Fostering Mobility Through Competence Development: ‘The Role of Competence and Qualification Development in Fostering Workforce Mobility’

By Tom Vandenbrande

The European Union designated 2006 as the 'European Year of Workers' Mobility' with the objective of raising awareness about the need to develop the right instruments and conditions to foster high quality mobility in order to achieve the Lisbon employment targets.

It is widely acknowledged that in order to meet these targets, Europe needs its workforce to become more adaptable and resilient in the face of structural change and ongoing restructuring. In this context, lifelong learning and adequate training policies, both on and off the job, are regarded as the best means of ensuring the adaptability and employability of workers, as well as enhancing mobility opportunities.

Initiatives aimed at improving the mobility prospects of European workers require action at all levels and by all parties. Public authorities, social partners and companies themselves are key players in this process and partnership based approaches will be essential in removing existing barriers to mobility.

Modernising and improving the coordination of national welfare systems, achieving higher levels of investment in training, strengthening the role of public employment services to match labour supply and demand and reducing administrative burdens, are areas that need to be urgently addressed.

This report is a joint contribution by the Foundation and European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) to a policy debate that is closely associated with the core mission of both agencies: improving the living and working conditions of Europeans through continuous investment in education and training.

The report is the outcome of the first joint seminar held in the context of a new framework of cooperation recently signed by both bodies. It aims to contribute to an important policy debate on a topic that increasingly affects labour markets in all Member States and the competitiveness of the EU as a whole.

EMCC Company Network Seminar organised jointly by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training.