Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Report from the Commission on access to continuing training in the Union'
Date: 1997-10-30
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU policy, continuing education, new technology, vocational retraining, vocational training

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Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Report from the Commission on
access to continuing training in the Union’

(98/C 19/31)

On 12 May 1997 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee,
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned
report.

The Section for Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for
preparing the Committee’s work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 17 October 1997. The
rapporteur was Mr Rodrı´guez Garcı´a-Caro.

At its 349th plenary session of 29 and 30 October 1997 (meeting of 30 October 1997) the
Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion unanimously.

1.

Introduction

1.1.
In June 1993 the Council adopted a Recommen-
dation on Access to continuing training (93/404/EEC),
the main aim of which was to facilitate and promote
soundly based continuing training to be pursued
throughout a worker’s active life.

1.2.

The recommendation operated on three levels:

1.2.1.
A general objective based on the principle that
every worker must be able to have access to vocational
training throughout his working life.

1.2.2.
Fifteen specific objectives making it possible to
attain this overarching objective, while leaving the
decision on the ways and means for doing so up to the
Member States and the social partners.

1.2.3.
Member States and at Community level.

A system to monitor developments in the

The monitoring system was based on a triple

1.3.
process:

— national reports on the measures adopted,

— a social dialogue support system,

— a Community report on access to continuing training.

1.4.
The proposal for a recommendation was referred
to the Economic and Social Committee. At its plenary
session on 25 March 1993 (1) an opinion was adopted by
a majority of the Committee’s members.

The Committee’s main comments can be sum-

1.5.
marized as follows:

— Support for the proposal in view of the importance
it attached to vocational training and improving

access to training in the interests of workers,
employers and the competitiveness of the national
and European economies.

— Common strategy for the social partners in the
framework of the social dialogue to improve access
to continuing training at Community and national
levels, and establishment of the structures necessary
to put this into effect.

— The recommendation to be addressed to the social

partners.

— Importance of complementing in-firm continuing
training arrangements with an efficient system of
public and private-sector training.

— Reinforcement of public and private-sector training
centres, particularly with a view to the reintegration
of vulnerable groups into the labour market with
the help of ESF funds.

— Lack of transparency and information impeding

access to training.

— Promotion of access to training in the smallest firms
and problem sectors, and improving the access to
continuing training of workers in these sectors.

— Call to the Commission to look at the possibility of
framework agreements on access to in-firm training,
in the framework of the social dialogue.

— Criticism of lack of support for systems of training
leave and work-release schemes for personal training
plans.

— Continuing training objectives and content relevant
to organization and financing omitted from pro-
posal.

— Development of new teaching methods.

(1) OJ L 181, 23. 7.1993, p. 37, Council Recommendation of
30 June 1993 on access to continuing vocational training.

— Establishment of a European vocational training
pass recording initial training, work experience and
formal continuing training.

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— Importance of national government reports.

— Lack of statistical data on continuing training at

national and Community level. Need for this.

— Satisfaction with initiatives for promoting access,
both in terms of Member States’ policies and of the
social partners’ and corporate policies.

Four years after the publication of the recommen-
1.6.
dation the Commission has submitted its report, the
three main aims of which, based on the content of the
recommendation, are as follows:

— Better understanding of the situation via systems
such as the Community survey of continuing training.

— Establishment of new indicators.

— To evaluate overall progress in the Member States.

— Publication of findings of reports to make the best

use of them.

— To propose, on the basis of the reports received,

new avenues for action.

— To launch a debate on the policies to be pursued in

this field.

— Significant initial results despite legal nature of

instrument.

— Submission of proposals on instruments needed to

continue Community action.

2. Commission Report

The first chapter of the main body of the text of
2.1.
the Commission’s report gives a summary of the national
reports on the measures adopted in the Member States
to promote and encourage access to continuing training
on the basis of the specific objectives of the recommen-
dation.

The same chapter also contains an explanatory summary
of the social partners’ views on the application of the
Council’s recommendations at national level.

The second chapter contains the Commission’s
2.2.
analysis, based on various sources of data and infor-
mation, of the main obstacles to access to continuing
training in the Member States and the Union as a whole
and a forecast of future prospects.

2.3.
Finally, the report submitted for the Committee’s
opinion draws conclusions from its analysis based on
the methods used in the report and the objectives of the
recommendation. The document concludes with three
action guidelines intended to enrich the debate and
guarantee the future continuity of this Community
action.

2.3.2.
summarized as follows:

The conclusions as to the objectives can be

— Continuing training is crucial

in determining
workers’ opportunities for developing their skills
and employment prospects and companies’ competi-
tiveness.

— There are major inequalities with regard to access.

Efforts are needed to raise the access level.

— These disparities cause serious inequalities between
workers which may affect their future employment.

— Access to continuing training is part of the broader

goal of lifelong learning.

— The most significant developments are taking place
in Member States already fairly advanced in terms
of access. This could accentuate national disparities.
This should be taken into account in structural fund
programming.

— Access to continuing training being developed
through diversification and exploitation of different
opportunities and approaches, which does not make
for clarity.

2.3.1.
can be briefly summarized as follows:

The document’s conclusions as to the approach

— Various initiatives taken to enable workers to evalu-

ate their skills viewed positively.

— Process of drawing up national reports viewed

positively.

— Importance of the participation of the social partners.

— Encourage the development of true equality of access

to lifelong learning and new skills.

— Positive assessment of joint drawing up of reports.

2.3.3.

The guidelines proposed in the report as a

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focus for the debate on future Community actions can
be summarized as follows:

agreement, then at least the broadest possible consensus,
so that the situation at national and Community level
can be presented with a minimum of distortion.

— To establish at Community level common conditions
for facilitating access to continuing training, through
consultations with the social partners.

— To enhance the process of drawing up reports
by establishing common criteria as a basis for
comparative assessment using all the resources avail-
able at Community level.

— To encourage fast-moving future trends driven by
the speed of change, which encourage and improve
access to continuing training by means of the new
technologies becoming available to society.

3. Comments

3.1. General comments

The Committee stresses the need to promote
3.1.1.
and encourage policies serving the objective, so necessary
to firms and citizens, of facilitating access for all workers
to continuing training throughout their working lives.

3.1.2.
This principle, which is in keeping with the
rights which the constitutions of the Member States
confer on their citizens, must be guaranteed and strongly
emphasized. This principle must, as in the past, be the
focus for all action and the cornerstone of any initiative
planned once the report currently under discussion is
finally submitted.

3.1.3.
The Committee shares the view that evaluation
instruments need to be used to obtain as clear a view of
the situation as possible, whilst being aware of the
difficulties which this usually entails.

The Committee endorses the approach adopted in
drawing up the final report. The incorporation of
different and sometimes contradictory points of view,
all of them however relevant to improving access to
training, has enhanced the methodological approach
underlying the report, giving a broad overview of the
progress achieved in implementing the recommendation.

3.1.4.
The Committee feels however that the system
for drawing up reports on trends and in access to
continuing training still falls short of the ideal. The
system needs to be improved by seeking, if not complete

The Committee supports the initiatives being taken to
standardize the criteria used in drawing up the reports of
the Member States and social partners. Harmonization in
this area in no way implies interference in the preroga-
tives of the Member States. Using similar parameters,
rather, makes it easier to assess the situation with regard
to access in all the Member States.

The European Centre for the Development of
3.1.5.
Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) has extensive and
valuable experience of assisting the Commission in
promoting the development of basic and continuing
vocational training at Community level.

The Committee is surprised that the report makes no
mention of CEDEFOP’s contribution to vocational
training. The Committee feels that the Commission
should take account of this as an additional component
of the efforts being made to promote access to continuing
training.

3.1.6.
Firms need to adapt to demand. And to achieve
this, workers need to match their skills to the increasingly
important interaction of supply and demand in the
market economy. Competitiveness requires an effort on
the part of firms and a corresponding effort on the part
of workers, who need to acquire the knowledge necessary
to take up the challenge of achieving higher productivity.

Access to skills is thus a priority, which must be tackled
head-on by employers and workers. For workers, lagging
behind, failing to improve skills may become a major
handicap in future career development.

and workers

share
3.1.7.
Although employers
responsibility for continuing training,
is up to
employers to facilitate training for workers, and workers
themselves must recognize the need to retrain. Obliging
workers to attend training courses is a waste of effort
unless workers are convinced of the need to do so.

it

The Committee therefore considers it particularly
important to promote continuing vocational training
measures, so as to avoid a paradoxical situation where
there are mechanisms to facilitate access to training but
few workers who feel that training could have a positive
impact on their vocational skills.

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3.1.8.
At a time when unemployment affects a high
proportion of the Union’s citizens, continuing education
and training throughout working life are an essential
way of improving personal skills, enabling workers to
acquire the knowledge which our competitive society
requires from those seeking access to the labour market.
We should not forget that opportunities for employment
and promotion are directly related to a worker’s level
of training. For this reason, the social partners, the
Member States and the Commission must together
promote access to lifelong continuing training.

The use of uniform criteria in drawing up reports could
bring greater objectivity to opinions on the access
situation in the Member States and the Union.

3.2.4.
The Committee disagrees with the tenor of
point 1.3 of the report. Whilst the social partners often
adopt diverging points of view in legitimate defence of
the interests they represent, the Committee does not feel
that the views summarized in the report can on the
whole be described as diverging.

3.2. Specific comments

This is illustrated by the general agreement achieved on
the following points:

3.2.1.
The Committee agrees with the Community
objective set out in action guideline No 1. It nonetheless
has reservations with regard to the establishment of
common conditions for facilitating access. A special
effort should be made to secure equal access for men
and women.

a) Both parties agree that the impact of the recommen-
dation has been very limited and that it is not well
known in the Member States. The Committee feels
that the Commission and the Member States should
act with greater vigour in this regard.

The active participation of the social partners in the
consultation process is necessary and irreplaceable if the
objective itself and the action proposed are to be brought
into harmony.

3.2.2.
Individual national reports provide a picture
of the situation in their respective Member States.
According to the text under consideration, the national
reports discuss the measures adopted with a view to
achieving the specific objectives of the recommendation,
but omit to mention any shortcomings which may exist
in other fields of activity.

We should not be content merely to maximize the
progress made; rather, the Member States should be
required to do everything in their power to attain the
ultimate objective of the recommendation.

3.2.3.
The Commission devotes particular attention
in its report to the views expressed by the social partners
in their respective reports.

The Commission notes the different views expressed by
the social partners on the progress achieved in improving
access to continuing training, without however sharing
these. Thus the ETUC feels that no real progress has
been made, whilst UNICE believes that progress has
been considerable.

The social partners need to be self-critical
in their
assessments, although it is important that each party
bring to the discussion its own view, defined by its role
as observer and, more importantly, as participant.

b) The social partners also agree that progress has been
made with regard to support and incentives for
SMEs or companies undergoing industrial change.
The efforts made by the Member States are acknowl-
edged. However, the Committee feels that action in
these areas should be further developed.

c) Both parties express their concern with regard to
training for the least qualified, agreeing that little
progress has been made in this field. The greatest
possible support is needed from the Member States
to ensure that citizens enjoy equality of opportunity
and skills, enabling them to enter the labour market
with the basic knowledge required. This should be
made a priority to prevent the gap widening still
further between the most skilled, those enjoying the
easiest access to training, and the least skilled, whose
situation makes it enormously difficult to improve
their skills.

d) Finally, we could mention the particular attention
devoted by the social partners to the young unem-
ployed. The employers are aware of the need for
coordination with providers of training to this
section of the population, to ensure that their skills
meet the demands of the labour market.

3.2.5.
Following on from the above points, reference
should be made to the information obtained from the
Community survey on continuing training.

Surprises arising from recent surveys in other fields
make it inadvisable to use as a point of reference

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opinions and information volunteered without any
substantiating evidence.

The Committee considers the assertions made in
point 2.1 too restrictive, as they are apparently based
essentially on the results of the survey.

The Committee does not wish to cast doubt
3.2.6.
on the report’s findings, but merely to stress the need to
develop indicators to verify the views expressed in point
3.1. Reliable instruments are needed to enable the
Member States and the Commission to monitor trends
in access to continuing training, eliminating as far as
possible the element of subjectivity from the data.

3.2.7.
The Commission regards the findings of the
various national reports as hopeful. This may be true of
some Member States but not of the Union as a whole.

Future action must concentrate on doing more for the
most disadvantaged. The recommendation appears to
be based on the assumption that awareness of the
problem and initiatives to tackle this differ from one
Member State to another. For this reason, actions aimed
at reducing disparities in the Union should be a priority,
beginning with the equalization of access to training
between Member States, with initiatives being concen-
trated on those Member States which fall furthest below
the Community average.

The Committee calls on the Commission and
3.2.8.
the Member States,
in the interests of equity and
solidarity, to concentrate their efforts on those with
the most acute skills-related problems, i.e. the young

Brussels, 30 October 1997.

unemployed, the long-term unemployed, the unem-
ployed over-forties, the least skilled workers etc. As in
other areas of life, it is those with the most opportunities
for training who will continue to have the best access to
training measures, thus widening the gap with those
whose working situation is most problematic.

The Committee wishes to stress the importance
3.2.9.
of initial training. The education and training of children
should be geared to the situation they are likely to
encounter when they have to become part of society in
general and the labour market in particular.

Education syllabuses should be brought progressively
into line with the training which young people will need
in order to compete in the labour market.

Here lies the importance of lifelong training and the
Committee wholeheartedly supports all
initiatives
undertaken to this end.

The social partners have an important role to play in
the policies to be pursued in this area, as any initiative
on continuing training for workers requires the active
participation of the social partners to guarantee its
effectiveness.

Finally, the Committee would like to stress
3.2.10.
the role to be played by the various institutional
participants. The Commission and the Member States
must be the initiators of the process, but the Committee
also calls for greater involvement of the social partners
as active instigators of the practical attainment of the
objectives.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS