Activites

• 2004/12/31 Final act published in Official Journal
  • Decision 2004/2241
  • OJ L 390 31.12.2004, p. 0006-0020
• 2004/12/15 Final act signed
• 2004/12/15 End of procedure in Parliament
• 2004/12/14 Results of vote in Parliament
  • Results of vote in Parliament
  • T6-0095/2004 summary

    The European Parliament adopted a resolution drafted by Ljudmila NOVAK (EPP-ED, SI) and approved the common position.

• 2004/12/13 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2004/12/02 Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading
  • A6-0056/2004
• 2004/11/30 Vote in committee, 2nd reading
• 2004/10/28 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 2nd reading
• #2612
• 2004/10/21 Council Meeting
  • 12242/1/2004 summary

    In its common position, the Council approved the Commission's proposal in principle, while making certain amendments which it thought desirable. It equally considers that its common position constitutes a balanced text, providing a good basis for launching this instrument , thereby facilitating mobility throughout Europe for lifelong learning purposes.It notes that the 14 amendments by the European Parliament incorporated in full or in substance in the common position do not alter the content of the Commission's initial proposal. The Council introduced other changes, in particular amending the procedure and defining the criteria for introducing new documents in the Europass structure. The names of the documents included in the framework and of the implementation bodies are also slightly amended. These changes do not alter the content of the Commission's initial proposal.More specifically, as regards the amendments made by the Council to the Commission's proposal, these concern the following :- Future inclusion of other documents : the Council considers that provision should be made for the inclusion of other documents in the future (e.g. in the field of IT) in accordance with the criteria laid down in the new Annex I and the procedure;- Committee Procedure : in view of the future introduction of other documents, the Council is of the view that the Commission should be assisted in this task by the relevant existing Committees (Socrates and Leonardo) in accordance with a management procedure;- Social Partners : provision has been made for the consultation by the Commission of the social partners and other relevant stakeholders at European level;- Designation of the documents : with a view to enhancing the Europass logo, the Council proposes that "Europass" be part of the designation of all the documents in the portfolio (i.e. Europass-Curriculum Vitae; Europass-Mobility; Europass-Diploma Supplement; Europass-Language Portfolio; Europass-Certificate Supplement);- National Europass Centres : the Council is of the view that the bodies responsible for the implementation of the decision should be called "National Europass Centres" (NEC) rather than "Europass National Agencies", since the term agency could be taken to imply a specifically created body, whereas the NECs are intended to replace or develop, where appropriate, existing bodies carrying out similar activities;- Information Systems : the Council has clarified the scope of citizens' access to information systems as far as Europass documents are concerned.

• #2589
• 2004/06/10 Council Meeting
• #2585
• 2004/05/27 Council Meeting
• 2004/04/22 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T5-0362/2004 summary

    By adopting the report by Sabine ZISSENER (EPP-ED, D) which aims to create a single framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences (Europass). The European Parliament accepted the recommendations from the committee responsible and included some additional amendments aiming to clarify the content of a single framework. The other main amendment to the proposal relates to the future extension of the Europass portfolio to include other documents that might become more relevant in the future. The single framework should be widened as soon as possible to include an instrument to record proficiency in information technology. The report also strengthens the importance of the involvement of the EU's social partners in evaluating and periodically reviewing the Europass initiative. Moreover, the Parliament states that third country nationals resident in the European Union should also be able to benefit. Parliament is of the opinion that the social partners at EU level will play a particular role in sectoral transparency initiatives that could be incorporated into the Europass framework in due course. Each Member State shall designate a Europass National Agency (ENA), which shall be responsible at national level for the coordination of all activities referred to in this Decision and which shall replace or develop, where appropriate, existing bodies currently carrying out similar activities. Moreover, Parliament requests that adequate promotion and information activities are carried out at European and national level, covering citizens, education and training providers and social partners including SMEs. Parliament stipulates that 3 years after the entry into force of this Decision and every 4 years thereafter, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council an evaluation report on its implementation based on an evaluation carried out by an independent body and consultation with the social partners. Where appropriate the sending organisation and the host organisation cooperate in providing the person concerned with appropriate information about workplace health and safety, labour law, equality measures and other work-related provisions applying in the host country. Lastly, the Parliament amends the common format of the Mobilipass, it states in particular that the holder's social skills and competences including in particular those relating to inter-cultural experiences.�

• 2004/04/21 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 2004/04/06 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A5-0247/2004
• #2565
• 2004/02/26 Council Meeting
  • 2565
• 2004/01/28 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 2003/12/17 Legislative proposal published
  • COM(2003)0796 summary

    PURPOSE : to establish a single framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences known as "Europass". PROPOSED ACT : Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council. CONTENT : Good communication about qualifications and competences is crucial when a person applies for a job or for admission to a learning opportunity. A number of tools have been developed in the recent years at various levels to improve the transparency of qualifications and competences, so that citizens can better communicate them. They are particularly helpful when applicant and employer do not come from the same country. This proposal rationalises the existing tools and networks aimed at transparency in the field of education and training, in order to improve their effectiveness. It aims 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 core of the Europass portfolio is the European CV, to which the other "Europass documents" will be linked. The proposal 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. This proposal defines the first five documents included in the Europass portfolio. These are: - The European CV: this is a personal document completed by the person concerned. - The MobiliPass: after five years of operation, 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". - The Diploma Supplement: this document was 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. - The Certificate Supplement, concerning 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 qualificationto which it refers, and is the same for all those who hold that qualification. - The European Language Portfolio, which adapts the model agreed within the Council of Europe and based on the Common Framework for Languages. It is a document in which 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 documents must carry the Europass logo and be available in electronic form. Implementation measures: In each country a single body, known as the Europass National Agency (ENA), should be appointed to coordinate all the related activities. Each Member State will 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 will receive Community financial support exclusively through one yearly grant awarded to the ENA. The activities for which the ENA will be responsible include: -managing the transparency documents; -setting up and managing the information system; -promoting the portfolio and its documents; -providing information and guidance -networking at European level. The information system: 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 Financial implications: Given that Europass is intended to be a permanent instrument for citizens, this decision will have an unlimited duration. Therefore no reference amount is indicated and the annual appropriations will 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 - please see below). In 2007 a new generation of programmes in the field of education and training should enter into force under the new financial perspectives. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS : - Budget lines and headings: 15030101 and 15010405 - Europass. - Total allocation for action (Part B): EUR 2 million for commitment per year. - Overall financial impact of human resources and other administrative expenditure: 2005 and 2006 - EUR 0.459 million each year. Total: EUR 0.918 million. Overall total commitments and payments: EUR 4.918 million. Total staff: 4 (2 A Grade, 1 B grade and 1 C grade). �

  • DG [{'url': 'http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/', 'title': 'Education and Culture'}],

Documents

• Legislative proposal published: COM(2003)0796
• Debate in Council: 2565
• Committee report tabled for plenary, 1st reading/single reading: A5-0247/2004
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T5-0362/2004
• Council position published: 12242/1/2004
• Committee recommendation tabled for plenary, 2nd reading: A6-0056/2004
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 2nd reading: T6-0095/2004
• : Decision 2004/2241
• : OJ L 390 31.12.2004, p. 0006-0020

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)