Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on a single framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences (Europass)’ (COM(2003) 796 final)
Date: 2004-04-28
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: EU employment policy, labour mobility, professional qualifications, vocational training

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Official Journal of the European Union

30.4.2004

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Proposal for a Decision of the
European Parliament and of the Council on a single framework for the transparency of qualifica-
tions and competences (Europass)’

(COM(2003) 796 final)

(2004/C 117/05)

On 14 January 2004, the Council of the European Union decided to consult the European Economic and
Social Committee, under Article 149 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the ‘Proposal
for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on a single framework for the transparency
of qualifications and competences (Europass)’ (COM(2003) 796 final).

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 6 April 2004. The rapporteur was Mr Dantin.

At its 408th plenary session on 28 and 29 April 2004 (meeting of 28 April), the European Economic and
Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 93 votes with four abstentions:

1.

Introduction

1.1
In its 1997 ‘Proposal for a Council Decision on the
promotion of European pathways for work-linked training,
including apprenticeship’ (COM(97) 572 final) (1), the Commis-
sion basically indicated that, in the context of the completion
of the single market and, more generally, that of the building
of a Europe without frontiers, trainee mobility was becoming
an increasingly important dimension of European citizenship,
as well as an instrument of multi-cultural and social integra-
tion.

1.2
Lack of transparency in qualifications and competences
has often been regarded as an obstacle to mobility, for either
educational or occupational purposes, and a constraint on
developing the flexibility of labour markets in Europe.

1.3 With a view to remedying this situation, an explicit
emphasis has been placed on these issues at both national and
European level over recent years.

At the Lisbon European Council of March 2000, the
1.3.1
Presidency conclusions identified increased transparency of
qualifications as one of three main components in an approach
aiming at a better match between the skills and qualifications
provided by education and training systems and the emerging
needs of the knowledge society in terms of the level and quality
of employment and lifelong learning.

fications to facilitate mobility within and between sectors, as
well as for the establishment of a One-stop European Mobility
Information Site as part of a wider European network to
provide comprehensive and easily accessible information to
citizens on key aspects of jobs, mobility, learning opportunities
and the transparency of qualifications in Europe. Moreover, the
Council Resolution on skills and mobility of 3 June 2002 called
for increased cooperation, inter alia with a view to establishing
a framework for transparency and recognition based on the
existing instruments.

1.3.4
Increased cooperation has begun in vocational educa-
tion and training. Inspired by the ‘Bologna process’ in higher
education, this process is based on two policy documents, the
Copenhagen Declaration of 30 November 2002 and the
Council Resolution of 19 December 2002 on the promotion of
enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and
training.

1.3.4.1
The Copenhagen Declaration expressly called for
action to increase ‘transparency in vocational education and
training through the implementation and rationalisation of
information tools and networks, including the integration of
existing instruments such as the European CV, certificate and
diploma supplements, the Common European Framework of
reference for languages and the Europass into one single frame-
work’.

1.3.2
Two years later, the Barcelona European Council set
the objective for European education and training to become a
world quality reference by 2010. To this end,
it specifically
called for further action to ensure the transparency of diplomas
and qualifications through appropriate instruments.

1.4
The present proposal for a decision establishes a single
framework for the transparency of qualifications and compe-
tences advocated by the Council Resolution of 19 December
2002, providing for the implementation and support measures
it deems to be appropriate.

1.3.3
To do so, the Communication from the Commission
on an Action Plan for skills and mobility (COM (2002) 72
final) called for the implementation and development of instru-
ments supporting the transparency and transferability of quali-

2. General comments

(1) ESC Opinion 635/98 of 29 April 1998 – Rapporteur: Mr Dantin –

(OJ C 214 of 10.7.1998)

The Committee welcomes the overall content of this

2.1
proposed European Parliament and Council Decision.

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Indeed it shares the view that greater transparency of
2.1.1
qualifications and skills will
facilitate mobility throughout
Europe for the purposes of lifelong learning, while helping
ensure that these develop along quality lines. Transparency will
also help boost mobility for professional reasons, between both
countries and sectors, and may also contribute to an indivi-
dual's personal development.

In doing so,

2.1.1.1
this mechanism will contribute to
employment policy and growth by facilitating the transfer-
ability of qualifications. By adding a new dimension to training
in Europe, it will help strengthen European citizenship and at
the same time assist in the consolidation of the single market.

The Committee generally approves of

2.2
the practical,
specific way proposed for implementing this guideline, which
entails creating a document containing a description and certifi-
cation of the skills and qualifications acquired by the holder
through basic or continuous training or professional experi-
ence.

2.2.1
set out:

This portfolio, presented in a standardised fashion, will

— the ‘European curriculum vitae’ developed by CEDEFOP;

— the ‘language portfolio’ which standardises presentation of

language skills;

— the

‘diploma supplement’ which sets out a person's
academic career in order to make it easier to give equivalent
ratings for qualifications, thus facilitating mobility;

— the ‘certificate supplement’ which sets out a person's profes-
in the same way as the ‘diploma

sional qualifications,
supplement’; and

— lastly the ‘Europass training’ document – from which the
name ‘Europass’ in this proposal is derived - which outlines
skills acquired in the course of work-linked training, part of
which is carried out in another Member State. This docu-
ment will henceforth be known as the ‘Mobilipass’.

In addition to these ‘Europass documents’, there may be other
documents approved by the Commission after consultation
with the Europass National Agencies.

2.3
The Committee also agrees that each Member State
should appoint a Europass National Agency (ENA) responsible,
if
at national
necessary replacing existing bodies with a similar role, such as
the ‘contact points’.

for coordinating all Europass activities,

level,

— ensure that suitable information and guidelines on the
Europass and Europass documents are available to the
public;

— provide the public with information and guidelines on
learning opportunities
in Europe, how education and
training systems are structured, and other questions linked
to mobility for learning purposes; and

— manage – at national level – the financial aid granted by the

Community for all Europass-related activities.

2.3.2 Moreover, the Committee welcomes the fact that a
European network of Europass National Agencies is being set
up, coordinated by the Commission. This will make it easier to
pass on information and good practices from one Member
State to another, thus helping improve the quality and effective-
ness of each agency's work.

2.4 Overall, the incorporation of existing tools in a coordi-
nated framework which is promoted and monitored in each
country by a single body – linked to others by a Europe-wide
network - and which is backed up by suitable information
systems at national and European level, will make it easier to
gain access to these documents, secure greater consistency
between them and raise their profile. A portfolio of document
references improves communication efficiency more than a
series of unrelated documents. This is a passport for rendering
people's qualifications more readable and more easily commu-
nicable.

2.5
The Committee is interested to note that the thrust of
the decision in hand is on the same lines as the ‘Framework of
actions for the lifelong development of competences and quali-
fications’, agreed upon by the social partners in February 2002.
Indeed in this connection, the social partners – in addition to
the priority action which they felt had to be given to the recog-
nition and validation of skills and qualifications – stressed the
need to improve transparency and transferability as a means to
facilitate geographic and occupational mobility and to increase
labour market efficiency.

2.5.1
As pointed out in the Commission text, the social part-
ners have a key role to play in relation to this decision and its
implementation. The Advisory Committee
for Vocational
Training, comprising representatives of the social partners and
Member States' national authorities,
regularly
should be
informed about the implementation of this Decision.

2.3.1
shops’, since their task is to:

These agencies may be viewed as genuine ‘one stop

2.5.2
This point should be included in the evaluation report
on the Decision's implementation, which the Commission is to
submit to the European Parliament and the Council every four
years.

— coordinate – in conjunction with the relevant national
bodies – procedures for issuing Europass documents or for
making them available;

— promote the use of Europasses, inter alia via the Internet;

The evaluation report constitutes both an integral part
2.5.3
and logical follow-up to the present Decision and its implemen-
tation. Consequently, when it is published. the EESC wishes the
report to be referred to it for an opinion.

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3. Specific comments

3.1
The proposed Decision provides for the possibility of
including in the portfolio – in addition to the European-level
instruments - other transparency-related mechanisms which
might have been drafted at national and sectoral
level, after
approval by the Commission and consultation with the Euro-
pass National Agencies (see point 2.2 above).

The Committee feels that the process involved here is
3.1.1
obscure, as are the criteria governing it, its modus operandi
and all the aspects relating to this possibility, because they are
not clearly defined. It seems necessary to clarify what is entailed
in this process and make it more ‘transparent’.

3.2
The Committee would stress the importance which
should be attached to the information and communication
campaigns to be carried out at European, national and sectoral
level.

3.2.1
In fact, the measure under discussion is not only of
value to young first-time job seekers, but it also targets the
whole labour market. It is therefore crucial that it should not
only be publicised in universities, but also brought to the atten-
tion of, and widely used by, employment and recruitment agen-
cies.

3.2.2 Over and above the basic requirements, in order to be
effective, these campaigns must also target the general public.
it is vital that information on all
From this point of view,
aspects of this measure be available on-line and that a logo be
devised which both conjures up an image of what is involved
and is easy to recognise.

3.2.3 Making the information available on-line will mean
that the network link-up between all Europass National Agen-
cies will be more effective and will also mean that access will
potentially be available to all workers, migrant workers
included; the Committee welcomes this move.

3.2.4 However, although making Europass II
information
available on-line is crucial for achieving maximum efficiency,
this must not preclude the use of paper documents, so as not
to exclude those workers without internet access from making
use of this system.

3.3
The Committee agrees that the responsibilities covered
by ‘Europass training’ should be extended. Indeed turning ‘Euro-
pass training’ into the ‘Mobilipass’ entails a change of content
by including more than just work-linked training. It will be
able to cover other kinds of training, such as the ERASMUS
the Community
programme
programmes on education and apprenticeship.
thus
It will
provide a more complete picture of knowledge acquired when
moving around Europe to study and work.

and more

generally

all

Brussels, 28 April 2004.

3.4
Financially speaking, the budget earmarked for this is
similar to the one set aside in previous years for ‘Europass
training’, despite the fact that the new measure now entails
much more and the European Union is about to be enlarged to
25 members. This budget has only been drawn up for the
2005-2006 period, and it has been pointed out that the funds
set aside for the following years ‘will not be substantially
higher’.

3.4.1
The Committee recommends that well before 2010,
when the evaluation report is due to be submitted to the Parlia-
ment and the Council, a financial report should be compiled
on the first two years of operation, and used as a basis for
determining the budgets for 2007 and beyond.

4. Conclusions

4.1 Overall, the Committee welcomes the proposal.

and

The

principles

implementation

4.2
arrangements
contained in this measure provide a coherent, logical follow-up
to the series of guidelines and decisions taken at the Lisbon and
Barcelona European Councils and set out in the November
2002 Copenhagen declaration.

4.3 Greater transparency as regards qualifications and skills
will make mobility easier throughout Europe, not only for
professional purposes, but also for education and training.

4.4
The Europass will provide a useful contribution to
employment policy and to boosting employment. By adding a
new dimension to training, education and apprenticeship in
Europe, it will help strengthen European citizenship and at the
same time contribute to the consolidation of the single market.

4.5
The Committee supports the move to establish a Euro-
pass National Agency in every Member State; these could be
viewed as genuine ‘one stop shops’ in this sphere.

The social partners must be involved in implementing

4.6
this measure.

The proposed Decision would be more precise if

4.7
it
clearly indicated the arrangements and criteria for determining
which national and sectoral instruments can be incorporated
into the Europass II portfolio.

The Committee stresses how important

4.8
is for the
success of this process for information and communication
campaigns to be carried out and for all aspects of this measure
to be made available on-line.

it

The Committee would suggest that a financial evaluation

4.9
be carried out after two years of operation.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Roger BRIESCH