Decision No 2317/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 December 2003 establishing a programme for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries (Erasmus Mundus) (2004 to 2008)
| Published date | 31 December 2003 |
| Subject Matter | Education, vocational training and youth,Research and training,Cooperation |
| Official Gazette Publication | Official Journal of the European Union, L 345, 31 December 2003 |
Decision No 2317/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 December 2003 establishing a programme for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries (Erasmus Mundus) (2004 to 2008)
Official Journal L 345 , 31/12/2003 P. 0001 - 0008
Decision No 2317/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 5 December 2003
establishing a programme for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries (Erasmus Mundus) (2004 to 2008)
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 149 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions(3),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(4),
Whereas:
(1) The European Community should contribute to the development of quality education, inter alia, through cooperation with third countries.
(2) The conclusions of the Lisbon European Council (23 and 24 March 2000) emphasised that if Europe is to meet the challenge of globalisation, Member States need to adapt their education and vocational training systems to the demands of the knowledge society.
(3) The Stockholm European Council (23 and 24 March 2001) indicated that work on the follow-up to the objectives of education and training systems should be assessed in the context of a worldwide perspective. The Barcelona European Council (15 and 16 March 2002) confirmed that opening-up to the wider world is one of the three basic principles of the work programme for 2010 for education and training systems.
(4) The European Ministers of Education, meeting in Bologna (19 June 1999), stated in their joint declaration that it is necessary to ensure that the European higher education system acquires a worldwide degree of attractiveness appropriate to Europe's major cultural and scientific achievements.
(5) The European Ministers in charge of higher education meeting in Prague (19 May 2001) further emphasised, inter alia, the importance of enhancing the attractiveness of European higher education to students from Europe and other parts of the world.
(6) In its communication on reinforcing cooperation with third countries in the field of higher education, the Commission argued that greater internationalisation of higher education is necessary to respond to the challenges of the process of globalisation, identified overall objectives for a third-country cooperation strategy in this field and suggested concrete measures for achieving these objectives.
(7) The Council resolution of 14 February 2002 on the promotion of linguistic diversity and language learning in the framework of the implementation of the objectives of the European year of languages 2001(5) underlines the need for the European Union to take into account the principle of linguistic diversity in its relations with third countries.
(8) The academic institutions in the European Union aim to increase the share of internationally mobile students. There is wide recognition of the great potential represented by the combined individual strengths of European higher education institutions, by their educational diversity and their wide experience in networking and in cooperation with third countries, which enable them to offer courses of great quality unique to Europe and allow the benefits of international mobility to be shared more widely within the Community and its partner countries.
(9) European higher education institutions must remain at the leading edge of developments. To this end they should encourage cooperation with third-country institutions that have achieved a level of development comparable to that of higher education institutions in the Community. Higher education must be understood as a whole, of which higher vocational training forms an integral part, taking account of specific pathways such as training courses for engineers or higher technicians.
(10) The aim of this programme is to contribute to improving the quality of higher education in Europe and at the same time to have an impact on the visibility and perception of the European Union around the world, as well as building a capital of goodwill among those who have participated in the programme.
(11) This programme provides for the establishment of an "Erasmus Mundus masters course" which will enable students to travel around Europe attending several different universities. This new European dimension to higher education should be taken into account in the review of existing programmes such as Socrates (Erasmus), in order to take adequate measures to promote access to this programme for European students.
(12) The Community action should be managed in a way that is transparent, user-friendly, open and comprehensible.
(13) In promoting international mobility, the Community should be mindful of the phenomenon commonly known as "the brain drain".
(14) There is a need to step up Community efforts to promote dialogue and understanding between cultures world-wide, bearing in mind the social dimension of higher education as well as the ideals of democracy and respect for human rights, including gender equality, especially as mobility fosters the discovery of new cultural and social environments and facilitates understanding thereof, and in so doing to ensure that no group of citizens or of third-country nationals is excluded or disadvantaged as mentioned in Article 21(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
(15) In order to reinforce the added value of Community action it is necessary to ensure coherence and complementarity between the actions implemented in the framework of this Decision and other relevant Community policies, instruments and actions, in particular the sixth framework programme for research established by Decision No 1513/2002/EC(6) and external cooperation programmes in the higher education sector.
(16) The Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA Agreement) provides for greater cooperation in the field of education, training and youth between the European Community and its Member States, on the one hand, and the countries of the European Free Trade Association participating in the European Economic Area (EEA-EFTA States), on the other; the conditions and the detailed rules for the participation of the above countries in this programme should be established in accordance with the relevant provisions of the EEA Agreement.
(17) The conditions and the detailed rules for the...
To continue reading
Request your trial