The European Commission wants to make the EU more competitive and, to do that, it will have to tackle the skills shortages and gaps among students in key disciplines, as well as labour shortages in strategic sectors, such as green technologies and aerospace.
This is the aim of the ‘Union of Skills’, launched on Wednesday 5 March by the Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu, which she described as “one of the key responses to skills gaps and shortages” in the EU.
The Union brings together dozens of mainly non-legislative initiatives over three years, and should enable people throughout the EU to develop their skills throughout their working lives, redress the gender imbalance and help businesses find the workers they need.
It must meet three challenges: - the need for more and better skills at a time when the EU is experiencing shortages not only of qualified graduates, but also of people with vocational education and training; - a problem with the acquisition of basic skills - one adult in five in the EU lacks basic skills; - the fragmentation of policies, which also affects the development of skills and calls for greater coordination in forecasting skills and matching needs with supply.
The Union then has four components: - building skills; - upskilling and reskilling; - circulating skills; - attracting, retaining and developing skills, in particular by retaining third-country nationals.
At a time when the EU is still a long way off its target of reducing the proportion of under-achievers in literacy, maths, science and digital skills to below 15% by 2030, and when almost one in three 15-year-olds does not have basic skills in maths and one in four does not reach the minimum level in reading and science, the first component is obviously the most urgent.
The Commission therefore proposed two action plans on Wednesday: one on the acquisition of basic skills and another strategic plan on STEM, the acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The former will call for early identification mechanisms and regular monitoring to reinforce immediate support for children and young people in difficulty, with personalised support. This will involve the wider community, the local community and parents, and a pilot project will be launched. The STEM plan focuses more specifically on strategic sectors and their link to the EU’s competitiveness agenda.
Here, the Commission is proposing to set up a “STEM Executive Panel, bringing together the education and business sectors” to work on curricula and collaborate with the education and business sectors.
A number of targets have been set for 2030, such as increasing the proportion of students enrolled in STEM courses to 45%, including one in four women, compared with the current figure of 36%.
With regard to the proportion of students enrolled in STEM fields at tertiary level, the aim will be to increase this proportion to 32% (compared with 27%), and also at doctoral level for the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector, the proportion will need to be increased to 5%, compared with 3.7% today.
The Commission is also planning an initiative on artificial intelligence in education, as well as an initiative on the unattractiveness of the teaching profession and the shortage of teachers.
On the third component of the circulation of skills, 2026 will see an initiative on the transferability of skills, with automatic recognition.
To attract and retain skills from third countries, a ‘Talent Pool’ project for the IT sector will be proposed; the revision of the visa strategy, scheduled for late 2025, should also serve this objective.
The Commission will also be launching a pilot ‘Choose Europe’ call with a budget of €22.5 million to “attract the best talent from all over the world, by offering excellent working conditions, scientific jobs and career prospects”.
For governance, a European Skills Intelligence Observatory will provide data and forecasts on skills.
A European Skills High-Level Board, bringing together business leaders, education and training providers and the social partners, will also be set up.
In terms of funding, the Commission points out that the EU is already devoting €150 billion through its various funds. It is counting on public and private funding and the Invest EU programme.
Link to documents: https://aeur.eu/f/fr5 ; https://aeur.eu/f/fqi ; https://aeur.eu/f/fqj (Original version in French Solenn Paulic)