COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 15 July 1996

on the transparency of vocational training certificates

(96/C 224/04)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Directive 92/51/EEC of 18 June 1992 on a second general system for the recognition of professional education and training to supplement Directive 89/48/EEC (1),

Having regard to Decision 85/368/EEC of 16 July 1985 on the comparability of vocational training qualifications between the Member States of the European Community (2),

1. Whereas, pursuant to Article 3 (c) of the Treaty, the abolition, as between Member States, of obstacles to the free movement of persons is one of the objectives of the Community;

2. Whereas the provisions adopted hitherto by the Council on the recognition of education and vocational training, and also of professional experience, govern only admission to those professions that are regulated in a Member State;

3. Whereas it is desirable to improve the transparency of vocational training certificates;

4. Whereas, moreover, there is a need to promote the mobility of European citizens through procedures facilitating the use of the qualifications that will be acquired;

5. Whereas in some Member States vocational education and training are an integral part of the general education system, while in others they come under two different systems;

6. Whereas initiatives such as the 'Portfolio of Competence` in any case require certificates that are transparent and provide employers with basic information concerning the characteristics and content of the training routes followed and the practical experience gained;

7. Whereas the Council resolution of 18 December 1990 on the comparability of vocational training qualifications (3) invites the Commission to submit proposals that will allow effective freedom of movement for workers within the Community;

8. Whereas the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, adopted by the Heads of State or Government of 11 Member States of the Community at the meeting of the European Council in Strasbourg on 9 December 1989 makes provision, in point 3 of Title I, for the elimination of obstacles arising from the non-recognition of diplomas or equivalent occupational qualifications;

9. Whereas the Council resolution of 3 December 1992 on transparency of qualifications (4) sets the objective of improving mutual understanding of the diverse qualifications systems and of the qualifications themselves, enabling individuals who so wish to present their occupational qualifications, education and work experience clearly and effectively to potential employers in the European Union and helping employers to have easy access to clear descriptions of qualifications and relevant professional experience, in order to establish the relevance of the skills of job applicants from other Member States to jobs on offer;

10. Whereas the Council resolution of 11 June 1993 on vocational education and training in the 1990s (5) sets the objective of improving the quality of training and achieving transparency within the Community as regards the occupational qualifications of individuals and relevant work experience;

11. Whereas the Council resolution of 5 December 1994 on the quality and attractiveness of vocational education and training (6) states that ways should be devised of describing in several languages the vocational skills acquired in basic or continuing training in such a way that they are clearly recognizable and can be compared with the requirements of the job advertised;

12. Whereas the Commission's White Paper on education and training 'Teaching and learning: Towards the learning society` gives renewed encouragement to measures designed to support the mobility of young people and adults and the recognition of new skills and to find the best ways of acquiring, assessing and certifying them,

I. EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF:

1. (a) enabling the holders of vocational training qualifications to have certificates which make their achievements transparent;

(b) enabling employers and/or other persons and bodies concerned to have access to the information required, so that they can understand the meaning of vocational training certificates and their relevance to the needs of the undertaking;

2. (a) respecting the diversity of the systems of education, training and qualification which exist in the Member States, and of the bodies in each Member State which are responsible for issuing vocational training certificates;

(b) encouraging the clarity and transparency of vocational training certificates in order to enhance their usefulness to both employers and workers in all Member States;

II. THEREFORE CALLS ON THE MEMBER STATES, WHILE RESPECTING NATIONAL PRACTICE AND THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THEIR RELEVANT AUTHORITIES:

1. to promote increased transparency of vocational training certificates, taking account of elements that could include the following:

(a) indication of the body issuing the certificate and its status in law;

(b) indication of the identity of the holder of the certificate;

(c) indication of the purpose, duration and content of the vocational training courses followed and a description, as precise as possible, of the vocational qualifications obtained;

(d) indication of the final results of the vocational training courses followed;

(e) information on the validity of the certificates as regards access to certain occupations and/or access to further training courses;

2. to promote the measures necessary for issuing vocational training certificates in other Community languages;

III. CALLS ON THE COMMISSION:

1. to support Member States' initiatives to encourage, where appropriate, new, transparent models of certificate, on the basis of this resolution, in the context of Community initiatives and programmes, in particular the Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates programmes;

2. to submit reports to the European Parliament and the Council on the progress made in the area covered by this resolution and to submit the first such report five years after adoption of this resolution.

(1) OJ No L 209, 24. 7. 1992, p. 25. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 95/43/EC (OJ No L 184, 3. 8. 1995, p. 21).

(2) OJ No L 199, 31. 7. 1985, p. 56.

(3) OJ No C 109, 24. 4. 1991, p. 1.

(4) OJ No C 49, 19. 2. 1993, p. 1.

(5) OJ No C 186, 8. 7. 1993, p. 3.

(6) OJ No C 374, 30. 12. 1994, p. 1.