The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs adopted a report by Loucas FOURLAS (EPP, CY) on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on a European Year of Skills 2023.
The committee responsible recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the proposal as follows:
Subject matter
Members proposed that the year starting from 9 May 2023 until 8 May 2024 should be designated as the ‘European Year of Skills’ (European Year).
Objectives
The overall objective of the European Year has been clarified by the committee.
The Europe Year should:
- enhance continuous learning, employability and career progression, and to provide sustainable, lifelong learning systems;
- promote access to decent wages that ensure a decent standard of living;
- promote the creation of quality jobs and retention strategies as the best way to attract and retain a skilled workforce and provide incentives for employers to invest in the development of their workers´ skills;
- promote decent working conditions at company level to attract and retain skilled workers;
- promote the increased mobility of the workers in the Union under the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes for students, apprentices, teachers and trainers, while aiming for the better recognition of the skills and competences acquired during periods of mobility.
Type of measures
New types of measures have been added by Members to achieve the main objectives of the initiative. These include, inter alia:
- online and in person conferences;
- initiatives targeting inter alia individuals, employers, in particular SMEs;
- supporting social dialogue, collective bargaining and the role of the social partners in designing national, sectoral and company-specific skills strategies and training;
- promoting and further implementing tools and instruments for increased transparency of qualifications, including qualifications awarded outside the Union, including the improvement of the validation systems and the automatic mutual recognition, validation, and certification of those qualifications, and of skills acquired in non-formal or informal settings;
- developing a toolbox to support disadvantaged groups, in particular persons with disabilities, persons with a migrant background and people living in remote areas and in the outermost regions;
- enabling everyone to acquire and perform the skills of immediate intervention and simple chest compressions and if possible, also rescue breathing (CPR – CardioPulmonary Resuscitation) after sudden cardiac arrest;
- establishing a common legal framework to ensure remuneration for traineeships and apprenticeships and to avoid exploitative practices.
Coordination in the Member States at Union level
Effective social dialogue and collective bargaining processes are crucial to anticipating the needs of the labour market and the need for skills, as well as to defining strategies at both Union and national level. In this regard, Member States should ensure the involvement of the social partners, civil society, learning and education providers, national and regional parliaments, as well as other relevant stakeholders, including from remote areas and from the outermost regions.
Moreover, the Commission should closely engage with the social partners, civil society, learning and education providers, labour market bodies, learners, and representatives of organisations or bodies active in the field of skills, education, training and lifelong learning to assist in implementing the European Year at Union level.
Monitoring and evaluation
Members proposed that by 31 May 2025 (as opposed to 31 December 2024), the Commission should present a report on the implementation, results and overall assessment of the initiatives provided for in this Decision.