Single Community framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences (Europass)

The Commission presents the 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) (for the results of the first evaluation, please refer to the summary dated 04/07/2008 on the current procedure reference.)

Objectives of Europass and main conclusions of the evaluation: established in 2005, Europass helps learners and workers make their competencies and knowledge better understood across Europe through tools to register and make their skills and qualifications transparent. However, some of its present tools need adapting to address the challenges posed by the expectations and needs of today’s learners and evolving labour markets.

The report analyses the achievements of the Europass framework on the basis of the external evaluation of Europass carried out in 2012. It stresses that the original objectives remain relevant, in particular to the Education and Training 2020 Strategic Framework for European cooperation (Education and Training 2020). Europass supports the movement of learners and workers for lifelong learning or work by allowing skills, qualifications and learning outcomes to be compared. Europass, and in particular the Europass CV, has established itself as a well-recognised, well-trusted brand for transparency and recognition, in Europe and beyond. Figures from March 2013 indicate that more than 27 million Europass CVs were completed on-line since its launch in 2005. Evaluation data also show that most Europass tools still do not fully reach large groups of potential users. At present Europass users tend to be young, female and highly educated. Better coordination with services providing career guidance and their integration within the Europass framework, would enable large groups to be targeted — such as low-skilled unemployed people, who often lack the necessary skills to complete the Europass documents or who may find them too complex or confusing.

Other improvements necessary include enhanced convergence with other European reference tools and better interoperability of Europass IT tools with EU tools used for job matching.

In order to address such shortcomings, the current Europass structure should be changed into a simpler, more target-oriented and up-to-date service, whilst maintaining its original aim of comparability and transparency of skills and qualifications to improve the geographical and occupational mobility of learners and workers. Revisiting Europass is becoming even more urgent as several private, local and/or national initiatives with similar objectives are in the process of being developed, in particular in electronic form such as e-portfolios.

Development and operational proposals: the report states that there is a clear need to adapt the current Europass tools to more flexible and learner-oriented learning pathways, which should exploit the potential of modern technologies. It should retain existing users and attract new ones, in particular low skilled individuals.

To achieve this, a new Europass legal basis, permitting regular updates and adjustments of these tools, may be needed.

The report discusses the following possible developments:

·        improved synergies between Europass and other European initiatives: Europass could focus on providing interactive tools for the transparency of skills and qualifications, bringing the different European networks, information services and other tools currently concerned with skills and qualifications together under a single entry point;

·        Europass as an instrument to facilitate flexible learning pathways, meeting the needs of individuals: this could be done through facilitating the interoperability of European credit transfer systems, such as ECTS and ECVET, between education and training levels and across countries or taking into account validating non-formal and informal learning with Youthpass;

·        improving the interoperability of Europass with EU tools used for job matching, for example through link the Europass CV tool with the EURES CV database.

The Commission will discuss the conclusions presented in this report with relevant stakeholders during the public debate on the European Area of Skills and Qualifications in winter 2013/2014. Based on the conclusions of this debate, the Commission may consider proposing a revision of the current legal basis of Europass.