On the evening of Tuesday 7 March, negotiators from the European Parliament and the EU Council reached an agreement on the European Year of Skills, which will promote the development and competitiveness of the EU’s workforce.
This period, which will run from 9 May 2023 to 8 May 2024, will aim to encourage talent, improve qualifications and enable new skills to be acquired.
“This will help to create quality jobs, close skills gaps and mismatches in the EU and empower the workforce to realise the full potential of the digital and green transitions”, the European Parliament explained in a statement.
“The aim will be to establish closer cooperation and dialogue with social partners at enterprise level, civil society entities and non-profit social service providers, to better match the skills needed”.
Emphasis will be placed on integrating more people into the labour market, in particular women, young people, people with disabilities, people from disadvantaged backgrounds and displaced people, including refugees from Ukraine. “The European Parliament succeeded in introducing an explicit reference to the fact that the year will last 12 months and this is a success”, Cypriot rapporteur Loucas Fourlas (EPP) said in a statement.
In a statement, the Commission outlined the range of initiatives it intends to adopt this year, including a forthcoming package on education and digital skills, an update of the European quality framework for traineeships, a new framework for learning mobility and an initiative to improve the recognition of third-country nationals’ qualifications in order to attract workers with the required skills. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)