Brussels, 03/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - According to the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), the European passport for vocational training and qualification, Europass, is today widely used. This instrument must now be linked to other European tools in order to make people's skills and qualifications more visible.
Available in 26 languages, Europass is a portfolio containing five documents: (1) Curriculum Vitae (CV), (2) Language passport, (3) Europass mobility, (4) Certificate supplement and (5) Diploma supplement. From February 2005, the date when it was launched, to March 2012, Europass sites have received over 48.6 million visits, and 38 million Europass CVs have either been completed on line or downloaded - an average of nearly 15,000 per day. Estimates are that more than 300,000 Europass mobility records documenting work and learning experience in other countries have been issued. More than 1.2 million language passports (a self-assessment of language skills using standardised levels) have either been completed online or downloaded. More than two-thirds of Europass CV online users are under 30 years of age and, in 2011, the top 10 nationalities using the CV were the Portuguese, followed by the Italians, Romanians, Spaniards, Hungarians, Germans, French, Poles, Greeks and Bulgarians. These figures illustrate the value granted to Europass by apprentices and workers in Europe, and efforts are ongoing for improving this instrument, CEDEFOP underlines.
Europass' key to success lies in its ease of access. Since December 2011, the site has benefitted from a new graphic identity, allowing quicker access to information in the various sections. At the end of 2012, a new version of Europass CV will be introduced together with new online services, which will improve the interoperability with other sites. By end 2012, Europass users will be able to create an electronic passport to make their skills and qualifications more visible. A new document, known as Europass Experience will be introduced in 2013 to provide citizens with a record of the skills and competences they have acquired in various settings such as through work experience (including job placements, summer vacation jobs and voluntary work). The challenge in coming years will be that of linking Europass to other common European tools and principles for the recognition of skills and competences in order to heighten visibility of the professional profile of European citizens. Thus, from 2013 to 2015, the links between Europass and the tools established by the Copenhagen process (the aim of which is to encourage European countries to perfect policies and innovative actions in the field of vocational training) will be strengthened, especially with the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), the European credit system for vocational education and training (ECVET) and the European skills, competences and occupations (ESCO) taxonomy. (IL/transl.jl)