The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs adopted the report by Anne Sander (EPP, FR) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 337/75.
The committee recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows.
Objective and tasks of the Agency: the Agency's objective seeks to support the Union policies on vocational education and training, skills and qualifications. Cedefop should go beyond the provision of analysis and research and provide policy-makers with research-based proposals in the field of vocational education and training.
The Agency may participate in all public tenders organised by the Commission in its fields of expertise with respect to rules of transparency, fair competition and social rights.
The Governing Body shall also include the participation of three independent experts appointed by the European Parliament.
When appointing their respective representatives and alternates to the Management Board, the European Parliament, the Commission, the Member States and the social partners shall ensure a balanced representation between men and women.
In addition, each member and alternate member shall sign a written declaration of interests when taking office or when an appointment is renewed. This declaration shall be published on the Agency’s website.
A representative of Eurofound (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions) and a representative of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) shall have observer status at the meetings of the Management Board in order to enhance mutual synergies and avoiding overlaps in their activities.
The Management Board shall, inter alia:
- give the strategic orientations for the Agency's activities, coherent with the needs of its main stakeholders;
- adopt rules, including measures for detecting potential risks at an early stage, for the prevention and management of conflicts of interest in respect of its members and independent experts, as well as for seconded national experts.
Annual and multi-annual programming: the annual work programme shall comprise detailed objectives and expected results, including performance indicators, as well as activities and programmes that are to be subject to ex-ante or ex-post evaluations.
Executive Board: each coordinator shall inform members of his or her own group, after each meeting, of the content of the discussion, in a timely and transparent manner.
Executive Director: the Executive Director shall be responsible for the overall management of the Agency in accordance with the strategic direction set out by the Management Board and shall be accountable to the Executive Board.
The Executive Director shall also be responsible for:
- taking decisions with regard to the management of human resources and the Agency's internal structures in accordance with the principle of sound budgetary management;
- cooperating with other Union agencies and concluding cooperation agreements with them;
- establishing a local liaison office in Brussels to foster cooperation between the Agency and the relevant Union institutions.
The Executive Director may, after consulting the Executive Board, appoint a Deputy Director subject to the approval, by a simple majority vote, of the Management Board.
Once appointed, the Executive Director shall attend an exchange of views at the responsible committee of the European Parliament.
Cedefop budget: this should be prepared in accordance with the principle of performance-based budgeting in relation to its objectives and the expected results. The Agency should conduct ex-ante evaluations of activities which entail significant expenditures, as well as ex-post evaluations.