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This Staff Working Document accompanies the Commission Communication proposing the draft 2012 Joint Report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the Strategic Framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020). ET 2020 The Strategic Framework for European cooperation in education and training adopted by the Council in May 2009 sets out four long-term strategic objectives that should guide European cooperation in the period up to 2020: (1) making lifelong learning and mobility a reality; (2) improving the quality and efficiency of education and training; (3) promoting equity, social cohesion and active citizenship; (4) enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training. In order to focus the work under ET 2020 on the most relevant key issues, the Council also identified, for each of the four strategic objectives, a number of mid-term priority areas, the first ones covering the years 2009 - 2011. The 2012 Joint Report will report on the progress made during this first ET 2020 cycle.

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Following the publication of ‘A memorandum of lifelong learning’ (indexed at TD/IRD 88.400) in October 2000, the European Commission invited Member States to launch a consultation process to collect together all views on how best to make progress in implementing lifelong learning. Feedback from the Europe-wide consultation was then used to develop the analysis and proposals in the Communication on ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’ (indexed at TD/IRD 88.264). National reports were submitted by each Member State as well as by candidate countries and Iceland and Norway. This document is the national report from Romania. It is presented in three main sections. The first section outlines the research methodology; the second section contains the preliminary results of the investigation presented under the six key messages in the Memorandum; and the final section contains examples of good practices in view of the six key messages.

Documents from ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’ are indexed from TD/TNC 77.521 to TD/TNC 77.539. Show less

This document synthesises the main work to date followed in the EUROTECNET program on the subject of key/core competencies. The EUROTECNET program was initiated in 1990 and finished in 1994. Its objective was to promote innovation in the fields of basic and continuing vocational training, taking account of current and future technological changes and their effects on employment, work and the necessary qualifications and skills. Although not directly financing projects, the program was concerned with the networking of innovative projects in vocational training and undertaking research on specific themes, such as the learning organisation, key qualifications, training of trainers, and the development of innovative training systems. The program contributed to innovation in vocational training through the facilitation of transnational partnerships between projects and through synergy with other European Commission (EC) programs. The first three chapters of this report outline the context in which the concept of key/core competencies was developed, how they can be described and implemented, and the training implications resulting from technological change and new forms of work organisation. Chapter four describes the involvement of some of the projects in the development of key/core competencies and the activities related to this concept that have taken place since the beginning of the EUROTECNET program. Chapter five highlights the concept of key/core competencies in a European context. Chapter six outlines the broad context for future developments and presents some recommendations for the transition to the LEONARDO program. Show less

This staff working paper accompanies the Communication on ‘New skills for new jobs’ (indexed at TD/TNC 94.25). It presents the empirical and theoretical evidence upon which the policy messages of the Communication are based. Section one introduces the paper and offers the rationale behind it. Section two provides a first assessment of the skills and labour market needs of the European Union (EU) up to 2020 and identifies the possible risks of mismatches between supply and demand. This first analysis needs to be followed by continuous efforts to anticipate and match future skills and labour market needs. Section three evaluates existing practices at national and international levels. Show less

Strengthening partnership and flexibility is important for modernising education in Europe. The present Staff working document is part of a larger policy initiative: it accompanies and offers analytical support to the Commission’s Communication on ‘Rethinking education: investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes’. It is part of the European efforts to make lifelong learning a reality, and contributes to the objectives of Europe 2020. The findings presented build on analytical work carried out in cooperation with Member States and academic experts: (1) Cooperation and partnership increase flexibility and relevance of learning and improve efficient use of resources; (2) Effective partnerships and cooperation require strong and sustainable coordination structures and a shared vision among stakeholders; (3) Cooperation with social partners seems to work best where it is based on standing consultation mechanisms and sharing of responsibility between public and private actors; (4) Creating partnerships for funding can be effective, such as sectoral training funds based on social partner agreements; (5) Flexible pathways have an important potential for encouraging participation in lifelong learning as they allow individuals to build upon prior learning, and link competences and qualifications gained across different phases and contexts of life - leisure and working life, inside and outside formal education and training; (6) Such flexibility requires the removal of system-level barriers between different subsectors (e.g. restricted progression from VET to higher education); (7) This needs to be supported by the creation of structures that give easy access to integrated learning services; (8) Implementing strategies for groups of current non-learners require learner centred programmes and effective outreach strategies (notably approaching disadvantaged groups in their social environment) aimed at raising their awareness of the available offer and its benefits, and motivating them; (9) Close cooperation with the voluntary and community sector can be particularly crucial when it comes to attracting vulnerable and disadvantaged groups into learning and offering low-threshold and targeted support.

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The study reported here aimed to get better insight into private household spending on education and training in Europe. In the process, the study has collected available statistical information, analysed such data, reviewed some policy documents with relevance to the issue and synthesised the current situation. This report presents the findings and makes proposals for possible future development in this respect. The willingness of a household to invest in education is affected by a number of factors. The study identified these factors: personal and cultural perceptions: institutional, referring to the education system and national legislations; economic factors; and socio-demographic conditions. These factors do vary considerably between Member States and even vary down to the level of individual households. The report reviews the current state of data collection on household expenditure on education, looking at the methodologies used and the resulting effect on the adequacy and quality of such data. It examines the adequacy of the methodologies currently in use with a view to establishing the data sets which are essential but currently not possible to collect in a coherent or harmonised fashion, looks at the role that methodologies (or the lack of these) play in this problem and makes proposals on how to address the problems of comparability, which limit the usefulness of the collected data on household spending on education. The report concludes that analysis of data collected on private household spending on education has clearly demonstrated that while some data is available, the problems of inadequacy and comparability between countries means that at present it is not possible to formulate a total picture of how much households devote to education. Show less

Entrepreneurship development is an important requirement for achieving smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. It is also a means to respond to new economic challenges, to create jobs and to fight social and financial exclusion. The impact of the global financial and economic crisis calls for giving entrepreneurship and self-employment a stronger role in economic and social development policies. This book collects and synthesizes information and data on entrepreneurship activities in Europe, focusing on people that are at the greatest risk of social exclusion. These groups include young people, older people, women, ethnic minorities and migrants, people with disabilities and the unemployed.

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Member States of the European Union made a promise to young people in April 2013. They undertook to ensure that no young person under 25 after leaving education or becoming unemployed is left without support to obtain a job, a traineeship, or an apprenticeship, or to get into continued education. Member States set themselves a four month time limit for providing such an offer. This offer should be of good quality to contribute to sustainably improved labour market prospects. Member States' commitment involves reaching out to the young who are currently outside the labour market and not participating in formal education or training. Ultimately all this aims at tackling youth unemployment and the current huge waste of young people's potential. The Youth Guarantee is an outcome-focused approach. It is about ensuring that young people can realize their potential and play the active role in our societies that they are capable of. This entails providing real opportunities for testing and further increasing skills and employability.

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This [conference] paper provides a tentative review of the literature that estimates wage returns to training. It discusses both the measurement and estimation issues. The fundamental problem concerning the recovery of the causal effect of training on earnings lies in the correction for selectivity into training. The discussion of the empirical literature emphasises the size of the estimated returns; something which has been largely neglected in the literature. It is argued that traditional studies that depend on differencing (fixed effect) methods where non-participants are used as a comparison group results in high return estimates. On the basis of these high returns, some have argued that there is substantial under-investment and therefore scope for public intervention. Such under-investment could arise because of, for example, hold-up or liquidity constraints. The paper then shows that studies which exploit arguably exogenous variation in training participation find much smaller wage effects of training. The evidence collected in this paper calls into question the case for under-investment based on return studies. There is other evidence which suggests that under-investment may be less severe than previously believed. First, recent literature in experimental economics shows that individuals are often motivated by reciprocity and fairness considerations which are typically ignored in standard human capital models, while reciprocity can alleviate under-investment. Second, recent literature emphasising market imperfections also shows that imperfections may give employers more incentives than previously thought to invest in the general training of their employees. The paper concludes by calling for further study of training mechanisms and subsequent outcomes. Some potential avenues for research in this area are given.

Published abstract.

Selected papers from the conference are indexed from TD/TNC 87.81 to TD/TNC 87.84. Show less

Following the publication of ‘A memorandum of lifelong learning’ (indexed at TD/IRD 88.400) in October 2000, the European Commission invited Member States to launch a consultation process to collect together all views on how best to make progress in implementing lifelong learning. Feedback from the Europe-wide consultation was then used to develop the analysis and proposals in the Communication on ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’ (indexed at TD/IRD 88.264). National reports were submitted by each Member State as well as by candidate countries and Iceland and Norway. This document is the national report from Ireland. The contents are: Introduction; National context; Results from the consultation process; Recommendations to the Commission’s action plan.

Documents from ‘Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality’ are indexed from TD/TNC 77.521 to TD/TNC 77.539. Show less