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

The Commission's amended proposal incorporates, in full or in part, 28 of the 39 amendments tabled by the European Parliament at first reading. The main amendments are designed to clarify the objectives and themes of the Year and the means for implementing them: - the Commission subscribes to Parliament's amendments seeking to clarify the objectives of this European Year and decided that 1996 would be the "European year of lifelong learning" in order to: . promote personal development and involvement in democratic decision-making processes, . help develop a labour-intensive European competitiveness model, . increase the awareness of European citizens of the importance of initiatives taken by the Union to get diplomas and the European Union dimension of education and training recognised, . increase recognition of training irrespective of age, sex or ethnic or social origin in order to prevent talent from being wasted, combat exclusion and promote equal opportunities, . encourage parents and the education authorities to accept their responsibilities with a view to encouraging lifelong learning; - the procedures for selecting projects were more clearly defined in the direction requested by the European Parliament: improved cooperation between education structures, companies and social partners, revision of priorities of projects selected (which must demonstrate the benefits of education and training and motivate individuals, including the most disadvantaged, to take up training); - the amendments relating to comitology and the involvement of the social partners were included but amended (the committee is to comprise 2 representatives from the Member States instead of just one and the Commission is to inform the European Parliament, the ESC and the Committee of the Regions of the activities planned during the year and ensure that the social partners are properly involved in implementing them); - the "general provisions" in the annex were deleted, as requested by the European Parliament. The European Parliament's idea of awarding a European certificate to agencies involved in projects during the Year was also incorporated. The Commission also deleted projects listed in the annex which would not receive funds under the EC budget and reinstated good practice information and dissemination projects.�