8,787 Official]ournal of the European Communities ^oC180B7 
Opinion on the Commission communication on adult training inarms 
^87BC18^0^ 
On 12 February 1987 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee 
under Article 198 of theTreaty establishing theEuropeanEconomic Community on the 
abo^ementioned document. 
The Section for Social,Family,Educational and Cultural Affairs,which was responsible for 
preparing the Committee'swork on the subject, adopted its Opinion on8Apnl 1987 in the 
light of Air l^ierhaus'sreport. 
At its 2^th plenary session ^meeting of l^^iayl987^ the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion unanimously^ 
1, Comments on matters of general principle 
1,1, It is not easy to generalise about the further 
training of workers in the Community, Apart from the 
fact that the present Commissioncommumcation has 
not yet put forwardany concrete proposals,the^ery 
di^ersityof the background to and general conditions 
governing further training in the Aiember States of the 
Community no doubte^plams why thedocument in 
question islargelyconfmedto general statements and 
observations. The same is also true of some of the 
Commission's proposed solutions which are not sufD 
ficientlyclear about its function and line of approach 
in creating the equivalent conditions needed to promote 
training in firms. 
The scale and content of training in firms depend toa 
considerable extent on the following factors^ 
— the activities, programmes and legal framework 
existing in individual member States, 
— regional particularities ^conurbations, disad^an 
taged regions^, 
— sectoral particularities, 
— the specific skilled manpower requirements of indiD 
^idual branches of the economy, 
— the si^e and financial capacity of firms, 
— the specific commitment of business, professional 
and worl^ers'organ^ations which cooperate in ^an 
ouswaystoalsooperatemter^firmtraining facile 
ties 
1,2 The Commission communication nevertheless 
rightly draws general attention to the growing import 
anceofvocatronal further trammg,This is an inevitable 
consequence of the increasing pace of technological 
change and the high level of skills required of workers 
if firms are to survive in the increasingly harsh climate 
of world competition, POemographic factors ^e,g, an 
increase in the average age of the working populations 
are also citedasareason why vocationaltraming for 
adults rs tending to grow in importance. 1.^, In addition to the fact that further training takes 
different practical forms in each Aiember State, the 
Commission document contains a number of woolly 
terms which makes communication across national borD 
ders difficult even if some of the haziness of the terming 
ology used can be put down to differences in the edu 
cational systems of the member States.^e have there^ 
fore defmedthe basic terminology used inthe rest of 
this Opinion, The definitions are also intended to help 
in the taskof trying to standardise educationalterms 
in the European Community, 
1,^.1, Vocational training ^Berufsausbildung^ is pro 
vided after completion of general school education and 
is the period of initial vocational preparation for 
employment inaparticularoccupation.lt can be given 
in universities, other state or private educational estab 
lishments, as well as in private or public sector firms, 
and generally ends withavocational qualification. 
1,^,2, Further training ^berufliche ^eiterbildung^, 
which is synonymous with vocational training for 
adults, followson from schooleducation, vocational 
training and occupational experience, and is an organ 
i^ed form of instruction for adults. In content and 
objectives it is aimed at improving vocational skills. 
1,^, Training in firms ^betnebhche^eiterbildung^ 
consists of further training schemes initiated and asa 
rule alsofmancedby public or private sector firms to 
improve the skills of their employees. Strictly speaking, 
training in firms needs to be distinguished from ^ 
shortterm training designed to initiate workers in the 
specific but narrow skills required for a given work 
practice, and^e^ternal and inter^firm further training 
organised byathird party estate, public benefit organic 
ations, associations of several firms^ and partly financed 
by the participants themselves. 
IB^m, POistance learning is the systematic dissemi 
nation of knowledge, skills and proficiency overadis^ 
tance. It is characterised, in particular, by the following 
features^ 
No C 180/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 7. 87 
— physical distance between teacher and learner dur­
ing all or most of a study course, 
— use of the media as a means of instruction in order 
to bridge this gap, 
— targeting of studies at a particular goal, 
— student guidance and help from markers of test 
papers, distance teachers, tutors, 
— monitoring of progress. 
Face-to-face contact (working groups, tutorials, etc.) 
has also proved useful and to some extent necessary 
because of the social dimension of learning and because 
certain types of skills cannot be taught otherwise than 
through direct contact. 
1.4. All the parties concerned — employers, workers, 
trade associations and public authorities — agree about 
the general need to further expand the facilities for the 
further training of workers in the Community. There 
are, however, differences of emphasis regarding form, 
content, scope and responsibilities, depending on the 
specific objectives of each of the parties concerned. 
Sometimes the priorities converge, sometimes they 
diverge: 
— Workers consider that the primary function of 
further training is to safeguard their jobs, further 
their careers and generally facilitate access to 
employment. It must also enable them to keep up 
with technological advances. 
— Employers consider that training in firms is a necess­
ary instrument to secure an improvement in labour 
as a factor of production — such improvements 
being increasingly important because of the break­
through of new technologies. 
— The state and society as a whole take the view 
that further training is a means of enabling adult, 
emancipated workers to be properly involved in 
economic and social decision-making processes at 
all levels. 
As far as training in firms and its encouragement by 
the Community is concerned, this means two things: 
(a) Training in firms is of great importance but it would 
be going too far to expect it to cover the full range 
of workers' further training requirements. It is first 
and foremost a non-material business investment, 
which is what gives it its special distinguishing 
features and aspects. Training in firms is part of a 
further training system which also embraces govern­
ment initiatives (e.g. the laying down of uniform 
conditions regulating the participation of workers 
in the implementation of firms' training schemes), 
public educational establishments, the further train­
ing facilities provided by employers' associations, 
workers' organizations and other public benefit 
organizations, and finally private schools (= further 
training outside firms). 
(b) With training in firms, as elsewhere, the interests of 
all parties have to be reconciled as far as possible. The Commission rightly points out for example 
that an innovative further training policy of the 
national authorities 'should not be limited to a 
dialogue between the employers and the State'. 
Workers and their representatives must also be 
involved in the dialogue. Training in firms will 
indeed be ineffectual unless the workers can be 
motivated to participate. The Commission lists the 
conditions needed to achieve success. Some of these 
conditions have been met, though with regional and 
sectoral differences. They are: 
— recognition of the role of workers as partners, 
through systematic information and consul­
tation within the framework of the social dia­
logue, 
— real access to further training activities not con­
fined to the firm's specific, temporary and short-
term requirements, 
— implementation of financing systems and/or 
subsidies or tax arrangements, 
— recognition of skills which have already been 
acquired. 
1.5. In the view of the Committee the means at the 
disposal of Community policy must also be used to first 
create the right conditions. Probably, however, this 
would to some extent transcend the framework of 
training in firms, being of relevance to the general scope 
for the basic and advanced training of workers in the 
Member States of the Community. The Committee 
nevertheless underlines in principle the importance of 
these conditions for the motivation of workers. 
1.6. The Committee also considers that consul­
tations with workers and their trade union organiz­
ations on matters connected with training in firms must 
not be purely academic but should also take place at 
the planning and implementation stages; the Committee 
likewise considers that the qualifications obtained 
should be taken into consideration when it comes to 
promotion within firms. 
2. General comments 
2.1. The aim of the planned Community actions is 
(a) to give an impetus to training in firms and (b) to 
facilitate the provision of aid so that, through inno­
vation, the obstacles impeding the development of train­
ing in firms can be overcome. The Committee supports 
this general objective as well as the following proposed 
fields of action: 
— support for setting up integrated further training 
operations, 
— the creation of a large number of partnerships 
between firms and trainers in order to develop new 
training materials, 
— support for the development of individualized train­
ing systems. 
8. 7. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 180/9 
2.2. The Committee would emphasize the particular 
need to provide specific support for the exchange of 
information between both sides of industry on the 
consequences of the increased use of new technologies. 
Balancing different interests, and thereby promoting 
acceptance for new technologies, is as much of a chal­
lenge for all concerned as the promotion of technologi­
cal change itself. How the challenge is met will ultimate­
ly determine the dynamics of technological change and 
its social acceptability. 
2.3. The Committee is accordingly particularly keen 
on the Commission's proposal to support the efforts of 
both sides of industry to show the advantages of further 
training, both in terms of career prospects for workers 
and the increased technological competitiveness of 
firms. 
3. Specific comments 
3.1. The Committee considers that the promotion of 
distance learning is a particularly interesting task. It 
therefore welcomes the Commission's proposal to sup­
port the development of new teaching and learning 
methods. Teaching materials should be focussed on 
relating technical and commercial knowledge to social 
skills in the context of a firm's working environment. 
Teaching materials could be developed by external and 
inter-firm organizations and used when trainees come 
together for face-to-face periods of study with their 
trainers. 
3.2. The Committee agrees in principle with the 
Commission that the new information, telecommuni­
cations and audio-visual technologies can make a bigger 
contribution to the development of further training 
insofar as a satisfactory solution is found to the problem 
of standards in the Community. But language barriers 
pose a particular problem at European level, e.g. in 
cases where common data bases are used in telecom­
munications. A central role could nevertheless be played 
by the promotion of audio-visual media since these 
could be brought out in several different European 
languages. All this would require the cooperation of 
firms, universities and the further training establish­
ments of both employers and trade unions — wherever 
possible from different European countries. 
3.3. The Committee regards as particularly promis­
ing the proposal that firms should cooperate with train­
ing centres to develop practical training materials on, 
for example, new technologies in firms. But if in-firm 
training is to be of maximum efficiency in both form 
and content, the trainers themselves must be sufficiently 
well-qualified to be able to provide the necessary foun­
dations. If 'increasing general public awareness of the new technologies, especially that of workers' is to be 
successful, then the social groups concerned will also 
have to be involved in projects right from The planning 
stage. 
3.4. The Committee likewise welcomes the Com­
mission's proposal to support the efforts of both sides 
of industry to show the advantages of further training. 
This should involve, in particular, the promotion of 
seminars providing intensive information about the 
regional possibilities of further training. As far as train­
ing in firms is concerned, pilot schemes should be 
developed; these could then be made available to firms 
via employers' organizations. 
3.5. Insofar as the Community's support pro­
grammes draw on EEC funds, priority should be given 
to encouraging projects aimed at groups of workers 
who have so far been under-represented on training 
schemes in firms, i.e. principally the least qualified 
workers who accordingly often need, special and indi­
vidual help. 
3.6. Generally speaking the Committee feels that it 
is unrealistic to limit support to training in firms. Exter­
nal or inter-firm further training establishments also 
fulfil an important role in certain individual Member 
States of the Community, complementary and extend­
ing the scope of training in firms. Training establish­
ments not operated by individual firms are in fact 
an essential component of a comprehensive system of 
further training, particularly in respect of the pro­
fessional and geographical mobility of workers. Nor 
should it be forgotten that the longer-term training 
courses (particularly those dealing with the application 
of new technologies at the workplace) which are needed 
by workers in order to keep their jobs or advance their 
careers, are often attended outside working hours at 
weekends or in the evenings. In providing new skills 
such courses serve the interests of all branches of indus­
try and individual workers alike. They should therefore 
also be included in the Community's programmes of 
support. 
3.7. In the view of the Committee the planned meas­
ures should be directed primarily at providing aid for 
further training in SMEs. SMEs have much greater 
problems than large firms, many of which already have 
a well-developed further training infrastructure of their 
own. Joint initiatives between SMEs and external and 
inter-firm training establishments might for example be 
an appropriate approach towards solving the training 
problems of SMEs and SME workers. SMEs' own finan­
cial capacities and organizational infastructures are 
insufficient to tackle training problems on their own. 
No C 180/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 7. 87 
3.8. Interested parties are still insufficiently informed 
about the general legal framework, the scale and the 
diversity of the various types and systems of further 
training in the Member States of the Community. This makes any discussion about the creation of equivalent 
starting conditions for workers in the Community diffi­
cult. The Committee therefore proposes that Cedefop 
intensifies its research in the field of in-firm training. 
Done at Brussels, 14 May 1987. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons MARGOT