33 Amendments of Siôn SIMON related to 2015/2327(INI)
Amendment 20 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Considers that Erasmus+ is one of the key drivers of growth, employment, competitiveness and social cohesion in that it contributes to improving European education and training systems, active citizenship and employability, and provides Europeans with an opportunity to acquire transversal and transferable sets of skills and competences via studies, training, volunteering and work experience abroad;
Amendment 38 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Highlights the fact that vocational education and training (VET) and VET mobility play a vital economic and social role in Europe, in a rapidly changing labour market, as a mechanism leading to equal opportunities for all citizens, including those from socially disadvantaged groups, unemployed young people, migrants and women, who are all under-represented in VET; calls on the Commission and the Member States to position VET as a choice which leads to a promising career, make it accessible to all, ensure gender balance and non- discrimination, and guarantee that it is adequately funded;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to position VET as a choice which leads to a promising career, make it accessible to all, ensure gender balance and non-discrimination, and increase its funding;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to increase training opportunities abroad of VET learners as it will provide them with professional and life skills needed for a transition from education and training to work;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Calls on the Commission to work with the Members States on a stronger cooperation between education establishmentinstitutions and key stakeholders (businesses, VET facilities, research organisations, social partners, local/regional authorities, and the youth sector) in order to enhance the responsiveness of the education and VET systems to labour market needs, and to guarantee that this cooperation is reflected in Erasmus+; believes that active involvement of beneficiaries in the desigand all stakeholders, including the trade unions and other relevant social partners in the design, organisation and implementation of the programme increasensures its success and added value;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses that, despite clear improvements in recognition and validation systems in education and VET, problems still persist; calls for specific targets such as the implementation of a fully operational credit transfer system and recognithighlights the importance to ensure that competences developed through mobility experiences in any setting – formal learning environment, company traineeships or volunteering and youth activity – are properly documented, validated and recognized in the home system; calls on the Commission, and for validation of competences acquired through non- formal and informal learningMember States for a systematic use and further development of existing European instruments such as the Europass documents, the Youthpass and ECVET.
Amendment 101 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Notes, in the context of new societal challenges for Europe, the need to strengthen a European approach to face common European challenges by supporting large scale innovation projects promoting the acquisition of a broad, transversal and transferable sets of skills and competences through studies, training, volunteering and work experience abroad;
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Highlights that non-formal learning promotes basic skills and soft skills such as social and civic competences that are highly relevant for the labour market as well as well-being at work and a good work-life balance, as well as help integrate disadvantaged groups in the labour market and society;
Amendment 116 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Calls for the full and timely implementation of the Council Recommendation of 20 December 2012 on the validation of non-formal and informal learning;
Amendment 119 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 d (new)
Paragraph 4 d (new)
4d. Calls on the Commission to regularly review the levels of financial support, such as travel lump sums, in order to ensure they are consistent with reality and to avoid discrimination, abandon or failure of people with fewer financial means and/or special requirements;
Amendment 121 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 e (new)
Paragraph 4 e (new)
4e. Insists that the Commission ensures that the programme rules are applied in a harmonised way across National Agencies, respecting common quality standards and procedural practices, and thus ensuring the internal and external coherence of Erasmus+ and positioning it as a true European programme; calls on the Commission to develop European implementation guidelines of the Erasmus+ programme for the National Agencies; strongly encourages better coordination between the agencies to match the projects working on similar issues;
Amendment 123 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 f (new)
Paragraph 4 f (new)
4f. Strongly encourages more transparency in the evaluation of applications and the extensive quality feedback to all applicants; encourages NAs and EACEA, in order to improve the implementation of the programme, to provide training opportunities for evaluators, organise regular meetings with beneficiaries and visits to projects;
Amendment 126 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 g (new)
Paragraph 4 g (new)
4g. Calls on the Commission and the National Agencies to better promote the relevance of projects that target several education and training sectors, as further emphasis needs to be given to the lifelong learning dimension of the programme;
Amendment 128 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 h (new)
Paragraph 4 h (new)
4h. Encourages the development of joint VET qualifications that can ensure international recognition of qualifications, as well as address international work standards and requirements;
Amendment 129 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 i (new)
Paragraph 4 i (new)
4i. Calls on the Commission to reinforce the contribution of Erasmus+ to citizenship, as well as social inclusion of people with physical, mental or health- related conditions, and to reflect the results in the implementation and mid- term review reports;
Amendment 130 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 j (new)
Paragraph 4 j (new)
4j. Strongly supports an efficient promotion and encouragement of VET mobility among women and considers that measures should be put in place in order to ensure that all mobility programmes within Erasmus+ are strictly gender balanced and offer true equal opportunities for all; considers that ambitious targets should be set in this regard and the progress should be strictly monitored;
Amendment 131 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 k (new)
Paragraph 4 k (new)
4k. Highlights the importance of clear learning outcomes and specific job descriptions for the Erasmus+ work experiences abroad for vocational education and training students, trainees, and apprentices; stresses that the preparation of the candidates before their international experiences is an integral part of the activity and needs to include career guidance sessions, language trainings and cross-cultural communication;
Amendment 132 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 l (new)
Paragraph 4 l (new)
4l. Is concerned that internships and traineeships are often a source of cheap labour; therefore, calls for quality paid traineeships and internships that would not substitute standard employment contracts;
Amendment 133 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 m (new)
Paragraph 4 m (new)
4m. Strongly encourages the peer to peer learning following up from studies, training, and work experience abroad in order to increase the impact of Erasmus+ on local communities; highlights that good case practices sharing is vital to the improvement of the quality of the projects under Erasmus+;
Amendment 134 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 n (new)
Paragraph 4 n (new)
4n. Calls on the Commission to draw up and make available updated statistics on Erasmus+ and the impact it has had on employability, as well as type and rate of employment, and impact on salaries;
Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 o (new)
Paragraph 4 o (new)
4o. Calls on the Commission to analyse why some countries are applying for more VET mobility, and build a plan on how to increase the involvement of the other countries;
Amendment 136 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 p (new)
Paragraph 4 p (new)
4p. Highlights that a redefinition of jobs and skills is taking place, especially due to the undergoing transition towards a more digitised economy; calls on the European Commission and the Member States to ensure that the Erasmus+ programme reflects this reality;
Amendment 137 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 q (new)
Paragraph 4 q (new)
4q. Calls on the Commission to optimise the performance and user- friendliness of the IT tools, such as the Mobility Tool, or other IT support platforms like EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe), in order to ensure that the programme beneficiaries make the most of their experiences, as well as promote cross- border collaboration & best practices sharing;
Amendment 138 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 r (new)
Paragraph 4 r (new)
4r. Calls on the Commission to improve the programme guide and make it more user-friendly and understandable, as well as to develop specific information brochures on each of the Key Actions; calls on the European Commission to streamline the application process in terms of administrative burdens;
Amendment 139 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 s (new)
Paragraph 4 s (new)
4s. Supports the development of adult learning institutions through on-going professional development and mobility opportunities for teachers, school leaders, trainers and other education staff; encourages the development of skills and competences, particularly in the effective use of ICT in adult learning, for improved learning outcomes; underlines the importance of exchanging best practices;
Amendment 140 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 t (new)
Paragraph 4 t (new)
4t. Welcomes the development of pilot projects such the "European framework for mobility of apprentices: developing European citizenship and skills through youth integration in the labour market" aimed at implementing cost-efficient cross-border apprentice mobility schemes between VET institutions, companies and/or other relevant organisations, as well as formally recognizing and validating learning outcomes and supporting the mutual recognition of diplomas, and "Youth mobility in vocational training - Better youth mobility" aimed at improving the mobility of young people in vocational training; calls on the Commission for an effective implementation of the two pilot projects and their long-term integration in the Erasmus+ programme;
Amendment 141 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 u (new)
Paragraph 4 u (new)
4u. Calls on the Member States under the Erasmus+ programme to promote the development of transversal entrepreneurial competences and skills, as well as other 21st century skills, by ensuring quality traineeships and studies abroad;
Amendment 142 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 v (new)
Paragraph 4 v (new)
4v. Welcomes the Erasmus+ platform for dissemination of project results and calls for a stronger approach for good case practices sharing and international exchanges of views for NAs, partners, and programme beneficiaries;
Amendment 143 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 w (new)
Paragraph 4 w (new)
4w. Calls on the Commission to guarantee an effective feedback system for the program beneficiaries on any irregularities that they might identify with respect to the implementation of the Erasmus+ programme;
Amendment 144 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 x (new)
Paragraph 4 x (new)
4x. Calls on the Commission to provide support to programme applicants to find international partners;
Amendment 145 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 y (new)
Paragraph 4 y (new)
4y. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that there is no preference of large institutions over small, young ones, in terms of programme applicants;
Amendment 146 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 z (new)
Paragraph 4 z (new)
4z. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to guarantee an increased and more long-term structural support to European of civil society organisations in the field of education, training, youth and sport in the form of operating grants, as they are the organisations providing learning opportunities and participation spaces to European citizens and residents to develop and implement European policies;
Amendment 147 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a a (new)
Paragraph 4 a a (new)
4aa. Encourages the National Agencies to make the available budgets per Key Action and per sector, easily accessible after each application round in order to allow applicants to strategically plan their future actions, as well as publish the results of projects selection and budget lines, so that adequate external monitoring of the programme can take place;