Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on a common framework for the provision of better services for skills and qualifications (Europass) and repealing Decision No 2241/2004/EC
Date: 2016-10-04
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
Subjects: EU employment policy, cooperation in the field of education, dissemination of information, education policy, information system, professional qualifications, vocational training

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 4.10.2016  COM(2016) 625 final 2016/0304 (COD)   Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on a common framework for the provision of better services for skills and qualifications (Europass) and repealing Decision No 2241/2004/EC  (Text with EEA relevance) {SWD(2016) 320 final}  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

Whether looking for employment opportunities, making decisions on what and where to learn 
or  considering  mobility  options,  individuals  need  access  to  information  and  means  of 
assessing their skills and presenting what they know and are able to do. Equally, employers 
need  to  find  more  efficient  and  effective  ways  of  identifying  and  recruiting  appropriately 
skilled people. If the needs of individuals and employers in terms of skills and qualifications 
across  sectors,  regions  and  countries  are  to  be  addressed  effectively,  these  needs  must  be 
clearly identified, communicated and understood.  

EU  tools  and  services  can  support  the  exchange  of  information  and  better  understanding  of 
skills and qualifications including those needed for mobility and employability. The EU has 
sought  to  offer  and  support  a  range  of  such  tools  and  services  to  facilitate  mobility  and 
encourage transparency of skills and qualifications. To date, however, these tools and services 
have not exploited their full potential for several reasons. They have largely been developed 
on a case-by-case basis, with a minimum of integration and collaboration. This approach has 
had impact on the reach, potential and perception of the added value of each tool. Evidence 
shows that, despite some success stories such as the Europass CV, potential beneficiaries are 
generally scarcely aware of available services while barriers to the full use of qualifications 
and  skills  acquired  abroad  persist,  with  implications  for  mobility  and  the  integration  of 
European labour markets. In addition, the way EU tools and services have evolved over time 
has not necessarily followed the changes in the way people learn, work or communicate today 
and  they  are  not  responding  to  current  or  future  demands  and  emerging  technologies. 
Digitalisation and enhanced online presence are the minimum expected of tools for skills and 
qualifications today and even more so in the future.  

This  proposal  seeks  to  modernise  EU  tools  and  services  and  to  ensure  that  they  reflect  the 
changing  needs  of  all  potential  users  from  the  labour  market  and  education  and  training 
sectors; are always updated to technological developments, new forms of sharing information 
and of the collaborative economy; and capable of supporting individuals in their multiple life-
transitions of learning-work.  

The new Europass framework will provide a two-layer approach:  

Firstly, the new Europass framework will provide a European-wide platform through which 
all individuals can access, within an intuitive and seamless online service, a range of services 
such  as  the  creation  of  an  e-portfolio  or  the  possibility  of  assessing  their  own  skills.  These 
services will be enriched by a wide range of information harvested across the Member States 
(including  through  web  crawling)  on  learning  opportunities,  qualifications,  recognition 
practices and data  on labour market and skills intelligence, such as  trends in occupations or 
professions. This variety of information will support individuals to make informed choices for 
their  careers,  mobility  and  learning  and  could  contribute,  among  other  things,  to  tackling 
skills  mismatches  by  directing  choices  towards  learning  paths  and  careers  with  better 
prospects.  Similarly,  employers,  education  and  training  providers,  guidance  counsellors, 
employment services and policy makers will benefit from the information made available, for 
example better intelligence on what skills are needed and where, can stimulate the delivery of 
training  courses  where gaps  exist.  Particular  attention  will  be  given to  the  specific needs  of 
third-country nationals. Open standards for qualifications, job vacancies and CVs will also be 

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made available for professionals who wish to publish this type of information electronically. 
By doing so, the Europass framework will promote inter-operability of electronic tools used 
to present and exchange information on skills and qualifications. Importantly, such European 
integrated  platform  will  bring  an  important  value  added  to  the  Member  States  in  their 
objective  of  supporting  individuals  since  they  will  not  have  to  replicate  the  IT  effort  at 
national level. 

This proposal therefore moves Europass from a document-based facility into a service-based 
platform, widening its scope of activity and ensuring that the user needs are at the heart of the 
framework services. The new Europass framework will bring together information currently 
provided  by  tools  such  as  the  Learning  Opportunities  and  Qualifications  in  Europe  Portal, 
(which  provides  information  on  learning  opportunities  and  qualifications);  the  EU  Skills 
Panorama (which offers information on skills intelligence including at national and EU level 
as  well  as  for  occupations  and  specific  industries)  and  the  ESCO  portal  (ESCO  -  the 
Classification  of  European  Skills,  Competences,  Qualifications  and  Occupations,  which 
provides  a  common  language  for  describing  specific  skills  and  related  concepts  for 
employment and education purposes). To date, the development and implementation of these 
tools  has  been  supported  by  the  expertise  of  the  European  Centre  for  the  Development  of 
Vocational Training (Cedefop), a Union agency. Secondly, the new Europass framework will 
include  on-the-ground  services,  whose  objective  is  to  secure  outreach  of  the  services  to  the 
widest  target  audiences,  including  those  who  may  have  difficulty  accessing  or  using  digital 
services. 

Currently the EU tools and services for skills and qualifications are promoted and supported 
at  national  level  through  centres  or  contact  points  (National  Europass  Centres,  EQF  – 
National  Contact  Points,  Euroguidance  Centres)  that  are  financially  supported  by  the  EU 
through  the  Erasmus+  programme.  Each  is  subject  to  separate  administration  and  reporting 
processes.  Each  centre  manages  a  separate  communication  programme  and  has  separate 
branding. While Member States have taken necessary steps to ensure coordination, this is not 
the case in all Member States. The effect is that often there is no sense of a joined up skills 
and  qualification  service  at  national  level  and  no  much  stimulus  for  centres  to  cooperate 
strategically and communicate systematically to present more coherent services. Centres are 
not fully reaching their target audiences and thus EU tools and services are not reaching all 
intended beneficiaries.  

This  proposal  intends  to  offer  greater  potential  and  opportunity  for  Member  States  to 
strategically coordinate services offered at national level. More coordination and exchange of 
information, will enable services to respond in a systematic way to the needs of beneficiaries, 
whether  intermediaries  such  as  guidance  practitioners,  or  individuals  who  could  directly 
benefit  from  face-to-face  services  providing  information  and  advice  for  learning  and  career 
opportunities,  directing  them  to  other  services,  if  relevant,  and  helping  those  who  may  not 
have access to, or the skills necessary, to use digital and online tools . 

• 

Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area 

This is the first revision of the Europass Decision. Established twelve years ago, the Decision 
now needs to reflect advances in technology and changes in the labour market, education and 
training  systems  and  society  at  large.  This  proposal  will  update  and  enhance  the  Europass 
framework to bring it more in line with today's need for more comprehensive, updated, easy-
to-use  and  interoperable  information  and  allow  it  to  accommodate  future  developments  and 
needs.  The  proposal  intends  to  cater  for  the  needs  of  learners,  job  seekers,  education  and 
training providers, recruiters and employers.  

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This proposal is linked to the first of the ten priorities of the European Commission, "A New 
Boost  for  Jobs,  Growth  and  Investment"1.  Skills  development  as  a  route  to  recovery  is  also 
highlighted  in  the  Annual  Growth  survey  for  20162.  This  initiative  is  rooted  in  previous 
Commission initiatives on new skills for new jobs, for example:  
'An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs' (2010)3;  
'Rethinking Education: Investing in skills for better socio-economic outcomes'4;  
the Employment package (20125). 

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This Decision is one of the initiatives of the New Skills Agenda for Europe6 and complements 
other  actions  proposed  in  that  context.  It  is  consistent  with  the  European  Parliament  and 
Council  Recommendation  of  23  April  2008  on  a  European  Qualifications  Framework  for 
lifelong  learning  (EQF)7.  The  Recommendation  created  a  common  reference  framework  of 
eight European generic levels of learning, which serves as "translation grid" between national 
qualifications systems. Such levels are intended to support the transparency and comparability 
of qualifications. Information on the EQF will be included in the Europass framework so that 
individuals can use EQF levels to present their qualifications.  

The  proposed  Decision  is  also  consistent  with  the  Recommendation  on  a  Skills  Guarantee8 
which is another action under the New Skills Agenda for Europe. The Skills Guarantee should 
help low-qualified people access to flexible upskilling pathways to acquire a minimum level 
of literacy, numeracy and digital skills, and continuing learning at their own pace to achieve 
an upper secondary level qualification leading to the acquisition of a broader set of skills. The 
self-assessment tools offered by the Europass framework will be beneficial to the target group 
of the Skills Guarantee. 

The  services  offered  through  the  Europass  framework  help  individuals  communicate 
information on their skills and qualifications acquired through different pathways, including 
outside formal education and training (for example through youth work, volunteering, work-
based  learning,  traineeships).  This  proposal  is  thus  also  in  line  with  the  Council 
Recommendation  of  20  December  20129  on  the  validation  of  non-formal  and  informal 
learning,  which  invites  Member  States  to  have  arrangements  in  place  for  the  validation  of 
learning acquired outside formal education and training. 

Individuals  often  use  the  Europass  framework  to  provide  information  on  their  skills  and 
qualifications to find employment. The EURES (European Employment Services) network as 
established by Regulation (EU) 2016/589 of the European Parliament and of the Council10 is a 

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A  New  Start  for  Europe:  My  Agenda  for  Jobs,  Growth,  Fairness  and  Democratic  Change.  Political  Guidelines  for  the  next 
European Commission. https://ec.europa.eu/priorities/publications/president-junckers-political-guidelines_en 
Annual Growth Survey: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1473755846317&uri=CELEX:52015DC0690 
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=958 
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1389776578033&uri=CELEX:52012DC0669  
http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1039 
A  New  Skills  Agenda  for  Europe  -  Working  together  to  strengthen  human  capital,  employability  and  competitiveness, 
COM(2016) 381. 
OJ C 111, 6.5.2008, p. 1. 
Proposal for a Council Recommendation on establishing a Skills Guarantee, COM(2016) 382. 
OJ C 398, 22.12.2012. 
Regulation  (EU)  2016/589  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  13  April  2016  on  a 
European  network  of  employment  services  (EURES),  workers'  access  to  mobility  services  and  the 

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network of employment services and a mechanism for automated matching of people to jobs 
through the EURES common IT platform. Synergies and co-operation between Europass and 
EURES will be ensured to reinforce the impact of both services. The proposal is in line with 
the  provisions  of  the  Regulation,  in  particular  as  regards  the  use  of  the  classification  of 
European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO). 

The proposal is consistent with other recent employment policies and initiatives, such as the 
Council Recommendations on the Youth Guarantee11 and on Long Term Unemployment12. 

• 

Consistency with other Union policies 

Services  for  skills  and  qualifications  are  intended  to  support  employability  and  mobility 
across  occupations,  sectors,  regions  and  borders  through  better  transparency,  comparability 
and  understanding  of  an  individual's  skills  and  qualifications.  They  can  support  EU 
individuals  that  move  outside  the  EU  (including  in  cases  where  they  subsequently  acquire 
skills  and  qualifications  in  third  countries) and  third-country  nationals  moving  to  the  EU  or 
already residing there. In the current context of increased inflows and outflows of people to 
and from the EU, the Europass framework is consistent with the EU initiatives linked to the 
European  Agenda  on  Migration  as  well  as  the  EU  Action  Plan  on  the  Integration  of  third 
country  nationals13.  Web-based  information  in  several  languages  and  support  provided  at 
national level can help integrate third-country nationals. 

By providing more user-friendly tools and encouraging better synergy and cooperation for on-
the-ground  services  on  skills  and  qualifications  to  better  serve  individuals,  the  proposed 
Decision aims to reach out to a wide range of users, including the low skilled, the unemployed 
and migrants, and therefore contributes to inclusion. 

The internet and digital technologies are transforming our world. By providing better access 
to services, the Europass framework is also in line with the Digital Single Market strategy14 of 
the Union, which intends to allow better access for consumers and business to online goods 
and services across Europe.  

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LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

The  proposed  legal  basis  is  Articles  165  and  166  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the 
European Union. 

Documentation  and  the  exchange  of  information  on  skills  and  qualifications  is  aimed  at 
pursuing  education  and 
training  opportunities,  supporting  career  decisions,  finding 
employment opportunities and supporting mobility.  

Article 165 provides that the Union shall contribute to the development of quality education 
by  encouraging  cooperation  between  Member  States  and,  if  necessary,  by  supporting  and 

further  integration  of  labour  markets,  and  amending  Regulations  (EU)  No  492/2011  and  (EU)  No 
1296/2013 (OJ L 107, 22.4.2016, p. 1). 
Council  Recommendation  of  22 April  2013  on  establishing  a  Youth  Guarantee:  http://eur-
lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32013H0426%2801%29 
OJ C 67, 20.2.2016. 
COM(2016) 377 final. 
A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe, COM(2015) 192 final. 

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supplementing their action. Union action shall be aimed, inter alia, at developing exchanges 
of  information  and  experience  on  issues  common  to  the  education  systems  of  the  Member 
States.  

Article 166 provides that the Union shall implement a vocational training policy which shall 
support and supplement the action of the Member States. Union action shall aim, inter alia, to 
improve initial and continuing vocational training in order to facilitate vocational integration 
and  reintegration  into  the  labour  market  and  to  develop  exchanges  of  information  and 
experience on issues common to the training systems of the Member States. 

As  education  and  vocational  training  policies  are  within  Member  States'  competence,  these 
articles exclude harmonisation of the laws and regulations of the Member States. 

Both articles state that the Union and the Member States shall  foster cooperation with  third 
countries and the competent international organisations respectively in the field of education 
[Article 165(3)] and in the sphere of vocational training [Article 166(3)]. 

• 

Subsidiarity  

This  proposal  complies  with  the  principle  of  subsidiarity  as  it  supports  and  complements 
Member State activities.  

If  addressed  only  at  national  level,  the  scope  of  the  tools  and  services  for  skills  and 
qualifications  would  remain  limited,  and  the  potential  for  synergies  with  existing  services, 
both  at  EU  and  national  level,  would  not  be  fully  exploited.  Action  at  EU  level  offers  the 
necessary  platform  to  create  consistency  and  better  understanding  of  diverse  systems  and 
qualifications among different countries and stakeholders. Improved choices, easier access to 
better quality information and new opportunities will ultimately be achieved and contribute to 
a better allocation of resources at EU level. 

For  services  offered  on  the  ground  at  national  level  through  centres,  the  provisions  for 
simplification  and  stronger  cooperation  proposed  in  the  Decision  are  compliant  with  the 
subsidiarity principle. The proposal to set up one main interface and main beneficiary of EU 
funding per country with a coordinating role for issues linked to skills and qualifications that 
builds  upon  the  experience  of  Member  States  does  not  impose  any  provision  on 
implementation  and  coordination  arrangements  to  Member  States  (and  participating 
countries). 

• 

Proportionality 

The measures proposed in the revision of the Europass Decision do not increase the scope of 
EU action beyond what is necessary. The measures are proportionate to the objectives to be 
achieved. 

The  actions  proposed  address  the  existing  instruments  described  here  and  therefore  are 
proportional to reaching the objectives. 

The revision of the Europass Decision is guided, as a general principle, by the need to update 
it,  and  the  framework  it  establishes,  to  meet  current  evolving  needs  and  keep  it  flexible 
enough  to  allow  for  possible  future  developments  in  technology,  education  and  training, 
society and the labour market and avoid further revisions in the short term. In particular, the 
proposal  intends  to  adapt  the  Decision  to  changing  practices  in  the  labour  market  such  as 
publication  of  job  vacancies,  applications,  skills  assessments  and  recruitment  which  are 

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increasingly  managed  online.  The  involvement  of  a  variety  of  education  and  training 
providers and the use of digital technologies and platforms also need to be considered when 
providing useful tools and services. 

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Choice of the instrument 

The instrument will be a Decision of the European Parliament and the Council repealing the 
existing Decision No. 2241/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. 

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RESULTS 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

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STAKEHOLDER 

Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation 

Two evaluations of the Europass framework were carried out in 2008 and 2013. The second 
evaluation,  covering  the  period  2008-2012,  confirmed  that  Europass  documents  have  the 
potential to facilitate mobility and that they are useful tools for individuals who are interested 
in  working  or  studying  abroad.  Europass  documents  can  provide  services  to  employers  and 
have become increasingly relevant to the unemployed. Europass has also played an important 
role in mobility within the same country (40% of surveyed users were domestically mobile) 
and indeed the documents have become widely used within some countries such as Italy and 
Spain. 

However,  the  evaluation  also  suggested  that  Europass  should  be  simplified,  become  more 
target-oriented  and  up-to-date.  Synergies  should  be  improved  between  Europass  and  other 
European  initiatives,  in  particular  guidance  and  information  services.  Information  services 
and interactive tools for skills and qualifications should become more streamlined as should 
the  different  European  networks  of  national  centres  providing  related  support  services. 
Relevant data from other existing EU tools should be easily integrated. The interoperability of 
Europass tools with EU tools such as those used for job matching should be enhanced.  

The  evaluation  also  highlighted  that  Europass  documents  have  not  evolved  to  allow  for 
description of different types of learning and skills, such as those acquired through any non-
formal or informal learning experience. The evaluation also considered it worth exploring the 
merits of merging the Diploma Supplement (a document explaining the nature, level, context, 
content  and  status  of  higher  education  qualifications)  and  the  Certificate  Supplement  (a 
similar document issued for vocational training) into a single document. 

The proposed Decision intends to respond to these concerns. 

• 

Stakeholder consultations 

In 2014 a public consultation was carried out in preparation for an initiative known at the time 
as  the  'European  Area  for  Skills  and  Qualifications'15.  The  consultation  addressed  the 
effectiveness of existing tools and services. In 2014 a special Eurobarometer16 was issued on 
the same initiative, which also addressed the public perception of the effectiveness of the tools 
and services.  

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Consultation 

Public 
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/more_info/consultations/skills_en.htm 
Special  Eurobarometer  417:  European  Area  of  Skills  and  Qualifications  –  Report,  June  2014: 
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_417_en.pdf 

and  Qualifications': 

'European  Area 

Skills 

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The  public  consultation  found  there  was  significant  room  for  improvement  in  the  current 
landscape  of  web  tools  for  skills  and  qualifications.  It  also  identified  strong  support  for 
merging  Europass  documents.  Results  indicated  that  there  was  potential  interest  in  the 
creation of a 'one-stop shop' providing integrated services covering the full range of European 
services  on  learning  opportunities,  guidance  and  the  transparency  of  qualifications. 
Furthermore, current tools for transparency were found not to be fully suitable for recognising 
the outcomes of digital learning. 

In 2016, the Commission carried several targeted consultations17 on this proposal to revise the 
Europass  Decision.  Social  partners  and  the  networks  of  national  centres  (EQF  National 
Coordination  Points  -  NCPs,  National  Europass  Centres  and  Euroguidance  Centres) 
responded in particular to aspects of the proposal related to streamlining and to establishing 
National Skills Coordination Points. 

Social partners agreed on the challenge represented by the current fragmentation of services 
for skills and qualifications and broadly welcomed the idea of more integration and synergy 
among  both  online  tools  and  among  national  services.  The  social  partners  also  identified  a 
need for closer links to national skills agencies and observatories run by national governments 
and  social  partners  themselves.  The  Europass  framework  is  generally  appreciated  as  a  tool 
that can be used directly by individuals; in particular the Europass CV is a well-known and 
much  used  common  format  which  can  increase transparency  and  understanding.  The  higher 
education  Diploma  Supplement,  developed  by  the  European  Commission,  the  Council  of 
Europe and UNESCO, is widely used in the 48 countries of the Bologna Process. Within this 
Process,  work  to  revise  the  Diploma  Supplement  is  ongoing,  to  ensure  it  reflects  the  latest 
developments  in  higher  education  and  is  relevant  for  students  and  for  employers. 
Improvements  are  also  needed  regarding  the  Certificate  Supplement.  Efforts  to  treat  certain 
elements consistently between the two Supplements could be helpful in raising visibility and 
reinforcing use. 

One of the main outcomes of the consultation with the Europass centres, EQF national contact 
points and the Euroguidance network was the need to focus more on guidance issues, which 
cannot  be  properly  addressed  using  web-based  tools  and  services  but  need  a  presence  and 
face-to-face  engagement  with  individuals.  Centres  also  called  for  simplified  administrative 
procedures and longer-term planning compared to the current annual exercise. This would be 
in  line  with  the  Commission's  proposal  to  simplify  the  operations  and  financing  of  these 
policy networks. Some centres also raised specific concerns that the designation of  National 
Skills Coordination Points should not require, at national level, the taking over of activities or 
a merger of the existing Europass centres, EQF national contact points and the Euroguidance 
centres,  recalling  that  the  organisation  of  the  services  at  national  level  is  a  matter  of 
subsidiarity.  In  this  context,  some  Member  States  would  prefer  to  maintain  the  current 
situation  where  these  networks  are  mostly  separate  entities  and  which  may  fall  under  the 
responsibility of different parts of their administrations. The Commission  explained that the 
aim  of  this  aspect  of  the  proposal  is  to  simplify  the  administrative  and  co-ordination 
arrangements  between  the    national  and  European  level,  and  in  turn  to  facilitate  Member 
States' action for  joined-up services to individuals. A main beneficiary of EU funding would 
be  identified  by  the  respective  Member  States  and  would  be  the  main  interface  with  the 
Commission in relation to the activities currently carried out by EQF National Coordination 

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Social  partners,  policy  networks  (Europass  centres,  EQF  national  contact  points,  Euroguidance 
network), civil society. 

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Points,  National  Europass  Centres  and  Euroguidance  Centres.  This  is  already  the  case  in 
several countries18. The proposal seeks to create greater opportunity for more strategic use of 
funding  by  national  services  over  a  longer  funding  period  but  leaves  any  decision  about 
implementation and coordination arrangements at national level to the Member State.  

• 

Collection and use of expertise 

A study was launched in 2015 to collect information on and analyse seven portals related to 
skills  and  qualifications 
(EURES,  Europass,  ESCO,  Learning  Opportunities  and 
Qualifications in Europe, ENIC-NARIC, EU Skills Panorama and Youth Portal). The aim of 
the  study  was  to  better  understand  the  challenges  faced  by  target  users  and/or  stakeholders. 
The analysis provided an initial overview of possible ways to improve complementarity and 
synergies between different online tools and services. 

• 

Impact assessment 

No impact assessment has been carried out. When designing the proposal, four options were 
considered which build on existing EU tools and services for skills and qualifications and aim 
to adapt, streamline and update them and ensure better coordination and synergy. The options 
do  not  entail  significant  operational  implications  for  Member  States  and  other  stakeholders. 
The  options  outlined  below  are  not  mutually  exclusive  and  can  therefore  be  considered 
separately as well as in combination. 

Option 1 - Enhancement of documentation and online presence  

This  option  would  entail  enhancing  and  simplifying  existing  document 
tools  for 
communicating  skills  and  qualifications  and  improving  the  quality  of  their  online  presence. 
Documentation  tools  would  continue  to  operate  independently  without  any  synergies  with 
other related tools and services. 

Option 2 - Better integration of services 

This  option  would  imply  streamlining  relevant  EU  tools  and  services  for  skills  and 
qualifications  (Europass,  EU  Skills  Panorama,  Learning  Opportunities  and  Qualifications  in 
Europe portal) to offer a more integrated service that addresses users' skills and qualifications 
needs in a comprehensive and clear way. Simplification and enhancement of documents tools 
for communicating skills and qualifications would be pursued as in option 1 but information 
provided by the EU Skills Panorama and Learning Opportunities and Qualifications in Europe 
Portal would be integrated within Europass in addition to the documentation tools. Integrating 
a wider set of tools and services would help simplify the information offered to users. ESCO 
would  serve  as  a  common  terminology  to  describe  skills,  competences,  qualifications  and 
occupations. This would enhance access to and clarity of information for users. Integration of 
tools  and  services  within  Europass  would  aid  their  promotion,  increase  awareness  and 
encourage use. 

18 

Currently in 12 countries one single body hosts all the national centres of the country, in 17 two bodies 
host all the centres and in 7 countries there are three different bodies managing the centres, EACEA, 
2016. 

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9 

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Option 3 – Better coordination of support networks 

This  option  would  entail  establishing  one  coordination  point  at  national  level  to  coordinate 
activities  currently  associated  with 
the  National  Europass  Centres,  EQF  National 
Coordination  Points,  and  Euroguidance  Centres.  Within  each  Member  State  a  main 
beneficiary  of  EU  funding  and  main  interface  with  the  Commission  would  be  identified  in 
relation to the activities currently carried out by the national centres, without prejudice to any 
national arrangement in terms of implementation and coordination. The coordination point in 
each country would streamline and simplify the operation of national centres and may support 
greater  cooperation  among  services  to  enhance  the  transparency  and  understanding  of  skills 
and  qualifications  and  support  lifelong  learning  and  career  guidance  at  national  level.  The 
coordination  point  could  also  act  as  a  central  point  for  other  linked  services  such  as 
development of skills intelligence.  

Option 4 - Better interoperability between tools 

According  to  this  option,  Europass  would  support  presenting  and  integrating  relevant  data 
from  other  existing  EU  tools  as  linked  open  data  or  open  formats  or  standards  in  order  to 
support  better  interoperability  between  different  tools,  services  and  data  sources  including 
those  of  third  parties  such  as  the  labour  market.  ESCO  would  be  used  as  the  common 
terminology supporting this work. This option would allow these parties to better exploit data 
for different purposes, including job matching, and would align Europass tools and services 
with evolving digital trends. 

A possible configuration for the integration of services and links and synergy with other tools 
would be the following: 

Arrows  indicate  synergies  or  links  to  be  established  with  the  integrated  service.  In  white  are  existing  portals; 
blue indicates new features of the tool. ESCO would be the common terminology. 

• 

Regulatory fitness and simplification 

Not applicable. The proposal is not linked to REFIT.  

EN 

10 

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Although  the  proposal  is  mainly  focused  on  modernising  and  enhancing  the  Europass 
framework, the synergies it will achieve will simplify the range of EU tools and services that 
have been created over the years through ad hoc measures not necessarily supported by a legal 
basis. Such simplification should improve efficiency and usability. 

The  proposal  is  internet  ready  and  presents  solutions  both  for  the  digital  and  the  physical 
environment. 

• 

Fundamental rights 

In the European Union the right to the protection of personal data is guaranteed under Article 
8  of  the  Charter  of  Fundamental  Rights  of  the  European  Union.  Whenever  the  measures 
provided for in this Decision entail the processing of personal data, they shall be carried out in 
accordance with EU law on protection of personal data, in particular Directive 95/46/EC on 
the  protection  of  individuals  with  regard  to  the  processing  of  personal  data  and  on  the  free 
movement  of  such  data19  and  the  national  implementing  measures  thereto,  as  well  as 
Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of 
personal  data  by  the  Community  institutions  and  bodies  and  on  the  free  movement  of  such 
data20.  

Directive  95/46/EC  will  be  replaced  by  Regulation  (EU)  2016/679  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  27  April  2016  on  the  protection  of  natural  persons  with 
regard  to  the  processing  of  personal  data  and  on  the  free  movement  of  such  data  (General 
Data Protection Regulation)21 which is applicable as of 25 May 2018. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

Most  of  the  tools  covered  by  the  proposed  Decision  already  exist  and  are  financed  by  the 
Union.  The  financial  implications  of  the  initiative  are  mainly  linked  to  IT  development, 
hosting and maintenance costs of web-based services at EU level.  

Developing  a  more  comprehensive  online  service  as  proposed  by  the  initiative  will  be 
financed by the Union. Some initial investment will be needed in the short-term for new IT 
development  of  the  new  European-wide  web-based  platform,  but  there  should  be  no 
unexpected costs at EU level.  The level of investment required will depend on the technical 
IT choices made. The Erasmus+ Work programme for 2016 includes activities to develop web 
services  for  skills  and  qualifications  for  an  estimated  amount  of  €2.500.000  to  cover  this 
investment.  There  will  be  no  financial  implications  for  Member  States,  or  participating 
countries,  from  this  development  work.  They  will  be  asked  to  continue  to  contribute 
information; this activity will be supported by Union budget as is currently the case.  

Any initial investment will be balanced by savings achieved through the synergies established 
between existing tools and efficiency achieved in the long term. As services will be integrated 
into the new Europass platform, a number of platforms should cease to exist. This should help 
achieve  substantial  savings  in  financial  resources  primarily  through  the  integration  of  the 
hosting, maintenance and support of the different IT tools and communication activities. This 
should amount to around €450.000 per year. 

19 
20 
21 

OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31 
OJ L 8, 12.01.2001, p. 1 
OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1–88 

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The  activities  of  the  EQF  National  Contact  Points,  the  National  Europass  Centres  and  the 
Euroguidance  Centres  are  co-financed  by  the  Commission  through  the  Erasmus+  budget. 
There  is  no  medium-term  change  envisaged  in  the  budget  allocated  by  Erasmus+  for  the 
operation  of  the  proposed  National  Skills  Coordination  Points.  In  2016  the  overall  amount 
allocated  by  the  EU  budget  to  the  centres  amounted  to  €7,300,000.  Existing  budget 
allocations to the national centres would be grouped into a single allocation by country to be 
awarded  to  a  single  beneficiary  in  each  Member  State  on  a  multiannual  basis.  This  will 
simplify administrative procedures for reporting and multiannual financing would allow more 
strategic  planning  and  use  of  resources  compared  to  the  current  annual  exercise.  Member 
States may in fact be able to secure savings through reducing administrative costs associated 
with  managing  the  reporting  and  financing  of  two  or  three  separate  centres.  As  such,  no 
budgetary  implications  are  associated  with  the  establishment  of  the  National  Skills 
Coordination Points compared to the current situation. 

5. 

• 

OTHER ELEMENTS 

Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements 

An  evaluation  is  planned  every  five  years.  The  Commission,  in  cooperation  with  Member 
States, will report on progress in implementation as relevant. 

• 

Explanatory documents (for directives) 

Not applicable. 

• 

Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal 

The preamble introduces the current Europass framework and describes how it links and is 
complementary with other tools and services for skills and qualifications, in particular those 
related to information on learning opportunities and qualifications and skills intelligence and 
information. 

Despite  some  important  achievements,  several  challenges  remain  regarding  the  tools  and 
services  for  skills  and  qualifications.  These  challenges  are  mainly 
the 
transformations that have taken place over the years, in particular changing processes in the 
labour  market  and  new  forms  and  settings  for  delivering  education.  These  changes  require 
new  formats  for  presenting  skills,  qualifications  and  experiences  and  new  ways  of 
communicating and exchanging information. 

linked 

to 

Information  technology  has  changed  the  way  the  labour  market  works  but  the  Europass 
framework and other EU tools have not necessarily kept pace with these changes. Firstly, they 
are not always adaptable to new trends such as use of social media, mobile devices, big data 
analysis  and  web  crawling.  The  current  Europass  framework  established  by  Decision  No. 
2241/2004/EC  is  limited  in  scope  and  flexibility  because  it  focuses  on  documents  and 
templates which are no longer compatible with current trends or the trajectory of online tools 
and services. Despite some evolution, this lack of deeper innovation hampers the use of these 
tools and makes them less attractive.  

Secondly, EU tools are not sufficiently interlinked to allow matching, reuse and integration of 
data from different sources or interoperability with tools developed by the labour market. For 
job  seekers, for example, the variety of tools to document skills and the variety of systems, 
formats and languages used to record vacancies prevent the automated matching of open job 
vacancies and potential candidates' CVs. 

EN 

12 

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This  is  why  a  new  framework  is  needed  which  encompasses  more  responsive  tools  and 
information  both  for  learning  and  employment  purposes,  including  skills  intelligence,  and 
which  ensures  better  synergies  with  other  relevant  services  such  as  EURES  to  mutually 
reinforce the role of each service. 

This proposed Decision also addresses the operation of national level support services linked 
to the tools and services associated with Europass as well as the EQF and Euroguidance.  

Article 1 defines the scope of the new Europass framework, which should provide a service 
for  documenting  skills  and  qualifications;  offer  opportunities  for  (self-)  assessing  skills; 
provide relevant information; and support the development of open standards to allow easier 
exchange of information between different tools and systems.  

Article 2 sets out definitions of terms used in this Decision.  

The improved service offered by the new Europass framework is detailed in Article 3.  

Currently, the Europass framework is focussed on documentation of skills and provides a set 
of fixed templates, including the well-known Europass CV, to be filled in online and offline 
and  printable.  Through  this  proposal,  the  Europass  CV  would  still  be  a  key  feature  of  the 
framework but it would evolve from a more traditional 'document' following a fixed template 
to  a  more  flexible  tool.  The  CV  tool  would  allow  for  presentation  of  different  kinds  of 
personal  data  and  information  on  skills  and  qualifications  that  can  be  easily  rearranged  and 
combined, if necessary, in a variety of fields and formats. As such the CV will become more 
adaptable to  different  needs  and  situations  that  arise  for  learners  and  jobseekers  in  different 
stages  of  their  professional  and  personal  lives.  The  CV  would  retain  traditional  features  so 
that it can be edited and printed easily, but users will also be able to present their skills and 
qualifications  in  other  less  traditional  formats,  including  visuals.  They  will  also  be  able  to 
make  better  use  of  the  advantages  of  social  media,  mobile  applications  and  job  matching 
tools. This same approach will be taken with each of the Europass documents to ensure they 
are relevant, adaptable and able to integrate relevant data and that users have tools that meet 
their different needs, both now and in the future.  

The Europass framework will also offer users the opportunity to self-assess their skills such as 
digital  skills  through  tools  provided  at  EU  level  and  to  integrate  data  from  other  EU  self-
assessment  tools  such  as  the  Youthpass.  All  these  tools  will  enable  easier  and  shared 
understanding  of  concepts  and  outcomes  by  both  individuals  and  those  trying  to  assess  and 
understand  skills.  Such  tools  are  not  provided  by  the  current  framework  apart  from  the 
reference framework for assessment of language skills linked to the Europass documents. 

Along with tools for documentation and (self-) assessment, the proposed framework will also 
provide  relevant  information  on  qualifications,  learning  opportunities,  career  guidance 
facilities, qualifications recognition practices and skills intelligence. This information will be 
accessed  by  users  in  a  simple  and  seamless  way,  so  as  to  better  support  their  learning  and 
career choices. This information is not provided by the current framework. Pooling such data 
in  one  location  and  using  common  terminology  (in  several  languages)  will  help  users  find 
what they need more easily.  

The revised Europass framework will offer the possibility to develop and use open standards 
for better exchange and sharing of electronic data on skills and qualifications.  

EN 

13 

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The Decision defines a general framework but does not establish any set format or template 
for documentation of skills, as is currently the case. This will ensure the necessary flexibility 
for the services to adapt to future evolution of needs and technology.  

Article  4  establishes  the  main  principles  inspiring  the  new  framework.  In  particular,  it  will 
ensure  transparency  of  learning  and  skills  acquired  in  different  settings  (formal,  non-formal 
and  informal).  The  revised  Europass  framework  will  take  into  account  the  levels  of 
qualifications  as  set  out  in  the  European  Qualifications  Framework  so  that  information  on 
qualifications  from  different  countries  (both  EU  and  non-EU)  will  be  more  transparent  and 
comparable. 

The  use  of  open  standards  will  allow  interoperability  between  services.  Any  development 
made  in  the  context  of  this  Decision  will  be  without  prejudice  to  decisions  taken  in  the 
context  of  implementation  of  the  EURES  Regulation  and  will  complement  any  subsequent 
technical developments. 

To  maximise  European  added  value  as  well  as  outreach  of  the  tools  and  services,  Europass 
will  be  offered  in  all  EU  official  languages.  The  use  and  importance  of  technology  and  the 
need to ensure adaptability to evolving needs is established in the legal text. 

Article  5  establishes  the  Europass  Qualifications  Supplement(s).  The  Article  supports  the 
provision  of  information  by  authorised  parties  on  the  nature  of  qualifications  acquired  by  a 
person through standardised documents. The Qualification Supplement(s) will embed existing 
supplements  (the  Diploma  Supplement  and  the  Certificate  Supplement)  provided  for  in 
Decision  No  2241/2004/EC.  In  this  context,  the  Article  specifically  acknowledges  the  need 
for  cooperation  between  the  Commission  and  the  Council  of  Europe  and  UNESCO,  in 
particular, who are the co-owners of the Diploma supplement. 

Article  6  establishes  the  classification  of  European  Skills,  Competences,  Qualifications  and 
Occupations  (ESCO)  as  a  common  reference  language  to  support  exchange  of  information 
and  documents  on  occupations,  skills  and  qualifications  and  search  or  compare  electronic 
documents.  Using  a  common  terminology  will  make  search  operations  easier  and  support 
better exploitation of current technology such as web crawling. This is particularly useful for 
job searching, job matching, search for education and training opportunities as well as career 
guidance. These features will directly support the services offered by Europass. The notion of 
a  European  classification  for  occupations  and  skills  is  already  embedded  in  the  EURES 
Regulation.  This  Decision  offers  the  opportunity  to  formally  establish  ESCO,  in  particular 
because  the  EURES  regulation  only  takes  into  account  two  of  the  ESCO  pillars  (i) 
occupations,  ii)  knowledge,  skills  and  competences),  omitting  the  third  (qualifications).  As 
ESCO is de facto being used as a common classification in EURES, establishing it formally in 
the context of Europass would help take up and ensure the qualifications aspect is also taken 
into  account.  As  the  Europass  Decision  is  based  on  Articles  165  and  166  on  education  and 
training  and  the  framework  clearly  pursues  learning  purposes,  it  is  the  most  appropriate 
context to introduce ESCO. 

Article  7  focuses  on  the  implementation  and  monitoring  of  the  Decision.  The  Commission 
will  in  particular  monitor  the  effectiveness  of  the  tools  and  the  consistency  of  information 
provided by National Skills Coordination Points.  

Article 8 details the main roles of Member States, in particular in relation to the designation 
and  management  of  the  National  Skills  Coordination  Point  responsible  for  co-ordination  of 

EN 

14 

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activities associated with implementing the Europass Decision and linked tasks related to the 
EQF,  validation,  skills  intelligence  and  guidance.  The  mandate  and  tasks  of  the  National 
Skills  Coordination  Points  are  set  out.  The  Article  also  establishes  that  relevant  data  and 
evidence  available  at  national  level  are  provided  to  feed  into  and  update  Europass  tools. 
Coordination points are intended to be the main beneficiary of funding and the main interface 
with  the  EU,  while  internal  implementation  and  organisational  arrangements  are  left  to 
Member States and participating countries. 

Article  9  indicates  that  measures  provided  for  in  this  Decision  shall  be  carried  out  in 
accordance with EU law on protection of personal data. This includes EU data protection law 
applicable to Member States (the national implementing measures thereto) and to the Union 
institutions as the Commission is also involved in the processing of personal data. As personal 
data is provided, treated and, possibly, exchanged through Europass, users have in particular 
to be made aware of such processing, give their consent for processing and be able to ask for 
deletion of their personal data.  

Details of evaluation are set out in Article 10.  

Article  11  lists  the  countries  that  can  participate  in  the  Framework.  It  remains  unchanged 
compared  to  the  current  Decision  as  there  is  no  evidence  of  the  need  to  extend  or  reduce 
participation.  The  information  on  skills  and  qualifications  provided  through  the  framework 
will, however, refer to a wider number of countries and education systems to cater for inflows 
and outflows of individuals from and to other parts of the world.  

Article 12 sets out financial provisions.  

Article  13  repeals  the  Decision  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  15 
December 2004 on a single Community framework for the transparency of qualifications and 
competences (Europass). In view of the changes in substance and purpose envisaged by the 
new proposal, the former Decision has to be repealed and replaced by the new text. 

Article 14 establishes the day of entry into force for the Decision. 

EN 

15 

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2016/0304 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on a common framework for the provision of better services for skills and qualifications 
(Europass) and repealing Decision No 2241/2004/EC  

(Text with EEA relevance) 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Articles 165 and 166 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee22,  
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions23,  

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Individuals, when looking for a job, or making decisions on what and where to learn, 
study  or  work  need  access  to  information  on  opportunities  available,  means  of 
assessing  their  skills,  and  means  of  presenting  information  about  their  skills  and 
qualifications.  

Differences  in  language,  definitions,  document  formats,  as  well  as  assessment  and 
qualification  validation  methods,  all  pose  considerable  challenges  for  individuals, 
employers  and  competent  authorities.  These  challenges  arise  especially  where 
individuals move between countries, including third countries, but also when looking 
for a new job or engaging in learning. Clear information and shared understanding is 
necessary to address these challenges. 
Decision  No  2241/2004/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council24 
established  a  framework  to  address  these  challenges.  It  aimed  to  achieve  better 
transparency  of  qualifications  and  competences  through  a  portfolio  of  documents 
known  as  ‘Europass’,  which  individuals  can  use  on  a  voluntary  basis.  Decision  No 
2241/2004/EC also established national bodies, known as National Europass Centres, 
to implement the Europass framework. 

(4) 

To  achieve  its  main  objective,  the  Europass  framework  focused  on  tools  for  the 
documentation  of  skills  and  qualifications.  These  tools  have  achieved  wide  use. 

22 
23 
24 

OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. . 
OJ L 390, 31.12.2004, p. 6. 

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16 

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Activities by National Europass Centres offer support and promote the documentation 
of skills and qualifications25. 

The Europass portfolio comprised five document templates. The Europass Curriculum 
Vitae (CV) template allows individuals to complete their CV in a standardised format. 
Over  ten  years  there  have  been  more  than  60  million  Europass  CVs  created  online. 
Two qualification supplement templates, namely the Europass Diploma Supplement26 
and  the  Europass  Certificate  Supplement,  offer  information  on  the  content  and 
learning outcomes associated with a qualification and on the education system of the 
country issuing the qualification. The Europass Language Passport is used to describe 
language  skills.  The  Europass  Mobility  describes  the  skills  acquired  abroad  on 
mobility experiences for learning or work. 

The Europass portfolio is however only one of a number of tools and instruments put 
in  place  at  Union  level  to  improve  transparency  and  understanding  of  skills  and 
qualifications. 

The Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 
on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning27 
- hereafter "the EQF" - created a common reference framework to help individuals and 
organisations  in  comparing  different  qualifications  systems  and  the  levels  of 
qualifications from these systems. 
The  Learning  Opportunities  and  Qualifications  in  Europe  portal28  gives  access  to 
information on learning opportunities and qualifications offered in different education 
systems in Europe and on the comparison of national qualifications frameworks using 
the EQF. 
The EU Skills Panorama29 provides information on skills for different occupations and 
specific industries, including demand and supply at national level. 

(5) 

(6) 

(7) 

(8) 

(9) 

(10)  A European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations framework (ESCO) 
has  been piloted by the Commission  as  a common language and operational tool for 
education/training and work30. ESCO structures concepts that are relevant for the EU 
labour market and education and training in three interlinked pillars: i) occupations, ii) 
knowledge,  skills  and  competences  and  iii)  qualifications.  The  ESCO  pillars  can  be 
complemented  by  auxiliary  vocabularies  covering  related  domains,  such  as  work 
context, fields of education and training or economic sectors. 

(11)  Regulation (EU) 2016/589 of the European Parliament and of the Council31 establishes 
European  Employment  Services  (EURES),  a  network  of  employment  services  and  a 
mechanism for an automated matching of people to jobs through the EURES common 
IT  platform.  To  enable  the  exchange  and  the  matching  of  job  vacancies  with 

25 

26 

27 
28 
29 
30 

31 

Second evaluation of the Decision of the European Parliament and the Council on a single Community 
framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences (Europass), COM(2013) 899 final. 
The Diploma supplement is issued by higher education institutions according to standards agreed by the 
European Commission, the Council of Europe and UNESCO. 
OJ C 111, 6.5.2008, p. 1. 
https://ec.europa.eu/ploteus/ 
http://skillspanorama.cedefop.europa.eu/en 
The  Europe  2020  Strategy  announced  that  the  Commission  would  work  on  such  framework, 
Communication  from  the  Commission  on  "Europe  2020  -  A  strategy  for  smart,  sustainable  and 
inclusive growth", COM(2010) 2020 final. 
OJ L 107, 22.4.2016, p. 1. 

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17 

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candidates,  this  mechanism  needs  a  common  and  multilingual  list  of  skills, 
competences  and  occupations.  By  developing  ESCO  the  Commission  is  providing  a 
multilingual  classification  system  of  occupations,  skills  and  competences  and 
qualifications that is suited to this purpose.  

(12)  Labour  market  processes  such  as  publication  of  jobs,  job  applications,  skills 
assessments  and  recruitment  are  increasingly  managed  online  through  tools  that  use 
social media, big data and other technologies. Candidate selection is managed through 
tools  and  processes  that  seek  information  on  skills  and  qualifications  acquired  in 
formal, informal and non-formal settings.  

(13)  Education and training is increasingly offered in new forms and settings by a variety 
of  providers,  particularly  through  use  of  digital  technologies  and  platforms.  Equally, 
skills, experiences and learning achievements are acknowledged in different forms for 
example digital open badges. They are also known and used for skills gained through 
non-formal learning such as youth work. 

(14)  There is an acknowledged growing importance of transversal or 'soft' skills that can be 
applied in different fields. Individuals require tools and guidance on self-assessing and 
describing these and other skills, for example digital or language.  

(15)  Traditionally  information  on  acquired  skills  and  qualifications  is  presented  in  a  CV 
and  supporting  documents  such  as  certificates  or  diplomas.  Individuals  currently 
present  information  on  their  skills  and  qualifications  also  through  new  tools.  Such 
tools  facilitate  presentation  of  skills  and  qualifications  in  varied  online  and  digital 
formats and also support self-assessment by individuals of skills acquired in different 
settings. 

(16)  Analysis  of  vacancies,  and  other  labour  market  trends,  is  an  established  way  of 
developing skills intelligence to understand issues of skills gaps and shortages as well 
as qualifications mismatch. The use of information technology, such as web crawling 
and  big  data,  helps  to  improve  skills  intelligence  and  therefore  tackle  skills 
mismatches.  

(17)  The  current  focus  of  the  Europass  framework  on  documentation  is  too  limited  to 
respond  to  current  and  future  needs.  To  communicate  skills  and  qualifications  and 
make  decisions  on  employment  and  learning  opportunities  users  need  access  to 
relevant  information  and  tools  for  understanding  skills  and  qualifications  as  well  as 
tools for documenting their own skills and qualifications. 

(18)  Union  tools  and  services  for  skills  and  qualifications  should  adapt  to  changing 
practices  and  advances  in  technology  to  ensure  they  remain  relevant  and  of  value  to 
users. This should be achieved by, among other things, creating more synergy between 
related tools and services, including those developed by third parties, to offer a more 
comprehensive and effective service. 

(19)  The revised Europass framework approach should consider the needs of all potential 
users,  including  learners,  job  seekers,  workers,  employers,  guidance  practitioners, 
public  employment  services,  social  partners,  education  and  training  providers,  youth 
work organisations and policy makers. 

(20)  Services  should  be  provided  online  at  Union  level.  Services  should  also  include  the 
development  and  use  of  open  standards,  metadata  schemata  and  semantic  assets  to 
facilitate the effective exchange of information, appropriate authentication measures to 
ensure trust of digital documents, and skills intelligence and information. In addition, 

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support services at national level should promote and ensure access to a wide range of 
users, including third country nationals. 

(21)  The Europass framework established by Decision No 2241/2004/EC should therefore 

be replaced by a new framework to address evolving needs. 

(22)  EURES  is  a  cooperative  network  responsible  for  exchanging  information  and 
facilitating interaction among job seekers and employers. It provides free assistance to 
jobseekers  wishing  to  move  to  another  country  and  assists  employers  wishing  to 
recruit  workers  from  other  countries.  Synergies  and  co-operation  between  Europass 
and EURES should be ensured to reinforce the impact of both services. 

(23)  CV template(s), including the established Europass CV, and Qualification Supplement 
template(s) should form part of the Framework. Templates should be made available 
online. 

(24)  The  designation  of  National  Skills  Coordination  Points  as  the  main  interface  and 
beneficiary of Union funding will support simplified administration and reporting and 
can  support  a  greater  cooperation  and  coordination  between  national  services, 
including  the  existing National  Europass Centres, EQF National Coordination  Points 
and the Euroguidance network without prejudice to national arrangements in terms of 
implementation and organisation. 

(25)  Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 
on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on 
the  free  movement  of  such  data  and  Regulation  (EC)  No  45/2001  of  the  European 
Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals 
with  regard  to  the  processing  of  personal  data  by  the  Community  institutions  and 
bodies and on the free movement of such data, as well as the national implementing 
measures thereto, apply to the processing of personal data pursuant to this Decision. 

(26)  Participation in the new framework should be open to acceding States, countries of the 
European  Economic  Area,  potential  candidate  countries  and  candidate  countries  for 
accession  to  the  Union,  given  their  long-standing  interest  and  cooperation  with  the 
Union in this field. Participation should be in accordance with the relevant provisions 
in  the  instruments  governing  relations  between  the  Union  and  those  countries. 
Information on skills and qualifications provided through the Europass framework will 
come  from  a  wider  range  of  countries  and  education  systems  than  those  of 
participating countries and reflect migration movements from and to other parts of the 
world. 

(27)  The  Commission  will  guarantee  a  platform  of  cooperation  with  Member  States  and 
relevant  stakeholders  to  ensure  the  overall  coherence  of  implementation  and 
monitoring of this Decision. 

(28)  Since the objective of this Decision, namely the establishment of a comprehensive and 
interoperable  framework  of  tools,  services  and  information  for  employment  and 
learning purposes, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States alone but can 
rather,  by  reason  of  the  effects  of  the  action,  be  better  achieved  at  Union  level,  the 
Union  may  adopt  implementing  measures,  while  respecting  the  principle  of 
subsidiarity  as  set out  in Article  5 of the Treaty.  In  accordance with  the principle of 
proportionality,  as  set  out  in  that  Article,  this  Decision  does  not  go  beyond  what  is 
necessary in order to achieve that objective. 

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(29)  The  activities  carried  out  in  the  context  of  this  Decision  will  be  supported  by  the 
expertise  of  the  Union  agencies,  in  particular  by  the  European  Centre  for  the 
Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), in their domain of competence, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

Article 1 

Subject matter and scope 

1. 

2. 

3. 

This  Decision  establishes  a  European  framework,  comprising  web-based  tools, 
information and the development of open standards to support the transparency and 
understanding  of  skills  and  qualifications.  The  framework  shall  be  known  as 
‘Europass’. 

Europass shall be managed by the Commission and supported by the National Skills 
Coordination Points. 

The use of Europass shall not impose any obligations or confer any rights other than 
those defined in this Decision. 

Article 2 

Definitions 

For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions apply: 

(a) 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

(f) 

(g) 

(h) 

'certificate  supplement'  means  a  document  attached  to  a  vocational  certificate,  in 
order to make it easier for third parties to understand the learning outcomes acquired 
by  the  holder  of  the  qualification  as  well  as  the  nature,  level,  context,  content  and 
status of the studies completed; 

'diploma supplement' means a document attached to a higher education diploma, in 
order to make it easier for third parties to understand the learning outcomes acquired 
by  the  holder  of  the  qualification  as  well  as  the  nature,  level,  context,  content  and 
status of the studies completed; 

'Europass qualification supplement documents' means a set of documents, including 
the  diploma  supplement  and  certificate  supplement,  issued  by  the  competent 
authorities referred to in Article 5; 

'metadata' means data providing information about other data that is used in Europass 
documents; 

'metadata schemata' means a description of metadata elements, their possible values, 
the  obligation  level  of  the  values  and  the  relationships  between  these  metadata 
elements; 

'occupation'  means  a  grouping  of  jobs  involving  similar  tasks  and  which  require  a 
similar skill set; 

'organisations'  means  employers,  recruiters,  education  and  training  institutions,  and 
other stakeholders with an interest in education, training and employment issues; 

'qualification'  means  a  formal  outcome  of  an  assessment  and  validation  process 
which  is  obtained  when  a  competent  authority  determines  that  an  individual  has 
achieved learning outcomes to given standards; 

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(i) 

(j) 

(k) 

'semantic asset' means a collection of highly reusable metadata or reference data such 
as  code  lists,  taxonomies,  dictionaries  or  vocabularies  which  are  used  for  system 
development; 

'skills  assessment'  means  the  process  or  method  used  to  evaluate,  measure  and 
eventually  describe  the  skills  of  individuals.  This  may  include  self-assessment  or 
assessment certified by a third party; 

'standards'  means  recognized  agreements  on  criteria  or  specifications  of  a  product, 
service, process or method, including metadata schemata and semantic assets. 

Article 3 

Tools and information 

1. 

Europass shall provide the following web-based tools:  

(a) 

(b) 

tools  for  documenting  personal  information  in  a  variety  of  formats,  including 
curriculum vitae (CV) templates; 

tools  to  (self-)assess  individual  skills,  including  through  questionnaires,  by 
reference to established descriptions of skills or through the integration of data 
from other existing EU self-assessment tools such as the Youthpass; 

(c)  Europass Qualification Supplement template(s), as referred to in Article 5; 

(d) 

tools as necessary to support the presentation and exchange of information by 
organisations.  

2. 

Europass shall provide information on the following: 

(a) 

learning opportunities available; 

(b)  opportunities to validate non-formal and informal learning; 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

(f) 

recognition  practices  and  decisions  in  different  countries,  including  third 
countries, to help individuals and other stakeholders understand qualifications; 

services offering guidance for learning and career development; 

analysis  of  trends  in  skills  supply  and  demand  and  other  types  of  skills 
intelligence  including  at  geographical  and  sectoral  level,  using  technological 
means such as big data analysis and web crawling;  

any additional information on skills and qualifications that could be relevant to 
the  particular  needs  of  migrants  arriving  or  residing  in  the  Union  to  support 
their integration. 

3. 

Europass  shall  support  cooperation  on  the  development,  use  and  dissemination  of 
open standards, comprising metadata schemata and semantic assets, to facilitate more 
effective  exchange  of  information  on  skills  and  qualifications  at  EU  level  and  by 
Member  States  and  third  parties.  The  multilingual  classification  system  ESCO 
(European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations) referred to in article 
6 shall be used to support this work. 

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Article 4 

Main principles and features 

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 

The  information  and  open  standards  offered  through  Europass  shall  be  published, 
free  of  charge,  for  reuse  by  Member  States  and  other  stakeholders  on  a  voluntary 
basis.  

Europass shall seek to enhance transparency and understanding of learning acquired 
in  formal,  non-formal  and  informal  settings  and  through  practical  experiences, 
including mobility. 

Europass  shall  include  tools  to  facilitate  the  understanding  of  skills  through 
assessment by third parties and self-declaration by individuals.  

The  European  Qualifications  Framework  (EQF)  shall  be  used  as  a  supporting 
framework  to  provide  information  in  Europass.  The  EQF  will  be  referred  to  in 
information on qualifications, descriptions of national education and training systems 
and other relevant topics.  

Europass shall use the European Classification of Skills/Competences, Qualifications 
and Occupations (ESCO) established in Article 6 to ensure semantic interoperability 
between  the  tools  for  documentation  and  information.  ESCO  shall  also  provide  a 
platform for interoperability with other relevant services such as those developed by 
the labour market. 

The  Europass  framework  may  include  an  option  to  store  personal  information  by 
users, such as a personal profile.  

Europass  shall  support  authentication  services  for  any  digital  documents  or 
representations of information on skills and qualifications. 

Europass web-based tools shall be delivered in the official languages of the European 
Union. 

Europass  shall  be  updated  in  line  with  technological  advancements  as  well  as 
changes in labour markets and in the provision of education and training.  

10. 

Europass  shall  be  operated  to  support  and  ensure  synergies  with  other  instruments 
and  services  offered  at  Union  level  and  national  level.  The  development  of  open 
metadata  schemata  shall  be  compatible  with  the  technical  standards  applied  under 
Regulation (EU) 2016/589. 

Article 5 

Europass Qualification Supplement(s) 

1. 

Europass  Qualification  Supplement(s)  shall  be  issued  by  the  competent  national 
authorities  in  accordance  with  templates  developed  by  the  European  Commission 
and other stakeholders32 such as the Council of Europe and UNESCO. 

2. 

Europass Qualification Supplement templates shall be: 

32 

Current supplements are the Certificate Supplement and the Diploma Supplement. 

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(a) 

adhered to by the relevant national authorities when completing and issuing the 
supplements.  In  particular,  the  order  of  each  item  should  be  adhered  to  and 
each field must be completed to ensure ease of understanding and provision of 
complete information; 

(b)  made available through the Europass web tools; 

(c)  provided in the official languages of the European Union; 

(d) 

subject  to  regular  revisions  to  ensure  relevance  and  usability  of  the 
supplements. 

All Europass Qualification Supplement documents issued by authorised bodies shall 
be  issued  automatically  and  free  of  charge  in  electronic  form,  in  the  national 
language  and/or  in  a  major  European  language,  in  accordance  with  the  procedures 
agreed  between  the  issuing  bodies  and  the  National  Skills  Coordination  Points 
referred  to  in  Article  8  and  in  conformity  with  any  procedures  agreed  between  the 
European Commission and stakeholders.  

Article 6 

Classification of European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) 

The  Commission  shall  manage  a  multilingual  classification  of  concepts  that  are 
relevant for the EU labour  market and  education and training system known as  the 
classification  of  European  Skills,  Competences,  Qualifications  and  Occupations 
(ESCO).  

The  ESCO  classification  shall  directly  support  the  functioning  of  Europass  by 
providing a common reference language for exchanging information and documents 
on  skills  and  qualifications  and  for  the  purpose  of  job  searching,  job  matching, 
searching for education and training opportunities and providing learning and career 
guidance. 

3. 

1. 

2. 

Article 7 

Implementation and monitoring 

1. 

The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Member States: 

(a)  develop web-based tools for the operation of Europass; 

(b) 

(c) 

(d) 

ensure  that  adequate  promotion  and  information  activities  are  carried  out  at 
Union and national level in order to reach relevant users and stakeholders;  

regularly update Europass; 

regularly  update  the  ESCO  classification,  in  close  cooperation  with  Member 
States and with stakeholders, such as social partners, professional associations, 
education  and  training  institutes,  research  institutes,  statistics  institutes  and 
employment services. 

2. 

The  Commission  and  the  Member  States  shall  work  to  ensure  that  all  relevant 
stakeholders, at Union and national level, are involved in the implementation of this 
Decision.  

3. 

The Commission, in cooperation with Member States shall, in particular:  

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(a)  promote and monitor the effectiveness of Europass web-based tools and update 

and develop Europass services in line with user needs;  

(b)  monitor  the  effectiveness  of  support  for  development  of  open  standards, 

metadata schemata and semantic assets for interoperability; 

(c) 

(d) 

(e) 

(f) 

support  the  implementation  of  article  14  of  the  Regulation  (EU)  2016/589  in 
relation  to  the  ESCO  classification,  and  support  the  continuous  update  of 
ESCO; 

support  the  development  of  skills  intelligence,  including  anticipation  and 
forecasting; 

support the exchange of information on recognition practices and decisions; 

support the development of guidance policy and guidance services;  

(g)  monitor  the  activities  of  the  National  Skills  Coordination  Points,  the 
consistency  of  information  they  provide  for  the  analysis  of  trends  in  skills 
supply and demand, and the information provided on learning opportunities to 
the relevant portal at Union level; 

(h) 

set up peer reviews and best practice exchanges between Member States. 

4. 

The Commission shall report on progress following the adoption of this Decision, as 
appropriate,  in  the  context  of  relevant  education/training  and  employment  policy 
frameworks. 

Article 8 

Member States' role 

1. 

Each  Member  State  shall  be  responsible  for  the implementation  of  this  Decision  at 
national level. To this end, Member States shall: 

(a)  designate and manage, in accordance with national circumstances,  a National 
Skills Coordination Point, to support coordination and cooperation among the 
national services referred to in this Decision; 

(b) 

ensure, through the National Skills Coordination Point, the timely and effective 
provision of data and information available at national level for the updating of 
the Europass framework; 

(c)  provide  Europass  users  with  access  to  the  relevant  information  or  data 
available  within  the  Member  State,  in  particular  access  to  information  on 
learning opportunities, qualifications and qualification systems and to semantic 
assets on national level; 

(d)  provide an evidence base to support evaluation as described in article 10 of this 

Decision, in particular data on actual use of tools and user satisfaction. 

2. 

Each National Skills Coordination Point shall: 

(a) 

coordinate,  in  cooperation  with  the  relevant  national  bodies,  the  activities 
related to the implementation of Europass tools and services at national level;  

(b)  promote and provide information on guidance for learning and career purposes 
and  make  information  on  learning  opportunities  publicly  available  at  national 
level and in the Union web-based tool; 

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(c)  monitor  the  collection  and  dissemination  of  evidence  based  and  real-time 

information on skills at national and regional level; 

(d) 

(e) 

(f) 

(g) 

support  the  transparent  referencing  of  levels  of  qualifications  within  national 
qualifications  frameworks  to  the  EQF,  provide  information  on  the  EQF  to 
national  stakeholders  and  communicate  the  results  of  the  referencing  process 
and on qualifications to the Union web-based tool; 

support cooperation at national level among public and private stakeholders on 
skills related issues in economic sectors; 

involve all relevant stakeholders in the activities under their responsibility; 

implement  or  support  any  other  activities  as  agreed  by  the  Commission  and 
Member States at EU level. 

3. 

The National Skills Coordination Points shall be the beneficiary of Union financing 
awarded for the implementation of this Decision. 

Article 9 

Data processing and protection 

The measures provided for in this Decision shall be carried out in accordance with EU law on 
protection  of  personal  data,  in  particular  Directive  95/46/EC  and  Regulation  (EC)  No 
45/200133. 

Article 10 

Evaluation 

1. 

2. 

1. 

2. 

33 

Within five years of the entry into force of this Decision, and then every five years 
thereafter, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council 
an evaluation report on the implementation of this Decision. 

The evaluation shall be carried out by an independent body based on qualitative and 
quantitative indicators to be agreed by the Commission and the Member States. 

Article 11 

Participating countries 

Participation in the activities referred to in this Decision shall be open to Acceding 
States and to non-EU countries of the European Economic Area in accordance with 
the conditions laid down in the EEA Agreement.  

Participation shall also be open to the candidate countries for accession to the Union 
and potential candidate countries in accordance with their European Agreements. 

Regulation  (EU)  2016/679  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  27  April  2016  on  the 
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of 
such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, 
p. 1). 

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Article 12 

Financial provisions 

The implementation of this Decision shall be co-financed through Union programmes. Annual 
appropriations  shall  be  authorised  by  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  within  the 
limits of the financial framework. 

Article 13 

Repeal 

Decision No. 2241/2004/EC is repealed. 

Article 14 

Entry into force 

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in 
the Official Journal of the European Union. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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