The background to this report is the European Union's proposed change to the EU-funded education and training programmes, which will expire in 2006. The new revised programme is to run until 2013, but will cost 3.5 times as much. The European Commission also intends to expand such programmes as Erasmus, which is for higher education exchanges, along with others for schools, vocational training and adult education, at the same time simplifying the current bureaucracy. The Committee supports the Commission's aims to improve and expand these programmes, though is skeptical about attaining all the targets set out, and whether the new administrative arrangements will be flexible enough. It further believes that better monitoring of the programmes is needed. The Committee also states that the Government needs to promote these programmes, and develop a national strategy to take greater advantage of them, particularly encouraging British business to become more involved. Also the Committee believes that the Government should examine the reasons for the poor foreign language capability in this country.