Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2003)796 - Single framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences (Europass) - Main contents
Please note
This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2003)796 - Single framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences (Europass). |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2003)796  |
| date | 17-12-2003 |
Contents
- 1.1. Policy context
- 1.2. The transparency of qualifications and competences
- 1.3. Aim
- 1.3.1. The added value of a single transparency framework for all education and training
- 1.3.2. General, specific and operational objectives
- 1.4. Consultation and ex ante evaluation
- 1.5. Legal basis and legal form of the instrument
- 2. Content
- 2.1. Purpose and scope of this proposal for a Decision
- 2.2. The Europass framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences
- 2.3. The existing documents included in the Europass framework
- 2.3.1. The European CV: the backbone of the portfolio
- 2.3.2. The MobiliPass: making mobility visible
- 2.3.3. The Diploma Supplement: transparency in higher education
- 2.3.4. The Certificate Supplement: transparency in vocational education and training
- 2.3.5. The European Language Portfolio: recording language skills
- 2.4. The implementation measures
- 2.5. The information system for the Europass framework
- 2.6. Financial implications: period and financial reference amount
- 3. Conclusion
1. Over the last decade growing attention has been paid at both national and European level to the transparency of qualifications and competences, for both academic and occupational purposes. Lack of transparency has often been regarded as an obstacle to mobility, for either educational or occupational purposes, and a constraint on developing the flexibility of labour markets in Europe; making qualifications and competences more transparent is essential to increase and improve mobility - between countries and regions, sectors and companies, as well as from learning to working in the perspective of lifelong learning.
The emphasis placed on these issues has become particularly strong and explicit since the Lisbon European Council of March 2000. The Presidency conclusions identified increased transparency of qualifications as one of three main components in an approach aiming at a better match between the provisions of education and training systems and the emerging needs of the knowledge society in terms of level and quality of employment and lifelong learning i. In particular, the conclusions expressly recommended the development of a common European format for curriculum vitae and of a Europe-wide information system on learning opportunities, which have since been established i.
Two years later, the Barcelona European Council endorsed the work programme on the follow-up of the objectives report and set the objective for European education and training to become a world quality reference by 2010. To this purpose, it specifically called for further action to ensure the transparency of diplomas and qualifications through appropriate instruments, mentioning ECTS, the diploma and certificate supplements and the European CV i.
2. The Commission Communication on 'Making a European Area of Lifelong Learning a Reality' of 21 November 2001 dealt with these issues under the heading of 'Valuing learning', stressing how transparency tools help people in having their skills acknowledged, no matter whether they were acquired within or outside the formal learning systems i.
Promoting and generalising the use of transparency documents, with a view of creating a European area of qualifications, was advocated by Recommendation 2001/613/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 July 2001 on mobility within the Community for students, persons undergoing training, volunteers, teachers and trainers i, and a number of measures in this sense had been included in the action plan on mobility endorsed by the Nice European Council in December 2000 i.
The Communication from the Commission on an Action Plan for skills and mobility i called for the implementation and development of instruments supporting the transparency and transferability of qualifications to facilitate mobility within and between sectors by 2003, as well as for the establishment of a One-stop European Mobility Information Site as part of a wider European network to provide comprehensive and easily accessible information to citizens on key aspects of jobs, mobility, learning opportunities and the transparency of qualifications in Europe. The Council Resolution on skills and mobility of 3 June 2002 i and the Council Resolution on lifelong learning of 27 June 2002 i called for increased cooperation, among others towards a framework for transparency and recognition based on the existing instruments.
3. In the last two years, a process aiming at increased cooperation in vocational education and training has been started. Inspired by the 'Bologna process' in higher education, this process is based on two policy documents, the Copenhagen Declaration of 30 November 2002 i and the Council Resolution of 19 December 2002 on the promotion of enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training i. The Copenhagen Declaration expressly called for action to increase 'transparency in vocational education and training through the implementation and rationalisation of information tools and networks, including the integration of existing instruments such as the European CV, certificate and diploma supplements, the Common European Framework of reference for languages and the Europass into one single framework'.
4. This proposal for a Decision establishes the single framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences advocated by the above mentioned Council Resolution and provides for the adequate implementation and support measures. Rationalisation and coordination are the key principles, applied to the transparency documents, their implementation bodies and the related networks.
This proposal for a Decision provides for Community financial support only for the development phase (2005-2006). It is the Commission's intention to provide support for the subsequent years in the framework of the proposed future generation of programmes in the field of education and training which are in the process of being prepared.
1. Transparency of qualifications and competences is a different issue than the formal recognition of qualifications. Increased transparency is pursued for the sake of recognition in a wider, social sense: to improve understanding and appreciation of both qualifications and competences on the labour market. Transparency never implies legal recognition, even if legal recognition requires a satisfactory degree of transparency.
2. The transparency of both qualifications and competences is the specific aim of a number of European initiatives in the last years.
* Higher education proved to be a privileged field for initiatives aimed at improving the transparency and comparability of qualifications. The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) was initiated 15 years ago at Community level as a pilot scheme under the first Erasmus programme; it is now used by more than one thousand higher education institutions, including non-university ones, within and beyond the European Union i. In 1999, European Ministers of Education started the 'Bologna process', with a view to achieve overall convergence of the structures of the different higher education systems through voluntary reforms based on common principles and agreed objectives i. In the 31 countries concerned, National Academic Recognition Information Centres (NARIC) have been set up i.
* In close connection with the ECTS, a document has been jointly created by the European Commission, the Council of Europe and UNESCO to improve the transparency of higher education qualifications: the Diploma Supplement. Its promotion is an obligation for all state parties to the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region i. Its use, recommended among others by the 1999 Bologna declaration and by the 2001 Council and European Parliament Recommendation on mobility i, is gaining ground in higher education institutions throughout Europe and beyond i, and in several countries is supported by legislative measures. The Conference of European Ministers on 'Realising the European Higher Education Area', held in Berlin in September 2003, set the objective that every student graduating as from 2005 should receive the Diploma Supplement automatically and free of charge i, issued in a widely spoken European language. The Commission has introduced a 'Diploma Supplement label' for higher education institutions who fulfil these requirements.
* Since 2000 the Europass-Training document is available to record in a common format mobility experiences satisfying a number of common criteria, namely the fact that part of the learning takes place in a working environment. It was established by a specific Council Decision and is of application in the EEA countries i. About 50 000 Europass-Training document were delivered to citizens in the 18 countries in the first three years of operation.
* Efforts to improve mutual understanding of the qualifications systems of the various Member States and of the qualifications themselves were advocated by Council Resolution of 3 December 1992 i, while Council Resolution of 15 July 1996 i specifically tackled the issue of making vocational training certificates clearer to read. Concrete steps in this sense were taken within the European Forum for the transparency of vocational qualifications, set up in 1998 as a joint initiative of Commission and Cedefop. Including members appointed by Member States, social partners and the Commission, the Forum granted more consistency and visibility to the debate on transparency. this work resulted in a number of practical recommendations, integrated into wider legal acts. In particular, the Forum originally proposed the certificate supplements, the European CV and the national reference points for qualifications described in the following paragraphs.
* Certificate Supplements, which explain what a certain qualification means in terms of competences and with reference to the training system to which it belongs, are now being developed in all Member States following an agreed common template i. Issuing supplements to vocational training certificates is recommended by the 2001 Council and European Parliament Recommendation on mobility.
* The European common format for Curriculum vitae is available since March 2002 on the Internet as well as on paper i. As its name declares, it is a personal document, to be completed by its holder. Specifically called for by the Conclusions of the 2000 Lisbon Council i, it was defined in a Commission Recommendation i. From the website of Cedefop more than 500 000 CVs were downloaded from March 2002 to September 2003.
* National Reference Points for Vocational Qualifications (NRP) were or are being set up in all Member States, aiming to be the first and main contact for all issues concerning qualifications i. Setting up NRPs is recommended by the 2001 Council and European Parliament Recommendation on mobility.
* A significant contribution to transparency in the field of education and training is offered by information and guidance services, namely as concerns guiding citizens and operators to understanding and dealing with learning and qualification systems in other countries. In particular, the Euroguidance network operates in this sense throughout Europe. Started under the Petra programme, it is now co-funded by the Leonardo da Vinci programme i. The Euroguidance network is among others responsible with providing the content of the Ploteus portal, which since March 2003 allows citizens to look for information on learning opportunities in Europe and guides them through the education and training systems of other countries i. Ploteus, which also provides the information on learning opportunities for the European Job Mobility Portal i, is the first step towards the European information service on learning opportunities called for by the Conclusions of the 2000 Lisbon Council, that is being developed by making national service inter-operable throughout Europe.
3. As concerns in particular language skills, the Council of Europe has developed the Common European Framework of References for Languages and the European Language Portfolio. The former is a tool for setting clear standards to be attained at successive stages of learning and for evaluating outcomes in an internationally comparable manner. It is increasingly used in the reform of national curricula and by international consortia for the comparison of language certificates. The European Language Portfolio is a document where citizens can record their language skills and experiences, based on the Common Framework. Specialised Portfolios are being developed in Council of Europe Member States, depending on the age of learners and national contexts and respecting the agreed set of common principles and guidelines i.
4. Within the social dialogue framework, social partners at European level agreed in February 2002 on a framework of actions for the lifelong development of competencies and qualifications i, which indicate the recognition and validation of competencies and qualifications as one of four priority areas for action based on a principle of shared responsibility. Under this area, social partners stressed the necessity to improve transparency and transferability, as a means to facilitate geographical and occupational mobility and to increase the efficiency of labour markets, and committed themselves to a deeper dialogue and to participation to the debate on these issues.
5. In addition to the above-mentioned European tools and initiatives, that were developed and agreed at European level, although their implementation depends on voluntary action by Member States, a large number of transparency related instruments have been developed at national, local and industry level. They include skill passports - like the EMU-Pass, developed by the European Metal Union to facilitate the mobility of skilled workers in the metal industry i, assessment tools, as well as a multitude of occupational profiles, qualifications frameworks and web-based information services.
A number of such tools were also developed within pilot projects under the Leonardo da Vinci programme. One of these projects was the origin of the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL), a well-known European-wide qualification which enables people to demonstrate their competence in computer skills i. Another project resulted in the Estia website, which gave information on the learning and qualification systems of many European countries and was used as a basis for the relevant section of the Ploteus portal i. A project co-financed within the first phase of Leonardo da Vinci partially anticipated the concept of the existing Europass-Training document, while two projects within the second phase aimed at the targeted promotion of this instrument i.
1. As mentioned above, a number of tools are already available to citizens for both education and training, namely the common European CV format, the Diploma Supplement, the current Europass-Training. Certificate Supplements and European Language Portfolios are being produced by national authorities according to the models agreed at European level. Citizens can also be helped by guidance and information services. However, added value can be achieved by rationalisation and simplification underpinned by legislative action at Community level, aimed at coordinating and streamlining the different tools.
2. The documents listed above satisfy specific needs and were established through different arrangements, so it is not surprising that they are usually managed and promoted separately. People who know about the Europass-Training may not know about the European CV or the certificate supplement. This applies to both applicants, who may not be able to fully exploit tools which are indeed available, and those who examine applications - for instance employers, who may not correctly appreciate the supporting and clarifying role of these tools.
While these documents are separate, and while each of them has critical features of its own, they all share one and the same purpose: helping people in communicating their qualifications and competences. Coordinating them could therefore improve access, visibility and effectiveness of each of them. Efforts towards a coordinated promotion have been made in some countries i.
Integrating the existing tools in a coordinated framework, promoted and followed-up in each country by a single body and supported by suitable information systems at national and European level, would make these documents easier to access, more coherent and better known. As they are communication tools, this means they would become more effective and more useful: a coordinated portfolio of documents has a stronger communication impact than a loose collection of separate documents.
3. Similar considerations apply to the existing networks intended to help citizens with issues related to transparency. First of all, for each of the documents mentioned above a different body or network operates at national level. The National Reference Points and Euroguidance are two further networks offering information to citizens and operators. The NARIC and ENIC networks also have a close remit. In very few countries some of these activities are carried out by the same organisation, but the norm is fragmentation rather than coordination i. The result is that citizens can find it difficult to get all the benefit they could from the valuable information made available by the various networks and services.
4. There is a need for coordination and rationalisation of the existing tools and networks, and this requires action at Community level. In fact, the documents concerned are already produced, coordinated or agreed upon at Community level (and beyond in the case of the Diploma Supplement and the European Language Portfolio) and the networks and services concerned operate throughout Europe. The European dimension is an unquestioned, intrinsic feature of both the documents and the networks. The single framework can therefore only be established at Community level.
5. Rationalising tools and networks and coordinating their activity, in particular through an act adopted at Community level, will also benefit the development of further tools. In fact, parties interested in creating any such tools - national authorities, international organisations, organisations representing the social partners or the civil society - will find an existing, coherent reference framework. This will help them in assessing their own needs and devising appropriate proposals in the wider context, thus promoting the development of consistent instruments.
6. Summing up, bringing the different documents together into a single framework, and streamlining the related implementation and support networks, will provide citizens with a more effective communication tool - more coherent, easier to access, more visible and more widely acknowledged - and will offer a sound reference framework for the development of further tools.
The general, long-term objectives are indicated by Articles 149 and 150 of the Treaty. An improved transparency of qualifications and competences will in fact facilitate:
- the mobility of students, including by being instrumental to the academic recognition of diplomas and periods of study. This is indicated as one of the aims of Community action in order to contribute to the development of quality education (Article 149),
- the mobility of trainees, as well as vocational integration and reintegration into the labour market. These are indicated among the aims of Community action to implement a vocational training policy (Article 150).
In order to achieve these long-term objectives, the proposed action is expected to produce the following specific objectives:
- better awareness of and access to the existing transparency instruments among citizens - namely learners, teachers and trainers, employers and admission staff of learning bodies - by bringing them together into a single, coordinated framework and rationalising the related networks,
- stronger communication impact of the existing transparency instruments, through the use of a common, well promoted logo,
- opportunity for development of further transparency instruments,
- better information on issues related to transparency and mobility - opportunities, conditions, recognition - by closely associating guidance services with the coordinated operation of the transparency framework.
On a more operational level, the following objectives should be pursued:
- an adequate implementation mechanism must be set up, so that the Europass portfolio and its documents are available and promoted,
- learning providers and mobility promoters should complete and award Europass documents as appropriate and link them into the Europass framework,
- the Europass framework and its documents should be used by citizens when applying for a job or for admission to an education or training opportunity.
How far these objectives are achieved can be assessed analysing quantitative and qualitative information that can be available from management or obtained through specific surveys. A table matching objectives and indicators, as well as summarising the basic activities to carry out, is provided in the financial statement attached to this proposal for a Decision.
A preliminary outline of the single framework was presented to and endorsed by the Directors General of Vocational Training at their meeting of 10-11 march 2003 in Thessaloniki. The draft text was met with a favourable opinion at the meeting of 20 October in Benevento.
A more structured outline of this proposal for a Decision was welcomed by the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training (ACVT) on 5 June 2003 i. ACVT members were also consulted, through written procedure, on the draft text in October 2003. Comments were favourable and constructive.
Comments from the Directors General of Vocational Training and the ACVT have been taken into account, namely by stressing the coordinating role of the Europass National Agencies.
The preparation of this draft proposal also took into account contributions and comments from a working group established to follow up the Copenhagen Declaration in the field of Transparency of qualifications and competences i and from the representatives of the existing Europass-Training National contact points.
Positive and constructive comments were also expressed by the relevant services of the Council of Europe.
An internal ex ante evaluation exercise was carried out in Summer 2003. It involved services within the Directorate General for Education and Culture, which is responsible at Community level for all the documents and networks concerned by this proposal for a Decision. The exercise defined the global, specific and operational objectives indicated in the paragraph above; they are also reproduced, in a table which also indicated the related indicators, in the financial statement attached to this proposal. The ex ante evaluation exercise was also valuable in producing a bottom up estimation of the costs on which the amount of reference for financial support is based.
1. Articles 149 and 150 of the Treaty are the legal basis of this proposal for a Decision.
2. The appropriate legal form is a Decision of the European Parliament and the Council, repealing Council Decision 1999/51/EC which established the existing Europass-Training.
To achieve the aims indicated above, this proposal for a Decision establishes a single framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences, known as 'Europass', provides for the adequate implementation and support measures and indicates the costs envisaged for the first two years of implementation.
Coordination and rationalisation are the key concepts: the Europass is a coordinated portfolio of documents; all related activities - implementation, promotion, support - are streamlined and coordinated.
The main concept is to link separate documents aimed at the transparency of qualifications and competences into a single framework, in the form of a structured portfolio of documents, known as 'Europass'.
The brand name 'Europass' is taken over from the existing Europass-Training, which is reformed by this proposal for a Decision and renamed as 'MobiliPass'.
The name 'Europass' does not have any country related connotation and the reference to a 'pass' immediately calls to mind the main feature of the framework and all its documents: they are meant to help citizens that move from one situation to another, even when this does not involve any geographical mobility.
The core of the Europass portfolio is the European CV, to which the other 'Europass documents' will be linked. This proposal for a Decision directly brings together into the Europass portfolio some existing documents, but makes clear that this is not the exhaustive list of Europass documents: in future, further documents could be considered parts of the Europass, provided that they share the purpose to improve the transparency of qualifications and competences and that they satisfy the operational conditions required to be integrated. It will be a responsibility for the Commission and the relevant national authorities to verify that these conditions are met.
For citizens, using any single Europass document or the whole Europass portfolio is a voluntary act: they are an opportunity offered to citizens and not an obligation made to them.
This proposal for a Decision defines the first five documents included in the Europass portfolio. These documents already exist, with the partial exception of the MobiliPass, which is established to replace the current Europass-Training (keeping in fact many of its features). For the other documents no real change is necessary, besides for them to carry the Europass logo and be available in electronic form.
Ensuring that a common Europass logo and coherent graphic options are used for all Europass documents will be a shared responsibility of the Commission and the relevant national authorities or international organisations. For each document, a description is given in a specific annex, including a generic model of structure for the European CV, the MobiliPass and the certificate supplement. However, no detailed specification is given in this proposal for a Decision as concerns the accurate layout and the related graphic solutions, in order to allow for adaptations and improvements as appropriate.
The existing documents brought together into the Europass framework by this proposal for a Decision are all documents established at European level, either by Community institutions, or by international organisations like the Council of Europe and Unesco, or agreed by Member States in the context of a policy process at Community level. As explained in the sections below, they cover qualifications and competences in a lifelong learning perspective, focusing on all personal competences (CV), language learning (European Language Portfolio), mobility experiences (MobiliPass) and qualifications in vocational education and training (Certificate Supplement) or in higher education (Diploma Supplement). Further documents may be added in future, to allow in particular for a closer focus on specific sectors or skills.
The European CV is a slightly improved version of the common European format for CV established through a Commission Recommendation in March 2002. Improvements only concern the terminology; all other features remain unchanged.
Like all CVs, it is a personal document completed by the concerned person.
After five years of operation (Council Decision 1999/51/EC entered into force on 1 January 2000), the Europass-Training will be replaced by the MobiliPass, meant to record European learning pathways, that is periods of learning in another country that satisfy certain quality criteria. These criteria do not include the requirement - characteristic of the existing Europass-Training - that the learning should be 'work-linked training'.
Like for the current Europass-Training, no limitation is envisaged as concerns the age and the occupational status of the person that follows the pathway or the level of education or training.
The MobiliPass is therefore meant to record all experiences of transnational mobility for learning purposes throughout Europe which satisfy some quality criteria. In particular, this will include all citizens participating in mobility projects within Community programmes in the field of education and learning, who should automatically receive a MobiliPass. However, it should be clear that the scope of the MobiliPass goes beyond the Community programmes.
The structure of this document is based on that of the current Europass-Training, with some improvements. In particular, it allows for a more detailed description of the mobility experience, using the same competence-based approach of the European CV.
Like the existing Europass-Training, this is an individual document, which describes in a common format the particular experience of each holder. It is not completed by its holder, but by the sending and host organisations involved.
This reform of the Europass-Training concept, which widens it into a more general record of European mobility experiences for all learning purposes, takes into account the conclusions of the mid-term evaluation and is consistent with opinions often expressed by stakeholders, and confirmed by an external evaluation finalised in August 2003. Europass-Training was a pilot initiative, which after some years of operation with a limited scope is now being developed into a more comprehensive instrument.
The diploma supplement concerns higher education: it is the document jointly developed with the Council of Europe and UNESCO, to make higher education degrees more transparent. It is a personal document, containing, among others, information related to the specific educational pathway of each individual holder. It is completed by the institution which delivers it to its holder along with the degree which it supplements. Bringing it into the Europass framework does not need any real change, besides adding the Europass logo. Awarding procedures are also unchanged.
The certificate supplement concerns vocational education and training. This proposal does not make any change to common format recently agreed informally by Member States and now used by national authorities to prepare the actual supplements for each certificate.
This document has a different nature from the others, as it does not refer to its specific holder: a certificate supplements clarifies the vocational qualification to which it refers, and is the same for all those who hold that qualification.
The European Language Portfolio adapts the model agreed within the Council of Europe and based on the Common Framework for Languages. It is a document where citizens can record the linguistic and cultural skills they have acquired. It contains in particular a Language Passport, where holders can give details on their proficiency in languages. Countries can adapt the common model, for instance to better gear it to the needs of specific target groups.
The key feature as concerns the implementation measures is that in each country a single body, known as the Europass National Agency (ENA), should be appointed to coordinate all the related activities.
It should be clear that the Commission is not proposing the creation of a further body to be added to the existing ones. This proposal for a Decision aims at improved effectiveness through rationalisation: the transparency documents are brought into a single framework, to be coordinated by a single body. Each Member State shall decide whether its ENA should be established by expanding one of relevant existing bodies, by merging several such bodies or by replacing them. All activities related to the implementation at national level of this proposal for a Decision shall receive Community financial support exclusively through one yearly grant awarded to the ENA, which would act as implementation body at national level in accordance with Article 54(2)(c) of the Financial Regulation i.
The activities for which the ENA shall be responsible shall include in fact the tasks currently carried out at national level by a number of bodies, such as the Europass-Training National Contact Points and the National Reference Points for Vocational Qualifications. They can be grouped under the following categories:
- Managing the transparency documents. The existing transparency documents directly concerned by this proposal for a Decision are now run by a number of structures in each country, according to procedures which may be more or less adapted to the national context. This depends on the nature of the documents and on how they were introduced. Some activities cannot, by their very nature, be the responsibility of the Europass National Agencies. For instance, it is an essential feature of the diploma supplement to be managed by higher education institutions. For other documents, it will largely be a national choice whether the Europass National Agency should directly manage them rather than coordinate other bodies.
It is important to note that the Europass is an open framework, which in future will probably include other transparency documents than those listed in this proposal for a Decision. It is quite unlikely that Europass National Agencies should directly manage all of them, but all documents acknowledged as Europass documents should be managed in coordination with the Europass National Agencies.
Europass National Agencies should also ensure that all Europass documents are also available in paper version - not only as printouts of the electronic documents, but as separately produced paper documents for a number of reasons. First, not all citizens have access to or are acquainted with the Internet or information technology in general. Second, paper documents can be used for promotional purposes. Finally, as is often reported by the Europass-Training contact points the delivery of material documents, possibly in the context of an awarding ceremony, can be a factor of motivation.
- Setting up and managing the information system. In order to ensure that Europass documents as electronic files can be linked to each other, this activity should be under the direct responsibility of the Europass National Agency. It will have to ensure that the information system supporting the Europass framework at national level is fully inter-operable with those in other countries, that all Europass documents can be completed in electronic form and that all their holders have access to them in this form, including through the European Job Mobility Portal. (Cf. section 2.5 below on the information system.)
- Promoting the portfolio and its documents. The Europass portfolio and its documents are communication tools, and they can only be effective if they are well known. Coordinated promotional efforts at all levels are vital. Coordinating them at national level, and coordinating them with action at European level, will be a major task of the Europass National Agencies.
- Providing information and guidance. Citizens will need information, advice and support to access the different documents and the Europass portfolio and put them to good use. Most of such support will not be provided directly by the Europass National Agency: citizens will address the local guidance centres or Internet based service. Therefore, it seems appropriate that the Europass National Agency works in close coordination with the Euroguidance network, which has long experience providing information and guidance in the field of education, training and qualifications in a European dimension. In the medium term, after the development phase (2005-2006) the ENA should take on the responsibility for these activities, as well as for the operation of the Internet based Ploteus portal, which in particular guides citizens to finding information on learning opportunities throughout Europe and to understanding the education and training systems of other countries. Access to Europass information will also be provided through the European Job Mobility Portal, and cooperation established with such relevant services as the NARIC networks and 'Dialogue with citizens' is also essential.
- Networking at European level. Europass National Agencies will have to form a network coordinated by the Commission. The Europass portfolio is intrinsically transnational as a concept and as practical tool, and coordination will be as vital at European as at national level. Each country's Europass National Agency should be the natural contact for the Commission and for the Europass National Agencies in other countries as concerns the Europass portfolio in particular, as well as transparency of qualifications and competences in general.
One specific task of the network of Europass National Agencies will be to provide the Commission with opinions on the inclusion of further documents in the Europass portfolio.
The Europass framework and the related support services should rely upon a suitable information system, allowing to link in a coordinated way the completed documents and to make them available to their holders through the Internet.
Reflecting the usual composition of an application portfolio in paper form, the European CV file is the backbone of the electronic Europass: a portfolio for a given citizen is created by establishing links from sections of his/her CV file with his/her further Europass documents as appropriate.
The Europass information system should be managed partially at European level and partially at national level. In particular, there should be a Europass Internet portal, appropriately interrelated to the European Job Mobility Portal, giving access to information services which will be mostly managed at national level (as the Europass documents are issued at national level). However, no detail is given in this proposal for a Decision on which part of the system should be managed at which level, because this might vary in time; organisational arrangements between the Commission and the Member States should adapt to choose the most effective solution allowed by the relevant technologies.
This proposal provides therefore for the basic features of the information system, without giving any indication on the technological solutions, in order not to commit the Commission and Member States to options that might soon become obsolete.
The basic operational principle is that all parts managed at national level should be fully interoperable. This not only concerns consultation: a citizen can in principle be awarded Europass documents in different countries and it should be possible to link them with his/her CV from any concerned country.
All Europass documents, either completed by citizens like the European CV or released by authorities, should be available in the relevant part of the information system. However, citizens should be entitled to retrieve from the information system only their personal Europass documents. It is clear that all relevant Community and national provisions concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy should be fully respected.
It is important that the Europass information system should be open to future developments. This not only refers to the fact that further transparency documents can be included in the Europass framework:, it will be necessary, in particular, to take account of evolving European labour market information systems, such as the European Job Mobility Portal i.
Given that Europass is intended to be a permanent instrument for citizens, this legal basis has an unlimited duration. Therefore no reference amount is indicated and the annual appropriations shall simply be authorised by the budget authority within the limits of the financial perspective.
The financial statement indicates the costs envisaged for the first two years of operation (2005 and 2006).
In 2007 a new generation of programmes in the field of education and training should enter into force under the new financial perspectives. In the context of rationalisation that will characterise the new programmes as much as this proposal for a Decision, it is the Commission's intention that after 2006 the proposed Europass framework should, like other actions at Community level in these fields, take place within the framework of the new programmes, in the form of a horizontal policy action. Financial support after 2006 would therefore be provided for within the global budget envelope of the new generation of programmes. Costs should not be significantly higher than those envisaged for the first two years.
In the light of the above, the Commission proposes to the European Parliament and the Council the adoption of this proposal for a Decision, which establishes a single framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences, known as 'Europass', and provides for the adequate implementation and support measures, envisaging Community financial support for the period 2005-2006.