Socrates Programme

What is it?

Socrates is the action programme of the European Commission that promotes cooperation in the area of education. The first phase of the Socrates programme was implemented in the years 1995-1999. Socrates II has started on the first of January 2000 and will run until the end of 2006. The programme now covers the whole educational spectrum, from pre-school or kindergarten through to adult education.

Participating countries

All European Union member states are eligible to participate in the Socrates programme, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Cyprus, Malta, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Malta. Negotiations with Turkey are still going on.

K.U.Leuven's involvement

K.U.Leuven's Socrates policy is summarised in its European Policy Statement. Though the university is involved in all Socrates actions, from Comenius (school education), over Grundtvig (adult education), Minerva (ICT in education), Lingua (language education) to Accompanying Measures, its involvement in the Socrates programme centers around the Erasmus action.