COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience
Date: 2020-07-01
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
Subjects: competitiveness, cooperation in the field of education, digital single market, education policy, epidemic, infectious disease, labour market, sustainable development, updating of skills, vocational education

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 1.7.2020  SWD(2020) 122 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience {COM(2020) 274 final} - {SWD(2020) 121 final}  
 
 
The  Recommendation  is  an  element  of  European  cooperation  in  the  area  of  lifelong 
learning. It aims at ensuring that individuals who developed skills through non-formal and 
informal  learning  can  have  them  validated  and  use  them  for  their  careers  and  further 
learning. 

1.  Scope and method 

The  geographic  scope  includes  all  EU  Member  States.  The  Recommendation  asked 
Member States to take action no later than 2018, therefore the evaluation covers the period 
from the adoption of the Recommendation (end of 2012) to 2018 included. 

2.  Main findings and lessons learnt 

The  evaluation  covers  the  five  criteria  set  out  by  the  Better  Regulation  guidelines.  The 
evaluation has drawn lessons, upon which  further action  could build to better pursue 
the  goals  of  the  Recommendation,  to  provide  more  people  with  access  to  validation 
opportunities, enabling them to access further learning and to put their skills to good use 
in European society and labour market. 

Analysis of the effectiveness  shows that the ambitious objectives of the Recommendation 
have  not  been  fully  achieved,  but  there  is  evidence  of  significant  –  albeit  fragmented  – 
progress  since  2012.  All  Member  States  have  taken  action  by  2018,  using  to  a  large 
extent the principles suggested. However, the main  lesson to  be drawn is  that providing 
more  validation  opportunities  is  not  enough,  providing  support  to  individuals  is 
necessary. In 2012 it was pragmatic to focus on providing “more opportunities”; in 2018 
it is necessary to open up opportunities and support individuals to actually take advantage 
of  them.  A  related  major  lesson  is  that  to  make  opportunities  available  to  everybody, 
provision  of  validation  opportunities  needs  to  be  an  element  of  a  comprehensive  skills 
strategy, along with education and training, guidance and qualification policy.  

A  comprehensive  and  coherent  validation  provision  based  on  wide  stakeholders’ 
cooperation  would  be  both  more  effective  –  through  better  visibility,  wider  reach  out, 
operational synergies – and more efficient, by distributing burdens, sharing facilities and 
mutual  learning.  In  particular,  closer  cooperation  and  effective  coordination  between 
providers  of  guidance  and  validation  would  promote  take-up  in  general  and  improve 
effective tailoring of validation initiatives addressing disadvantaged groups. 

The objectives and measures of the Recommendation are considered still fully relevant in 
the current socio-economic situation. Their general coherence with the policy context is 
also  acknowledged,  although  coordination  with  policy  tools  at  operational  level  could 
improve.  It  would  be  possible  to  increase  relevance  and  coherence  though  coordinated 
implementation  of  validation  and  national  qualification  frameworks.  While  well 
established  in  the  Recommendation,  and  effectively  pursued  through  the  EQF  advisory 
group,  the  link  between  validation  and  qualification  frameworks  needs  to  develop  in  its 
practical implementation. 

The EU added value is most visible in the higher policy profile and increased practice of 
validation  observed  to  different  degrees  in  all  Member  States,  in  some  of  which  it  is 
recognised  that  national  action  alone  would  not  have  achieved  the  same  results.  The 

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current level of information is clearly not enough. Systematic information collection on 
validation is necessary. With a proper information basis, it would be possible to agree on 
indicators, monitor progress and better assess the added value of the initiative.  

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