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

This proposal for a decision was approved by the European Parliament subject to the following amendments: - 1996 would be the European year of lifelong learning (in order to illustrate that education and training are an on-going process during the various stages of a person's life); - the objective of this year would be to help develop a labour-intensive European competitiveness model and promote personal development through greater involvement in democratic decision-making processes: public awareness-raising should encompass all stages of a person's life (recognition of training irrespective of age, sex, ethnic origin and profession (or none as the case may be, such as in the case of parents raising children); - the methods and procedures for selecting projects have been more clearly defined: they must highlight the importance of cooperation between education and training structures, companies and social partners and the potential of a common area of education and training. Projects should illustrate the benefits of education and training and motivate individuals to take up training (projects relating to particularly disadvantaged persons should be encouraged); - the composition of the advisory committee to assist the Commission has been more clearly defined (2 representatives from the Member States + an equal number of representatives of the social partners). The Commission is to inform the European Parliament, the ESC and the Committee of the Regions of the activities planned during the year on a regular basis and ensure that the social partners are properly involved in organising them; - the "general provisions" in the annex have been deleted, as have certain examples of communication products to be implemented (good practice information projects have been deleted). However, the European Parliament felt that a European certificate should be awarded to agencies involved in activities during this year in order to give their commitment added value.�