High level conference: “Strengthening European Cooperation in
Vocational Education and Training”

Maastricht, 15 December 2004

Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I open this
conference. This is one of my first official duties on the education
and training front since taking office as European Commissioner.

As I was getting familiar with my new portfolio, I realised that in
vocational education and training things are moving fast and in the
right direction.

Vocational education and training (VET) plays an important role
in reaching the Lisbon goals. This was confirmed by the 32
Education ministers, the European social partners and the
European Commission who met at yesterday’s ministerial meeting
here in Maastricht.

I am addressing you today as the key actors – the policy
developers, the decision makers and the practitioners – whose contribution will be vital to making Europe a world class economy
with better jobs and a world reference for education and training
by 2010.

The objective of this conference is to take stock of the progress
that has been made and to look ahead at what still has to be done
in the area of human resources development and vocational
education and training to achieve the goals of Lisbon and
Barcelona.

On this front, there are some positive developments:

• National priorities are, broadly speaking, coherent and
  compatible with European ones;
  – The approaches and instruments developed in the Lisbon and
  Copenhagen processes for VET are gradually being taken on
  board at National level;
  – Cooperation between European countries in VET has increased;
  – Participation in Vocational Education is higher in Europe than
  in many of our competitors worldwide;
  – This is an important factor in reaching the target of 85% of 18
  to 22 year olds in upper secondary education by 2010; raising
  participation of young people in Vocational Education also
  helps to reduce school drop-out rates in many countries where
  this is the preferred route.

But the overall picture is not rosy.

If Europe wants to create an inclusive, cohesive society, with a
highly skilled workforce responsive to the demands of the
knowledge economy, we have much more to do and we have to do
it better.

Our vocational education and training systems in Europe still have
major shortcomings:

• Vocational education and training is failing to provide an
  alternative for the young unemployed. It is not open and
  flexible enough to attract young people who are disenchanted
  with school yet lack key skills. Vocational education schools,
  colleges and institutions often lack the essential links to the
  knowledge-based economy and the workplace.
  – Our vocational education systems frequently fail to help
  students progress to higher education. As a result, Europe has a
  smaller percentage of higher education students enrolled in
  VET courses than do its competitors in North America and
  Asia.
  – There is often a failure to anticipate skill needs early in order to
  provide companies with the human resources they need when
  and where they need them.

• In a knowledge economy that needs workers constantly to
  develop and adapt their competences, we are failing to lay the
  foundations for lifelong learning and above all we are failing to
  cultivate a strong demand for continuing vocational training.
  – Our competitors have higher average levels of qualifications
  among adults. Yet continuing vocational training still plays a
  marginal role in many European countries. Participation in
  continuing vocational training is alarmingly low—only 9% in
  2003—as is investment, especially private investment.

That is why the Maastricht Communiqué was agreed yesterday by
32 countries representing the EU Member States, EEA/EFTA and
the candidate countries, together with the European Social
Partners and the Commission. It sets out the priorities for action at
European and national level to meet these challenges over the next
two years.

The Communiqué emphasises two major challenges:

• There is an urgent need to upgrade and develop the
  competences of older workers in Europe’s ageing
  population;

• We must address the needs of low–skilled and disadvantaged
  groups in order to achieve social cohesion and increased
  labour market participation. At present 80 million EU
  citizens are low skilled but by 2010 only 15 % of jobs will be
  for those with basic schooling.

Particular priority should be given to these and other groups at risk
of exclusion, in formulating the lifelong learning strategies that are
to be delivered by 2006.

The High Level Group chaired by Wim Kok (who will speak to
you shortly) called on Europe to “unlock its entrepreneurial
potential and offer its citizens new opportunities to develop
themselves”. The key, of course, is developing our citizens’
competences, including the spirit of enterprise.

A key point in the Maastricht Communiqué is its emphasis on
implementation and action at the national level. In its mid-term
review of the Lisbon Strategy, the High Level Group similarly
called on Member States to take immediate action and commit
themselves to delivering the agreed reforms.

I am pleased to see the national priorities highlighted in the
Communiqué: strengthening links to work, open learning
environments, developing flexible and individualised learning
pathways, teachers and trainers, investment.

But we must also continue to build on European cooperation. Many of
the tools that have been developed make a real contribution to
achieving a European area of lifelong learning. The lifelong guidance
principles and the forthcoming joint Commission/OECD handbook,
and the common principles for validation of non-formal and informal
learning are some of the essential building blocks. We will work
further on developing these tools in a lifelong learning context.
In the Communiqué, the priorities at European level place renewed
emphasis on achieving a genuine European labour market and
removing all remaining barriers that prevent citizens from having their
qualifications understood and recognised throughout Europe.

I am pleased to announce Europass, the first concrete step in this
direction. Following adoption of the Council Position, Europass was
pre-launched at a press conference yesterday evening.

Europass brings together five existing transparency documents,
including the European CV and the Diploma Supplement. It will make
it easier for citizens to carry all their qualifications and competences
throughout Europe in a transparent portfolio.

A further step in reducing obstacles to mobility will be the
development of a European Qualifications Framework
(EQF) covering all levels of education and training and providing strong
links to the labour market.

This instrument will be structured around a number of well-defined
common reference levels covering all levels of qualifications and
competences acquired through formal, non–formal and informal
learning.

In relation to Credit Transfer, we need a system that specifically meets
the needs of VET in terms of competences. This is the objective of the
European Credit Transfer System (ECVET). It will facilitate the
mobility of individuals during their vocational education and
training—within a national system or between different national
systems.

Accordingly, the system will help people build their individual
learning careers and will give a value to the competences they have
acquired, notably through mobility.

VET teachers and trainers are the key players in implementing change
on the ground and it is important to bring them centre stage in this
process. Over the next two years, one of the major ambitions for our
work both at European and national level will be to get this process
working from the bottom up.

Practitioners and providers also have a prime role in taking forward
the reform agenda. The continuing training of practitioners will have
to be reviewed in many countries to equip them for this new role.

Typically, they should be acquainted with the Common Quality
Assurance Framework, endorsed by the Council in May 2004. The
framework is designed to help Member States and providers to
develop, improve, monitor and evaluate their own systems and
practices.

In conclusion, progress towards implementing the Copenhagen and
Maastricht priorities will be made at variable speeds. European
countries will continue to implement reforms that are appropriate to
their own diverse needs, challenges and goals.

However, Ministers, European Social Partners and the European
Commission have all committed themselves to take action on a set of
common priorities to steer our policies.

We are all here to discuss concrete steps towards wide-scale
implementation of the tools that have been developed together.

We are here to look at how our European education and training
programmes—the current Leonardo da Vinci programme and the
future integrated lifelong learning programme from 2007—can
contribute to this process.

We are here to learn from your experiences and hear your ideas and
practical suggestions on how to ensure that we keep the ball rolling in
the right direction.

We are here to launch the actions that urgently need to be introduced
if we are to stay on track in achieving the Lisbon objectives.

Thank you