CEEP welcomes the focus of the new skills agenda and youth employment packages on sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience
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Today [1st July 2020], the European Commission has adopted its renewed European Skills Agenda, a proposal for a Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) and a Youth Employment Support package including a proposal for a reinforced youth guarantee.
The proposed initiatives aim at stepping up the skills dimension by preparing young people for an increasingly digital and green world of work and to unlock public and private investment in educational and vocational training.
Following the publication of the packages, Valeria Ronzitti, CEEP General Secretary, said:
“Whilst the EU needs to address the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis and prepare for the green and digital twin transition, CEEP welcomes this set of proposals which keeps the long-term perspective in mind. The proposed Skills agenda for Europe should now be fully implemented and properly connected to the other initiatives such as the EU Green Deal, the digital industrial strategy and the action plan for the Pillar of social rights.”
“With its focus on “Strengthening skills intelligence”, the European Commission rightly provides pathways to address skills mismatch and shortages. The existing articulations between labour market and education and training programmes are insufficient at the moment. Developing a common understanding of future skills needs should support employers of public services and of services of general interest to address the shortages experienced in essential utilities such as transport, waste management, water, energy or housing.”
“CEEP welcomes the steps which are taken today by the EU to guarantee structural funds and to establish pan-European initiatives and programmes focused on equipping citizens with the skills they need. We call for Member States to make the best use of the EU funding to implement new youth employment support programmes and to equip everyone – especially the most vulnerable – for the jobs of tomorrow.”
Ahead of the publication of this package, CEEP and its sectoral member EFEE (European Federation of Education Employers) have been consulted by the European Commission, providing the following input.
For further information, please contact:
Maxime STAELENS, Communication Advisor
Email: maxime.staelens@ceep.eu
Tel.: + 32(0) 2 229 21 40
Website: www.ceep.eu
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CEEP, European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public Services and SGI, is one of the three general cross-sectoral European Social Partners. It gathers public and private providers of services of general interest from across Europe. CEEP members contribute to more than 26% of EU GDP and employ 30% of the EU workforce.