The Pact for Skills: mobilising all partners to invest in skills

Commissioners Schmit and Breton have officially launched the Pact for Skills, a central element of the European Skills Agenda. They have also announced the first European skills partnerships in key industrial ecosystems – automotive, microelectronics, and aerospace and defence industries.

Skills are central to our recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and for mastering the digital and green transitions. Businesses, large and small, need skilled people to innovate and grow. Yet, mismatches and shortages in skills are increasing, while a large number of people are at risk of unemployment. Only by joining the forces of all relevant partners can we make substantial progress in meeting Europe’s skills needs.

The Pact for Skills promotes joint action to maximise the impact of investing in improving existing skills (upskilling) and training in new skills (reskilling). It calls on industry, employers, social partners, chambers of commerce, public authorities, education and training providers and employment agencies to work together and make a clear commitment to invest in training for all working age people across the Union.

Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said: “European talent is at the heart of our industrial resilience and will be the engine for the recovery from the pandemic. As the twin green and digital transitions are gathering speed, we want to equip all Europeans with the right skills. Today, we are announcing first skills partnerships in three industrial ecosystems: automotive, microelectronics and aerospace and defence. More will follow. The launch of the Pact for Skills is just the beginning of our European skills offensive.”

Boosting joint action to maximise impact

The Pact for Skills is accompanied by a Charter outlining a shared vision from industry, social partners, vocational education and training (VET) providers, national, regional and local authorities as regards quality training. To ensure that the Pact is created together with the relevant stakeholders, Commissioner Breton and Commissioner Schmit already kicked-off a series of high-level roundtables with representatives of industrial ecosystems, regional and national authorities, education and social partners and education and training providers. More such roundtables will follow in the coming weeks.

Drawing on these fruitful discussions with a selection of industries, the Pact sets up large-scale partnerships in strategic industrial ecosystems heavily affected by the current crisis and the priority areas identified in the European Green Deal to achieve ambitious commitments. The first European skills partnerships in key industrial ecosystems have now been announced, with more to follow in the coming months:

• Aerospace and defence: The ambition is to upskill around 6% of the workforce each year reaching 200,000 people, and to reskill 300,000 people to enter the ecosystem representing a public and private investment of €1bn over the next ten years.