The Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu emphasized the need for the EU to respond to the ongoing decline in basic skills and the rapid transformation of its economy. AI and automation are reshaping industries and job profiles at a pace that education and skilling systems are struggling to match.

Here’s the link to download the document: https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/union-skills_en

The Union of Skills is structured around four pillars and two key horizontal enablers.

Pillar one focuses on improving basic skills. The EC proposed a set of five basic skills with multiple elements, including media literacy, preparedness, civic education and others. Another novelty is the Basic Skills Support Scheme, which will help schools address systemic challenges in providing students with the necessary foundational skills.

Pillar two regards workplace training, re-skilling and up-skilling of workers, providing stimulation and financial support to companies. It also introduces the Skills Guarantee for Workers, supporting workers in transitioning to new roles as industries evolve.

The third pillar promotes European labour force’s mobility through the Skills Portability Initiative, enabling automatic recognition of skills across the EU, while also addressing labour shortages with EU’s own resources. Additionally, a European VET degree will be developed, as well as an EU degree for engineers.

The last pillar seeks to attract workforce and talent from outside the EU through the EU Talent Pool and the Marie Sklodowska-Curie scholarship (“Choose Europe”), piloted together with a Visa program, to facilitate access in the EU.

To underpin these efforts, it’s important to include the private sector in the policy-making process through a High-level Skills Board. Furthermore, the EU Skills Observatory will integrate national databases to improve skills forecasting and analysis, ensuring better alignment of education and training with labour market needs.

The work of the High-level Skills Board and the information gathered by the Observatory will inform the EU-27 European Semester Recommendation on education and skills; this will address the fragmentation of financing decisions and guide Member States in taking measures in the field of training and skills.

SPACE4GEO mission perfectly aligns with the goals of the Union of Skills, in particular in the fields of re-skilling and up-skilling individuals, promoting mobility and skills recognition across the Union. By integrating education, labour, and economic policies, the Union of Skills aims to ensure Europe’s workforce remains competitive, adaptable, and resilient in the face of global challenges.

SPACE4GEO is thrilled to take action and further develop this in the space downstream and geoinformation sectors.