Union of Skills for competitive Europe

The Commission published an ambitious plan to support education, skills and labor market. What are the main points?

One of the key initiatives of the first 100 days of the new Commission, the Union of Skills, was published this week. This ambitious and far-reaching strategy proposes a roadmap up to 2030 to support all citizens (from primary school students to seniors) in developing and acquiring skills relevant to the labor market. This is intended to increase the EU's competitiveness and better prepare the workforce for future challenges. To this end, the Union combines education, training and employment policies.

The Union of Skills (hereafter referred to as the Union) calls for broad cooperation not only at EU, national and regional levels, but also with the private sector, businesses and companies. Its objectives and proposed initiatives are closely linked to the European Education Area, the European Research Area, the European Skills Agenda and the recently published EU Competitiveness Compass. Although the EU has no legal powers in the field of education, it can significantly support Member States, regions, organizations and individuals by funding programmes such as Erasmus+ and other investments in education. It also actively supports and mediates debate on key issues, networking and sharing good practice.

Why now?

The need and importance of the Union stems from several factors. The first of these is the insufficient (and recently declining) basic skills of children and adults across the EU. Almost a third of pupils do not have basic mathematical skills, a quarter lack basic science skills. In the case of adults, the data shows in particular a lack of digital literacy. Europe is struggling with great fragmentation in education, there are large differences between regions, and financial resources are not always used where they could have the greatest impact. Another reason is the rapidly changing labor market, also in the context of the ecological and digital transformation, and the insufficiently rapid changes in education to adapt to this trend. All these factors mean that the labour market suffers from a shortage of skilled workers, while many people with lower qualifications have limited opportunities for further development.

The Union therefore has three main, interlinked objectives: to support citizens in acquiring the skills needed in the labour market, to increase the competitiveness of businesses through a better-qualified workforce, and to ensure that skills are recognized and transferable across the EU, regardless of where they were acquired.

Source: Factsheet on Union of Skills, European Commission

Four pillars and 2 horizontal enablers

The Union is structured around 4 pillars and two horizontal enablers. As a whole, it proposes a large number of initiatives (new and ongoing) across all levels of education, most of which are expected to be published, launched or piloted in 2025 and 2026.

The first pillar focuses on building skills for a quality life. One of the new approaches is the expansion of the so-called basic skills - in addition to reading, mathematics, science and digital literacy, the Union also focuses on civic knowledge and competencies, which includes media education and the promotion of active citizenship. Great emphasis will also be placed on STEM fields and subjects. In this context, the Commission proposes to adjust and expand the EU-wide targets for 2030 and include monitoring the proportion of students in vocational education (target 45%) and higher education (target 32%) who should study STEM fields or the proportion of doctoral programmes focused on information technology (target 5 %). There is also an emphasis on gender balance. Two other documents to support these areas have been published together with the Union, namely the Action Plan for Basic Skills (overview factsheet) and the Strategic plan for STEM education (overview factsheet). The Union does not neglect digitalization and digital skills and is planning, for example, a new plan on the future of digital education, which will be based on the evaluation of the Digital Education Action Plan, or a new initiative on the use of artificial intelligence in education.

The second pillar focuses on supporting upskilling and reskilling. It should pilot, for example, a new Skills Guarantee initiative, which will provide workers in vulnerable sectors or the unemployed with opportunities for further training and retraining, including a transition to another sector. The European Skills Academies and the Pact for Skills will also be strengthened.

The third pillar of the Union includes the circulation of skills and the free movement of people in labor markets across the EU, including the mutual recognition of skills. One of the adjustments is the effort to move from the mutual recognition of diplomas and larger units of education to the recognition of specific skills as smaller “units of education”. To this end, the Commission plans to launch one of the key initiatives of the entire Union in 2026, namely the Skills Portability Initiative.

The fourth and final pillar focuses on attracting more talented students, researchers and workers to Europe. Available data show that the EU does not have enough qualified people on the labour market and this situation will continue to worsen for demographic reasons, so attracting talent from outside the EU could be one of the solutions. Therefore, the previously announced EU Talent Pool should be launched, which will offer opportunities for connecting employers in the EU and potential employees outside the EU. The plan for a new visa strategy is also linked to this pillar.

The two horizontal enablers include the Union's governance structure and investment in education. As part of the governance, the Commission plans to establish a European Skills High-Level Board, which will allow regular meetings between representatives of the EU, Member States and also representatives of the private sector. Data collection and forecasting of skills developments will be supported, in particular through the European Skills Intelligence Observatory. Another novelty will be the inclusion of specific recommendations for education and skills in the European Semester. In the area of ​​investment, it will be crucial to support private investment in education and effectively combine financial support from EU and national sources (for example, Erasmus+, InvestEU, National Recovery Plans, ESF, ERDF, etc.). A key aspect in this area should be the regular evaluation of the effectiveness of the invested funds, support for reforms and strengthening coordination between all stakeholders.

In the rest of this article, we provide an overview of examples of planned initiatives according to individual areas of education.

Source: Factsheet on Union of Skills, European Commission

Horizontal activities and initiatives

As mentioned above, the Union envisages cooperation at a broad level both across different education sectors (mainly within vocational education and training and higher education) and with businesses, companies and other actors on the labor market. Many initiatives can therefore be described as horizontal.

These include, in particular, an inclusive approach and making education accessible at all levels and for all EU citizens, supporting innovative methods in education, supporting mobility (notably through the Erasmus+ programme) or the continued development and support of basic skills, microcredentials and Individual Learning Accounts. In the area of ​​microcredentials, the Commission would like to focus, for example, on supporting joint microcredentials issued by Centres of Vocational Excellence, European Universities and European Skills Academies. Greater emphasis should be placed on supporting cooperation between public educational institutions and the private sector. Another key success factor is the automatic mutual recognition of qualifications and learning outcomes in the areas of school education, vocational education and training and higher education (for example, the Commission wants to consider the EU's accession to the Lisbon Recognition Convention).

School education

The development of basic skills starts at school level. This year, a pilot Basic Skills Support Scheme should therefore be launched, aiming to create a framework for intervention measures in cooperation with the Member States. The prerequisite for educated pupils is first and foremost educated teachers, who should be supported by the EU Teachers and Trainers Agenda, which will focus on addressing teacher shortages and improving their working and career conditions. Pupil and teacher mobility and cross-border cooperation will be supported by a pilot version of the European School Alliances. Schools that excel in innovative approaches to STEM education and teaching for active citizenship will have the opportunity to receive the "European Innovative School" award.

Vocational education and training

A key moment in the field of vocational education and training (VET) will be the publication of the European Strategy for VET. This strategy should be published in 2026 and will aim to support the competitiveness, innovation, attractiveness and excellence of VET, thereby supporting the solution of the skills-gaps in key areas and the mismatch between the skills provided in education and the needs of the labour market. In the context of supporting international cooperation and mobility, the European Commission wants to pilot a joint VET diploma as early as the turn of 2025 and 2026. Further support will also be directed to the Centres of Vocational Excellence under the Erasmus+ programme (at least until 2029). The European Alliance for Apprenticeships will also be strengthened.

Higher education

Higher education is the main source of skills for highly qualified jobs. The Commission wants to support the expansion of inclusive access to higher education and innovation in education. There is a strong emphasis on joint programmes and initiatives that enable or facilitate these programmes. These include the currently discussed European Degree and the continued support for European Universities under the Erasmus+ programme (including discussions on their future funding). The Union is also proposing the creation of a new specific European Degree for engineers and also wants to support the debate on the legal status of alliances of higher education institutions.

There are also initiatives to support university staff, where the Union wants to focus on the implementation of the European competence framework for researchers (ResearchComp) and create a European competence framework for academic staff, which would reward, for example, innovative teaching and cooperation with employers. A pilot initiative for international partnerships between universities and businesses is also planned. In the context of attracting talented students, researchers and staff to the EU, the “Choose Europe” pilot initiative will be launched at the end of this year under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (Horizon Europe). The Study in Europe initiative and the Erasmus Mundus joint programmes will also be supported.

More information is available on the EC website, specifically in the EC press release, the press remarks of vice-president Mînzatu, the information factsheet, the questions and answers, on the website of Union of Skills and in the Union of Skills Communication itself.