The new program would create one-year exchanges of officials in the United States and other countries.

The statement which the Commission included in the report on the Decision - designed to promote the development of long-term exchanges of officials - is the first example of this.

Article 5 of these two programmes provides for the exchange of officials, and this type of transnational cooperation is not ruled out for the Robert Schuman project either.

This includes remuneration of members of the institution; there is an adjustment to the appropriations for staff; there are also issues with regard to graduate traineeships and exchanges of officials.

With regard to the OISIN programme, and I am now referring to the 1997 budget year, projects were adopted for seminars, training, exchanges of officials, research and studies, and operational actions.

Moreover, a 1999 decision of the Schengen Executive Committee approved a mutual aid project for the exchange of officials to give assistance and advice in carrying out security and control tasks at external borders.

If we want to improve cooperation with them, we not only need better efforts from the diplomatic service and our delegations, but we should also organize exchanges of officials between, say, DG VI and the agriculture ministries in the countries concerned.

There have been exchanges of officials from the EU Member States, seminars on indirect tax issues of common interest, multilateral control of excise duties, development of common professional training across the European Union, including improving audit skills for the officials concerned, and, significantly, development of language training.