At the informal education ministerial meeting held in early December in Helsinki, representatives of the EU and Canada signed a new Agreement on Higher Education, Training and Youth, which will be in force over the period 2006-2013. The agreement renews the long-existing cooperation programme between the EU and Canada, which was adopted in 1995 and renewed in 2000. Consortia projects had been the main focus of the first cooperation programme, and will continue to be a cornerstone of its successor. They aim to promote joint study programmes and mobility. However, the agreement introduces some new dimensions, like:

• activities in the area of youth;
• measures to foster a dialogue on policy issues, addressing comparative education, recognition, transfer of credits, vocational training, etc.;
• the establishment of an alumni association.

The European Commission foresees almost 18 million Euros for the overall period of the new agreement, thus tripling the funding of the first programme. The target is to fund about 210 projects and more than 4000 people from the EU and Canada participating in mobility programmes. A call for proposals under the new programme is to be published soon – check the programme website. EU-Canada Cooperation Programme
Press release