PURPOSE: to modernise EU tools and services in the area of skills and qualifications (Europass).

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Decision (EU) 2018/646 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.

CONTENT: the Decision establishes a new Europass framework , the purpose of which is to support the transparency and understanding of skills and qualifications acquired in formal, non-formal and informal settings, including through practical experiences, mobility and volunteering.

Purpose : the new Europass framework shall offer:

a wider range of services such as an enhanced tool for creating CVs and skills profiles in a user-friendly manner; free self-assessment tools to help individuals evaluate their skills; tailored information on learning opportunities across Europe; and information and support to help individuals secure recognition of their qualifications.

Europass shall consist of web-based tools and relevant available information , provided through an online platform and supported by national services intended to help users to better communicate and present skills and qualifications and to compare qualifications.

Europass aims is to reach all potential users from those with lower levels of education, people with disabilities, older people and the long-term unemployed to highly educated people with strong digital literacy. It shall continue to evolve over time in line with users' needs and in order to make the most effective use of technological developments. The new Europass framework shall also link in with other EU tools and services covering labour and education and training systems such as the EURES job mobility portal in order to allow for an easier exchange of information and data, as well as more available services for end-users.

Online platform : Europass shall provide, through an online platform, web-based tools for:

documenting personal information in a variety of formats, including curriculum vitae (CV) templates; documenting skills and qualifications acquired through working and learning experiences, including through mobility and volunteering; the assessment of skills and self-assessment of skills; documenting the learning outcomes of qualifications, including the Europass supplement templates which will be developed and revised by the Commission, in close cooperation with Member States and other stakeholders such as the Council of Europe and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

Europass supplements will be issued free of charge and, where possible, in electronic form. They will not replace original diplomas or certificates and will not amount to formal recognition of the original diploma or certificate by competent authorities of other countries.

Europass web-based tools shall: (i) use open standards to be made available free of charge for reuse by Member States and other stakeholders on a voluntary basis; (ii) ensure technical interoperability and synergies with other relevant instruments and services offered at Union and, where appropriate, national levels; (iii) be delivered in the official languages of the institutions of the Union.

The Europass online platform may include an option for users to store personal data such as a personal profile. Union data protection law shall apply to the processing of such personal data. National implementing measures should apply to the processing of personal data stored and processed in accordance with the Decision.

The Commission’s tasks : the Commission shall manage the Europass online platform. In that regard it shall: (i) ensure the availability and high quality of Union-level information; (ii) test and, when necessary, update the Europass online platform, including open standards, in line with user needs and technological advancements as well as changes in labour markets and in the provision of education and training; (iii) keep up to date with and incorporate the latest technological developments that can improve the accessibility of Europass for older persons and persons with disabilities; (iv) ensure that any web-based tools, in particular tools for assessment and self-assessment, are fully tested and quality-assured.

Role of Member States: the latter shall: (i) promote the use and strengthen the awareness and visibility of Europass; (ii) make information on learning opportunities, qualifications and recognition practices available on the Europass online platform; (iii) involve stakeholders from all relevant sectors in the activities under their responsibility.

Financing: co-funding for the implementation of the Decision is provided, inter alia, by the Union programme Erasmus+, as established by Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

The revision of the Europass decision is part of the New Skills Agenda for Europe .

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 22.5.2018.

The European Parliament adopted by 587 to 37 with 20 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the 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.

Parliament’s position adopted in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure amended the Commission proposal as follows:

Purpose and scope : the proposed decision would establish a European framework (Europass) to support the transparency and understanding of skills and qualifications acquired in formal, non-formal and informal settings, including through practical experiences, mobility and volunteering).

Europass shall consist of web-based tools and relevant available information, provided through an online platform and supported by national services intended to help users to better communicate and present skills and qualifications and to compare qualifications.

Europass shall be targeted at:

individual end-users, such as learners, job seekers, workers and volunteers, and relevant stakeholders, such as education and training providers, guidance practitioners, employers, public employment services, social partners, youth work providers, youth organisations and policy makers.

The use of Europass shall be voluntary.

Main principles and features: the Europass online platform and web-based tools, including their content and functionality, shall be: (i) user-friendly and secure and be made available free-of-charge to all users; (ii) accessible to persons with disabilities .

Europass web-based tools shall: (i) use open standards to be made available free of charge for reuse by Member States and other stakeholders on a voluntary basis; (ii) ensure technical interoperability and synergies with other relevant instruments and services offered at Union and, where appropriate, national levels; (iii) be delivered in the official languages of the institutions of the Union.

The Europass online platform may include an option for users to store personal data such as a personal profile. Union data protection law shall apply to the processing of such personal data. National implementing measures should apply to the processing of personal data stored and processed in accordance with the Decision.

Europass supplements : these shall ensure ease of understanding and the provision of complete information. They shall be issued free of charge and, where possible, in electronic form, in the national language and, where possible, in another European language. Europass supplements shall not replace original diplomas or certificates and shall not amount to formal recognition of the original diploma or certificate by competent authorities or bodies of other countries.

The Commission’s tasks : the Commission shall manage the Europass online platform. In that regard it shall: (i) ensure the availability and high quality of Union-level information; (ii) test and, when necessary, update the Europass online platform, including open standards, in line with user needs and technological advancements as well as changes in labour markets and in the provision of education and training; (iii) keep up to date with and incorporate the latest technological developments that can improve the accessibility of Europass for older persons and persons with disabilities; (iv) ensure that any web-based tools, in particular tools for assessment and self-assessment, are fully tested and quality-assured.

Furthermore, the Commission shall ensure the active participation and involvement of Member States in strategic planning, development, testing, updating and evaluation of the Europass online platform.

Role of Member States : the latter shall: (i) promote the use and strengthen the awareness and visibility of Europass; (ii) make information on learning opportunities, qualifications and recognition practices available on the Europass online platform; (iii) involve stakeholders from all relevant sectors in the activities under their responsibility.

Updates and changes to the Europass framework should be made in cooperation with relevant stakeholders, such as employment services, guidance practitioners, education and training providers, the social partners such as trade unions and employers' associations, and in full respect of ongoing political co-operation, such as the Bologna Process in the European Higher Education Area.

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, in conjunction with the Committee on Culture and Education, adopted the report by Thomas MANN (EPP, DE) and Svetoslav Hristov MALINOV (EPP, BG) on the 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.

The committees recommended that the European Parliament's position adopted at first reading in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows.

Purpose and scope : the Europass framework, based on a portfolio of documents, would be voluntary and personal and shall:

make qualifications and competences transparent and interoperable within and between the Member States; facilitate, through accessible web-based tools, information and the development of open standards, transparency and understanding across Member States of the skills and qualifications acquired through formal, non-formal and information learning and through practical experiences, including mobility.

Those web-based tools and that information are intended to help users better communicate and present their skills and qualifications. Europass shall be managed by the Commission, in a way that respects the structures and administrative arrangements of Member States.

Tools and information : Europass shall make available, in an accessible way:

tools for documenting and describing skills and qualifications acquired through working and learning experiences, including cross-border mobility ; tools to (self) assess individual skills, in the broadest manner possible, through validated methods, including through questionnaires, by reference to established descriptions of skills or through the integration of data from other existing aligned and synchronised EU self-assessment tools such as the Youthpass and other recognised (self-)assessment tools, created and used by youth organisations such as digital learning badges; Europass Diploma and Certificate Qualification Supplements.

Europass may also provide, in cooperation with the Member States:

information on qualifications and qualifications frameworks as well as on recognition laws, practices and decisions in different Member States, an in third countries; additional information to meet the particular needs of third-country nationals arriving or residing in the Union by legal means.

Assessment tools shall undergo a quality assurance process before being integrated in Europass.

In addition, Europass web-based tools shall be delivered in all official languages of the European Union, shall be interoperable and secure , and shall be accessible to persons with disabilities . Europass shall ensure the protection of the data of its users at all times. The user shall decide what information is visible and searchable for employers and users.

Europass Certification Supplement(s) : Members state that any developments in this area should take into account and be in line with the results of the work of the Bologna Follow Up Group’s Advisory Group on Revision of Diploma Supplement.

European Classification of Skills, Competencies, Qualifications and Occupations framework (ESCO) : as this is an ongoing project, ESCO is an instrument that has not been fully developed or tested nor approved by the Member States. Therefore, Members considered that the ESCO classification cannot be considered as a basis for a Europass reference terminology.

Implementation and follow-up : the Commission should keep abreast of the new knowledge on websites and mobile applications that can improve the accessibility of Europass for older people and persons with disabilities.

Role of Member States : these shall ensure the visibility and promotion at national level of Europass through education and training bodies and other stakeholders in the area of education, training and employment.

PURPOSE: to modernise EU tools and services in the area of skills and qualifications (Europass).

PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure on an equal footing with Council.

BACKGROUND: the single European framework for the transparency of skills and qualifications (Europass) was established by Decision No. 2241/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. Europass consisted of a set of documents comprising a Europass portfolio:

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 (i) the Europass Diploma Supplement and (ii) 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 evaluation of the Europass framework ( in 2008 and in 2013 ) 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 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 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.

Accordingly, the Commission considers it necessary to establish a new framework , 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 the EURES (European Employment Services) network.

The proposed decision is one of the initiatives of the New Skills Agenda for Europe .

CONTENT: the proposal to revise Decision 2241/2004/EC aims to 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.

Improved service offered by the new Europass framework : Europass will be comprised of the following web tools:

the CV tool would allow for presentation of different kinds of personal data and information on skills and qualifications in a variety of fields and formats : 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. 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; tools to (self-)assess individual skills , such as digits skills, through questionnaires, or by reference to established descriptions of skills or through the integration of data from other existing EU self-assessment tools such as the Youthpass.

Along with tools for documentation and (self-) assessment, the proposed framework will also provide relevant information on (i) qualifications, (ii) learning opportunities, (iii) career guidance facilities, (iv) qualifications recognition practices and skills intelligence, (v) 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. Users will access this information in a simple and seamless way.

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 and allow interoperability of services.

Main principles inspiring the new framework : the proposal aims to 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. Europass will be offered in all EU official languages.

Classification of European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) : the proposal establishes this as a common reference language to support exchange of information and documents on occupations, skills and qualifications and search electronic documents. Using a common terminology will make search operations easier and support better exploitation of current technology such as web crawling.

Roles of Member States : the proposal sets out 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 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. Relevant data and evidence available at national level are provided to feed into and update Europass tools.

Measures provided for in the decision shall be carried out in accordance with EU law on protection of personal data.

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 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 Erasmus+ Work programme for 2016 includes activities to develop web services for skills and qualifications for an estimated amount of EUR 2 500 000 to cover this investment. There will be no financial implications for Member States, or participating countries, from this development work. This activity will be supported by Union budget, as is currently the case.