Office of the Secretary-General of the European Schools

Administrative Bodies of the European Schools

​​​​​​​​​​​​=> See also on the Statutes, Rules etc of the Bodies on the Basic t​exts page ​

Governance of the European Schools

The Board of Governors

The governing body of the European Schools is composed of the Ministers of Education of each of the European Union countries, normally represented by senior civil servants from the Ministries of Education or Foreign Affairs, together with the representatives of the EU Commission and certain European Agencies that have a direct link to the European Schools (EPO, EUIPO, EIB, ECB, EuroControl). A representative designated by the Staff Committee from among the teaching staff (ISTC) and a representative of the parents designated by all the Parents’ Associations (InterParents) are also members of the Board of Governors.
 
The mandate of the Board of Governors covers educational, administrative and financial matters. When it is not in session, its powers are exercised by its officially appointed Secretary-General.

See the Rules of procedure for the Board of Governors and the Statute of the Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretary-General in the Bas​ic texts​.  

The Preparatory Committees

Matters for discussion and decision by the Board of Governors are first studied by several preparatory committees.

The Boards of Inspectors

Quality assurance of the education provided by the schools is conducted by two Boards of Inspectors, one for the nursery and primary education and one for secondary education. One Inspector from each country sits on each Board. There are also times when both Boards of Inspectors meet. This is known as the Joint Board of Inspectors.

The Inspectors regularly visit lessons and are in charge of teachers’ appraisal and evaluation, together with the school management. They also organise Continuous Professional Development actions, support teachers and schools in all pedagogical matters. They lead working groups where they meet periodically for discussions and submit proposals, depending on the purpose, concerning teaching and learning methods, assessment, quality assurance, etc. to the Joint Board of Inspectors, the Joint Teaching Committee and/or to the Budgetary Committee and the Board of Governors.

A comprehensive document available in the Bas​ic texts gives an overview of the role of the Inspectorate.

The Joint Teaching Committee

Inspectors and directors, together with representatives of teachers, parents and pupils and representatives of the European Commission and the European Agencies, as well as the Accredited European Schools representatives, that have a direct link to the European Schools, examine proposals concerning all relevant pedagogical or system issues. Detailed preparation is done by numerous working groups.

Pedagogical decisions without financial implications are decided by the Joint Board of Inspectors or the Joint Teaching Committee, i.e.: Syllabuses are approved by the Joint Teaching Committee.

The Joint Board of Inspectors and the Joint Teaching Committee are preparatory committees of the Budgetary Committee and the Board of Governors for matters on which the decision rests with them.

See the Rules of procedure for the Joint Teaching Committee in the Bas​ic texts. 

The Budgetary Committee

Financial experts from the Member States examine the financial implications of educational proposals and the budgets of individual schools and of the General Secretariat in Brussels. The European Commission and the European Patent Office are also represented on the BC.

See the Rules of procedure for the Budgetary Committee in the Basic ​texts. 

The Administrative Boards

Each school has an Administrative Board chaired by the Secretary-General. Its other members are the director of the school, the representative of the European Commission, two elected representatives of the teachers, two representatives of the Parents’ Association, a representative of the AAS and, at the European School of Munich, the representative of the European Patent Office.

Bodies which have signed an agreement with a school and have at least 20 pupils on roll also have the right to be represented on the Administrative Board.

Administrative Boards deal with matters concerning the management and administration of the schools, draw up budgets and superintend the spending of allocations. They have the responsibility for overseeing all aspects of day-to-day life in the school and for ensuring its efficient functioning. 

See the Rules of procedure for the Administrative Boards and other explanatory texts in the B​asic texts.  

The Directors (Headteachers) and Deputy Directors

Each head is appointed by the Board of Governors for nine years. There are generally two deputy heads, one for the secondary cycle and one for the primary and nursery cycle. They are also appointed for nine years. Heads and deputies are appointed directly by the Board of Governors.

See also the Legal basis of the European schools for the service regulations of the staff :  teachers, directors, administrative and ancillary staff in the Basic t​exts.​ 

​The Complaints Board

The Complaints Board of the European Schools, established by Article 27 of the Convention defining the Statute of the European Schools, has sole jurisdiction in the first and final instance in any dispute concerning the application of the said Convention and regarding the regulatory texts which govern the European Schools’ system.

Within this sui generis system, the Complaints Board is the judicial body common to the European Schools, except for the European Accredited Schools.

Its task is to check the legality of the acts made by the organs of the European Schools and to ensure uniform judicial protection for all the persons concerned, within its specified areas of jurisdiction.

It is composed of persons whose independence is beyond doubt and who are recognised as being competent in law, in order to ensure legal expertise and rigour.

Learn m​ore about it here​.

Stakeholders

The Inter-School Teaching Staff Committee (ISTC) 

Within the European Schools’ system there is an Inter-School Teaching Staff Committee, abbreviated to ISTC. This Committee is a body with a consultative and representative role for the Staff Committees (CdPs) of the various European Schools.

The Inter-School Teaching Staff Committee is established to represent the interests of all seconded staff (as defined in Article 6(a) and (b) of the Regulations for members of the Seconded Staff of the European Schools) and the Locally Recruited Teachers (as defined in Article 4.3 of the Service Regulations for the Locally Recruited Teachers in the European Schools). See Basic texts.

Within each European School, following the annual elections to the Teaching Staff Committee (known as the “CdP” – Comité du personnel), one member representing the nursery/primary cycle and one member representing the secondary cycle are appointed to the Inter-school Teaching Staff Committee (ISTC). One of these members represents the seconded staff, the otherthe Locally Recruited Teachers. These two representatives are required to ensure effective liaison between the local level (each School and section) and the Inter-school Committee level, both in terms of access to information and in terms of priorities set by the teaching staff.

Parents’ Associations and InterParents

Parents have an important role in the European Schools that is recognised in the Convention defining the statute of the European Schools2 . They are more involved at the school and at the system level compared to some national systems and this is also because it was parents who initiated the creation of the European Schools.

Parents’ Associations at individual school

The Board of Governors must recognise for each European School a parents’ association which is representative of the pupils’ parents for the purpose of maintaining relations between the pupils’ parents and the school authorities. The members of the Parents Association elect an Administrative Board of the Association, which elects a president who represents the Association.

The Parents’ association designates each year, under this provision, two representatives on the Administrative Board of the school concerned4 . It also appoints the parents’ representatives in the different deliberative bodies of the school, i.e. Educational Councils, School Advisory Council and Health and Safety Committee, among others.

In practice, Parents’ Associations organise elections at class level to elect the parents’ representatives in that class. Frequently, parents in a section also elect section representatives. Class and section representatives are typically the main contact point for teachers. This can be in case there are any issues arising at class/section level or if there is a need for parents’ support for class activities (e.g.: helping the teacher find parents to accompany pupils on outings in primary, organising festive occasions in class - breakfasts or parties - especially around Christmas time and at the end of the year).

Some Parents’ Associations contribute with additional funds to subsidize certain pedagogical activities approved by the school management to which teachers can apply. Most Parents’ Associations provide or help to organise services to the pupils, such as transport, canteen, extracurricular activities, lockers or lost and found objects (Eureka).

InterParents

Once a year, the Parents’ Associations must designate a member and an alternate to represent all the Parents’ Associations in the Board of Governors. For that purpose, the Parents’ Associations of the traditional 13 European Schools established an association, InterParents, that elects the parent (and the alternate) who represent all the parents at the Board of Governors and relevant committees and/or working groups.

The Pupils’ Committee

At the beginning of each school year, a Pupils' Committee (PC or CdE) is elected in each school's secondary cycle. The Pupils' Committee represents the best interests of all the pupils of its school. It is a non-profit organisation, democratically elected, independent, and recognised by the school community and the different official bodies of the European Schools.

 Election Procedures of the Pupil's Representatives within the European School System: see Basic​ texts. 
 Informational video: Student representation in the European School system

CoSup

The Conseil Supérieur des Elèves (CoSup) is the Pupil’s Union of the European Schools. It represents the interests of the pupils on the highest level of European School management. It speaks on behalf of the pupils, represents pupil voices at meetings and stands up for pupil interests, to make sure all pupils are heard. These common interests are mainly concerned with the decisions taken by the Board of Governors and the Joint Teaching Committee which influence the school life.

CoSup is made up of 30 members and the Pupils’ Committee of each school must have two members representing its ideas and positions at the CoSup meetings. CoSup representatives from each School are democratically elected. Among others, there are two Vice-Presidents, the President and the CoSup Secretary ensuring the smooth works in CoSup.

CoSup also organises interschool events and helps to synchronise all 13 Pupil’s Committees through meetings where all Presidents and Vice-Presidents report issues and share good practices among themselves. Its job is to connect pupils from across European Schools and to make sure our schools are run according to the pupils’ interests.

CoSup supports and co-ordinates the Pupils’ Committees with their work in every possible way and acts as a link with the upper instances of the European Schools, where it can voice the opinions and ideas on behalf of all Pupils’ Committees.

Instagram: @es.cosup | Email: ES-COSUP@student.eursc.eu
Statute of the Conseil Supérieur des Elèves: see Basic​ texts.

CoSSEA

CoSEEA, or the "Conseil Supérieur des Élèves des Écoles Accréditées", is the pupils’ representative body for Accredited European Schools. It was established in 2018, separating from the traditional European school body, CoSup (Conseil Supérieur des Élèves). CoSEEA initially included four accredited schools and has since developed to represent the growing number of Accredited European Schools across Europe.

The organisation serves as a platform for pupils to voice their opinions and concerns, participating in various meetings and committees, such as the Joint Teaching Committee in Brussels, although they do not have voting rights.

CoSEEA's activities and communications are managed through social media, particularly Instagram, to keep students informed about updates and events. The organisation holds regular city meetings to discuss public relations, social media updates, and other issues.

More information can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/coseea.es/

Alumni Europae

Alumni Europaea is the association and network for former pupils of all European Schools and Accredited European Schools. Former teachers and staff may also participate. The main aims of Alumni Europae are to connect the large family of the European Schools to celebrate our common cultural and European identity, to learn from and to inspire each other, to work together for peace and prosperity, and to treasure the cultural and linguistic diversity of our European cultures and traditions.

These last years, Alumni Europaea and the Office of the Secretary-General have been working together to raise awareness about this association's mission and activities among pupils and other European Schools network stakeholders. Teachers are therefore kindly requested to share this information with their pupils, especially with pupils who are in the European Baccalaureate cycle.

More information can be found at: https://alumnieuropae.org/