Proposal for a Council Recommendation on establishing a Skills Guarantee

High productivity and sustained competitiveness and growth depend on a skilled and adaptable workforce and on making full use of the skills available. Employability rests on the quality of one's skills. Countries with high shares of adults with low proficiency in basic skills (literacy, numeracy) and digital skills have lower levels of labour productivity and ultimately lower prospects for growth and competitiveness.

There is scope to make more efficient use of Europe’s human capital across the life course, and indeed to improve the Union’s human capital by raising overall levels of skills. National and EU-level resources need to be mobilised to this end. The 2016 Annual Growth Survey emphasises that 'smart investments in Europe's human capital' and equipping people with relevant skills to drive innovation and competitiveness and to reach high productivity, are the best way to prevent individuals becoming unemployed, and to reduce the risk of poverty and social exclusion.

This initiative aims to improve people’s life chances and employability, leading therefore to a more resilient human capital base and higher and more inclusive growth across the EU. To make a tangible impact, considerable political and financial effort will need to be made. In keeping with the Stability and Growth Pact, Member States will have to mobilise sufficient public investments in people's skills. However, Member States stand to benefit from these investments as they will help bring more people into jobs and strengthen the productivity of the workforce. It seeks to support individuals who left the initial education and training system without an upper secondary qualification to access upskilling opportunities for improving their literacy, numeracy and digital skills or for acquiring a qualification at EQF level 4 or equivalent (the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) level 4 is in most countries the level of qualification equivalent to an upper secondary qualification).

The Skills Guarantee will comprise three-steps:
- a skills assessment, enabling low-qualified adults to identify their existing skills and their need to upskill;
- the design and delivery of an education and training offer tailored to the specific situation of each individual, building on his/her existing skills;
- the validation and recognition of the skills acquired through the personalised upskilling pathway.

The Recommendation is geared to adults who left the education and training system without achieving an upper secondary qualification (EQF 4) and who are not eligible for support under the Youth Guarantee. The recommendation sets out a ‘pathway’ consisting of a linked series of targeted interventions that would improve and consolidate the support targeted at this group and lead to the development of the necessary skills and qualifications. These measures are part of a more comprehensive set of policy actions that tackle the broader skills challenges: raising the overall level of skills in the EU, making better use of existing skills and anticipating the skills needed.

See also:
- Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. A New Skills Agenda for Europe - Working together to strengthen human capital, employability and competitiveness
- Proposal for a Council Recommendation on the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning and repealing the Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)382: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:382:FIN

ESO: Background information: Ten actions to help equip people in Europe with better skills http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-ten-actions-to-help-equip-people-in-europe-with-better-skills/

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