Brussels, 18/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - Representatives of 29 European countries including Member States, future members of the EU and European Economic Area countries, together with social partners, met in Brussels last week to discuss how to improve the quality and performance of vocational education and training in Europe. The conference, organised by the European Commission, decided that in order to ensure the transparency of diplomas and qualifications, a new instrument needed to be created, incorporating existing instruments like the European CV and diploma and certificate supplements. Strong support was given for a system of credit transfer in vocational education and training at European level, complementing the successful European Credit Transfer System in higher education. Non-formal learning, a particularly important area for the social partners, was also seen as a priority. In order to enable citizens to combine and transfer their skills wherever they were acquired, it was stressed that more cooperation was needed at European level in the development of reliable and credible approaches to value the learning that takes place outside education and training institutions. These measures will be developed as part of a new, voluntary process of co-operation, which is a top priority for the upcoming Danish Presidency of the EU. A follow-up conference of ministers is being organised by the Danish Presidency in late autumn 2002.