A skills revolution – formal and non-formal education and training with continuous upskilling – would allow the European Union to make the most of the green and digital transitions and secure a competitive, fair and inclusive future in its labour market, Cedefop Executive Director Jürgen Siebel told a high-profile meeting of policymakers, social partners and other stakeholders.
The event, hosted by the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) Committee in Brussels on 20 September, was entitled ‘Skills, skills, skills – skills for people, skills for competitiveness, skills for sustainability’ and was co-organised by Cedefop, Eurofound, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), the European Training Foundation (ETF) and the European Labour Authority (ELA), the five EU agencies working in the field of employment, social affairs and inclusion.
The initiative marks a milestone of the European Year of Skills, signalling the EU’s determination to focus on current and future skills needs. The event was opened by Dragoș Pîslaru, MEP, chairman of the EMPL Committee, and Joost Korte, Director-General at the European Commission’s DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, who praised the five Agencies’ contribution to the EU’s informed, evidence-based policymaking.
The agenda of the meeting included presentations by the five Agencies about the most relevant skills for people, competitiveness, sustainability and how to get the right balance in meeting the skills needed for the green and digital transitions.
Investing in skills must go together with investing in people
The 180 participants in the room, and the 200 followers online – members of the European Parliament and the European Commission, policymakers, social partners, civil society and other stakeholders – engaged in an open debate with Directors and experts from the five social Agencies, about getting the balance right between challenges and opportunities to ensure the future is just, heathy and safe for the EU and beyond.
Prominent during the discussion were the findings of Cedefop’s latest report ‘Skills in transition – the way to 2035’, based on the Agency’s skills intelligence that provides sound and trusted evidence on labour market trends and skill needs, which guides policymaking.
Mr Pîslaru noted that investing in skills was the ultimate approach to achieve a competitive economy for the benefit of all, adding that investment in skills needs to go hand in hand with the social investment in people.
Mr Korte said that skills development was now firmly at the forefront of EU policy, given that skills drive our economy and improve lives, and pointed out that ‘collaborating closely with our invaluable Agencies, we are forging a more skills-oriented future.’
Cedefop – EU-OSHA join forces
In the aftermath of the Brussels event, Cedefop and the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) have signed a framework of cooperation.
The agreement, which was signed by EU-OSHA Interim Executive Director William Cockburn and Mr Siebel in the presence of Mr Korte, envisages that the two Agencies will work together to develop synergies and complementarities, avoid duplication of activities and make a coordinated contribution to evidence-based EU policymaking, focusing on the field of the collection, analysis and dissemination of information on the development of skills for the workforce and the labour market.
