Training, education: establishment of a European Year of Lifelong Learning, 1996

In its common position, the Council retained the essence of the Commission's amended proposal, although it added several amendments that did not directly affect the substance of the text. The main amendments related to: - the inclusion of an article (Article 6) devoted to the financial envelope for the Year: ECU 8 million within the limits of the financial perspective (this amount corresponded to the amount proposed by the Commission in its financial statement); - a reorganisation of the themes for the Year: the Council provided for eight themes, which covered and, in certain cases, extended the themes set out in the Commission's amended proposal (particular emphasis was placed on access to continuing education, which should be open to all without discrimination of any kind and, in particular, those who had had most difficulty accessing continuing training, especially women); - changes to the text of the annex: inclusion of information actions and actions disseminating examples of good practice, as well as actions receiving no financial aid from the Community budget; - the clarifications added by the EP and the Commission with regard to the selection of actions were restructured and the content of the actions financed was described in more detail: projects promoting the themes of the Year, distribution of communication products, studies and surveys (the Council rejected the proposal to give priority to actions concerning the disadvantaged or socially excluded); - the Council stressed that this initiative should be developed in line with the Community programmes Socrates and Leonardo. However, for reasons relating to subsidiarity, the Council did not accept the amendment aimed at providing for the participation of the social partners and, where necessary, regional and local authorities in the implementation of this Year. Similarly, it rejected the EP's proposal to issue a European certificate to participants in the European Year. �