What is the significance of ESCO for vocational education and training?

ECSO is a European transparency instrument which was developed with the main goal of improving the comparability and presentation of occupations, competencies and qualifications across Europe. It forms a central support function for EURES, the European Network of Employment Services. This article investigates the further significance of ESCO for vocational education and training. A country comparison between Germany and Ireland reveals differences in the implementation and evaluation of this instrument. Commonalities exist in that both countries have thus far taken the view that the areas of potential use and the deployment of this instrument lie primarily in the labour market rather than in the (vocational) education sector.