Beyond subsidising training costs – How policy instruments support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to increase their training provision

She holds a university degree in Economics and a Master in Economics, politics and law of the European Union. Her mother tongue is Italian (born in Perugia) and she is fluent in English, French, Greek and Spanish.

At the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Martin is responsible for the coordination of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU (CZ PRES) activities, EU policies in fields of education and youth, and the Erasmus+ Programme and European Solidarity Corps at the National Authority level.

From 2014 to 2018 she was a member of the Cabinet of Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility.

Earlier roles in the Commission have focused on higher education policy, on the European Semester of policy coordination, and on management of the European Social Fund.

He led the consortium working on Cedefop’s recent project ‘Financial and non-financial incentives to encourage provision of and participation in education and training’ and currently leads the consortium working on Cedefop’s project on the EU Member States’ responses to the Council Recommendation on individual learning accounts.

He holds a master degree in philosophy, sociology and political sciences from the University of Vienna, and a PhD in lifelong learning from the University of Klagenfurt.

Her current projects include financing CVET/adult learning with a focus on demand-side schemes, financial and non-financial instruments supporting training performance in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, individual learning accounts and integrated/coordinated support policies and systems for CVET/adult learning.

She holds master degrees in economics from the University of Gdańsk, Poland and the University of Exeter, UK.

He attended Keele University in the UK and holds a PhD in Industrial relations and human resource management, focusing on a comparative study of the demand for EU migrant workers in Sweden and the UK.

He also holds an MA in European industrial relations and human resource management, and a BA in Human geography and human resource management.

In 1998 he became a civil servant in the European Commission, where he worked in the policy fields of enterprise, higher education, and vocational education and training, before moving to skills and qualifications – his current focus.

In DG Enterprise he drafted the first EU funding guide for the tourism sector. In DG Education and Culture he worked for the Tempus programme in eastern Europe, and for the Leonardo da Vinci programme, coordinating the work of national agencies.

Today, in charge of the Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills and working in the Pact for skills team, he is at the interface between the skills and qualifications unit in DG Employment and sectoral units in other DGs in the Commission.

As Executive Director, Jürgen is responsible for managing the Agency’s operations in accordance with the strategic direction of its tripartite Management Board.

Before joining Cedefop, Jürgen served for more than 20 years as an HR manager with global governance and business-partner responsibilities at Siemens.

Jürgen earned his MSc in Economics at the University of Hamburg, and a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Vienna.

Ernesto has served in different committees and working groups of the European Commission, the OECD, and UNESCO. He holds a PhD in International and comparative education from Stockholm University and is on the editorial board of the European Journal of Education.

In the field of training policy, she represents SMEunited in various European settings, such as the Directors General for Vocational Education and Training meetings, and ensures contribution, monitoring and follow-up of the European VET policies, initiatives and tools.