Commission calls for overhaul of European Schools’ funding

By Tim King

Date: 22/07/04

THE European Commission is calling for changes to the way the European Schools are funded so that the EU's contributions are conditional on cost-savings.

The Commission argues that "effectively open-ended EU funding" has not given adequate incentives to the schools to find other funding or to make savings.

In a draft consultation paper the Commission complains that the governing structure of the schools does not give the EU institutions a great enough say in their organization, including their financing. The paper has surfaced at a moment when parents, teachers and EU staff associations have launched a complaint about under-funding and overcrowding in the schools.

The European Schools were begun 50 years ago as a way of educating the children of staff of the EU's forerunners, through a publicly funded system. The schools' system is governed by an international treaty between the member states, with the European Community a contracting party to the treaty. The Commission has a seat on the Board of Governors which is largely made up of representatives from the member states.

But the Commission argues in its discussion document that the composition of the board is unbalanced, given that the EU provides nearly 60% of school costs.

It calls for the board to be expanded to give a seat each to the European Parliament, the Court of Auditors, the Court of Justice, the economic and social committee and the Committee of the Regions.

The paper suggests that the schools might be better administered by creating a special EU agency to administer "financial and operational aspects of all the schools". The Commission acknowledges that "many member states would like to see better budgetary control and financial management in the schools system" and suggests that future allocation of funding should be linked to "size and needs of schools, proof of efforts for cost savings and better cost-effectiveness".

There are currently 12 European Schools with another two supposed to open in Brussels and Luxembourg within the next four years. Only half of the nearly 20,000 pupils are children of EU staff.

A report from the Parliament, drafted by the Austrian MEP Herbert Bösch, questioned the justification for continuing with schools at Mol (Belgium), Bergen (Netherlands), Karlsruhe (Germany), and Culham (UK), where the percentage of children of EU staff is now 13.1%, 7.6%, 9.5% and 1.6% respectively.

The Commission is funding an evaluation of the future of these schools.

The paper also calls for the school directors to be given greater financial and administrative autonomy and to be given the final say on the appointment of teachers. Currently teachers are selected by and seconded from national systems.

A letter signed by the parents' associations of the European Schools, the teachers' organizations and the staff committees of the EU institutions, complains that "budget savings are being pursued at all costs" because of restricted funding up to 2006. It complains of overcrowding in the schools and nurseries and calls for an emergency action plan to find necessary funding and extra premises.

"The institutional governance of the schools, based on intergovernmental cooperation has broken down (except where budget cuts are concerned)," it warns.

THE European Commission is calling for changes to the way the European Schools are funded so that the EU's contributions are conditional on cost-savings.

• Primary Source

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