Det europeiske skolesystemet i 2010

Det europeiske skolesystemet i 2010

Meddelelse fra Kommisjonen til Europaparlamentet og Rådet: Det europeiske skolesystemet i 2010

Rapport lagt fram av Kommisjonen 19.12.2011

Nærmere omtale

BAKGRUNN (fra kommisjonsrapporten, engelsk utgave)

1. The main challenge for the system of the European Schools under the Slovenian and Slovak presidencies in 2010 has been to deal with the overall economic situation and its impact on the schools’ finances.

Given the rising public contribution to the budget of the European School system, partly due to diminished revenue from contracts with outside organisations and school fees, the Board of Governors, with the support of the Commission, made the approval of the 2011 budget conditional on a revision of certain expenses.

To fulfil these conditions, the adaptation of the salary grid for new seconded teachers was adopted in December 2010, based on a Commission proposal. A proposal to adjust the salaries of locally recruited staff accordingly is the next step. These measures were necessary to apply the principles of the 2004 Staff Regulations reform to the European Schools conditions of employment. Clear criteria were tabled to improve the integration of children with special educational needs into teaching, prioritise pedagogical needs whilst respecting the available resources, and take a more cost-efficient approach to organising studies and courses. Ideally these measures should be taken for the school year 2011/2012. At the same time, regulations for SWALS pupils (students without a language section) will be clarified to prevent a repeat of past misunderstandings.

Following difficult negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council, the 2011 budget of the European Union, for the first time adopted under the Lisbon Treaty, was only agreed to in December. It gave a smaller increase in the budget of the European schools than expected, meaning that measures must be taken immediately to yield real savings.

2. The reform process of the European Schools’ system, formally decided in spring 2009 after an initial transition phase, is gradually progressing. To render the system more efficient in terms of governance, reforms at central and local level to give more autonomy to local schools within the boundaries of the rules and financial regulations are being put into practice. Several local schools have asked for accreditation, allowing more children to benefit from the European Curriculum. The Commission took a big step forward by adopting the legal basis to put into effect the EU financial contribution for children of staff attending accredited schools.

3. Efforts on cost sharing have not reached the level required. In addition to the problem of a constant lack of seconded teachers and the resultant increase in the EU contribution (€ 2.2 million in 2010), some Member States have already stated that they will have important difficulties to second teachers to newly created posts.

4. The schools in Brussels and Luxembourg still suffer from overpopulation but the building works for the two new schools to open in 2012 are progressing according to schedule. Since the school population in Brussels is still expected to grow, the Board of Governors agreed to create a fifth school in Brussels in 2015. Solutions to the problem of overpopulation in the Frankfurt school are being examined with the German Authorities.