Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-28-Speech-4-009"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20020228.1.4-009"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, Commissioner, we have heard a great deal of praise for the Socrates programme and I have no wish to go over it all again. I should just like to point out that around 40% of the 376 million people living in the European Union are under 30 years old, making them one of the biggest target groups of the Socrates programme, as well as Grundtvig, Minerva, Media Plus and other such programmes.
So the programme has the chance to make its mark over coming years by promoting mobility, intercultural education and educational diversity. It is on the right track for improvement, as we can see from the second stage and as we have just heard. But the weaknesses in the system also need to be pointed out. They include delays in preparing contracts between the Commission and the national agencies, which keep addressing the problems and which keep being hampered during implementation by delays. The same applies to delays in paying out assistance, because when only small sums are involved, the beneficiaries need to receive them as quickly as possible and the pre-financing stage needs to be shortened because, in addition to doing the work, they generally have to pre-finance the projects as well.
Mrs Pack is also quite right to call for a so-called fast-track procedure to speed up the programme and do away with cumbersome applications and cumbersome formalities for amounts under EUR 20 000. We should also consider if we really need the extra burden of cofinancing when only small amounts are involved.
We must force cooperation with other Community programmes because we want programmes to run in parallel rather than in series, so that we can make use of available resources. The Commission's follow-up reports should also take account of the participants' follow-up reports. Because what is important to us is the outcome of these programmes. What impact do they have, for example, on teacher training? What positive experiences do pupils or students take away with them? All this is important if we are to be able to pursue or refine the programme. I think we have the right to expect results.
As for the financing, we fought hard to set it on its feet. I agree with Mrs Pack; if we enlarge in 2004, we must increase the funding, otherwise this programme will be doomed to failure."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples