EU Tempus Programme Celebrates its 20th Anniversary
04/08/11
A two-day conference celebrating the 20th anniversary of the EU-funded Tempus programme was held in Belgrade. The President of the Republic of Serbia Mr. Boris Tadić, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Mr. Štefan Füle and Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia Dr. Žarko Obradović opened the conference which was attended by some 250 high level representatives from the 27 EU Member States and 28 Partner Countries and Territories in the Belgrade Hyatt Hotel.
The Tempus programme was initiated in 1990 as an aid programme to the countries of Central and Eastern European countries, helping them to restructure their universities during the transition process and to prepare for EU accession. Today, Tempus is a major education cooperation programme promoting higher education modernisation and development in the neighbouring countries.
Tempus has turned out to be one of the most visible forms of EU public diplomacy towards its near and immediate neighbours. It has become an irrefutable reference on the EU education and training landscape over the past 20 years.
The programme has a wide range of activities funding university cooperation projects in the Partner Countries of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Western Balkans and the Southern Mediterranean region. Since 1990, the EU has donated over 1.4 billion EUR, funding more than 3800 cooperation projects. At present, 60 to 70 projects, based on consortia of EU and Partner Country universities, are selected annually, using a total budget of approximately EUR 60 Million. These projects last two to three years and aim to introduce long term structural change, as well as to encourage people-to-people contacts and intercultural understanding.
As EU Commissioner Štefan Füle said, 'the Tempus Programme has played a major role in supporting the development of higher education in the EU's neighbouring countries. It has been one of the foundation stones of the EU Enlargement process and has helped prepare Candidate Countries for the transition to EU membership. Today it has a key role to play in creating an open space for enhanced cooperation with the EU, promoting bilateral cooperation between individual countries and co-operation at regional level'.
The Serbian Minister of Education, Dr. Žarko Obradović observed how 'Tempus facilitated the implementation of the Bologna Process in Serbia and contributed to higher education reform through many curriculum development projects which implemented the European Credit Transfer System and the three cycle system. It also gave Serbs the opportunity to travel to and to build relations with higher education institutions in neighbouring countries'.
Over the two days, Ministerial representatives, Ambassadors, representatives from the Tempus offices in the Partner Countries and the EU Member States, as well as from universities and international organisations had the opportunity to discuss the impact Tempus has had on higher education systems in their countries as well as how it has contributed to regional and international cooperation. The achievements and lessons learned from the Tempus programme over the past 20 years were brought to light which will help to formulate visions for the future of the programme. The conference was crowned by a guided tour of Belgrade organised by the hosts of this celebration, the Serbian Ministry of Education and the national Tempus office of Serbia.
Please find the program of the conference here.
For additional information: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/tempus/
