NEWS

Ursula von der Leyen has unveiled European Commission’s latest Political Guidelines for the period 2024-2029, placing a strong emphasis on addressing the continent’s digital skills shortages. A key focus will be establishing a Union of Skills, aimed at tackling labour and skills gaps across the EU. This ambitious plan will drive investment in lifelong learning, skills retention, and the recognition of diverse types of training, helping citizens work seamlessly across borders.

STEM education overhaul and skills portability to drive EU’s digital transition

The guidelines highlight a pressing need to improve basic skills, particularly in STEM education. A new STEM Education Strategic Plan aims to reverse declining performance, increase the number of qualified STEM teachers, and encourage more women to pursue careers in these fields. Additionally, EU funding for skills development will be better aligned with labour market needs, especially in sectors crucial to the green and digital transitions, also building on the work in the Pact for Skills.

We will boost and refocus skills funding in the EU budget to ensure it is better linked to labour markets and more focused on sectors crucial for the twin transitions.

Recognising the need for cross-border skill mobility, the Commission is set to introduce a Skills Portability Initiative. This will ensure qualifications acquired in one EU country are recognized in others, facilitating the free movement of talent. Further efforts will focus on boosting digital literacy and combating misinformation through a European fact-checking network, with enhanced digital enforcement under the Digital Services Act.

We will establish a Union of Skills – focusing on investment, adult and lifelong learning, skill retention and the recognition of different types of training to enable people to work across our Union.

Draghi report highlights importance of closing skills gaps

The Draghi Report, which similarly stresses the urgency of closing the skills gaps in Europe, underscores the crucial role of digital skills in driving future economic growth. Both the Commission’s guidelines and the report call for action to ensure that Europe remains competitive in an increasingly digital world.

Demographic headwinds imply a shrinking labour force in Europe, while the US population is projected to expand in the coming decades. In this setting, a European strategy to address skills gaps – focused on all stages of education – is essential.

In line with the EU Digital Decade targets, the report emphasizes the need for 80% of working-age Europeans to have basic digital skills by 2030, reflecting the growing importance of digital literacy in the workforce. These initiatives align with broader EU efforts to ensure Europe is prepared for the digital and green transitions.

Digital skills are a necessary condition to develop capacities in digital technologies, to adopt new technologies and even promote the creation of innovative companies. As such, they are essential to the EU’s digital transition. It is key that the population at large is digitally literate, but it is also important that the pool of workers with advanced digital skills, for example in the areas of AI, programming, data management and cybersecurity, expands.

Roxana Mînzatu: a new EVP designate for skills

Roxana Mînzatu, the new Executive Vice President for Skills, is tasked with driving these changes. Her mission includes strengthening Europe’s talent pool through enhanced skills training and education, as outlined in her mission letter.

The new EVP will be tasked with stimulating the Skills Academies, which are responsible for developing learning programs that Member States will use to facilitate the recognition of credentials as a basis for formal qualifications.

She will also develop an Action Plan on Basic Skills and a STEM Education Strategic Plan, backed by the review of the Digital Education Action Plan and the adoption of a Roadmap on the future of digital education and training.

Mînzatu’s leadership will be pivotal in ensuring the EU is prepared for the future, with a strong focus on digital, green, and societal resilience skills.

© European Commission