Key competences for lifelong learning: European Reference Framework

The knowledge, skills and aptitudes of the European workforce are a major factor in the [European Union's] EU's innovation, productivity and competitiveness. Growing internationalisation, the rapid pace of change, and the continuous roll-out of new technologies mean that Europeans must not only keep their specific job-related skills up-to-date, but also possess the generic competences that will enable them to adapt to change. People's competences also contribute to their motivation and job satisfaction in the workplace, thereby affecting the quality of their work. It is against this back-drop that the Council and the European Parliament adopted, at the end of 2006, a European Framework for Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. The Framework identifies and defines, for the first time at the European level, the key competences that citizens require for their personal fulfilment, social inclusion, active citizenship and employability in [a] knowledge-based society. The Member States' initial education and training systems should support the development of these competences for all young people, and their adult education and training provision should give real opportunities to all adults to learn and maintain these skills and competences.

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