EU Commission sets out new priorities for VET and for securing the supply of skilled workers

Dear readers,

The European Commission published its “Union of Skills” Communication on 5 March this year. While the newly formed Commission uses this document to update its predecessor strategies from 2010 and 2020 in the thematic areas of skills and vocational education and training it also sets out new priorities.

The main content focuses include the role of initial and continuing VET, firstly with regard to the development of sustainable competitiveness, social justice and economic and ecological resilience, and secondly for the purpose of securing availability of skilled workers in an increasingly dynamic economic environment.

The “Union of Skills” strategy is unmistakeably linked with the endeavours of the EU Commission to take on a more active role in the development of national vocational education and training systems. One of the ways in which this is revealed is the fact that many topics which are of relevance to VET are tied in with EU competition, industrial and labour market policy. These are areas in which the EU enjoys significantly more wide-ranging powers than in the field of education. Connecting VET initiatives with economic policy thus enables the EU Commission to expand its leeway.

“Micro-learning” represents one flexible training instrument. The extent to which such short learning units can be usefully integrated into the various national VET contexts remains to be seen. One of the aspects that needs to be clarified in the German context is the contribution towards the development of comprehensive employability skills which can be delivered by learning contents acquired in this way and certified via “micro-credentials”.

The establishment of a European Education Area, which is seen as providing the foundation for employee mobility in the European Single Market, is a further objective of the EU Commission. Given the heterogeneity of the different national systems, transparency, comparability and transferability of qualifications and competencies achieved will play a crucial role. The EU has developed a series of transparency instruments to facilitate mobility, and the aim is for the “Union of Skills” to reinforce these. The intention is thus that existing instruments such as the European Qualifications Framework, the Europass, the ESCO classification (European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations) and EURES (European Employment Services) will simplify communication between the education and employment system and between EU member states.

The strategy also contains indications of a new instrument, the “Skills Portability Initiative”, which is to serve as a vehicle for certifications of skills relevant to the labour market at a European level.

The articles in this issue of BWP consider these different instruments and the context in which they have emerged and reflect upon their relevance for VET at a national and European level. The question of the suitability and effect of these instruments constantly arises. From the point of view of German vocational education and training, harmonising the EU’s focus on skills, i.e. competencies and proficiencies below the level of qualifications, with our occupations-oriented education and employment system will continue to be a challenge.

Professor Hubert Ertl
Director of Research and Vice-President of BIBB

Translation from the German original (published in BWP 2/2025): Martin Kelsey, GlobalSprachTeam, Berlin