Report from the Commission on access to continuing training in the Union - (Council recommendation of 30 June 1993)
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Brussels, 30. 04. 1997 COM(97) 180 final REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION on access to continuing training in the Union (Council Recommendation of 30 June 1993) (Presented by the Commission) Table of contents INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 Progress on access to continuing vocational training 1. 1 The Community process based on the Recommendation 1. 2 National reports show a wide range of national initiatives 1. 3 Diverging positions of the Social Partners Chapter 2 Towards a more ambitious venture for the Union: accessing skills 2. 1 No alternative to narrowing the major disparities within the Union 2. 2 Towards readjustment of priorities in vocational training policies 2. 3 Increased role for competitiveness and employment Chapter 3 Conclusions and guidelines 3. 1 Conclusions as to approach 3. 2 Conclusions as to objectives 3. 3 Pointers for further action i-^ 8 8 10 26 31 31 33 36 39 39 40 41 Introduction of accelerating technological The vital nature of continuing training and the promotion of access thereto were highlighted by the European Commission at the beginning of the 1990s. Its Memorandum on vocational training in the EC in the 1990s^ stressed that the combined effects and organisational change and of demographic developments would confer a central role on continuing training policies. There was broad support for this proposal during the discussion this memorandum prompted with the Member States. The Commission also advocated an approach training, underpinned by a solid corpus of basic training, would be pursued throughout life. continuing whereby in further a Recommendation on access thus The Community this advanced direction when on 30 June 1993 the Council to adopted the vocational Community's collaborative endeavour over the years to promote access to continuing training to be pursued reference framework. a common training,^ allowing around In parallel with the discussions on this, employment, triggered by the economic situation and globalisation, have pushed to the top of the agenda the issue of the skills of employees and White their enhancement. And in the wake of the Growth, Commission's Paper competitiveness and employment, the Essen European Council of December 1994 put forward investment in training as one of five priorities to be pursued. The reforms of the structural funds, the European Social Fund in particular, which took place for the 1994-99 period, place skills enhancement at the forefront. The new Objective 4 in particular, concerned to "facilitate workers' adaptation to industrial changes and to changes in production systems", of maintaining skill levels and placed the Social Fund for the first time at the service of workers in employment (as compared with the unemployed). importance underlined the are (1995-1999)4 like FORCE3 Other Community programmes (1991-1994) and more recently the Leonardo da Vinci community instruments aimed at providing access: they expect to stimulate innovation in vocational training while contributing particularly to development of new approaches and methods of training which facilitate access to training and competencies. also COM(91)397 final of 12 December 1991. OJ No L 181/37 of 23 July 1993 (see Annex). 3O J N o. L 156/1 of 21° June 1990 OJ No. L340/1 of 29° December 1994 The proclamation of 1996 as "the European Year of Lifelong Learning", made it possible to make European citizens profoundly aware of the need to enhance their skills throughout life. This discussion has shown that there is a very high level of aspiration to get into training, but that there was seen to be a gap between this aspiration to lifelong training and the actual opportunities afforded Europe's workers and citizens. The Commission accordingly opened up a new perspective in which an even more vital role is given to the development of access to training: that of the learning society. In its White Paper Teaching and learning: towards the learning society? the Commission proposes that "access to training should be developed throughout life. While this is a need stressed all round by public authorities and the business sector alike, progress is slow and all the more in this direction inadequate as the changes in work organisation stemming inter alia from information technology are making training in these new tools very urgent". Available skills can no longer be renewed through the succession of generations of workers, but has to be done within a cycle which is the combined constantly accelerating under pressure of two factors: • • the shortening of the horizon of technological change and changes in work organisation, the inversion of the age pyramid of the active the growing participation of population, women is labour market, which the in bringing about a shift in training requirements notably towards women and older workers. Vocational training policy, particularly that which the Community is responsible for implementing under Article 127 of the Treaty EC, must be pursued within these structural trends and must place greater emphasis on the continuing training of workers. Under the various actions which are part of the confidence pact for employment launched by the Commission in April 1996, the European Council of Florence its conclusions (June 1996) confirmed at the Dublin Council (December 1996): in that "The European Council underlines the educational and training systems in the European Union will need to adapt profoundly. It takes note of the Commission intention to present a proposal on the access to, and the recognition of, skills acquired from lifelong learning". their joint declaration on In employment preparatory to the European Council of Dublin, the social partners gave pride of place to lifelong training along the priority themes. They pointed out that: "Economic change, the employment situation and the emergence of new technologies, particularly information deep-seated technologies mean changes on the employment market and in society in general. These trends bring out the need to expand individual skills, and this means a change of attitude to lifelong training. Moreover, access throughout improved. Lifelong working life should be training will become increasingly important to the competitiveness of companies, as it will for employees when it comes to geographical and professional mobility. " vocational training to In the same way the Council decision on a third multi-annual programme for small and medium sized enterprises (SME) in the Union (1997- 2000)6 gives an impetus to the importance of training to improve the management capacity of managers and reinforce the competitiveness of SMEs. in Within this Community process, this Report on Access to Continuing Training has as to principle objective the evaluation of the progress made the Council the application of globally of Recommendation proposals of new avenues reinforcing community action on access training regard to the real challenges which have to be faced to achieve it. the presentation for and The Commission has opted not to limit itself to a descriptive report based on a simple stock-taking exercise. The Commission is keen to make this report an instrument for framing the debate on access to continuing training in the EU seeking to enquire : what the exact situation is, where are the progress can be major disparities like, how made? 5 COM(95) 590 of 25 November 1995. 6 OJ. L6/25 of 10 January 1997 The Commission thus also hopes that this report will provide the basis for a genuine in-depth debate on the policies to be pursued in this area with a view training. The Commission's hope is that this report should also open on to new avenues for more ambitious action on widening and raising competencies. It sees these as a step towards an open debate on the learning society. lifelong to The Commission attaches great importance to this the contributions made to its report and evaluation by the Community authorities. It underscores the points that: • a Community report in the area of vocational training is being submitted for the first time, • training is playing an increasingly important role in all discussions to do with employment, competitiveness, our model of society and in the construction of a learning society. Chapter 1 Progress on access to continuing vocational training 1. 1 The Community process based Council's the on Recommendation The starting point: the Social Charter. The question of access to vocational training often came up in Community texts. Then in 1989 when the European Council of Strasbourg and 11 Member States adopted of the Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights for Workers debate on this issue really got under way. Article 15 of the Charter states that "every worker of the EC must be able to have access to vocational training and to benefit therefrom throughout his working life. The competent public authorities, undertakings or the two sides of industry, each within their own sphere of competence, should set up continuing and permanent training systems to undergo retraining, enabling every person more especially training purposes, to improve his skills or to acquire new skills, particularly technical in the developments ". leave for light of through to training and called upon the Member States, the business sector and the social partners to take action so that each worker could pursue his training throughout his working life. This programme also foresaw the submission by, the Commission to the Council of a proposal for a Community instrument on access to vocational training. The Community institutional debate on The Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights for Workers was, in effect, the catalyst which led to the adoption of the Recommendation on access to continuing training. The Social Dialogue to vocational In recognising the growing importance of better access the competitiveness of the business sector and for in the social cohesion, the partners involved European social dialogue (UNICE, CEEP and ETUC^) placed this issue within the body of training for the action programme for Subsequently, the implementation of the Social Charter, confirmed the increasing importance of new ways of access 1 UNICE - Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe CEEP - European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation ETUC - European Trade Union Confederation work of the social dialogue on education and training and in December 1991 adopted a "Joint the broadest opinion on ways of facilitating possible training to effective opportunities", in the preamble to which, they state that: access "a large proportion of the adult population left school without adequate qualifications for today's demands or has never attended any systematic, continuing training; their level of qualification results in a paradoxical situation where many of the training courses on offer are not open to them owing to a lack of basic skills that: and, and "competitive and success enterprises are those which implement, with proper consultation of employees representatives, vocational training programmes that are the most relevant and of the best quality standards ". furthermore, knowledge", and/or their They also stress that: "the social partners have an important role to play in setting up partnerships at regional level to promote greater synergy training programmes and between company forecasts certain future occupations and skills at regional level". demand for of Significantly, the guidelines of this joint opinion have by and large been incorporated into the text of the Council Recommendation. At sectoral level, in joint committees or informal working groups, the social partners have adopted a certain number of common opinions concerning access lifelong to vocational learning. In particular: training and • the Joint Opinion on improved access to vocational training for women in the textile and clothing sector (16 June 1994); • The Opinion on the VT of ground engineers and maintenance staff (15 September 1993); • The negotiation of the framework agreement for employment in agriculture, which is to be in June 1997, where continuing signed vocational training plays a central role and where further seek social partners agreement especially on this subject the The adoption of the Recommendation by the Council in June 1993 after and in-depth debate on the content by the Community authorities (EP, ECOSOC) and the social partners (particularly within the ACVT) marked the launching of a Community process on three complementary levels: a) The definition of a general objective stemming from the Social Charter according to which: "every worker of the EC must be able to have access to vocational training and to benefit therefrom throughout his working ///e". (Art. I). b) The definition of 15 specific objectives which this it possible would make overarching objective while the decision on the ways and means for doing so up to the Member States and the social partners (Art. II). to attain leaving c) The establishment at the Community level of a system to monitor developments on access, in the Member States and at the Community level (Art. Ill & IV). This system is based on a triple process: 1. the drawing up of national reports by the Member States on the implementation of its objectives the recommendation and (Article ÏV. 1) The Member States were asked to agree on a their national common structure for drafting reports in particular on measures taken since 1993 to promote access to continuing training. They were also asked to prepare these reports in conjunction with the social partners, - a procedure which was followed by many Member States. 2. Setting up a social dialogue support system on continuing training (Article III. 3) upon called The Recommendation the Commission to support the dialogue between the social partners on this theme. It accordingly set up a "support system for the social dialogue on continuing training" in close conjunction with the European organisations involved in the European social dialogue, the UNICE, the CEEP and the ETUC. This made it possible to take stock in the EU Member States of steps taken by the social partners to develop continuing training. Often this in itself, had a direct impact on access to such training. Two "Compendia" were published on this in 1994 and 1996, in order to illustrate ten themes of common interest to the social partners, noting tangible initiatives taken at company, branch, sector, regional or national levels. a) the national reports drawn up by each of the Member States pursuant to Article IV. 1 of the Recommendation;** illustrated The two seminars organised by the social partners (October 1994 and May 1996) to examine the results the worthwhile nature and added value of this instrument as an instrument of collection, and dissemination of innovatory and wide-ranging initiatives for a better understanding of what was happening in the field in the Member States. observation, analysis The ten themes identified by the social partners broadly follow the key aspects set out in the objectives the Council Recommendation. of Part of II b) the reports drawn up by the Community organisations of social partners, i. e. the ETUC and the UNICE/CEEP, pursuant to Article IV. 2. The Commission has also drawn substantially on: 1) The first comparable figures from the Community CVTS9 and the LFS. 10 2) The results of the support structure for the social dialogue and vocational training set up in conjunction with the social partners (UNICE, CEEP and ETUC) published in the two compendia in 1994 and 1996. THE THEMES OF THE SOCIAL DIALOGUE SUPPORT SYSTEM Theme 1: Planning of company Theme 2: SMEs training within the 1. 2 National reports show a wide range of national initiatives Theme 3: Organisational development Theme 4: Specific types of employment Theme 5: Occupational people integration of young Theme 6: forms of New regional level co-operation at Theme 7 Certification/recognition Theme 8 Means and methods Theme 9 Allocation of resources Theme 10 New requirements responses to individual 3. Preparing a Community report on 'Access to continuing training in the EU' in order to take stock of progress and put forward proposals to strengthen Community- action (Article IV. 2). The main point of this report is to assess overall progress made and to illustrate the trends under way, taking due account of the diversity of the national systems. It should also illustrate the value of efforts made by the Member States and the steps taken by the social players in general and the social partners in particular. The report is based on: 1. 2. 1 Introduction The reports prepared by the Member States form an interesting basis of information and analysis on trends and progress with regard to access to continuing training, and on the way in which access is organised in the different Member States. Many reports provide comprehensive descriptions of the support systems for continuing training. The following points arise from an overall examination of the national reports: 1. The EU countries are all determined to find new solutions to the challenges posed by the need for continuing training and the direct or indirect promotion of access to training. , Nearly all of them provided examples of new ° The information contained in these reports have also been supplemented by elements from the multiannual programmes established under the follow-up process to the conclusions of the Essen European Summit on employment. " Continuing Vocational Training Survey 10 Labour Force Survey. 10 measures,- introduced in the 1990s,- which to continuing have a bearing on access training. 2. Most of these measures are however, part of training action for general systems in the Member States, thus limiting the scope for more detailed analyses of the impact of the measures. 'reform' of 3. On the other hand, many promising initiatives escape the attention of a purely systemic administrative scrutiny, because they were undertaken at company or branch level. ( a certain number of very promising initiatives were spotted in the reports of the social partners the the course of Compendia of support systems in the Social Dialogue. ) doing in Implementing the objectives As noted earlier, the national reports very often describe the developments in systems and to promote access, but without measures providing any great detail in relation to each single objective of the Council Recommendation of 30 June 1993 It was therefore considered more worthwhile to analyse national trends for certain themes. • A first theme relates to access and company policy. This covers mainly Objectives 1, 2, 6, 8 and 9 of the Recommendation. • The second relates more specifically to access requirements of individuals (Objectives 3 and 7), i. e. examining initiatives for individuals access to training. • The third theme relates to the retraining of workers (Objective 4). • The fourth deals with access to training for specific less- target groups such as qualified workers (Objective 11), women (Objective 12), young people (Objective 13) and the long-term unemployed (Objective 14). the • A fifth theme will consider access and new partnerships (Objectives 5 and 15). • A sixth theme will deal with new technologies 10). Major (Objective access and developments and pointers for action and initiatives need noting for each theme. A final theme will deal with the use of Community funds local in initiatives. support of Following illustrated by actions and initiatives. analysis major themes are 1. 2. 2 Access and company policy status for workers, This is a vast theme which groups together initiatives on measures to make provision for non-active promote information and consultation at company level and anticipation of training requirements and the development of plans notably the development of information and training plans for workers, consultation forward planning of training needs. in enterprises or the The national reports confirm that it is enterprises which take responsibility for policy on continuing vocational training of their employees. They are the main and frequent initiators of action and it is they who mainly fund such training. to from come obligations may The exercise of this responsibility by companies is supported in certain Member States by binding systems, e. g. France is distinctive by its system of a generalised obligation contribute financially to training under the terms of the law of 16 July 1971. But France is not alone in having a potentially binding arrangement on companies. These the compulsory'payment into a solidarity fund, such as a recent measure to establish funds for high- risk groups the system of taxes/subsidies in certain sectors in Ireland, or legislation on leave as adopted by Finland, Sweden, certain Lander in Germany, etc. In Spain, on the other hand, there is an to indirect system of contributions finance vocational is collected training. The money is through Social Security payments and calculated at 0,7% of the rate of contributions for occupational accidents and illnesses. in Belgium, or training to continuing "ocational Certain Member States make the valid point that access is unevenly distributed among companies (size, area of activity, etc. ), but also among workers (socio- professional status) in companies, irrespective of the binding nature of the arrangements. training 11 The right to information of the social partners particularly at the regional and local levels. Certain Member States have practices designed to and consultation on encourage company worker by representatives. information training policy training opportunities during A definitive model of an obligation to provide information was not provided by any Member State. Information policy clearly builds up on an ad hoc basis and varies according to the providers and recipients. Germany feels that employees and workers often receive information recruitment on interviews. Information may also be given in contracts collective employment agreements, or be published by the Chamber of Trades or the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The social partners in particular seek to improve channels of information. In December 1996 key players agreed to develop an information system within the Federal Vocational Training Institute, to which training committees could refer. or of as Member States have also stepped up their efforts to raise awareness through general and targeted campaigns. For instance, a note entitled "Kennis in beweging" was published in the Netherlands in June 1995. In France, major organisations their such arrangements on individual training leave by mail and in the press as well as by audio-visual means. Finland successfully launched a vast campaign in 1994 to inform companies of the opportunities available on training contracts. apprenticeship based the FONGECIF publicise in information campaigns the UK are The targeted at companies through programmes such as Investors in People and Small firms initiatives. The same is true in Ireland where the new project called Excellence in People was set up in 1995. These are projects aimed at achieving high quality in human resources. The objective is to create a link between the company's strategic objectives and the vocational training policy objectives. standards by investing Similarly, Denmark organises public information targeted at SMEs. It is campaigns, notably noteworthy that the information drive is pursued not only by the public authorities and the business sector, but also by the trade unions. In this regard, the Danish report makes a note of the activities on information which has to be put at the service and information to channel Efforts raise awareness of opportunities on the vocational training market are also supported by vocational counselling sectors, sometimes combined with activities such as skills assessment exercises. In Norway, for instance, a system of contact points has been set up in order to ensure that training providers are put into direct contact with the consumers, companies and individuals. Many the setting up of Member States mention of and/or Points guides, or databanks Information. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Luxembourg, as well as others, see this as a way of securing better information flow and thus better access to vocational training. Portugal recently set up a programme entitled Training for micro enterprises and small enterprises in an attempt to promote information and raise awareness among entrepreneurs and employees as to the need to develop their human resources through vocational training. Consultation at company level trend to all is a growing There towards more involvement in and responsibility being taken for training by the social partners in general. In the Netherlands, for instance, the social partners are being given more say in the context of the revision of the law on vocational teaching and training (WEB) which came into force in January 1996. National bodies, comprising representatives of employers' organisations and trade unions co operate with the educational establishments in drawing up exit qualifications for each sector of industry, group of sectors, or occupational types of senior category, applicable secondary vocational education. The social partners are also given a role as providers of resource of information, for motivating companies to identify their own skills requirements, and for organising the necessary measures. In Finland, the role and development of employee training are currently being examined during tripartite negotiations as part of the Council of Ministers employment programme for 1996-99. Italy and Portugal also stress the growing importance in this context of the social partners. The latter, through their sectoral organisations, co-operate with the public authorities in defining, shaping and implementing training policies. In an increasing number of cases, collective agreements set out the general distribution centres the for 12 principles applicable to the sound management of vocational training at sector and company level. In Spain, the role of the social partners is written into the national and tripartite agreements on vocational training and is reflected by their involvement in the FORCEM continuing training foundation, -a tripartite body established for the organisation, management and implementation of these agreements with action decided under support from the ESF. the In France, requires workers' law representatives to be informed and consulted on the drafting and implementation of training plans and programmes. It is compulsory for the works council to be consulted at least once yearly on the guidelines and the vocational training plan. In Germany works councils also have the right of information. strong namely development. Collective agreements which become the forum for consultation on vocational training are a further Tripartite consultation and co-operation are part of the Danish model and collective agreements are the main regulatory instrument (covering over 90% of the Danish labour market). Germany opts for a similar solution and feels that it is neither necessary or wise to legislate on the matter, if the continuing training market is to remain very initial VT and continuing flexible. For both training, German the companies, employers and trade unions, have traditionally been committed to the qualifications of their workforce. But the individual and the State also have a share in this responsibility. The State fulfils its role through various laws, e. g. the, Berufsbildungsgeset - the 1969 legislation on training, vocational Berufsbildungsfôrderungsgesetz 1994 the promotion of vocational legislation on the 1969 training, Arbeitsforderungsgesetz legislation on the promotion of employment, Aufstiegsbildungsforderungsgesetz legislation the promotion of continuing vocational on the the Lander and training, Bildungsurlaubsgesetze the training leave (various dates), Weiterbildungs- und Erwachsenenbildungsgesetze - legislations on the continuing training for adults (various dates). through legislation on the in - - - - increased The collective importance agreements is noted by the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway. In Sweden matters relating to continuing training are often settled by the sector. of collective agreements propose Central recommendations, but it is increasingly common for the examination of the subject to take place at the regional level. Finland states clearly that the general trend is for training-related matters to be negotiated within the company. However, training remains a matter for dialogue- based negotiation on which there is not always unanimity, particularly on matters the objectives of training and who pays. This point is made by Denmark. Talks on these matters are in progress in several Member States. They are a central preoccupation the Luxembourg government in its preparation of a framework law on continuing training. like for Germany raises the question of inter alia responsibility for funding and considers that the individuals more trend responsible. towards making is This trend is also apparent in the UK where increasing numbers of employees and other individuals are taking more responsibility for their own learning. Encouraging individuals to become more pro-active in meeting their learning needs the UK Government's strategy for skills. is a major component in Belgium notes that consultation on training takes place only for high-risk groups, and is low on the agenda during negotiations at company level. The strategic importance of training plans instruments of One of the main operational training at company level is the implementation of training plans. In France, the training plan is the principle way in which the employer is accountable in terms of actual expenditure and in relation to employees affected. Training plans are also an integral part law on of the Finnish strategy. Under the consultation in companies, those having over 30 employees are obliged to establish a personnel and training plan every year on the' basis of negotiations with the employee representatives. the granting of financial and In Portugal, the second Community technical aid under Support Framework (CSF), which has legal validity, obliges companies to prepare and make known the human resource development plans 13 they intend to pursue. Under the national tripartite agreement of 1992 in Spain, funding of VT essentially concerns company training plans, individual training leave and the theory- based training which apprenticeship contracts cover. Denmark notes that the "size of company" factor often determines whether or not there is a training plan as such. The Ministry of Labour accordingly set up two funds, both of which can pay subsidies for programming activities. The major elements in the Danish approach are "funding measures", "proximity" (by delegation of responsibility to the regions) and "awareness raising campaigns". The Netherlands recently launched the IMPULS programme in a number of sectors. This consists of an integrated approach in each sector, which must open on, through a strategic plan, to activities for achieving a structural improvement in matching the employment market. vocational training to to regard training plans, France With is innovating by increasingly gearing these plans to the changing technologies and changing markets. This is encouraged by contractual policy which is based in part on a planning instrument, the CEP {Contrat d'études prospectives) which seeks to define developments in trades. The CEP is becoming increasingly frequently a basis for the conclusion development commitments. training of France: The Contrats d'études prospectives Although it dates back to the 1980s, the CEP is still an effective system for analysing training is requirements and assisting action which steered through co-operation with the social partners. The CEP is based on two principles: • It is a contract which binds the social partners, the state and one or more operators, private consultants or public establishments, in carrying out prospective studies. The state provides half the budget. • The operators are chosen jointly by the social partners and the state within the framework of a public tendering procedure based on specifications. A tripartite steering committee sees that the specifications and deadlines are respected, monitors the work and validates the results. In the UK a company training plan linked to business objectives is a key feature of "'Investors in People". Companies are increasingly adopting the "Investors as a framework for effective investment in training and the development of a learning culture. in People Standard' To raise awareness in enterprises of the link between workers' current skills and their competencies Some Member States are promoting awareness of the business sector of a link between workers' skills and company competitiveness. Germany has a specific programme entitled 'Consolidating the industrial fabric by building up occupational skills'. ESF Objective 4 funds are used for measures to raise awareness in enterprises of the link between competencies and current skills. The UK and Ireland likewise have specific programmes, and Belgium has set up one on the quest for quality. The distinguishing feature of the UK's system is the presence and implementation of numerous initiatives and programmes designed in general to improve individual access to training. Mention must be made here of programmes like Investors in People whose purpose is to improve the by economic performance companies of 14 More resources investments. to develop human establishing the relationship between training and the development of employees and the company's strategic objectives. The delivery is via the Training Enterprises Councils (TECs) and, in the case of Scotland, Local Enterprise Companies (LECs), providing a framework which makes it possible in companies and to structure training activities as economic flexible arrangements will be introduced in 1997 as part of Local Competitiveness Budget to improve co operation between local partners supporting training and firms and thus attain the objectives set out in the Investors in People programme and the enhance business sector. A second initiative which will continue to obtain this objective is National Training Awards. This is a prize awarded to employers, training providers or individuals in respect of measures which have proved particularly effective by having an immediate effect on the company's economic performance or the fulfilment of the individual. the economic performance of training The Walloon region in Belgium has focused its support on tangible action to make employers and workers aware of quality by labelling products and certifying companies. Germany also notes that there is a trend towards an increasing number of certified is becoming increasingly important for several CVT players to co-operate in mastering more complex tasks/subjects. Another major trend sees some big companies starting to shift VT outside - partly for financial reasons - and leaving it up to those involved in training to improve provision on the training market (outsourcing). establishments. It The crucial importance of qualifications One trend which is emerging strongly is that of access and recognition of qualifications. The awareness of workers and companies as to the training importance of continuing vocational opening on to qualifications which are relevant on the employment market has become a prime objective in the fight to remain competitive. Germany observes that today's jobs increasingly call for key skills, language and communications skills, a capacity for creativeness and innovation, and multi skilling, in other words, a far broader spectrum of occupational ability. This is reflected by developments in CVT, e. g. decentralisation, client-oriented approaches, involvement of staff the and workers, links employee's career progression, closer incorporation as part of between work and education/training. New methods and new forums of training are therefore needed if better quality is to be achieved. for the recognition It is symptomatic that most Member States acknowledge the importance of discussions on qualifications. The Netherlands in 1993 set up the Commission of qualifications acquired (EVK). The system of diplomas for professional studies for the adults came into force in 1994. The vocational studies diploma system in Finland makes it possible to obtain paper qualification based on acquiring occupational know-how its method of acquisition. Since 1995 this has been carried forward by the ALVAR project on the control of the quality of documents used for vocational examinations. irrespective of Finland: The national language diploma take a splits up The national language diploma (set up by the legislation of 1994) language proficiency into nine levels. Any person who so wishes can to verify his/her knowledge, irrespective of how it was acquired. This is an official diploma and is checked by the authorities. Nine languages are currently involved: Finnish, Lapp, English, Swedish, French, German, Russian, Italian, Spanish. test French legislation has always stressed the need leading to for continuing vocational qualifications which the are employment market. The CEP reflects the same concern. In Denmark, also aims to make training pathways open on to qualifications. relevant training to 15 United K i n g d o m: National (NVQs) vocational qualifications Finland: The "skilled F i n l a n d" project The UK in 1986 introduced major changes to rationalise its very diverse system in the area of vocational qualifications, by establishing an overall framework of NVQs. A parallel system of Scottish vocational qualifications (SVQ) was introduced for Scotland. The NVQ and SVQ provide a yardstick of the skills and aptitudes which employers have defined as necessary for today's jobs. They are based on national performance standards at work established by the employers for the employers. They real employment reflect requirements by ensuring a multi-skilled and flexible workforce with broad-based knowledge as required by today's highly competitive global market. in seeking their efforts to improve operational Member States are instruments the current level of recognition of qualifications. The Netherlands, for instance, have set up a fund for innovation in technology and vocational training. Belgium is planning to set up an observatory for the labour market and qualifications. Efforts targeting the SMEs It is well known that there are problems of access to continuing training for the SMEs and their employees. The Member States have logically •enough stepped up aid programmes targeted at SMEs. Assistance training is counselling, the analysis of training requirements, etc. aimed at The Finnish project entitled "a skilled Finland" clearly the challenges. ambitions illustrates and the the the social (1996), partners, launched Recently "skilled Finland" project is a co-operation project certain between ministries and the Directorate-General for Education. The objective is to develop the know how for staff and subcontractors of SMEs by understanding how diplomas arising from the 1994 legislation could better serve the specific requirements of those enterprises the competence of their employees. The specialists recruited for the project assist companies in evaluating the present level of know-how of employees and their future requirements in this area, and in finding the right establishments to organise training. In co-operation with all those in the world of to make a concrete work the Finns wish reality of lifelong the the apprenticeship principle of improve seeking to awareness-raising and The general trend is towards the preparation and testing of specific programmes, the mobilisation empowerment of campaigns, specific institutions. There is also a trend towards a more flexible, more adaptable and more customised training provision. and creation the of The UK has introduced a number of initiatives like "Skills for Small Businesses", and "Skills Challenge", to help small firms to overcome barriers to training. The "Small Firms Training Loans" scheme is designed to provide funding for these companies with a view to training. The Netherlands launched a specific programme - VRIJMARKT - in 1994, targeting the SMEs. Several types of sandwich training are also being tried out, such as the SME-based training targeted at pupils in higher vocational education. Actions targeting the SMEs are also a priority in Spain. Germany underlines the need for regional co operation to ensure qualitative and quantitative provision for meeting demands, especially from the SMEs, and boost interaction between economic development and the labour market. To meet the needs of the SMEs training methods are into work, i. e. the designed to be integrated business sector, and continuing vocational training dovetail. France has also intensified action, although it acknowledges that success of some of these 16 measures have been modest, e. g. the system of government aid for the replacement of certain employees undergoing training. Other measures are strictly financial in nature such as tax credit for training to act as a tax incentive to companies to increasing their training expenditure annually. Austria also notes the importance of fiscal measures. Luxembourg: Preparation of a new framework law on CVT to address structures The Luxembourg government is setting up new continuing vocational training. The government's view is that general provisions are needed and that care must be taken not to stifle the emerging momentum of this market by excessively binding centralised excessively and measures. The government has therefore opted to play a role to co-ordinate and help define a framework within which the market can develop. and Social Council, On the basis of an opinion drafted by the Economic an interministerial group is in the process of preparing a bill of law which will lead to overall continuing vocational training market in Luxembourg on four fundamental points: provisions the for • • the funding of continuing vocational training by the company, by employees and by the State; the conditions of access to continuing vocational training for everyone; • methods of protecting vocational in for to avoid poaching by non- investment training continuing companies training enterprises; • certification of training modules. Denmark considers that it is essential, if the SMEs are to take up the training opportunities available by the public authorities, to structure training provision in a more effective, more flexible and more customised manner thanks to better management of the market and increased training competition providers. vocational between The "job rotation" projects are part of this approach, as are the "open workshop models" which are currently being developed and which will be the precursors of individualised training. The SMEs can send their employees for training at short notice. This approach makes for optimum use of the equipment of training establishments as the rotation of training takes place in a continuous and differentiated manner at the same time. The importance of the regional dimension is illustrated by Finland with its regional bureaux which are answerable to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and which provide counselling and service on the basis of a range of programmes such as "ProStart, Kunto", etc. Germany: Lern-Netzwerk Bavaria - a CVT network for Bavaria is currently setting up a Lern- Netzwerk, i. e. A CVT network, using modern information and communication technology, for medium-sized metal-working and electronics companies. This model project installation of involves distance teaching applications in local firms. The aim of the network is to move the burden. Rural areas of training, outside which have problems of access to CVT provision are a particular focus. the preparation in-house Another interesting initiative is that undertaken in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium and which is based on a government agreement spanning incentives to 1995-99 and involving financial and encourage Community finds in vocational training measures at company level. investment of private the Lastly, multi-media teaching and, to some extent, distance teaching are frequently mentioned as ways of catering for the specific needs of the SMEs. A new strategic training. role for continuing Legislation L236/93 introduced a contribution of 0. 03% of the enterprise wage bill for the development of vocational training. The recent the 1996 agreement, concluded between government and the social partners, further specifies the role and position of vocational training. " continuing training provides a new strategic role for training and affirms the citizen's right to 17 qualifications and proper vocational competencies. " to the enrichment of their • The agreement specifies general goals for creating for ensuring right conditions access to lifelong learning. The agreement foresees: the • The gradual introduction of a levy of 0. 03% of the wage bill to develop continuing training in co-operation with the social partners. • Creation of new possibilities of adaptation by insertion of national level agreements and annual plans of the social partners, into the level of the enterprise. • Reaffirmation of the right to education and training for adults, by optimising the current contractual instruments on training leave and sabbaticals. , remotivation, training Reorientation the measures, which address unemployed and those threatened by exclusion, and also the need to improve of the employment services are also foreseen. and the needs of innovation interesting is the A further very establishment of alternating training and work, (work and apprenticeship contracts), introduced within a clear and coherent strategy of promotion and support of employment. The double status of these contracts helps in making the distinctions between initial vocational training and continuing training at work, less limiting. institute training. for vocational Another trend is to set up institutions, very often quasi-public, to provide support and backup for these companies in order to promote more 'tailor- made' solutions. In 1992, Luxembourg, for instance, set up on a legal basis the INFPC, a the development of national continuing Similarly, Ireland, on the basis of the labour law of 1987, set up the FAS (national training and employment authority) in order to promote the training of employees in Ireland and provide the training needed by unemployed persons. A similar approach is being pursued in Portugal where tripartite public institutions such as the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training (IEVT) or and Vocational Training, provide support for the business sector in human resource planning and in implementing a vocational training policy. for Employment the Observatory National strategies on these points, especially in the Cohesion countries, have in many cases drawn in the support of the European Social Fund, especially in relation to the impact of industrial change on workers skills. Objective 4 of the structural funds in particular (including the ADAPT Community Initiative), is providing about 4 Bio ECU during 1994-99 for training and re-training actions, development of training systems, and mechanisms for the anticipation of the skills and training implications of industrial change. 1. 2. 3 Access taking account requirements, Access to through individual initiatives individual training training Matching individual worker to requirements is another crucial factor. It raises several problems. How to stimulate continuing vocational training by companies while at the same time taking account of the specific situation of the workers of these companies (Objective 3)? How to allow workers to assess their training lastly what requirements (Objective 1)1 and opportunities are there for individuals to organise their training on their own initiative? to It must of course be pointed out that throughout the Member States every employee can at his/her own expense enrol for all sorts of training. This training very often corresponds leisure activities and is organised by cultural associations or local education authorities. Language training is one example. Other typical examples, which have long tradition, are activities organised by the Volkshochschulen in Germany or the Open Universities in the United Kingdom or the Netherlands, adult education in Luxembourg and United Kingdom, the second qualifying path way in Austria or the senior citizens university in France. Such cases can entail vocational training and may link with occupational activities but will not necessarily have a direct impact on career progression. In the UK, within the Employee Development Scheme, employers (c. 800 companies) provide additional funding for employees to undertake a learning activity of their choice. These schemes. are often set up by employers as a means of attracting people who generally get least training. It should be noted that the above analyses only the covers vocational training activities, from 18 point of view of the occupational needs of the individual. It is worth pointing out that the tangible opportunities for personal initiative in completing one's training are small. More often than not the training decision lies with the employer. Training instrument promote access to continuing training leave as an to Training leave is commonly presented as part of the main arrangements in favour of access to continuing training. Some Member States thus provide for the possibility of non-active status in the form of training leave on a legal basis (France, Belgium, Finland, Sweden, certain Lander in Germany, etc. ) or through collective agreements (Denmark,). Non-active status may take the form of training days, or be based on more ambitious models such as systems of job rotation as practised in certain Scandinavian Member States. Not all configurations of training leave are a success. Belgium, for instance, looks to improve the efficiency of its paid training leave system which was set up by the Law of 22 January 1985. The provision has therefore been amended by fixing a ceiling on remuneration payable and a reduction in the number of hours of leave. There are also strong reservations on training leave in Germany. in the 1993 agreements In Denmark, the right to (unpaid) training leave for a maximum of two weeks yearly emerged from the private employment sector. Under agreements with the State, training leave on full pay was introduced in 1993 and 1995. Also noteworthy is the system of 150 hours in Italy. This measure dates back to the 1970s and provides for an hourly budget for each worker for his own training. Those targeted are mainly the less qualified. Similarly, the 1992 agreement in Spain provides for a system of paid training leave to cater for individual needs. Well-established in certain countries, but openly criticised in others, paid training leave as a way of increasing access to training is debated in Member States. Discussions were launched in September 1995 in the Netherlands on "Utility leave: an investment for the quality of work and care the community". The Employment Foundation has yet to give its opinion on career breaks. The same is true in Luxembourg. An opinion has been drafted by the Economic and in Social consideration. Council for final Government Assessment of skills the bodies will be merged The up-and-coming trend is towards recognition of skills. Mention has already been made of the current UK's NVQs/SVQs. In assessment into a "Qualifications and Curriculum Authority", with a view to generating consistency and quality in the approach to academic and vocational qualifications. 1997 Norway, in the meantime, has just set up skills assessment systems which provide certification irrespective of how the skills were required. The emphasis here is placed on the development of models for the assessment of skills as the basis for training activities. Italy stresses the worthwhile nature of skills a Community portfolio". improving access to vocational "individual project: In Belgium, promotion of civic teaching is used to develop a system of tests which will make it possible to enhance the skills acquired through work experience and to help workers attest to their real level of qualification. In Norway, with the reform of the higher secondary cycle, the importance of the 'master tradesman's certificate has also been increased. It is thus possible to have one's level of skill recognised on the basis of occupational experience in a practical or theoretical branch. Ireland has set up a national system, TEASTAS, designed to create a national certificate structure covering all non-university higher-level training and continuing training. the assessment of Developments covering definition of individual such requirements and requirements are leading to the establishment of centres for the assessment of individual training requirements. A approaches exist, the most common being skills assessments. training this establishments type of service like Belgium and In certain Member States have Luxembourg, started offering the business sector and to individuals. The trade unions apparently are increasingly supporting this approach, particularly in the case of people who have just lost their jobs. to 19 training In order to facilitate the assessment of workers' continuing vocational requirements, France's law of 31 December 1991 introduced the skills assessment as an instrument at the service of companies and workers alike. Nearly five years on, this service is gradually gathering training, pace the world of vocational in particularly with the opportunity for employees to have their skills individually and outside assessment working time. availability of funded the Denmark has adopted a slightly different tack. Since 1995 the AMU'* has been proposing a completely new type of activity which consists of clarifying individual skills, an activity which can be incorporated into the follow-up of long-term training leading to qualifications. Similarly, as previously mentioned, "open workshop courses" have been introduced, and these start with an assessment of the levels and continue with an tailored learning. The TECs12 and the LECs13 in the UK have, in the interests of regular assessment of training instituted programmes such as requirements, Gateways to Learning in order to have a network of guidance organisations - the purpose being to promote supply and demand for guidance. Another programme, Skill choice, uses a system of of accreditation qualifications and prior guidance measures. recognition and a 1. 2. 4 Access and retraining of workers the interests of a proactive approach, In Finland's Law on the contract of employment stipulates that employers must organise training if this makes it possible to avoid redundancy or laying off an employee by redeployment within the Employers' In Sweden the company. Labour Organisation and their Confederation arrangements and set up a reserve fund to increase training which target workers facing a risk of unemployment. the General stepped have up the social partners between By way of illustration, France provides support for projects which are part of a strategic development approach. These are negotiated mostly at occupational branch level where the questions of modernisation and competitiveness can be raised globally and coherently. They run for several years so as to form part of training within a medium term plan. They can also be concluded at inter-sectoral local organisations as part of a local economic development approach. The system is based on State aid. level, particularly with a has number Portugal of introduced programmes and actions to adapt the active population to technological and organisational change, and to develop retraining of unemployed persons or employees risk of unemployment. Such action is usually prepared jointly by the companies and by the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training and is supported by the second CSF and the multi- annual employment programme. facing the In the United Kingdom the promotion of training is done at sector level through the Industry training organisations (ITO). They are intended to monitor future skills and training requirements, develop occupational standards and provide encouragement for employers with regard to training. The Netherlands ESF Objective 4 especially targets less-qualified workers and activities to encourage this group of employees to participate in training. 1. 2. 5 Access to training for a specific target groups It is very significant that the Member States appear to have opted for specific programmes targeting population groups least- qualified, women, young people and the long- term unemployed. like the ' AMU = Adult Vocational Training. 12 TEC = Training and Enterprise Council. '-* LEC = Local Enterprise Council. ESF Objective 4 programmes in seven countries specifically target those most at risk of exclusion from ongoing training. Here we see for example (i) the French accent on identifying those most at risk, whether because of their low qualification level, those whose job functions are disappearing, and those at mid-career point; (ii) the Dutch targeting non-indigenous workers with language 20 weaknesses in view of the increasing importance of communication skills in our complex industrial environment; and targeting outdated skills within the older age groups. the Finnish (iii) Specific measures qualified targeting the least All Member States are introducing specific measures and specific teaching tools targeting a range of groups, e. g. the functionally illiterate, low-schooled adults or the disabled. The steps taken to promote access to vocational training reflect a concern among political decision-makers and workers' representatives alike to give priority to the vocational training of the least-qualified categories. The trade unions are also anxious to give preferential access to training to workers facing the risk of unemployment or workers whose employability is low. In 1995 Finland, for example, set up a tripartite committee to find answers which would involve all the players. occupational The UK government feels that the acquiring of basic skills is the foundation for satisfactory subsequent development. Substantial financial resources are earmarked annually to fund initiatives and infrastructures, under the aegis of the Department of Education and Employment. The aim is to encourage the acquisition of basic skills by population groups facing the risk of exclusion from the labour market. The Basic Skills Agency is one such example, the idea being to establish a national strategy to rise to this challenge. This initiative was in 1995 expanded to cover basic training at the place of work for the unemployed and for young people, and also includes a Family Literacy Initiative. Along similar lines, the measures, programmes, initiatives, regulations and legal provisions in the various Member States, e. g. support schemes for the unemployed in Belgium or the personalised teaching workshops in France. Their task is to provide every school-leaver additional, general or technological basic or individual training leave for those who wish to obtain a basic qualification. Substantial effort is being made in Denmark inter alia to improve the living conditions of people with reading difficulties. The National Education Ministry now offers reading tuition free of charge to these people. There are short-term and long-term measures, updating of knowledge or basic qualifications, which are part-financed Funds, notably Portugal. from the Structural instrument in the effort In the Netherlands the combination of training and working experience is considered a very to upgrade effective level will be qualifications. For example, a created under elementary apprenticeship, the assistant-level, because this can be helpful for the level least qualified (notably, with a view to their position in the labour market). to attain an elementary Specific measures targeting women this Specific measures for target group are organised generally by the public authorities, local agencies, social institutions or third sector to create organisations, and are appropriate structures to facilitate the access and involvement of women in vocational training. These measures include vocational guidance, preparation for working life and the organisation of child-minding facilities. intended In most Member States, these measures are publicly funded and/or part-funded by European programmes and targeting women initiatives facing the risk of unemployment, unemployed women, and women in the process of being occupationally integrated. There are different models for the management of all these actions. Belgium, for instance, has adopted legislation in this area (Royal Decrees of 14. 07. 87 for the private sector and 27. 02. 90 for the public sector), and in France equal access for men and women to vocational training is one of the points on which the social partners are obliged to negotiate at least every five years. The UK and Ireland also earmark special funds for the development of programmes for women returners, including child-minding arrangements for parents who intend to return to work, and loans to women to pay the cost of courses and crèche facilities. In Norway, equal opportunities is one of the fundamental premises of the law on adult education. Spain has set up an institute to address issues specifically affecting women in this area. 21 Ireland: A c t i on w o m e n, initiated by the FAS p r o g r a m me targeting also making an important contribution in this area. Specific measures targeting young people The National Training and Employment Authority (FAS) first started up its action programme in 1990 in an endeavour to redress the labour market balance which was largely unfavourable to women. for women It has subsequently been adapted yearly. The programme sets out to: 1. improve and broaden out the range of job opportunities open to women; 2. help women to solve specific problems they face on the labour market; 3. minimise all existing practices which hitherto generated inequality between men and women. employment programmes The FAS 1995 action programme shows that the involvement of women in training has and increased everywhere and a further progress has been made in new areas of training and in the employment in collective enterprises. In 1996-97 the FAS will continue to adopt measures take-up by women of training in areas where they are under-represented and to raise the current level of women's qualifications. involvement increase the to in Some Member States, e. g. Denmark, point out that the debate on equal opportunities for men and women is changing nature. The general level of training shows that women are now better trained than men. However, Denmark continues to organise a whole range of actions targeting specifically the female public as part of general basic training for adults, e. g. day schools for women, open data consultation rooms, etc. Finland shares this analysis. Equality would appear to be ensured under support measures for social policy. in actions It should also be noted that Member States favour of generally co-finance women's access to vocational training by way of the structural funds whose regulations envisage and reinforce respect for and promotion of the principle of equal opportunities between men and women. Complementary to this, the NOW strand of the EMPLOYMENT Community Initiative is to types of Three major trends emerge here: the development of encourage apprenticeship occupational integration, increased responsibility devolved to the regions and to local level, and measures targeting companies which give young people contracts. Lastly, it is worth stressing that the concept of 'second chance' schools has got off the ground. led to insufficient or Encouraging access of and participation by young people having inappropriate qualifications remains a major concern for all Member States, many of which have instituted reforms on apprenticeship in recent years which have often introduction of new the sandwich training channels, and to the raising of the age of the apprentices. One of the trends to the watch apprenticeship system to all levels of technical diplomas, particularly at post-secondary level. In most cases, the education world makes proposals on the access of young people to vocational training, are increasingly often obtained with the support and co-operation of the business world. the gradual opening out of achievements tangible but is Germany: Action programme targeting young talent/grant-holders introduced 1991 Germany the In Begabtenfôrderung berufliche Bildung programme for skilled young persons and young employees who are particularly good at their jobs. Upon completion of their VT under the 'dual system', those awarded a Begabtenfôrderung grant can broaden their occupational knowledge according to their requirements through tuition, continuing VT computer skills, politics, economics). language (e. g. Spain encourages in-company placements as a way of promoting the occupational integration of young people. The third sector, it has to be said, also plays a vital role when it comes to young people, by contributing to the promotion of various solutions for combining work experience and socio- occupational integration. 22 In this way several projects in the various Member States seek to set up procedures for vocational guidance and to qualifications for jobless young people, many of them from high-risk inner-city areas. Procedures to develop and improve training and integration pathways for young people through specific vocational curricula also exist. training leading Other Member States, e. g. Greece, have introduced education and training channels of the 'second chance' type, targeting young people who left the school system without any basic qualifications. The Brussels region in Belgium has started up a system of vocational transition payments in order to encourage the recruitment and training of job seekers aged under 26 who have no higher secondary school qualification or who have been unemployed for a minimum of six months. through This trend has also emerged in France, where there are specific measures for young people aged 16-25 contract' intended for those who were unable to obtain a qualification during their school careers or whose level of qualification would not get them into a job. 'qualification the Many Member States have specific measures to ensure that young people who had no training can do so in order to give them occupational skills. These measures are part of broader employment programmes, e. g. Denmark. There has been a wide range of approaches developed on this front in the UK, which in 1995 launched the Modem Apprenticeship, an initiative based on a partnership between the government and the business sector with the objective of improving technical and managerial skills of young people. It is planned to "Relaunch start up a programme entitled Strategy" in 1997 to encourage young people from age fourteen upwards to take part in local partnership projects, to encourage them to stay in, or come back in to learning. the occupational, Under the Youth Work Guarantee Act in the Netherlands, people under 23 who have been unemployed for a period of six months are offered training or a combination of both. In order to make the apprenticeship to system more companies as the intake dropped considerably since 1991, a new measure was introduced in temporary attractive job, a 1996. The measure provides companies with a grant for every apprentice they agree to train. This is paid indirectly by means of a reduction in the the social apprentice. contribution insurance for legislation on apprenticeship in In Italy progress, which establishes a link between external training leading to a qualification, and training within the enterprise with the help of a tutor. State aid is limited to seeking evidence that training is taking place. is Specific measures targeting the long term unemployed instance, notes Finland, for that vocational training for workers is a major tool in an active employment policy which it is financing through the employment administration. The long-term unemployed or unemployed persons aged over 50 have been the focus of special attention. Several programmes attempt, as in France, to combine training measures with occupational integration measures, more often than not through work placements in companies. This is one way of acquiring new qualifications, which in many cases are basic qualifications, combined with some work experience. Specific measures have also recently been introduced for the supervisory categories. Finland two years ago introduced the KEKO training whereby an unemployed person can undertake 6-9 months training while continuing to receive his/her unemployment benefit. This is undertaken within a regional context. , The worker can thus have the advantage of a grant to pursue studies under a training and redundancy fund. A recent to encourage employers, through financial incentives, to recruit people or job seekers, by getting them to contribute to their the In Belgium, France training. Netherlands, employers can benefit from a reduction in the event of in social charges recruitment of unemployed persons. trend seeks and In Denmark, special attention is also given to training which provide unemployed persons with skills. The Danes concentrate on the quality of such training, the way in which this action is co ordinated and on individual action plans. This basic approach goes hand in hand with a range of facilities. Another feature is that the fight against unemployment is increasingly regionalised and local placed the hands of regional and in 23 the institutions. In Denmark, labour market regional councils decide on which facilities to use. These include the job rotation or substitution system which is often used in Denmark and the Scandinavian States, Sweden and Norway. unemployed persons business. intending to set up in 1. 2. 6 Access and the new partnerships long or short-term Greece and Luxembourg have vocational training centres whose tasks include the provision of training programmes, training actions leading to a qualification or retraining actions, school actions and work placements. In many instances, the activities undertaken in this area by the public authorities are supplemented by measures by the employers federation, the trade unions or the third sector associations. Specific arrangements for certain types of unemployed persons are usually provided for. The same is the case of Portugal where the second CSF provides for support measures for the reintegration. of unemployed people on the INTEGRAR programme which is designed to integration of achieve long-term unemployed people through specific or additional training actions. This second CSF also makes provision for specific measures for other target groups facing the risk of being excluded , from the labour market. labour market, such as the socio-occupational the Several initiatives have been set up in the UK in order to increase the level of employability of unemployed people. An example is the Training for work programme which targets the long-term unemployed and the objective of which is to find them a job, improve their occupational skills, and provide them with a mix of skills which includes those ' linked with national and vocational qualifications. A similar approach Community employment has been pursued in Ireland. It is based on neighbourhood projects for unemployed people and provides part-time jobs mainly for the long-term unemployed and gives an opportunity for all those who are the worst placed in relation to the labour market. the long-term unemployed. Within In the Netherlands, a couple of measures has been taken to improve the labour market position the of Employment Service there is a measure 'Sectoral for Unemployed Grants Scheme'' Training (BBSW) which provides grants to enable jobseekers to train for work in specific sectors. The sector in question has to provide a training plan to the Central Employment Service Board. Some Member States also have programmes designed to provide training and assistance to are characterised reflected by developments as by This decentralisation increasing responsibility at the regional and local levels. It entails adjusting vocational training provision to the specific requirements of the regional and local companies ana also the setting up of appropriate arrangements and infrastructures. The advantage of this approach is also that it permits much closer co-operation between the local authorities, teaching and the research companies, particularly the SMEs. For many Member States, the approach also means setting up regional training networks, partly in order to provide the information and the smooth development of training measures in companies. training organisations, instruments needed establishments the and for Decentralisation of continuing vocational training is thus a major trend in Germany. of Furthermore, continuing vocational training as a factor of regional and local development naturally fits into the framework of the general instruments represented by the regional vocational training local plans. Analysis development requirements and dissemination of information are tasks which in certain countries, e. g. France regional and Greece, are carried out by employment observatories jointly generally organised and funded by the government and the regional authorities. The structures also have to act as back up organisations training establishments in order to match up training local and regional provision and the specific requirements. for The active labour market policy in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands shows a similar trend towards a régionalisation with the setting up of regional labour market councils combining occupational integration measures and training. These councils than not made up of are more often representatives of the social partners, the municipal authorities and prefectures, and their task is to organise the efforts being made on the Jabour market front. These committees ensure that companies have the labour force they need and contribute to preventing and reducing long- term unemployment. The arrangements available 24 include training, guidance and preparation for employment. Denmark: (Social partners' initiatives In order to step up continuing training in the SMEs, the social partners in Denmark have set up a range of training planning models "VIRUM", "MEKHON" or "SUM" through collective agreements. "AIDA", such as jointly funded The trade unions have thus developed the SUM concept and (strategic development of labour), an instrument to analyse qualifications and training planning in companies. The SUM method is frequently used as a planning tool in Denmark. A secretariat has been set up to sell these tools and also to train "SUM consultants" who are selected from the trainers of the vocational teaching establishments and the AMU centres before receiving spécifie training and then sent to companies where they propose training planning to adjust provision as closely as possible to actual requirements. in order The SUM system fundamental principles: is based on two 1. co-operation between management and employees and jointly taking on board of the SUM method, 2. a relentless drive to bring the SMEs close training providers as and together as possible through the SUM consultants up partnerships. These consultants are in also called upon creation of networks of SMEs so that the latter can together make the best use of the training on offer. take part thus and set to Similarly, Portugal has set up a network of local consultants to promote the industrial development of training programmes leading to qualifications adapted to their actual needs. the SMEs through and even organise local measures which are particularly adapted to local requirements. In the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium new players are emerging on the scene, mainly private initiatives acting as an interface between the world of work on the one hand and the training organisations and teaching establishments on the other. Generally speaking, the establishment of networks is a major component in the building up of the vocational training system in Flemish- the speaking Belgium, bringing activities of training organisations, teaching establishments and companies in order to provide added value through joint projects. together Flemish-speaking Belgium: An example of inter-company training further technical training Alcatel's ('postgraduate is primarily technique') intended for highly qualified employees who have held a diploma for a number of years. This intensive and comprehensive programme gives them the opportunity to update their knowledge as a function of what is taught today in higher education and universities. The training is module- based: themselves decide on the programme they wish to pursue as a function of the subject area selected. These cycles are also accessible to the employees of other companies and may be undertaken on the spot or on a distance basis through a video-conference system. taking part those 1. 2. 7 Access through new technologies The principle of open, flexible and individualised training is on the political agenda in nearly all the Member States as a way to improve access to training to a broader public. Efforts are being stepped up to develop self-training methods at the place of work and open and distance learning, making increasing use of new technologies such teaching or multimedia as computer-assisted learning systems. Needless to say, the potential of an is being analysed more or less everywhere, along with new other measures technologies in the distance learning process. learning system Internet-driven incorporate the to This same route is being followed by the UK through the setting up locally of the TECs/LECs the national programmes which can adapt instituted by the government to the local level, Accordingly, several Member States (Norway, UK, Flemish-speaking Belgium,. ) have put distance education and the use of information 25 technologies at the top of their agendas. The Finnish Directorate General of Education undertook between 1991 and 1995 an ambitious project (OPINNET) aimed at establishing more open, more flexible and more technology-attuned to environments qualifications. for adult training leading centres, technological In order to secure the success of the introduction of new technologies into the training process, the development of teaching and learning methods which are more appropriate is a concern which is being taken over particularly by distance teaching and training organisations which already exist, as in France, where mention should be made of the work of the National Distance Teaching Centre. training This establishment organises basic training courses and continuing vocational courses. Many Member States have just set up specific institutions with this in mind. In this connection. It can thus be claimed that virtually all training practitioners employed in teaching transfer research establishments, teaching, universities and trade unions, are busy designing computer-assisted courses or courses designed using other technical techniques. From multimedia organisation point of view, it is worth mentioning endeavours made to make available premises equipped with computers which are open to everyone and which have software suitable for self-tuition, as in Belgium with the FORESPACE in Brussels which provides opportunities for computer-assisted self-tuition for workers and job seekers in the region. In addition, the Flemish Ministry of Education to overhaul distance teaching by supporting a new open university consortium bringing together the main to higher education establishments develop a new approach and a new methodology in this field. in order intends a the transition of In Denmark, the Centre for Technology-Assisted Training (CTU) set up in 1995 provides support training establishments, for collecting and disseminating information and experience, and contributing to the emergence of decentralised expertise. The AMU system has developed and implemented an extensive training system in and with information technology. The development of new multimedia and innovatory tools is in many instances supported by the public authorities and recognised as an advantage when it comes to earmarking funds, as is the case in Greece. Many sectors of activity are also developing tools. which use the new technologies. The services sector, in Luxembourg and Portugal, is a good example. particularly with banks as The preference in Portugal is to introduce new technologies as training tools, particularly as part of the new training programme for the SMEs or through the employment and vocational training institute by setting up new teaching software and multimedia methods. by both Since the early 1980s, the UK has also been building up an efficient open and 'distance training infrastructure in order to broaden out the opportunities for access to distance training by establishing wider provision in support of training by investment individuals. The main examples are the National Extension College, The Open College and The Open University. The British Government is also provided support in recent years for a large number of research initiatives and programmes in learning order to further open up distance opportunities, particularly by using the new technologies in an educational context. companies and 1. 3 Diverging positions of the social partners introduced The Recommendation a major innovation as regards methods. In parallel with partners the Member States, organisations within social dialogue are also involved in the process of preparatory the Commission for assessment. the Community reports social the Procedures - have process and UNICE-CEEP the defined quite ETUC independently and methodology for their report. It is interesting to note that arrangements for consultation of the for national organisations have been made employers and employees organisations alike. This consultation process has proved largely positive and the reports drawn up at Community level provide useful pointers in appreciating the links between Community action and the development of action by the social partners at Member State lesser extent, company level. level or, to a 26 level Moreover, the two reports have sought to make the best use of the common tool introduced at the Community in the form of the social dialogue support arrangement on vocational training (cf. Chapter 1). The results of this the arrangement have been used assessment of the social partners on sensitive points concerning developments in continuing training arrangements, notably in areas of common interest defined by the arrangement, and in case where promising cases of innovation can be highlighted. frame to in mind, however, that It has to be borne information on the analysis of initiatives by the social partners within each Member State could not be comprehensively and systematically collected for this first reporting exercise, even though significant innovations would seem to be emerging. ETUC report • With to of regard impact the the Recommendation, the ETUC concludes that "in most Member States, the Council Recommendation is not well knowvH\ It also points out that it saw no evidence of specific government the Recommendation. As regards the nature of the instruments, the ETUC states: Community "the Recommendation has had no direct impact". implement steps to • With regard to the general appreciation of trends, the ETUC report concludes: "in most Member States, no real progress concerning access to training seems to have been made". The ETUC recognises that there is a. greater level of awareness on the issue but that access has not become a common and strategic political question. The report adds that in many Member States, "public funds for training activities have been cut back so that conditions for access have deteriorated'. • On a positive note, however, the ETUC states that "in some countries important movements with impact to improve access to training have taken place'". The report thus identifies around 10 countries (S, DK, Finn, E, F, A, D, that P) it can be considered significant initiatives have been taken on promoting access. in which • The ETUC report also observes that in certain sectors or at company level, there has been 27 increased take-up of training. The report here makes a direct link with changes in work organisation at company level and the general trend towards quality. The report quotes a number of agreements signed at company level which tend to confirm this. The enterprises cases (support arrangements) Unibon-ltaly Continuing training requirements linked to the application of ISO 9 000 standards and keener competition. Application of a multiplier principle whereby the group leaders develop quality ideas and pass on their experiences to the members of the daily working groups. Lansfôrsakringer Uppsala (Sweden): as part of a new client-and quality-orientated configuration of work organisation, all the employees of the department concerned undergo informal continuing training and even organise this process themselves. Motorenfabrik ABB (Denmark): securing competitiveness by introducing working groups which manage themselves by developing skills which overlap and by making al! training mandatory employees. for the fact to assess employee that The report also highlights arrangements training needs are inadequate in most Member States, and that the opportunity to obtain formal qualifications or some kind of - even partial - recognition of achievement is an essential factor of motivation take-up of training. for and The report also reviews point by point the results for each of the Recommendation's 15 objectives. The salient features of this detailed examination are: only a minority of companies implement formal training plans, but there are many experiments to prepare such plans and involve the employee; the existence of support or incentives for the SMEs or companies undergoing industrial change; the existence, particularly at regional and the local information levels, on of to arrangements the vision of the links in work requirements of companies and workers, even if partnerships to analyse these requirements are still far few and far between; arrangements exist to provide a flow of information to workers but they need to be made more widespread and more efficient; the inadequacy, particularly in the case of employees, of assess individual requirements; all too frequently between training and changes organisation is excessively narrow; promising developments on teaching methods; a broadly shared concern for training the least qualified even if things are still slow to move; substantial equal promote effort opportunities in continuing training; there are still considerable problems of access for young people who have no qualifications and no jobs; a decline in public training endeavour in respect of unemployed persons; the good example of the practice of job rotation; an co of operation on continuing training, stressing the problems for individual workers in gaining access to transnational courses. intensification training and transnational to Denmark: j ob rotation With the Danish model of job rotation, employees following a continuing training course are job seekers replaced by recruited on a fixed term basis. This arrangement applies both under the the training plan and under company various opportunities for employee leave (parental leave and leave, sabbatical leave). training giving involves procedure the chance The an unemployed person the job of a person undergoing training for the duration of the training. The objective is twofold: firstly to facilitate the task of workers wishing to take part in training and secondly to give unemployed persons to replace a worker when the employee is undergoing training. These measures are funded either by direct grants or by reducing charges. But the fact remains is that it is mainly the public organisations which use the replacement system during training and preferably in the care and welfare sectors. The small companies in the private sector need to. take on board the benefits of using this system of replacements. As a general conclusion, the ETUC report identifies four major points with regard to follow- up: • • • the progress achieved to collective objectives of companies and not the individual needs of workers; relates more the ETUC's renewed resolve to develop the to European Social Dialogue on access continuing training; the low impact of in view of the Recommendation, the Commission should be asked to submit a directive on access. This request is warranted by the developments and challenges Europe has to face: information society, new forms of work organisation, new technologies, the high level of unemployment and demographic change; • Member States should be urged to support the in social partners at establishing arrangements and conditions the national level 28 whereby open access to training may be achieved. UNICE/CEEP report • A general comment made by the employers' organisations is that "considerable progress has been made both at national and European levels within the last decade". • The report of the employers organisation stresses the objective set out in their many statements and declarations in order to "obtain and maintain a highly skilled and motivated workforce". the employers allocate "a huge amount of time and resources in training throughout the working life of an employee". reiterates It. also that • The report also stresses that the pre-report consultations highlighted many examples of types of national co-operation different between employers, workers and public authorities to promote access, and stresses the benefits of working together in this area. • The report points to the major contribution made by the joint opinions in this context and the fact that the most significant of these joint opinions relates to "the ways of facilitating the broadest possible effective access to training opportunities". The employers consider that this joint opinion is a framework within which current and future progress on access to continuing training can be achieved. • However, the the employers report by organisation also stresses that the scope of the Council Recommendation was very limited and had no influence on the substantial efforts made latter nevertheless are encouraged to see that certain points of the joint opinion have been reflected in the Recommendation. employers. The the by The consultation of the national organisations also provides useful pointers: • It is generally agreed that training is "an essential part of a company's strategy to be competitive in the market place". This trend is the result of market pressure, technological change and new working methods. • There is a consensus that "access to training the has grown significantly Community". It needs to be emphasised that throughout the general appreciations contained in the reports of the employers and the employees are the fundamental issue of how much progress has been achieved. diametrically opposed on i. e. • The employers' report contributes another fundamental dimension, the sectoral dimension. It concludes - on the basis of answers from the national federations - that many sectors have observed an increase in training both in public and private companies. In addition, the report deregulation in the public sector has led to increased competition and thus a rise in training. finds that the training • An important point in this analysis relates to the drafting of training plans and programmes. The report maintains that if training is to be effective there must be clear objectives set in programmes. the Employers accept the idea that work still needs to be done for these plans to cater simultaneously immediate requirements of the business sector and the longer term requirements of human resource development. plans and the for • Much progress seems to have been made on the information front, thanks to a variety of "training arrangements which committees, committees, co-operation collective agreements, works councils, and internal and external publicity". include: limited they have only largely on outside assistance training. The answers from • The problem of the SMEs is stressed, pointing out that internal resources to develop training and that they to depend the facilitate that much national organisations show this: many progress has been made on Member States have taken action to transfer expertise in forecasting, planning and delivery of training to the SMEs. Other Member States have earmarked a percentage of the national budget to develop training in the SMEs even if the latter frequently are unaware of the opportunities available to them. The report stresses the communication drive needed here. • The report stresses the endeavours made to cater for industrial change. • The report stresses that the results obtained in tailoring training supply and demand to the 29 local regional and levels are deemed to unsatisfactory. Steps have been institute joint work between companies and training and/or regional observatories have been set up and information campaigns have been conducted. organisations, national taken to • Employees, according the report, are increasingly becoming players in assessing their own training requirements. They can thus express their own needs, for instance through course assessments, surveys, in work circles and through performance assessments. be constantly • Training, production and the organisation of work must interlinked, according to the report, which points out that training methods are an ideal pathway for progress in companies, particularly by opting for modular-based training, multimedia tools and implementation of on-the-job training opportunities. • The problem of low-qualified workers is acknowledged. Employers accept the idea of specific actions to motivate and inform, but realise that much work is needed from those who have responsibilities for the development of individuals in this position to help them achieve their full potential. • The employers recognise that much progress has been made in recent years in opening up access to training for women in employment, as well as for those wishing to return to the labour market or enter it for the first time. Employers are co-operating increasingly closely with training providers in developing training leading to recognised qualifications for young people. Similarly, report stresses that employers are playing an active part in the occupational integration of the unemployed by offering broad access to training. A wide range of arrangements are used in this connection. the • The employers' report lays emphasis on five major issues they consider to be key issues in increasing access: the setting of quality standards, qualifications, vocational guidance, information and motivation. offers report The and recommendations urging employers and Member States or the Commission to focus their attention on certain matters: conclusions the Member States and employers should continue to develop access to continuing training as a strategic part of company policy, to continue co-operation with relevant organisations in developing training policies, to explore and develop good practice with the support of the appropriate organisations nationally and at the Community level. Member States should develop suitable the training policies employers and provide support for co ordination and dissemination of good practice nationally and at the European level. in conjunction with in reduce should work with access up the the Commission to opening employers Community the programmes, administrative burden, undertake studies for a better understanding and dissemination of good practice, follow up the work undertaken on vocational guidance and qualifications, and organise seminars on good practice with the support of the employers. 30 CHAPTER 2 Towards a more ambitious venture for the Union: accessing skills 2. 1 Alternative to narrowing major disparities within Union the the 1. Since the adopted the Council Recommendation in 1993 much new data has emerged to enhance our knowledge of training situation the actual continuing Union-wide and in Member States. This information, which is helping to fuel a new Community debate in this field, comes from two sources mainly: • • the Community's Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS), which was conducted in 1994, covered nearly 50 000 firms and provided - for the first time ever - comparable statistics on company policies in this field; the national reports, drawn up by Member States in the course of implementing the Recommendation, mostly containing figures taken either from specific national surveys or from the national part of the Community survey. 2. This report to analysing the limited figures as they relate to the guidelines and Council aims out the set in is to continuing i. e. general workforce Recommendation, training, making access continuing in businesses, the nature and type of training used, differences by company size or activity sector. training more widespread CVTS: main features This survey of continuing training in Europe was undertaken in 1994, taking 1993 as the reference year. Near-on 50 000 enterprises employing over 10 people were sample-surveyed, excluding the sectors of agriculture, public administration, health and education, households employing In domestic staff and extra-territorial bodies. companies which organised training for their staff in 1993, the survey collected data on the participants and the courses involved. Average access rate 3. The main is finding that given the Recommendation's general aim, i. e. "every worker of the European Community must be able to have access to vocational training and to benefit therefrom throughout his 31 working life", a lot remains to be done in respect of access to continuing training. The fact is that in 1993 - the reference year for the European survey - only slightly more than one worker in four (28%) underwent some kind of continuing training. Huge differences between Member States 4. It that also be noted Community the should abovementioned average conceals widely divergent national access rates, ranging from 13% (P-GR) to 43% (IRL). Position in terms of access Member States Above average EUR 12 IRL, UK, F, DK Near EUR 12 average NL, B, D, L below EUR 12 Far average E, I, P, GR EUR 12 28% average = 5. The 1994 Community survey covered the EUR 12 countries. It is therefore more difficult to obtain a corresponding picture of the situation in the three new member countries Sweden, Finland and Austria. Nevertheless, the national reports these three countries drew up as part of implementing the Recommendation contain some data based on national statistics showing that: • Sweden and Finland are in the upper band of first group of countries with participation rates greatly exceeding 4 0 % ^; the • Austria is near the EUR 12 average. Therefore, annual participation in continuing training varies from one worker in eight for Member States where access is not so well developed (P-GR), to one worker in two for Member States where is more widespread (S-FIN). access Company policies 6. Further light is shed on these two general findings by the data available on company policies. After all, Objective 1 of Article 2 to of the Recommendation company implementation of training plans and programmes as a key element in determining access results. itself refers a the across average Union On implementation of training plans and programmes by firms, in other words the corporate policy on existence of continuing training, has not yet become a generally The Community survey indicates that only 58% two of companies - i. e. far less than companies in three - can be considered to be of the "training" type, irrespective of the kind of training provided. widespread feature. Position in terms of corporate policy Member States More or less a general feature (3 firms in 4) DK, D, UK, IRL Near EU 12 average (about 2 firms in 3) F, L, NL, B below EUR 12 Far average (less than 1 firm in 3) E, I, P, GR EUR 12 average: 58% 1. Companies' policies on continuing training should draw on a combination of different types of training courses - sub-contracted out, in-house, on-the-job, seminars, self- learning, etc. A more detailed analysis by type of training reveals that to about the same degree most enterprises "training" companies) either purchase outside training services or provide on-the-job training, (some 2/3 of In EUR 15 terms therefore, the upper access band should be above 50%. Company size - a decisive factor 32 8. In most Member States, the rate of access to continuing training is directly related to company size. In EUR 12 terms, this rate varies progressively from 13% for firms with a workforce of to 49 employees, to 43% for firms with over 1 000 employees. This means that a worker in a company with over 1 000 employees is three times more likely to take part in some type of training than a worker in a firm with 10 to 49 employees. from 10 positive This considerable disparity is greater in countries such as Italy (from 2% to 31%), Spain (from 7% to 45%), Portugal (from 5% to 32%) or even France (from 11% to is, however, one quite 54%). There the exception remarkable to correlation abovementioned observed Union (EUR 12). This is Denmark, where the trend is turned upside down (a 37% access rate for to 49 employees companies with 10 compared with rates of around 34% for firms with 250 to 999 employees and a rate of 28% firms with over 1000 for in Denmark employees). Therefore, company size does not appear to affect the throughout the probability of taking part in training^. Different sectoral policies 9. The analysis of the Water level of access to continuing training also shows important disparities between sectors. Service sector insurance, Post & activities, Banking, Telecommunication, gas, Electricity showed higher percentage of workers undertaking training 57%, 53% and 49% respectively. This contrasts sharply with the very low participation rate found in such as Hotels and service activities corresponding Restaurants, where figure was approximately one in five. In the industrial sector the participation rate never rose above 35%, dropping to 15% in Construction and 8% in Textiles. the 2. 2 Towards readjustment of priorities in vocational training policies 1. A great deal has changed since the Council Recommendation on access to continuing vocational training was adopted. The current and foreseeable economic, demographic and social developments in Europe make this issue much more important than it was when the Council adopted the Recommendation, even though only four years have elapsed since then. An ageing active population 2. In this context, the impact of demographic the active trends among and ageing population in most European economies is a cause for further concern. The seriousness of these trends must be recognised, as must the need to radically rethink our present-day preconceived ideas on renewing the stock of available skills. More specifically, although one major factor at the moment - and in the future too - is to have young people with better training entering the job market, companies can no longer view this as the main way of injecting new training approaches must be radically changed, with increasing attention being paid to older workers. the contrary, skills. On The importance of this is illustrated by the following three indicators: a) the median age^°, of the labour force, which rose less than five years between 1960 and 1995 (from 31. 4 to 35. 4) will increase by nearly 10 years in the next 35 years (1995 to 2030) from 35. 4 to 44. 31 7. b) the proportion of 20-29 year-olds in the active population remained unchanged between 1960 and 1995 (at approximately 27%) but will drop to 23% in 2030. The Danish report makes some very interesting points regarding SMEs. 17 Source: Eurostat. '" The median age divides the population into two halves. 33 c) 50- 59 year-olds currently account for one worker in five (20. 8%) but this will increase to more than one worker in four (27. 2%) in 2030. Likelihood of access to training greatly depends on age to falls training 3. This deformation in the age pyramid of the active population has direct repercussions on the development of continuing training. As things stand now, the probability of gaining access sharply with increasing age. In spring 1994 the likelihood of 35-44 year-olds receiving job-related training in the four weeks prior to the survey was no more than 5. 8%. The only countries with an access rate significantly higher than this Community average are Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, while in all other Member States - apart from Germany which the Community average - the probability of people in this age range taking part in some kind of study course or training is down to 1 is near o r 2 %1 8. Change in the nature of work itself 4. Changes in the nature of work itself is to become non- relentlessly continuing physical by nature. Ever increasing numbers of jobs are coming to involve more and more tasks connected with design, creation, manipulation of indicators or displays and the use of "smart" equipment. The debate about skills development now hinges on this trend. The way work is evolving means it is less definable in terms of trades or functions. Towards firms which graft on skills 5. More and more firms are switching to the "learning environment" approach as the preferred way of enhancing skills in parallel with training. On-going upgrading of skills therefore has a knock-on in the shape of changes in work effect organisation and job hierarchical structures. formalised content itself, The resources 6. When discussing ways of enhancing continuing training, resources naturally play a primordial role, and it is very telling indeed that the social partners chose this as one of their topics of common interest within the social dialogue framework. It is clear that in order to meet the need for enhanced skills one cannot bank on a model which involves repeating or reproducing "schooling" during working life. The very development of our societies, as was shown by the White Paper on "Teaching and Learning - Towards the Learning Society", provides an opportunity we must grasp with both hands: "training" environments and, concomitantly, are training diversifying and multiplying and everyone must be given a chance to make full use of them. resources Our societies must proceed along this path if individuals' access to continuing training is to be improved, but this immediately leads on to the question of individuals assuming responsibility for defining their own needs, choosing the routes to take and selecting the arrangements which suit them best. This should also make it easier to examine in in some greater depth an people's minds, is a fairly sensitive one - that of how far individuals should contribute (in terms of time and/or money) to getting the best out of such access. issue which, Austria: Savings (Bildungskonto) account for training This scheme, launched in 1994, involves a personal education and training account. It forms part of a worker advancement scheme federated budget under the Upper Austrian instituted at the Land Government's initiative in collaboration with the social partners. Workers are entitled to a 50% reimbursement of the money spent on vocational training (maximum 20 000 shillings). Labour Force Survey. Towards a redivision of time 34 7. The issue of time - and dividing it up between that spent working and that devoted to skill enhancement and training - is more delicate given the tentative nature of the debate about reducing and reorganising certain hours. Nevertheless, working company policies or certain agreements between the social partners make a link between rearrangement and/or reduction of working hours and time spent on training. Certainly, this approach is a "reservoir" of both flexibility and resources which ought to be explored. Increasing the time spent on lines yet to be defined, training along especially between the social partners, could be flexible counterweight to reorganisation of working time and could make changes easier. It is important that the principle of creating a better balance between working and family life, which is of most relevance to women, is built in to whatever methods are adopted in this area. supple seen and as a Skill accreditation the key factor to new approaches 8. The issue of validating skills acquired in different ways is central to this. In its White Paper the European Commission proposes introducing skill accreditation which are directly accessible to/usable by individuals. This is not only a new avenue which ought to be explored in depth, both as the necessary instruments and their application as well, but also one which goes to the very heart of the matter. The aim is to give the wherewithal individuals for making knowledge by acquiring in progress measuring - in a supple and objective manner - the level they have reached. regards design of The impact of the European Year of Lifelong Learning the 9. The various activities pursued as part of the European Year of Lifelong Learning importance confirmed European citizens accord this matter and helped get the message across on a broad front. Some important aspects should be noted here: tremendous 35 a) Backing from European citizens A key ingredient in competition survey conducted The Eurobarometer in connection with the European Year clearly reveals European citizens' keen interest in lifelong learning. Seven Europeans out of ten wish to continue their education. More than 80% of men and 70% of women believe that education and continuing training will very likely improve their job prospects. However, on the downside, the survey also shows that barely one European in five had undergone training in the past 12 months. b) Time now ripe for action by those on the ground And as regards lifelong learning directly, over 5 000 projects were undertaken, 2 500 events organised, 3 500 press articles published and 80 000 visitors the Year's Internet site logged. The European Year really helped to lend a high profile to the issue of lifelong learning. to c) Plenty of original initiatives A passing mention should be made examples which illustrate efforts to find innovative and original "Learning in Denmark, "Adult Learners' Boutiques" Week" in the United Kingdom and the "Train to Knowledge" in Finland. solutions, e. g. the 2. 3 role Increased competitiveness employment for and context globalisation 1. From an economic angle, reversal of the trend observed in the early 90s means we have to look for ways of underpinning the European economies' strong points in a general of of economies and sharper competition. From the corporate and macro-economic angles it is now acknowledged that the quality of human resources in Europe, workers' skills and on-going uprating of such skills are the decisive productivity and competitiveness goals so vital if Europe is to maintain its positions on the world markets. achieving factors in 2. In its recent communication on competitiveness^ the Commission referred to several factors decisive for performance and competitiveness, noting: "Effective use of human resources remains a key element for gains in productivity and also for internal flexibility. An increasing volatility of employment bears the risk that the investment in human capital, notably through training, required for long-term growth and competitiveness will not take place. Training and continuous upgrading of skills is (and in future will become even more so) intangible investment with real and and increasing employers alike. A high skill, high quality, high productivity industrial strategy will enhance industry's competitiveness and employees ' employability. " industry benefit for Stronger link with employment level 3. Analyses on the functioning of the European link labour market also show a strong between the level of skills and qualifications and the risk of unemployment, even if this relationship is not found in all Member States. Available findings show, among other things, that there is a threshold effect with regard to levels of education/training: completing higher education or training only gives a marginal advantage in terms of protection against unemployment as compared with completing secondary level education. this relationship tends to diminish with regard to young people under 25 years. If, for 25-34 year-olds, gaining a vocational qualification reduces the risk of unemployment by half, for those, under 25 years, who have only completed compulsory education the risk of unemployment is only reduced by a third as compared to those who have only completed compulsory education and those who have completed secondary or higher education or training. Studies of long-term employment among older workers also show that there is Furthermore, "Benchmarking the Competitiveness of European Industry" - COM(96) 463 final. Source: Report on Employment in Europe - 1995. 36 a very strong correlation between their having no (or low-level) qualifications and their chances of getting back into the job market. those training for level and broadening Analysis of the multi-annual programmes adopted by Member States in applying the conclusions of the Essen European Council (December 1994) illustrates the efforts made by Member States to improve the quality and relevance of in employment as well as for those without a job. Such analysis also shows that if raising the the scope of workers' skills, notably those least qualified, can be considered as the most cost effective investment to prevent unemployment, it is not clear that enterprises and governments are sufficiently developing efforts to reskill those in work so as to respond to the growing demand for qualified labour. The Joint report on Employment also underlines the great effort still to be make for the long term unemployed employability of people of which only 7% at European Union level benefit from training activities. and 4. Current debates on competitiveness and employment are placing more and more importance on the question of competencies, alongside the efforts being made to reduce indirect labour costs for non-qualified work. After the Florence European Council had set out the terms of a strategy of continually raising the level of competencies as the central element of an integrated strategy for competitiveness the Dublin identified investment in human resources as one its the recommendations for taking forward strategy. It is of fundamental importance for Europe to see this process through. Labour markets in Europe are still marked by low mobility and decreasing relatively recruitment of young people. Boosting the skills of the workers already in situ, who are on the front line of the socio-organisational changes now affecting enterprises, therefore forms a key element in competitiveness. employment, European Council Skills - "flexibility/security"? on the road to 5. Here one should note the public debate around the notion of "flexibility/security", which endeavours to merge two crucial elements in labour market operation - labour market flexibility combined with maximum use of skills and human resources. Seen in this light, continuing training can be viewed as a decisive factor in bolstering individuals' employability. Some company policies and agreements are taking this path in order to turn access to continuing training into a employability, factor enhanced their something longer employees even guarantee them a job for life. can give if they can no companies for Towards a services economy economies moving 6. The structural transformations taking place in Europe's them towards a service-based economy is also increasing the need for continuing training. its As Communication to the European Council the Commission indicated in of need quality greater headed "Putting Services to Work"21, this move to a services economy involves an and ever professionalism. The future of the European service sector depends very much on the quality and permanent nature of the services the on offer. Commission pointed out that a key factor which distinguishes services from other sectors of the economy is that labour is generally the main input, adding: the Communication, In is essential to maximise "The development and renewal of human resources the that services offer. employment potential The ability of businesses to manage and release the potential of their workforce is critical for successful business development. 80% of high-growth businesses in Europe consider that employee training has played a crucial role in their success. Training will become even more important in the future The advent of the "learning society". 7. The Commission's Green Paper, adopted in July 1996, Living and Working in the Information Society: People First (COM (96) 389) sought to promote awareness and stimulate debate on the labour market and social issues involved in the Information 2' Communication from the Commission to the European Council, CSE(96) 6 final of 27 November 1996. 37 Society. It recorded that there is universal agreement that the human resource base is fundamental in an Information Society, but there remains a skills gap and knowledge gap to overcome both in order to remain competitive and in order to promote equality and solidarity. Amongst the key areas for actions it identified are: in full-time work learning skills moving towards fostering (notably via more responsive partnership with economic life); achieving "learning employment", involving all people in work, especially those outside traditional sizeable organisations; a special unemployed skills; and overall, the provision of a new architecture for life inside and outside work (not forgetting life after retirement) and with a special emphasis on maintaining employability. effort re-integrate through active policies learning, encompassing lifelong the for to Sweden: C o m m i s s i on Knowledge for Enhancement of In 1995 the Swedish Government set up the Commission for Enhancement of Knowledge, its task being to define the goals pursued in enhancing knowledge nationally as part of a strategy founded on lifelong learning. This Committee presented a preliminary report in which it presents the three pillars of its strategy: the training of young people, the development of skills and knowledge of adults, and lifelong learning. lifelong training base learning. This For the adult learning objective, the aim is to provide an adequate for involves facilitating learning at primary and secondary level. With reference to the third pillar, the Committee proposes that each individual should have the possibility of participating in training through their whole life provided by the social partners. local authorities should The State and reinforce their co-operation with a view to intensifying their efforts on vocational training. Netherlands: knowledge National debate on launched a the Netherlands Last spring national debate on knowledge. The aim is to pinpoint the role knowledge could and should play in the years to come, so as to give Dutch citizens some idea of what the world will look like in 2010 and what they will have to know and be able to do in order to fit in to such a society. We should not lose sight of the long-term aim, that of the learning society, the fundamental policy goal at the heart of all analyses of access to continuing training. in November Through its White Paper on Education and Training published 1995 the ("Teaching and Learning: Towards Learning Society"), the Commission set out to make European citizens, stop and think about the type of society to be built in Europe and training about the role of education and therein, the aim being to draw up a blueprint for society based on goal-oriented choices and measures. individuals' Starting from this premise, the White Paper indicated that the issue of access to knowledge and know-how would dominate developments relations, in our societies. Social labour interaction with relations, information networks and electronic media will be increasingly shaped by access to knowledge and know-how. Therefore, the way individuals relate to knowledge must be thought through afresh. Lifelong training is not just an element accompanying social change, it is the engine of change and the guarantee that citizens will not be left by the wayside. 38 Chapter 3 Conclusions and guidelines The findings in this report on implementation of the June 1993 Council Recommendation should provide all players with new food for thought and discussion. The comparative reference data should assist in formulating their goals more precisely and update their policies. In this chapter the Commission presents the main conclusions and findings drawn from the overall process the assessment of the implementation of the Council Recommendation of June 1993. The conclusions deal mainly with the aims which are considered to be beneficial for pursuit at Community level, to consolidate positive action and to respond to the new challenges facing continuing training which have been identified in the report. Nevertheless, in order to give some impetus to the debate, the Commission also provides a few pointers on the type of instrument which would help achieve each of the objectives. 3. 1 Conclusions to approach • The Commission views the exercise of drawing up national reports on access to It continuing training very positively. 39 believes that the process of drawing up and comparing national reports constitute a useful initial step for national players, both as regards defining the "state of play" of the various systems and according them an initial ranking. The Commission welcomes the fact that in the exercise of several Member States drawing up the report engendered joint examination and debate by all the parties concerned, in particular the social partners, thus adding to the quality of the report. It believes consultation this national process should be continued and enhanced. that The Commission is very much in favour of the two-pronged approach whereby reports are drawn up not only by the Member States but also by the social partners' organisations level. This dual approach at Community gives a more comprehensive overview of developments the various players to express their positions and thereby make a useful contribution. Further progress could be achieved in this connection through improved consultation at national level and the Member States' and social partners' reports. by cross-fertilisation of in progress, allowing • The Commission notes with satisfaction the rich variety - as the reports reveal - of new approaches and initiatives for promoting access to continuing training, both in terms of Member States' public policies and of the social partners' or corporate policies. It also notes to innovation and reform through the structural fund under Objective 4 and in Community Initiatives concerned with industrial change and on the other hand by Community programmes such as LEONARDO da VINCI and FORCE. the considerable impetus given interventions, especially ensure that the corresponding analyses and results are published and the appropriate proposals made for making the best use of them. • In the light of the results of the reporting exercise under review here, the Commission believes the Council Recommendation has proven itself to be a valid springboard from which to launch the Community approach on continuing training. Given the instrument's legal nature, the Commission believes the exercise has generated significant initial * ' results. that especially indicators, • The Commission is of the opinion that having quantitative those produced on a standardised basis through Community surveys like the CVTS22, helps to improve very significantly our knowledge of the real situation regarding access across the Union and within Member States. It this approach, should be believes continued and further perfected in respect of continuing training, that it should also be extended to cover the corresponding data on initial training soon to become available. During 1997, the Commission will publish the first keys statistics on vocational training. These two sets of data should provide a better idea of how training systems and practices lifelong are evolving learning. in connection with • The Commission confirms the usefulness of co-operation and joint deliberation with the Member States on introducing a set of indicators, to be based on the initial findings of the training section contained in the employment "Tableau de Bord". It will be making proposals to this end in order to make the most of the programme of Community surveys on intends to training which undertake. it • The Commission believes that the reports drawn up by the Member States, the social the Commission should be partners and viewed as joint capital and, as such, used (in line with an approach to be jointly defined) to improve the debate on continuing training between the various players and to seek out ways of improving access at all appropriate levels. For its part, the Commission will Continuing Vocational Training Survey of 1994 • The Commission believes that this initial stage should lead to more substantial debate on the nature of the instruments required to pursue Community action field, instruments which will meet the challenge of ensuring to continuing training. For its part, the Commission will submit proposals in this spirit. improved access this in 3. 2 Conclusions as to objectives • The Commission shares the opinion that access to continuing training, and more broadly to lifelong training for all workers in the Union, is crucial in determining workers' opportunities for developing their skills and, as a corollary to this, companies' competitive of employees' edge employability. degree and • With this in mind, the Commission believes that the level of access to continuing training for workers hitherto achieved is encouraging but marked by major inequalities. It feels that major efforts are required to raise the access level very significantly in order to meet the challenges thrown up by technical, economic, sociological and - probably most of all - demographic developments. • The Commission notes that the huge diversity, if not to say tremendous disparity, observed on the access front - not only between the Union's member countries but the inside Member States among also different and companies workers - causes harmful inequality between European workers the opportunities they enjoy for upgrading their categories of terms of in 40 skills, and thus for protecting themselves against high risks of unemployment. in keeping with The Commission, its proposal concerning the European Year of Lifelong Learning, believes that promoting access to continuing training plays a vital role in attaining the broader goal of lifelong learning. Against this backdrop, it notes with satisfaction that several Member States have embarked along this path in a determined fashion. to that include training the most The Commission notes significant initiatives and the extension of continuing lifelong learning, are taking place in Member States which are already fairly well advanced in terms of access. This draws attention to the risk of a growing gap developing between the different countries, and the need to take this into account in structural fund programming, the Cohesion especially countries. relation to in The Commission notes the fact that, as a general trend, access to continuing training is being developed through diversification and exploitation of different opportunities and approaches rather than through focusing on one particular pathway. In the Commission's view, this overarching trend makes it more difficult to demonstrate and measure the progress achieved. Still, the Commission does not share the ETUC's opinion that no progress has been made on access to continuing training, nor UNICE's that developments have been very view favourable. It does believe that substantial progress has been made on access but that this the diversity of approaches. is obscured by to provides diversification The Commission believes that, while this trend an interesting opportunity for improving access for all workers, a special and substantial effort is needed to inform workers and enable them to make maximum use of the different access arrangements. In this context, the the Commission views as very positive different initiatives taken to enable workers to evaluate their skills. The Commission believes that all the players concerned, the social partners in particular, have a new role to play in regulating and overseeing the aforementioned arrangements to types of partnership, true equality of access to lifelong learning and new skills. through various ensure, 3. 3 Pointers for further action In order to provide fresh fuel for discussions with the the Community bodies concerned, Commission provides below a - limited - number of pointers or guidelines it considers relevant for pursuing and advancing Community action in the continuing training field so as to meet the needs and challenges highlighted by the foregoing analysis. Taking into account the discussions on this issue, the Commission will present, as conditions warrant and in due course, its proposals for turning these ideas into reality and introducing the legal and operational instruments required. To this end, the Commission will take account of proposals submitted in response to the White Paper entitled "Teaching and Learning: Towards the Learning Society" and under the procedures for reviewing action programmes, Leonardo da Vinci in particular. The Commission will also rely on the results of research projects being taken forward within the programme for socio economic research finalised in the 4th R&D programme which aim to identify and evaluate possibilities for lifelong learning. Action guideline No 1 Finding it training, to continuing • While substantial progress has been made on access is not enough, given the technological and socio economic changes taking place. What is more, glaring inequalities are opening up in this process between the various categories of workers, depending on their country or type of company. Community objective • To press ahead in developing access to continuing narrowing training while inequalities in worker access so as to promote a Union-wide skill access strategy. 41 Action proposai covering notably unemployed people. training provided for • To establish at Community level common conditions for facilitating access, also at sectoral level. These conditions will be established through consultations with the social partners at Community level which will also deal with legal instrument required. type of the that Such consultation will aim in particular to ensure is extended to embrace access to skills, as set out in the Confidence Pact for Employment. the Community objective Action guideline No 2 Finding • Despite the and advances made the introduction of promising innovations in the continuing training field, the various actors involved - firms, public authorities, social partners - are finding it difficult to formulate and implement a real strategy in this domain, something which is a must given that our world the demographic side. is changing, especially on Community objective • To provide the various actors, public social partners, with a authorities and permanent frame of reference which will keep them abreast of the continuing training access situation and the progress made, thus allowing them to size up the situation and define their goals better. Action proposals • To make the continuing training access reports a regular feature and simultaneously refine them so as to ensure that the national reports and the social partners' reports are uniformly drawn up on common criteria. • To help enhance training conducting the said the reports by continual periodically (CVTS) and vocational on Community survey the qualitative aspects as well as by production statistical information on active employment policies programmes comparable study of industrial The Observatory relations for established within the Dublin Foundation available complete could usefully information by way of collective conventions passed at Member State level. the the basis of it appears from the exercise Frequency: undertaken on the 1993 Recommendation that having Member States draw up reports every three years, with an report' being aggregated produced be appropriate. later, would Europe-wide one year This plan of action would allow us to evaluation) (comparative "benchmark" in respect of access progress made to continuing training, using an array of common indicators such as participation rate, innovations, etc. Such company policies, national and Community data would flow into the debate between the various players, thus helping them to determine new ways of promoting access as well as to utilise and harness Community data derived from in comparative evaluation of progress through performance Community-level sound national practices, benchmarking, initiatives by social partners to encourage debate between the players concerned. This benchmarking process taken forward in synergy with similar steps being taken by the Commission and Member States in the domain of competitiveness and employment. should be Action guideline No 3 Finding • The continuing training field is witnessing numerous innovations with the potential to enlarge access quite considerably. This trend will be boosted by development of new training or skill-evaluation tools based on the new information technologies. • Furthermore, changes in work organisation and the introduction of different approaches to arranging working time are opening up new and major opportunities for developing novel forms of access to continuous training. In this context, the Commission's Green 42 To give preference to transnational pilot projects centring on new access factors, in particular rearrangement of working hours and new work organisation methods; to exchange approaches and try out - transnational ly - new approaches to factors likely to contribute substantially to widening access, viz. : to 1. Projects linking development of access with adaptation/reduction of working hours, preferably industrial sectors. involving 2. Projects linking new types of work organisation with development of access, in particular individualised through training-and-work contracts, preferably involving innovative companies. training In the Commission's view, the complex of analysis and guidelines for action which have been developed in this report, press home the priority which it gives to the promotion of vocational to competencies. These are important advances which have to be made particularly with to competitivity, employment and regard social cohesion to ensure the construction of a learning society and make progress towards a knowledge based union. access and Paper on "Partnership on a New Organisation of Work" also deals with training aspects. the initiatives will Debates and adoption of the Green Paper and should take strong account of the training dimension of this issue. follow the Nevertheless, practices the European market neither fast enough nor intensive enough. transfer of innovative is inside Community objectives • To foster the development of a European industry covering multimedia tools for use in continuing training and individual evaluation of skills. To encourage the development of innovative practices and their incorporation into new approaches for accessing continuing training linked with changing industrial relations. Action proposals • The presentation in 1997 of a plan for action in the training "Learning on vocational information society ". • To extend the pilot projects for skill self- accreditation to occupational fields involving both technical and horizontal skills. 43 23. 7. 93 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 181/37 II (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COUNCIL COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION of 30 June 1993 on access to continuing vocational training (93/404/EEC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, competent institutions of the Community to apply such general principles within the framework of the Treat)'; Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 128 thereof, Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ('), Having Parliament (2), regard to the opinion of the European Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3), the first principle established by Council "Whereas Decision 63/266/EEC of 2 April 1963 laying down general principles for implementing a common vocational training policy (*) states that every person should receive adequate training, with particular reference to the need to promote basic and advanced vocational training and, where appropriate, retraining suitable for the various stages of working life, and the need to offer to every person, by means of permanent facilities for vocational advancement, the opportunity to gain promotion or to receive level of activity; for a new and higher instruction Whereas the development of. human resources by means of vocational training is one" of the essential elements in increasing the competitiveness of the European economy; whereas, as affirmed by the European Council meeting in Hanover on 27 and 28 June 1988, the achievement of the Single Market must be accompanied by increased access to continuing training; technological developments, impact on Whereas employees' skills and the growth of unemployment make it necessary to develop access to continuing vocational training; their Whereas point 15 of the Community Charter of the fundamental social rights of workers, adopted by the Heads of State and Government of 11 Member States at in Strasbourg on the European Council meeting 9 December 1989, states in particular that: 'Every worker of the European Community must be able to have access to vocational to benefit therefrom throughout his working life. In the • conditions governing access to such training there may training and be no discrimination on grounds of nationality. Whereas, under the terms of Decision 63/266/EEC, it is the the the Member States and responsibility of (') OJ No C 23, 27. 1. 1993, p. 8. (2) OJ No C 150, 3 1. 5. 1993. (3) OJ No C 129, 10. 5. 1993, p. 57. O OJ No 63, 20. A. 1963, P. 133S/63. 14M The competent public authorities, undertakings or the two sides of industry, each within their own sphere of competence, should set up continuing and permanent training systems enabling every person to undergo retraining, more especially through leave for training improve his skills or to acquire new purposes, to skills, technical developments. '; particularly light the of in No L 181/38 Official Journal of the European Communities 23. 7. 93 Whereas vocational training remains of constant concern in the context of the to both employers and workers dialogue between the t wo sides of industry ('); market, which, together with changes environment, must adaptation of skills among the working population; in the working to an updating and greater lead Whereas the Economic and Social Committee adopted a report on 22 October 1 9 92 on vocational training as a means of promoting vocational qualifications and a strategic social economic development of the European Community; instrument and the for Whereas on 21 April 1993 the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report on vocational training in policy for the 1990s, is which the subject of access to continuing training considered; in the European Community W h e r e as transnational cooperation measures have been u n d e r t a k en at C o m m u n i ty level (2); W h e r e as d e m o g r a p h ic trends will significantly reduce the labour n u m b er of y o u ng people entering the C o m m u n i ty (') Sec following texts: — joint opinion of 6 March 1987 on motivation, information and consultation, training i nd — joint opinion of 13 February 1990 on the creation of a European occupational and geographical mobility area and improving the operation of the labour market in Europe, — joint opinion of 19 June 1990 on basic education and initial, vocational and adult training, — joint opinion of 21 September 1991 on ways of to the broadest possible effective access facilitating training opportunities, — agreement of 31 October 1991 between the two sides of industry at European level, — European Framework Agreement of 6 September 1990 between the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the European Centre of Public Enterprises (CEEP) on training in public enterprises. (2) Sec following texts: in the training 29 May vocational — Council Decision 1990 90/267/EEC of establishing an action programme for the development of continuing European Community (Force) (OJ No L 156, 21. 6. 1990, p. 1), — Council Decision 89/657/EEC of 18 December 1989 establishing an action programme to promote innovation in from the technological the European Community (Eurotecnet) (OJ No L 393, 30. 12. 1989, p. 29), both as amended by Decision 92/170/EEC (OJ No L 75, 21. 3. 1992, p. 51), field of vocational change resulting training in Whereas it has been noted throughout the Community that the problems faced by w o m en in gaining access to employment are largely attributable "to their limited access to vocational training; whereas particular attention must be devoted to ensuring that w o m en have effective access to continuing vocational training; whereas the increase in the number of working women should also be taken into account (3); law of Whereas cooperation in the field of continuing vocational training should also be based on existing provisions in force in the Member States, while respecting the diversity of national legal systems and practices, the powers u n d er the parties concerned and c o n t r a c t u al national a u t o n o m y; w h e r e as the initiatives taken at national level by the M e m b er States and the t wo sides of industry a rc many a nd varied; whereas the C o m m u n i ty C h a r t er of the fundamental social rights of international workers, a nd dimension of the action, t h at they s h o u ld be supported at to C o m m u n i ty encourage p r o m o te partnerships between the public a nd private sectors; level; whereas, of is essential a nd finally, it resources it a p p e a r s, as regards a c c o u nt synergy taking into the a i m p o r t a n ce of consulted; whereas Whereas the Advisory C o m m i t t ee on Vocational T r a i n i ng the has been c o n t i n u i ng strategic the M e m b er vocational t he States a nd for the C o m m u n i t y, a nd t he necessity for C o m m u n i ty this in area, it has the q u e s t i on to play an active role in u n d e r t a k i n g s, to be seen recognized training for of I. RECOMMENDS the the taking t wo sides of that M e m b er States, the diversity of n a t i o n al the resources available a nd i n to a c c o u nt respective responsibilities of the c o m p e t e nt public authorities, industry, while u n d e r t a k i n gs and systems respecting training a n d / or the policies to able C o m m u n i ty must c o n t i n u i ng vocational training w i t h o ut any form of discrimination and to benefit t h r o u g h o ut his or her w o r k i ng life; legal vocational every worker of access have practices, gear to therefrom ensuring their t h at be to the — Council Decision 89/27/EEC of 16 December 198S adopting the programme on cooperation between universities and industry regarding training in the field of technology (Comcn II) (OJ No L 13, 17. 1. 1989, p. 28), second phase of — Council Decision 91/387/EEC of 22 July 1991 amending Decision 87/569/EEC concerning an action programme for the vocational their preparation for adult and working life (Petra) (OJ No L 214, 2. 8. 1991, p. 69), training of young people and — Council Regulation (EEC) No 4255/88 of 19 December 1988 implementing Regulation (EEC) No 2052/88 as regards the European Social Fund (OJ No L 374, 31. 12. 1988, p. 21). provisions laying down for "[<) II. RECOMMENDS that, in o r d er to provide easy access for as m a ny employees as possible, M e m b er States: 1. berween the raise awareness a m o ng u n d e r t a k i n gs about the links competitiveness of u n d e r t a k i n gs to e n c o u r a ge them to give priority to i m p r o v i ng the quality to establish a nd skills of their e m p l o y e es and w o r k e r s' skills and (•') Commission of the European Communities: Eniplowu'nr n Europe (1992). 23. 7. 93 Official Journal of the European Communities No L181/39 training plans and programmes appropriate to their size and business objectives, making their managers aware of requirements in this respect and informing them accordingly. 7. support initiatives which enable workers who so desire to assess their continuing vocational training needs. and plans programmes may These be established by taking into account available human and financial resources, the organization of work, future skill requirements, the need to anticipate industrial and technological change and the transnational dimension of continuing vocational training; 2. make provision for specific support measures technical medium-sized undertakings. incentives and small and for include, for example, assistance These could with regard to advice on training and assistance with regard to analysis of training needs; encourage undertakings to give impetus to the for training necessary continuing vocational the their development, taking account of particular situation of the employees of the undertakings, particularly in order to promote, where appropriate, the measures described below; 4. make provision for specific support measures which adequate incentives and are technical appropriate, for undertakings facing industrial change, in order to encourage vocational training and retraining for their employees; necessary and 5. develop continuing vocational training in order to make it an important feature of regional and local development, the taking specific needs of employees and undertakings; into account the establishment of partnerships, support particularly at regional or local level, to analyse the requirements of undertakings and employees and information on training opportunities in order to match supply and demand as closely as possible; to provide up-to-date the their impress on employers that they should inform their employees as soon as possible and, if necessary, at recruitment, time of about the undertaking's policy and activities in the field of continuing vocational training and staff development and about the terms of access to continuing vocational training, including the possibility of being assigned non-active status for vocational training; the purpose of continuing This assessment should be carried out within or outside the undertaking and/or in partnership with specialized institutions. The use of the results must be confidential: 8. encourage the information and consultation of employees' representatives or, in the absence of such representatives, the employees themselves on the development and implementation of the training the undertaking concerned; programmes plans and of the 9. make employees and undertakings more aware of importance of continuing vocational training leading to qualifications relevant to the employment market. towards To this end, it should be ensured that training is not directed specifically the post in question alone but that it provides the means of in anticipating and mastering developments production systems and the organization of work in order to strengthen the competitiveness improve employees1 job of undertakings and prospects; 10. encourage the development of the most suitable teaching and learning methods in continuing vocational training which will facilitate access to continuing vocational training for employees, e. g. methods of self-training on the job, distance learning, media-assisted learning, etc; 11. help their less-qualified employees, whatever status, to benefit from continuing vocational training measures enabling them to achieve a basic level of qualification and giving them the basis for mastery of new technologies. Particular attention should be paid to providing access to continuing training for employees or groups of employees who have not benefited from training for a certain length of time or who have limited opportunities for employment and job prospects; 12. encourage access for, and effective participation by, women in continuing vocational training. This may in particular help to open up new professional fields to women and encourage the resumption of a professional activity alter a break in such activitv; *i(fi No L 181/40 Official Journal of the European Communities 23. 7. 93 13. promote to access continuing vocational training for young people with a vocational qualification or work experience, whatever their level of skills, and encourage their participation therein, in order to enable them to realise their full potential and acquire skills for the present and the future; 14. encourage access to, and participation training by vocational in, the continuing unemployed. Particular attention should be paid the long-term unemployed with inadequate and/or unsuitable qualifications, in order to improve their occupational integration or reintegration. to the The continuing vocational by unemployed undertakings is particularly suited to promoting reintegration into the labour market; training of action involves which 15. encourage, in policies on access to continuing vocational training, a transnational dimension, in particular to assist the free movement of workers; III. 1. INVITES to the reinforce Commission cooperation with Member States and the two sides of the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training, in of the order point II; in particular within implementation industry, support to in, the field of 2. INVITES the Commission to this end, in concert with the Member States and by utilizing the existing Community action programmes and initiatives including, where appropriate, the European Social Fund, and specialized bodies within the Community the such Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), to:. European Centre training the for as (a) disseminate and add information training provisions comparative vocational existing integrating young long-term unemployed market; to the body of continuing on including systems, for and methods the and labour into the job-seekers (c) support transfers of know-how between Member States, which are important for implementing point II, by means of transnational partnerships and networks especially for the benefit of regions, sectors types of undertaking and groups of employees for whom access to continuing training is least developed; Also INVITES the Commission to support moves by both sides of industry at Community level, within the dialogue between them, to discuss access to continuing training in greater depth; such dialogue could, if the two sides consider it desirable, lead to relations based on agreement; IV. 1. INVITES Member States provide the to Commission, the date of three years after adoption of this recommendation^ with a report setting out the measures taken under the terms of points I and II; 2. INVITES the Commission: (a) on the the reports from results of the the basis of Member States and the dialogue between the two sides of industry, report on to draw up an assessment progress made on the recommendation in points I and II in the sphere of access to continuing vocational training in the Community; the basis of (b) to submit this assessment report, not later than one year after the date referred to in point IV. 1, to the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training; 3. INVITES the Commission to submit this report to the European Parliament, the Council and to the Economic and Social Committee and send at industry two the Community level. sides of to it Done at Luxembourg, 30 June 1993. (b) facilitate suitable exchanges of experience in and methods for significant innovations in continuing training; For the Council The President S. BERGSTF. IN ^ ISSN 0254-1475 COM(97) 180 final DOCUMENTS EN 16 15 04 Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-191-EN-C ISBN 92-78-19454-9 Office for Official Publications of the European Communities L-2985 Luxembourg 4,?