European Commission presents two initiatives: European Skills Agenda (including the new Europass platform) & Youth Employment Support

On the 1^st of July, 2020 the European Commission presented two initiatives – the European Skills Agenda and the Youth Employment Support package.

The European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience sets ambitious, quantitative objectives for upskilling (improving existing skills) and reskilling (training in new skills) to be achieved within the next 5 years. Its 12 actions focus on skills for jobs by partnering up with Member States, companies and social partners to work together for change, by empowering people to embark on lifelong learning, and by using the EU budget as a catalyst to unlock public and private investment in people’s skills:

More details on each of the 12 flagship actions can be found in here.

The new Europass platform is the first implemented action of the Skills Agenda. It offers offers a new, multilingual online e-Portfolio tool for people to record information on their skills, qualifications and experiences, receive tailored suggestions of jobs (via EURES) and training and prepare and track job applications. Available in 29 languages the new platform also includes updated tools for designing CVs, cover letters and a personal library so that individuals can store all their information in a secure, online tool.

Also the Commission adopted its proposal for a Council Recommendation on Vocational Education and Training. It proposes three quantitative objectives to be achieved by 2025:

• the share of employed graduates should be at least 82%;
• 60% of recent graduates from vocational education and training benefit from exposure to work-based learning;
• 8% of learners in vocational education and training benefit from a learning mobility abroad.

Youth Employment Support package contains four measures in order to help EU countries tackle this challenge head-on by proposing:

• a Bridge to Jobs – reinforcing the Youth Guarantee
• future-proofing the EU’s vocational education and training (VET) policy via the Council Recommendation on VET.
• a renewed impetus for apprenticeships via the European Alliance for Apprenticeships.
• additional measures supporting youth employment.

The Commission urges EU countries to step up youth employment support through Next Generation EU and the future EU budget. The overall ambition is that Member States invest EU funding of at least €22 billion in youth employment.

More information here