People, skills and preparedness

In her political guidelines for the new European Commission 2024-29, President Ursula von der Leyen, sets out new priorities on People, Skills and Preparedness in the EU neighbourhood.

This new focus will also shape the work of the European Training Foundation in the coming five years.

Ursula von der Leyen, who was re-elected in July as the President of the European Commission, has set out new priorities on People, Skills and Preparedness in the EU and neighbourhood in the coming five years.

This new focus, detailed in a letter to the recently confirmed European Commissioner for People, Skills and Preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu, will also help shape the work of the ETF up to 2029.

In her letter to Mînzatu, a newly elected Romanian MEP who earlier served as the country’s Minister of European Funds, and who has long experience working on European integration projects, the EC President details a list of priorities she expects to be implemented.

Noting that under an overarching framework of “making Europe faster and simpler” in the way it acts, she stresses that she expects all new Commissioners to “play an active role in supporting candidate countries to prepare for joining” as the EU gears up for its first new enlargement process in 20 years.

Ensuring “pre-enlargement policy reviews” as part of the 27-member bloc’s “ambitious reform agenda” is likely to be one of the key areas that will impact the work of the ETF, which works with countries in the EU neighbourhood to provide policy and reform advice on education, training and labour market developments within EU aims, and also partners with the EU to enhance the strategic impact of bloc funds and grants.

Von der Leyen’s letter stresses that she wants to see EU Commissioners and staff “more present on the ground, more often and in more regions,” which could also mean that ETF expertise in neighbourhood and pre-accession countries would be in greater demand. And there will be more emphasis on “dialogue with citizens and stakeholders” including organising the first edition of new annual Youth Policy Dialogues by early 2025.

There will be a continuing emphasis on meeting the targets and objectives of the European Green Deal – something that ETF has integrated into its work with EU partner countries, particularly through its annual Green Skills Award – and a new focus on reducing red tape and reporting obligations for businesses.

As Commissioner for People, Skills and Preparedness, Mînzatu is tasked with strengthening Europe’s human capital, and her portfolio concentrates on “skills and education, quality and social rights” – all of which dovetail with the work of the ETF.

That work will include a renewed attention to the European Pillar of Social Rights, and a focus on tackling skills and labour gaps, and the role of education and training, technology and innovation in tackling that. Supporting young people, ensuring fairness between generations, and embedding a “new culture of preparedness that can help people adapt to change and risks” will emphasise “future-oriented policy making and strategic foresight,” the EC President underscores in her letter.

Through a new action plan on the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights to be introduced in 2025, the Commissioner will be expected to develop a new “Quality Jobs Roadmap” with social partners, ensuring a just transition from education and training to work for all. There will also be a fresh focus on the impact of digitalisation in the workplace – both as a tool, and a commitment to introducing a “right to disconnect” so that people do not feel they should be available outside of working hours.

The creation of a new, more coherent framework for addressing long-term care challenges in the workplace, including facilitating the recognition of skills and qualifications, career progression, and improved working conditions, is also envisaged.

Portable skills, mobility of qualifications, and a new European Strategy for Vocational Education and Training with a greater emphasis on boosting secondary VET and apprenticeships are all included in the new Commissioner’s brief, increasing the relevance of the ETF’s work in these areas with partner and pre-accession countries, where moving towards convergence with EU laws and practices is among policy priorities.

As von der Leyen noted when she outlined her Political Guidelines for the EC 2024-2029: “Europe now faces a clear choice. A choice to either face up to the uncertain world around us alone. Or to unite our societies and unite around our values.”

The work the ETF does to support European stability and solidarity through its mission to partner countries sits squarely within that overarching objective.