Community action programme 'Socrates'

In its amended proposal, the Commission introduced amendments aimed at clarifying the initial text and improving the text in terms of enhancing the target groups. More specifically, the Commission did not accept a number of amendments aimed, in particular, at: - amending the legal basis (Articles 126 and 127 of the Treaty instead of Article 126 alone, as proposed by Parliament); - including provisions concerning the responsibilities of the Member States or the composition of the consultative committee, as well as those relating to preferential treatment for certain establishments in regions of cohesion countries; - enabling associated European countries to participate in the programme; - introducing language learning in categories not considered to be targets of the programme; - doing away with certain aspects of cooperation in the field of distance learning; - introducing changes to the methods of distributing Community funds among the various actions of the programme; - introducing a provision on the automatic renewal of the existing programmes (Erasmus, Lingua). The Commission had an open attitude to Parliament's proposal to give a name to Action 3 of Chapter I (Erasmus grants) and Chapter II (Comenius programme) and III (Luis Antonio Vernei), while underlining that this programme should retain a horizontal nature. It also took over the amendments aimed at improving student mobility, with a view to achieving a participation of at least 10% in the Community, and ensuring that this mobility was accessible to as many students as possible from all social backgrounds (particularly the most disadvantaged). Finally, the Commission stressed the concept of an intercultural dimension, in particular in the chapter concerning the improvement of education for the children of gypsies. �