A bridge to the future

European vocational education and training policy 2002 to 2010

An ageing workforce, intense international competition and a changing climate are some of the major challenges Europe faces in this decade. Europe’s future prosperity depends on the skills of its people.

Vocational education and training (VET) provides people with skills.

Around half of the young people who enter the labour market acquire their skills through vocational education and training (VET). Almost everyone will develop new or improve existing skills during their working life with the support of VET.

To have a competitive, innovative, green economy and a cohesive society VET in Europe needs to be of high-quality and relevant to the needs of the labour market and individuals. But the right policies need to be in place to achieve this target.

Over the last eight years, from 2002 to 2010, the European Union, its Member States and social partners have worked more closely than ever before to improve VET through better policies. Progress has been made, but the next phase from 2011 to 2020 will pose even greater challenges.

The conference will debate the next steps and includes presentations from
·    László Andor, European Commissioner for Employment, social affairs and inclusion
·    Sándor Czomba, State Secretary, representing the Hungarian EU Presidency, and
·    Pervenche Berès, Chair of the European Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee

The event will be hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee
The conference will follow up the Bruges communiqué, as adopted by the informal ministerial meeting in Bruges on 7 December 2010 and Cedefop’s 2010 report, ‘A bridge to the future’ which you can download from
http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/EN/publications/17297.aspx.

Discussion and presentations will focus on (a) the governance and expected benefits of continued European cooperation in developing VET policy and (b) the conditions and challenges we must meet to make VET more attractive to students and more relevant to Europe’s economy and society. They will also consider the implications of the new policy framework set by the Europe 2020 strategy.

Places to attend the conference will be allocated on a ‘first come-first served” basis and you are kindly invited you to register as soon as possible on the conference website http://agora.cedefop.europa.eu/VET-policy2011/registration.html.