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October 1999

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Isabella Casartelli Genova <[log in to unmask]>
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Date:
Tue, 19 Oct 1999 10:10:53 +0200
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Hi there!

for the ones interested in the CoE matters, here comes my report about the
last CoE Commission meeting of the Youth Forum Jeunesse I attended last week
in Budapest.

If you have any comments or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

        COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMISSION MEETING
          EYC Budapest, 9-12 October 1999


1- REFORM OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
On the 1st September the new Secretary General, Mr. Walter Schwimmer,
started his office.
On the 1st of October the new structure of the CoE became operative being
composed of 6 Directorates General:
- Personnel and Administration
- Political Affairs
- Human Rights
- Legal Affairs
- Social Affairs
- Education, Culture, Youth, Sport and Sustainable Development

The Directorate General on Education, Culture, Youth, Sports and Sustainable
Development has the following directors:
*       Director General, Mr. Klaus Schumann
*       Director for Youth and Sports, Mr. Lasse Siurala
*       Director for Culture, Mr. Raymond Weber
*       Director for Education, Mr. Gabriele Mazza
*       Director for Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development, Mr.
        Bassi
The exact structure inside the Youth and Sports Directorate is not yet known.
From the 1st September Ms. Antje Rothemund is the Director of the European
Youth Centre in Budapest.

2. CATEGORY C GRANTS & PILOT PROJECTS
- CATEGORY C:
The calculation of administrative grants is exclusively done on the basis of
quantitative criteria, therefore the larger the applicant organisation is
(in term of size, staff, activities etc.), the higher the grant will be. The
system as a whole is too complicated.
Our proposal for changes (taking into account that the points at disposal
are 100):
* Grants awarded during the past three years (average grant) in respect of
categories A, B and C altogether: maximum 25 points;
* Number of affiliates in the CoE Member States: one point per Country (at
the present there are 41 Member States, so maximum of 41 points);
* Number of affiliates in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe: two
points per country (at the present there are 17 Member States from Central
and Eastern Europe, so maximum of 34 points);
* Number of activities held in the EYCs: this criterion should be excluded.
Due to the nature of the EYCs and their functioning, the number of study
sessions per year is limited, for that reason there may be a kind of
discrimination as regards new organisations in taking into account this
criterion for receiving EYF administrative grants (small organisations have
less chance to hold a study session in a EYC).
* Number of staff employed: this criterion should also be excluded. The
present system regarding both the definition and the calculation is
unreliable and too complex; there are different kind of staff according to
different kinds of organisation.
* Number of working languages: this one should also be excluded:
It is too complex and unclear. The financial implication of using working
languages may differ in a considerable manner from organisation to
organisation etc.

- PILOT PROJECTS:
They should:
* be youth activities which serve the priorities of the Youth Sector;
* have a European dimension;
* be innovative activities in terms of methodology for the target group
and/or organising body;
* contribute to the promotion of youth participation;
* follow the basic principles of the Youth Sector's work (promotion of
intercultural dialogue and understanding in particular).
Two different options have been presented:
- OPTION 1: pilot projects as a tool for implementing the current priorities
of the Youth Sector in a more efficient manner.
They should:
* help young people, particularly the disadvantaged;
* encourage new forms of youth participations and organisation;
* contribute to social cohesion;
* adapt programmes and structures to changes in society.
Financial support would be available on a regular basis (every year).
- OPTION 2: pilot projects as a tool for responding to exceptional
situations/needs.
This option would consist of securing provisions to enable the EYF to react
in a quick and flexible way to exceptional situations such as the Kosovo
crisis or specific needs such as the 50th Anniversary of the Convention on
Human Rights (to be held next year) etc.
The provision would be permanently established but it would not mean that it
would have to be used sistematically, year after year.

3. CoE/EU CO-OPERATION
The Third Covenant should be elaborated for a period of 5 years, it would be
a framework agreement in which yearly updates and budgetary provisions can
be made, according to evolution of the needs and priorities.
It should follow these stages:
2000-2001: preparatory stage
2001-2003: implementing stage
2003-2004: multiplying, evaluation and future perspectives.

4. CO-OPERATION WITH NEW MEMBER STATES, "ADACS" PROGRAM 2000, SOUTH-EASTERN
EUROPE
It was concluded that it is vital to consult with young people in the region
about the development of future programs. Initiatives from the Youth Forum
should be open to the whole Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and other
countries in the region.
The Youth Forum should welcome the emphasis in the program on South-Eastern
Europe and take part in the organisation of study visits to Kosovo and the
Republic of Yugoslavia.
Concerning the draft proposal for the ADACS 2000 Programme, specific
requests from the authorities of the countries concerned as well as from the
Youth Directorate have been made as follows:
* Albania: seminar on participation and youth policies at local level;
* Azerbaijan: training course for NGOs youth leaders and civil servants in
charge of youth affairs;
* Bosnia-Herzegovina: training course aiming to set up youth projects;
* Croatia: round-table on youth policy and seminar on youth policy;
* Federation of Russia: third phase of the LTTC "The reality of children and
children's organisations in Russia today";
* Ukraine: setting up of the first phase (general introduction, project
developments) and the second one (visit to projects) for 25 Ukrainian
participants and 10 non-Ukrainian participants;
* Kosovo: study visit to Kovoso.
- Our proposals about the activities in South-Eastern Europe:
* creation of a special fund to support pilot project in the region (in the
frame of the European Youth Foundation)
* the ADACS activities for 2000 should be focused on the region
* in the frame of the EYCs activities, the participation of young people
from South East Europe should be emphasised
* the Youth Directorate should assist the creation of the South-Eastern
European Centre in Ohrid, Macedonia, as proposed by the Ambassador of
Macedonia (FYROM) to the Committee of Ministers.

5. CoE LANGUAGE COURSES
The CoE has been offering language courses to international youth leaders
since 1967. In 1999 nine LCs have been run and  for that the Youth
Directorate received approximately 3000 applications for the 260 available
places.
A Russian LC was organised in 1997 but discontinued for economic reasons.
The French Refresher course was dropped because the coordinating
organisation ended its co-operation in 1998. The French course held in
Belgium was not organised this year because of lack of financial support of
the French Community. These are only a few exemples...
The tendency of the last years has been that national and local authorities
decreased or even discontinued their contribution to the funding of the LCs;
this is a worrying tendency.
Next Spring there will be an evaluation meeting on the efficiency of the LCs
and we think that it would be very important to recall the aims of the CoE
LCs and formulate a new philosopy based on that.
What makes the LC different to "regular" language courses is that it brings
together young people involved in youth work; the young people will use
their gained skills in their future work. The LCs therefore target youth
people involved in youth work to ensure this multiplying effect.
The LCs are now approached from a "consumer" perspective. To make the LCs
better targeted and more fitted to the needs of young people in youth work
there could be looked at a more pro-active approach.
We should look at different ways of funding. Also funding in kind. For
exemple hosting countries and youth organisations contributing through
voluntary work.
Our suggestion is also to look at the languages to be included in the
programme on the case-by-case basis taking into consideration the added
value of the language course. For instance, Portuguese and Spanish courses
contribute to contacts with youth organisations from the Latin-American
region; Russian is demanded by organisations wishing to work in Eastern
Europe, etc.
- Steps to be taken (our proposals):
* prepare and hold a Consultative meeting on the LC program in 2000;
* push governments of the UK, Ireland, France and Belgium to contribute
financially to the LCs in their contries;
* propose a training course for youth NGOs who will run language courses
themselves.

6. RECOGNITION OF NON-FORMAL EDUCATION
Today investment in education and youth welfare is an affective measure for
promotion of active citizenship and the prevention of social exclusion. But
formal educational systems alone cannot respond to rapid and constant
techological, social and economic changes in society, thus they should be
complemented by non-formal educational practices.
We welcomed the setting up of a "working group on non-formal education" in
the CoE.
We stressed the importance of the recognition of non-formal education as a
"de facto" parter in the life-long learning process and the youth policy. We
asked for a certification of non-formal education activities so that they
could also be mentioned in CV as professional experiences and as recognised
skills and qualifications recognised by all sectors in society.

7. HUMAN RIGHTS/EQUALITY
We recommended to:
* promote the 50th Anniversary of the Human Rights Convention through a
special Human Rights Education Event
* ask the Human Rights Week evaluation group to consider the production of
an "HR education pack" and other events as follow-up to the Human Rights
Week held last May in Budapest.
With the co-operation of the HR Directorate, the Youth Directorate should
produce a HR Education Pack for the event on the Convention.

8. EUROPEAN YEAR OF LANGUAGES 2001
The Youth Forum got a place in the European Steering Committe of the EYL
2001 and thanks to that we will be actively involved in the preparation of
the events.
The first meeting of the Steering Committee will take place on the 17th and
18th of January 2000, in Strasbourg.
More information will be available after that meeting.

* The next CoE Commission meeting is planned in March 2000.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------


Thanks for your attention and see you in Poznan!

ciao,

Isabella
*************************
Isabella Casartelli
AEGEE Multilingual Group
Via G.B. Monti, 30-21
I-16151 Genova - Italy
tel: +39-010-645 32 82
email: [log in to unmask]
*************************

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