Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-26-Speech-1-229-000"
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"en.20110926.24.1-229-000"2
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Madam President, firstly, I would like to thank Mr Cavada for his report as well as for his remarkable cooperation and his support for European schools. This really is very important.
As far as the general budget of the European Schools is concerned, the Commission has intensively supported solutions that are cost-efficient in order to keep the evolution of the budget under control. These include adapting seconded teachers’ salaries along the lines followed for the staff of the EU institutions in the 2004 reform and rationalising the practical organisation of studies within the schools, which was decided by the Board of Governors in April of this year.
It remains the Commission’s clear priority that the core curriculum should not be affected by these rationalisation measures. As is mentioned in the report, the Commission fully agrees that the quality of education must be safeguarded. It absolutely essential for the pupils to receive the education required for access to higher education after the European Baccalaureate. As far as pedagogical methods are concerned, the Commission fully agrees with the rapporteur that the European Baccalaureate must be recognised in all Member States and that the pupils must be treated under the same conditions as nationals of each country. The Commission is following this process very closely.
The report also mentions the importance of the support given to pupils with special educational needs, the so-called SEN pupils. Indeed, everything should be done to help SEN children to follow the curriculum as far as they can be integrated in the European Schools, while bearing in mind that the European Schools are ordinary schools and not specialised schools.
In the current context, I am very much in favour of the idea of an external evaluation of the Schools’ pedagogical performances. The best way to do that is to use the PISA study, which the OECD has been carrying out for many years. I am glad to say that one European School – the one in Luxembourg – is already involved, with brilliant results. All the European Schools should participate in this evaluation. The Secretary-General and the Directors agree that this approach is the most efficient way to make an evaluation. The Commission proposed this last June. It should be discussed this autumn so that the Board of Governors can take a decision in December.
To conclude, I would like to thank you for showing an active interest in the European School system and in the future educational possibilities of more than 22 000 pupils and, hopefully soon, of even more European pupils.
I am very glad that almost all the speakers today support the European Schools system. It is very important for me and for the Commission, and I am sure it is very important for the European Schools, because Parliament is a legislator. Its voice will be very important when we discuss budgetary and other issues.
Parliament will be well aware that the European Schools are of high importance to me and to the whole Commission. I fully agree with Mr Cavada when he argues in his report that the European Schools cannot be considered elitist and a luxury, rather than a necessity. They are essential for the European institutions and fundamental for a smooth-functioning public service with a large number of expatriate staff from all over Europe. The Commission welcomes this report on the European School system and is in full agreement with its main orientations.
Firstly, let me mention the opening-up of the system and the European Baccalaureate. The Commission fully supports the extension of the European curriculum in the Member States via the pedagogical accreditation of national schools with a view to developing a European Forum for Schooling and improving professional mobility. In fact, pupils who have spent all or part of their school lives in the multicultural and multilingual environment which the European schools provide begin their working life with an enormous advantage. The holders of the European Baccalaureate go on to study all over Europe. Their openness towards others and their ability to adapt to new environments single them out. This should also be the foundation stone of their future development as European citizens.
Last May, I went to the Council to remind the Member States of this opportunity, and I recently wrote a letter to the ministers for education to encourage them to open up their national systems. The Commission also agrees that the system is currently experiencing some structural shortcomings, and has been for some time. We have to face several challenges in the near future concerning the governance of the system, the infrastructure to be provided by the host Member States, the secondment of teachers by some Member States, the budgetary constraint of the EU budget contribution, and so on. These difficulties can pose serious problems to some schools and parents. I am fully aware of that but we, together with the Member States, and you, the Members of the European Parliament, have to address those questions and find the best practical answers.
Concerning the governance system, the Commission emphasises the need for a solution to the existing deficiencies, but bears in mind that a change to the intergovernmental structure was proposed during the last reform process and was unanimously rejected by the Member States during the negotiations. With the recent experience of the Member States’ reaction to the concept of reform of the governance aspects, and in particular the intergovernmental structure, the Commission is hesitant to reopen a fundamental debate with the Member States on this issue, which could be very long and far from a guarantee for a constructive solution.
The Commission is convinced that the necessary adjustment, notably giving the EU institutions a weight corresponding to their financial contribution, can be made within the framework of the existing Convention, even though this depends on the Member States’ commitment and goodwill, as well.
To give another example, under the current Convention, Member States which contribute less to the system than their quota of seconded teachers in relation to the number of national pupils can compensate for their deficit by way of a financial contribution. In the letter I recently sent to the Member States’ education ministers, I drew the attention of those concerned to the obligation stemming from the agreement on the European Schools.
The report also mentions alternative means of financing that could be explored. The Commission agrees that this is an option to take into account. For example, we could take inspiration from the arrangements made by the European School in Karlsruhe."@en1
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