EUROPA

SUMMARY

In accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 58/2003, the Commission set up the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency to manage Community action in these fields. The Agency has been established for a fixed period running from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2015. It is located in Brussels.

Creation of the Agency

The creation of this Agency will allow the Commission to focus on its priority activities and functions, without relinquishing control or responsibility for activities managed by the Agency. The Agency’s task is to implement programmes that require a high level of technical and financial expertise, but do not entail political decision-making.

The Agency is supervised by the Commission and reports to three Directorates-General:

• Education and Culture (DG EAC) – responsible for the majority of the programmes and actions entrusted to the Agency;
• Information and Society (DG INFSO) – responsible for the MEDIA programme;
• EuropeAid Cooperation Office (DG AIDCO) – responsible for Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Window.

Objectives and tasks

The Agency is hereby entrusted with the management of certain strands of the following Community programmes:

• the programmes encouraging the development, distribution and promotion of European audiovisual works (MEDIA II – Development and distribution 1996-2000 and MEDIA Plus – Development, Distribution and Promotion 2001-06);
• the training programmes for professionals in the European audiovisual programme industry (MEDIA II – Training 1996-2000 and MEDIA- Training 2001-06);
• the second phase of the Community action programme in the field of education "Socrates" (2000-06);
• the second phase of the Community action programme in the area of vocational training "Leonardo da Vinci" (2000-06);
• the "Youth" (2000-06) and “Youth in Action” (2007-13) Community action programmes;
• the "Culture" (2000-06 and 2007-13) programmes;
• the multiannual programme (2004-06) for the effective integration of information and communication technologies in education and training systems in Europe ("eLearning");
• the Community action programmes to promote active European citizenship (civic participation 2004-06 and “Europe for Citizens” 2007-13);
• the Community action programme to promote bodies active at European level in the field of youth (2004-06);
• the Community action programme to promote bodies active at European level and support specific activities in the field of education and training (2004-06);
• the Community action programme to promote bodies active at European level in the field of culture (2004-06);
• the action programme in the field of lifelong learning (2007-13);
• the Media 2007 programme of support for the European audiovisual sector.

The Agency is also responsible for managing external relations programmes in the field of education:

• the programme for the enhancement of quality in higher education and the promotion of intercultural understanding through cooperation with third countries (Erasmus Mundus 2004-08);
• the External Cooperation Window (EM ECW) cooperation and mobility scheme (in the Erasmus Mundus Programme 2009-13, the EM ECW will be incorporated directly under Action 2);
• projects eligible for funding under the agreements between the European Community and the United States of America renewing the programme of cooperation in higher education, vocational education and training (2001-05 and 2006-13);
• projects eligible for funding under the agreement between the European Community and the Government of Canada renewing a cooperation programme in higher education and training (2001-05 and 2006-13);
• joint mobility projects eligible for funding under the Industrialised Cooperation Instrument Education Cooperation Programme (ICI ECP) agreement between the European Community and the governments of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea will be transferred to the Agency in 2009;
• the third and fourth phases of the trans-European cooperation scheme for higher education (Tempus III 2000-06 and Tempus IV 2007-13, which will be transferred to the Agency in 2009).

In addition, the Agency is responsible for the earlier external cooperation projects on higher education funded under the provision of the following:

• economic aid for certain countries of central and eastern Europe (Phare);
• assistance to the partner States of Eastern Europe and Central Asia;
• assistance for Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo;
• financial and technical measures to accompany the reform of economic and social structures in the framework of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership (MEDA);
• aid for economic cooperation with developing countries in Asia;
• the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA);
• the European Neighbourhood & Partnership Instrument (ENPI);
• the instrument for development cooperation (DCI);
• the instrument for cooperation with industrialised and other high-income countries and territories (ICI);
• the 9^th European Development Fund (EDF) (2000-07).

In connection with these programmes, the Agency is more specifically responsible for:

• managing, throughout their duration, the projects entrusted to it in the context of implementation of Community programmes;
• adopting the budget implementation instruments for revenue and expenditure and carrying out some, or all, of the operations necessary for the management of the Community programmes, including those linked to the awarding of grants and contracts;
• gathering, analysing and passing on to the Commission all the information needed to guide the implementation of the Community programme;
• implementing the Eurydice network for the collection, analysis and dissemination of information and the production of studies and publications.

The Agency may also carry out other similar tasks in the fields listed above. The Commission Decision delegating authority will then be adapted to take account of the addition of these tasks.

Structure, grants and supervision

The Agency is managed by a Steering Committee and a Director appointed by the Commission. The members of the Steering Committee are appointed for two years and the Director for four years. The Agency receives a grant entered in the general budget of the European Union and financing from the European Development Fund. It implements its operating budget in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1653/2004. The Commission supervises the Agency, which must report regularly on the implementation of the programmes for which it is responsible.