Against the advice of parents’ representatives, the Board of Governors (BoG) of the European Schools voted last December in favour of amendments to the General Rules related to Safety and Security, which have a major impact on the responsibilities of parents’ associations in carrying out their activities. You will find the objections of InterParents in the letters sent to the Office of the Secretary General and to the Board of Governors at the beginning of December and the interventions given at the Joint Teaching Committee and BoG meetings.

Nevertheless, these amendments have been officially published on the Office of the Secretary General’s website on 17/01/23 and entered into force with effect of 01/01/23. Please click on the following link to read the updated document: https://www.eursc.eu/BasicTexts/2014-03-D-14-en-12.pdf

In addition to the objections reflected in our written statements above, AMPA Management Committee has expressed concerns about a number of formal and procedural issues around the rule changes:

• The decision was taken unilaterally.
• Changes voted in December 2022, and published on 17 January 2023, started to apply from 1 January 2023.
• Changes voted under the General Rules are not clear enough. They leave too much room for different interpretations from a legal point of view.
• Parents’ Associations are considered “external partners”

Actions by AMPA

• We met our lawyer in December 2022 to get some advice.
• We have raised the topic at several meetings with the School Management. School Management has confirmed that the Convention we signed in 2019 is valid, which means that AMPA has a framework in place which regulates the respective responsibilities for the time being. However, if a new convention needs to be signed for any reason, the new rules will have to be taken into account.
• The AMPA Management Committee unanimously approved giving a mandate to InterParents to represent us and lodge a common appeal procedure against the decision of the Board of Governors.
• With the help of a lawyer, InterParents sent in January 2023 an official complaint to the Secretary General of the European Schools.
• As there is no procedure in place to appeal decisions taken by the Board of Governors, InterParents continues working on the content of the contentious appeal which should be sent to the Complaints Board.
• We expressed our concerns to all the members of the School Administration Board at the meeting of 20/01/2023. The Deputy Secretary General suggested that the existing convention should be revised by the legal department of the OSGES. In a follow-up email the school director confirmed that both parties have committed to respect the Convention signed between ESA and AMPA. However, a thorough reading of the agreement will be needed, in order to understand the obligations of each party. In case the agreement covers only some aspects, then for those not explicitly covered, the reference would be the decision taken at the level of the Board of Governors, always respecting the Spanish Legislation.
• As we are covered by the Convention signed with ESA Management in 2019, AMPA, for now, continues its activities. However, we support the actions of InterParents with the aim of protecting our association and its activities in the long term. We will keep you informed.

InterParents letter 7 November 2022
InterParents letter 4 December 2022