OPINION. EN United in diversity EN. European Parliament 2018/2166(DEC) of the Committee on Culture and Education

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1 European Parliament Committee on Culture and Education 2018/2166(DEC) OPINION of the Committee on Culture and Education for the Committee on Budgetary Control on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2017, Section III Commission and executive agencies (2018/2166(DEC)) Rapporteur for opinion: Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski AD\ docx PE v02-00 United in diversity

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3 SUGGESTIONS The Committee on Culture and Education calls on the Committee on Budgetary Control, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution: 1. Welcomes the achievements of 30 years of the Erasmus, programme, engaging 9 million people, including young people, students and, recently, members of staff in mobility activity since 1987; stresses the strong European added value of the program and its role in delivering as a strategic investment in Europe s young people; 2. Notes the Erasmus programme needs to do more to be accessible to marginalised groups, in particular, persons with disabilities and special education requirements, persons who are geographically disadvantaged, early school leavers, persons belonging to a minority, those at a socio-economic disadvantage etc.; 3. Notes the start of the implementation of the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) though without legal basis; regrets that the initial decision to allocate Erasmus+ EVS budget to the ESC was taken through an implementing act; 4. Insists that any internship or apprenticeship programme shall provide paid placements that never lead to job substitution and are based on a written internship or apprenticeship agreement in accordance with the applicable regulatory framework or applicable collective agreements, or both, of the country where it takes place and that it should follow the principles outlined in the Council Recommendation of 10 March 2014 on a Quality Framework for Traineeships Is alarmed by the low take-up of the Erasmus+ Student Loan Guarantee Facility as well as its insufficient geographical coverage, limited to banks in three countries and universities in another two; urges the Commission and European Investment Fund to put in place an implementation strategy to maximise the Facility s effectiveness till 2020; or alternatively, to facilitate the redistribution of the unused funds in the programme itself and allow for abetter funding coverage of actions within the different strands; 6. Notes with disappointment that students may have to take out bank loans in order to take part in Erasmus+ programmes; 7. Highlights that indebtedness has a negative impact on personal development and on sound integration in the labour market and that inclusive and widely available grants must be provided so that no student is excluded on account of insufficient income; 8. Is worried by the still low project success rates under the Europe for Citizens programme and the Creative Europe Culture sub-programme (21% and 22% respectively in 2017); stresses that a more adequate level of financing is decisive to tackle these unsatisfactory results which are counterproductive to the objectives of the programme itself in discouraging citizens from participating; 1 OJ C 88, , p. 1. AD\ docx 3/7 PE v02-00

4 9. Highlights the role of the Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) in implementing the three culture and education programmes: expresses however its concern about the EACEA internal control weakness identified by an audit on the Erasmus+ and Creative Europe grant management; notes that the Commission's Internal Audit Service itself has found weaknesses in EACEA's Erasmus+ grant management process; takes the view, therefore, that the Commission and EACEA should have no difficulty in putting in place the necessary corrective actions in order to ensure full transparency, and guarantee the highest quality of their implementation of the culture and education programmes; 10. Notes the first results of the implementation stage of the Cultural and Creative Sectors Guarantee Facility, with the initial signing of 280 contracts with the financial intermediaries; looks forward for a steady progress of the Facility operational phase, thereby giving solid tools to be included within the implementation of the follow-up of the Facility within InvestEU programme; 11. Acknowledges that the Court of Auditors review did not reveal material errors in the final consolidated financial statements of the European Schools for 2017 and that the European Schools and the Central Office prepared their annual accounts within the legal deadline; notes however that the internal control system of the European Schools still needs further improvements to meet the recommendation made by the Court of Auditors and the European Commission s Internal Audit Service (IAS); 12. Remains concerned by the significant weakness in the internal control systems of the Central Office and selected Schools, in particular in payment systems, control environment and recruitment process; 13. Notes that the Court of Auditors has been unable to confirm that the Schools' financial management in 2017 was compliant with the Financial Regulation and its implementing rules: demands, therefore, further efforts in closing the remaining recommendations related to the management of extra-budgetary accounts, improvement of the accounting and internal control systems, as well as recruitment and payment procedures and the development of the guidelines to improve budgetary management; 14. Notes that the gradual entry into force of the new Financial Regulation of the European Schools will implicate major challenges for the governance of the European Schools as the functions of Authorising Officer and Accounting Officer will be centralised and Financial control will become an internal control unit, at the service of the Authorising Officer; considers, in this regard, that the restructuring of the different accounting and control functions must be supported by an adequate administrative system; 15. Draws attention to the several challenges that lie ahead of the European Schools, such as the Brexit transition and the worsening of the Schools overcrowding situation in Brussels; calls on the European Commission and the European Schools to report to the Committee on UK s withdrawal and how it intends to continue to offer first class English-language teaching within the European Schools after UK withdrawal; 16. Takes note with concern of the findings by Human Rights Watch and the European Disability Forum in December 2018, in their report analysing the Barriers for Children with Disabilities in the European School System, including alleged cases of PE v /7 AD\ docx

5 harassment against children with disabilities and their families; calls on the European Schools System to comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD); urges the European Commission to launch a formal enquiry into the findings of said report, in conjunction with the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights and the European Schools; asks the European Commission and the Member States to consider, at a minimum: (i) (ii) amending the Policy on the Provision of Educational Support in European Schools to ensure full compliance with the UN CRPD; accommodating the needs of children with disabilities, including through the use of assistive technologies; (iii) developing system-wide teachers trainings on disability and inclusive education, including trainings of support teachers and support assistants on the personalised needs of children with disabilities; 17. Recognises that the Court of Auditors has a heavy workload; asks the Court, nonetheless, to publish its own reports on time, and in particular the one on the European Schools, so that Parliament may have sufficient time to perform properly its own duties of budgetary and political control. AD\ docx 5/7 PE v02-00

6 INFORMATION ON ADOPTION IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION Date adopted Result of final vote +: : 0: Members present for the final vote Substitutes present for the final vote Dominique Bilde, Andrea Bocskor, Silvia Costa, Mircea Diaconu, Damian Drăghici, Jill Evans, María Teresa Giménez Barbat, Petra Kammerevert, Krystyna Łybacka, Svetoslav Hristov Malinov, Luigi Morgano, Momchil Nekov, Michaela Šojdrová, Bogusław Sonik, Helga Trüpel, Julie Ward, Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski, Milan Zver Liadh Ní Riada PE v /7 AD\ docx

7 FINAL VOTE BY ROLL CALL IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION 18 + ALDE GUE/NGL PPE S&D VERTS/ALE Mircea Diaconu, María Teresa Giménez Barbat Liadh Ní Riada Andrea Bocskor, Svetoslav Hristov Malinov, Michaela Šojdrová, Bogusław Sonik, Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski, Milan Zver Silvia Costa, Damian Drăghici, Petra Kammerevert, Krystyna Łybacka, Luigi Morgano, Momchil Nekov, Julie Ward Jill Evans, Helga Trüpel 1 - F Dominique Bilde 0 0 Key to symbols: + : in favour - : against 0 : abstention AD\ docx 7/7 PE v02-00