as possible and avoid being over-burdened
by indicators or causing duplication or nugatory work. We would
be glad to know the extent to which the OMC activities related
to this exercise meet these criteria.
The apparent inconsistency with Article 149
of the Treaty reported in your EM of the proposals for greater
participation by young people in party politics is also noted.
We fully agree that Treaty competence must be respected and reflected
in the text, but would welcome a fuller explanation of your reservations.
In that context, we would also be glad to know whether the Government
consider it is appropriate to recommend a debate on lowering the
voting age to 16 for local elections.
We also agree that it would seem more sensible
to subsume the evaluation report in the 2009 evaluation which
has already been agreed.
Your EM says that Ministers may be asked to
agree on a final proposal, presumably for the Resolution, at the
EYC Council in November. We are prepared to release the Commission
Communication (reference 11957/06) and accompanying Staff Working
Paper (11957/06 ADD1) from scrutiny, but will continue to hold
document 12060/06 (the draft Resolution) under scrutiny. We will
expect you to give us a full progress report on the Working Group
negotiations, covering all the above points, in good time before
any Council decision is needed.
12 October 2006
Letter from Bill Rammell MP to the Chairman
I am replying to your letter of 12 October 2006
and I enclose the latest version of the Draft Resolution (not
printed) on implementing common objectives for participation by
and information for young people in view of promoting their active
European citizenship. This is the version of the proposal which
Ministers will be asked to agree at Youth Council on 13 November.
I am not aware of any plans to discuss the Communication now that
the Council Working Group has finished its deliberations.
In the Explanatory Memorandum which I signed
on 31 August, I drew to your Committee's attention two items of
concern. I note that your Committee shared the UK Government's
concerns. I am pleased to be able to report that, through negotiation
in Working Group, we have been able to remove the proposal that
Member States should promote a greater participation by young
people in party politics. This was an issue of concern for a number
of Member States and it was therefore removed. Similarly, a number
of Member States felt it was inappropriate for any EU proposal
to be recommending a lowering of the voting age to 16. The text
has therefore been amended to suggest that Member States should
"where appropriate, consider debating the voting age and
make full use of the experience gained in some Member States".
These words are consistent with UK government policy on the subject
and I hope your Committee finds this change acceptable.
I am also able to report that the requirement
to report on the implementation of these objectives has been subsumed
into an additional section in the Member State report on the common
objectives for a greater knowledge and understanding of youth,
due at the end of 2008. The Commission has assured Member States
that one or two paragraphs on the subject will suffice. The report
that is due at the end of 2009 will be an evaluation of the process
of cooperation in the youth policy area and the operation of the
Open Method of Cooperation within it.
I note your more general concerns about the
Open Method of Cooperation in the youth policy area and the issue
of resources. I also note that your Committee has had these concerns
for some time. It is true that in some policy areas the OMC has
proved to be bureaucratic, time consuming and slow to produce
results of real value. However, my officals report that in the
youth policy area there is a real desire to respect Treaty competence,
national differences and to keep it as light as possible.
OMC activity since the publication of the White
Paper in 2001 has led to the agreement of common objectives in
four priority areas; a handful of meetings of Member State nominated
experts; and the creation of a European youth portal with links
to national information services. The report by Member States
of how they are implementing the common objectives in the first
priority area, participation and information, has led directly
to a reconsideration and redrafting of those objectives in the
draft Resolution due for adoption in November. Future reports
on the implementation of objectives in the remaining priority
areas will lead to a similar evaluation of those priorities. Member
States have stressed to the Commission that they would expect
future Communications linked to Member State reports to be more
analytical and less descriptive.
In view of the changes to the text of the Resolution,
I hope your Committee can remove it from scrutiny so that it can
be adopted at Youth Council on 13 November.
30 October 2006
Letter from the Chairman to Bill Rammell
MP
Thank you for your letter of 30 October providing
information about the modifications which have been made in the
latest text of the draft Resolution "on implementing common
objectives for participation by and information for young people
in view of promoting their active European citizenship".
This was considered in correspondence by Sub-Committee G on 3
November.
While we wish to reiterate our concerns about
the ambitious scale of the exercise proposed and the need to press
for a rigorous analysis of the likely effectiveness of the actions
proposed, we are prepared to release the latest version of the
Resolution from scrutiny.
We understand that the draft Resolution is likely
to be adopted at the 13 November Youth Council meeting. We would
welcome hearing of the outcome of that meeting.
7 November 2006
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