Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 on transnational mobility within the Community for education and training purposes: European Quality Charter for Mobility (Text with EEA relevance) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 394/5

Mobility in education and training is an integral part of the freedom of movement of persons — a fundamental freedom protected by the Treaty — and one of the main objectives of the European Union's action in the field of education and training, based both on common values and on respect for diversity. It is an essential tool for creating a genuine European area of lifelong learning, for promoting employment and reducing poverty, and for helping to promote active European citizenship.

Mobility brings citizens closer to one another and improves mutual understanding. It promotes solidarity, the exchange of ideas and a better knowledge of the different cultures which make up Europe; thus, mobility furthers economic, social and regional cohesion.

Intensifying European mobility and exchanges for education and training purposes, and events such as the 2006 European Year of Workers' Mobility, have a key role to play in achieving the Lisbon goal of making Europe the most innovative and competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010.

Providing a better framework for mobility for education and training purposes within the EU will help to contribute towards the achievement of a knowledge-based economy central to the creation of employment, sustainable development, research and innovation in the Member States.

Increased support from all stakeholders, including public authorities, for mobility within the EU is needed to improve the quality and effectiveness of education and training systems in Europe.

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 (4) was the first recommendation adopted with the aim of facilitating Community action to encourage mobility.

The work of the group of experts set up by the Commission in accordance with point III(a) of that Recommendation, and the first follow-up report, while showing the progress made both at national and at European level as regards mobility for education and training purposes, demonstrate the need to focus not only on increasing mobility in quantitative terms but, above all, on improving its quality.

This objective may be pursued, inter alia, by adopting, in the form of a Recommendation, a Quality Charter for Mobility, laying down a set of principles in this field, to be implemented on a voluntary basis.

The European Quality Charter for Mobility (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Charter’) should also allow for the specific needs of people with disabilities and for disadvantaged groups.

The Charter should help increase exchanges, facilitate the recognition of periods dedicated to education or training, and the recognition of titles and qualifications, and establish mutual trust so as to improve and strengthen cooperation between the relevant authorities, organisations and all the stakeholders in mobility. Attention should be paid to the issue of the portability of loans, grants and social security benefits.

The Charter is intended to complement, but not replace, the specific provisions outlined in the Erasmus Student Charter.

The Charter, in the respective languages of the recipients, should be made readily available by the authorities to all students and persons undergoing training, organisations and other stakeholders in mobility in countries of origin and host countries, and should be treated as a basic reference framework.

The advantages of mobility strongly depend on the quality of the practical provisions: information, preparation, support and recognition of the experience and qualifications acquired by participants during the study and training periods. The people and organisations involved can considerably improve its value by careful planning and suitable evaluation.

Europass (5) is a particularly useful instrument for developing transparency and recognition in order to aid mobility.

It is desirable that the principles laid down in the Charter apply not only to the period of mobility itself but also to the periods preceding and following it.

A learning plan should be drawn up in advance. General preparation of the participants is also necessary, taking account of linguistic preparation. In this regard, the competent authorities and organisations should provide assistance.

All administrative and financial questions, such as what financial support is available, who bears the costs, and insurance cover in the host country, should be solved before departure.

For the period spent abroad, the quality of mobility can be enhanced by the provision of schemes such as mentoring for participants.

A detailed and clear description of any courses or training followed in the host country, including the duration of the course or training, should help to facilitate their recognition on returning to the home country.

Transparency and good administration call for a clear definition of the stakeholders responsible for each stage and action of the mobility programme.

In order to ensure the overall quality of mobility, it is desirable to ensure freedom of movement for all EU citizens and to apply as far as possible the principles laid down in the Charter and the relevant recommendations to all types of mobility for learning or professional development purposes: education or training; formal or non-formal learning, including voluntary work and projects; short or long mobility periods; school, higher education or job-related learning; measures in connection with lifelong learning.

In view of the diversity of the nature and duration of mobility activities, Member States may adjust the implementation of the Charter according to circumstances, namely to adapt it to specific situations and programmes. Member States may make some of the points compulsory and consider others as optional.

Since the objectives of this Recommendation cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore, by reason of the scale and effects of this Recommendation, be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, the present Recommendation does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives,

adopt and promote the use of the attached Charter as a means to enhance personal and professional development;

report on their implementation of this Recommendation and any complementary measures they may choose to take in favour of mobility, particularly in relation to the quality aspects thereof, in their national contributions to the Education and Training 2010 work programme, as from the second year following the adoption of this Recommendation;

continue to cooperate closely and coordinate their actions with a view to eliminating obstacles which directly or indirectly impede the mobility of EU citizens;

provide appropriate support and suitable infrastructures for mobility for education and training purposes in order to enhance the education and training levels of their citizens;

take any necessary steps to promote mobility, to ensure that all relevant information is easily understandable and accessible to all, for instance by means of an introductory guide to mobility or a list of supporting organisations, and to improve the conditions for mobility,

encourage the use of the Charter by national agencies and other organisations working in the field of education and training and mobility;

continue to cooperate with the Member States and the social partners, so that useful information and experience concerning the implementation of the measures advocated in this Recommendation may be exchanged;

improve or develop in close cooperation with the relevant authorities gender-specific statistical data on mobility for education and training purposes;

consider the present Recommendation as forming a whole with Recommendation 2001/613/EC and therefore to include the biennial reports requested therein in the general reports of the Education and Training 2010 work programme.

language assessment before departure and an opportunity to follow courses in the language of the host country and/or the language of instruction, if different;

in the host country, linguistic support and advice.