|
Brussels, |
|
"EU declared that everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and life-long learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market".
The European Skills Agenda
Click to read
The European Skills Agenda is a five-year plan to help individuals and businesses develop more and better skills and to put them to use, by:
Then, the Covid 19 pandemic has accelerated this need, as millions of people in the EU have lost their jobs or suffered a significant loss of income. Many will need to acquire new skills and move on to new jobs in a different sector of the economy. Others will need to improve skills to keep their jobs in a new work environment. For young people, entering the labor market became very challenging.
The new European Skills Agenda builds upon the ten actions of the Commission’s 2016 Skills Agenda and It also links to the European Digital Strategy, the Industrial and Small and Medium Enterprise Strategy, the Recovery Plan for Europe and the actions to support for youth employment
The European Skills Agenda includes 12 actions organised around four building blocks:
- strengthening sustainable competitiveness
- ensuring social fairness, putting into practice the first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights: access to education, training and lifelong learning for everybody, everywhere in the EU
- building resilience to react to crises, based on the lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic
Then, the Covid 19 pandemic has accelerated this need, as millions of people in the EU have lost their jobs or suffered a significant loss of income. Many will need to acquire new skills and move on to new jobs in a different sector of the economy. Others will need to improve skills to keep their jobs in a new work environment. For young people, entering the labor market became very challenging.
The new European Skills Agenda builds upon the ten actions of the Commission’s 2016 Skills Agenda and It also links to the European Digital Strategy, the Industrial and Small and Medium Enterprise Strategy, the Recovery Plan for Europe and the actions to support for youth employment
The European Skills Agenda includes 12 actions organised around four building blocks:
- A call to join forces in a collective action:
- Action 1: A Pact for Skills
- Action 1: A Pact for Skills
- Actions to ensure that people have the right skills for jobs:
- Action 2: Strengthening skills intelligence
- Action 3: EU support for strategic national upskilling action
- Action 4: Proposal for a Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET)
- Action 5: Rolling out the European Universities Initiative and upskilling scientists
- Action 6: Skills to support the twin transitions
- Action 7: Increasing STEM graduates and fostering entrepreneurial and transversal skills
- Action 8: Skills for life
- Action 2: Strengthening skills intelligence
- Tools and initiatives to support people in their lifelong learning pathways:
- Action 9: Initiative on individual learning accounts
- Action 10: A European approach to micro-credentials
- Action 11: New Europass platform
- A framework to unlock investments in skills:
- Action 12: Improving the enabling framework to unlock Member States’ and private investments in skills
Objectives
The European Skills Agenda sets objectives to be achieved by 2025, based on quantitative indicators covering adult learning, access to training for low-qualified and unemployed adults, and basic digital skills.
These targets show that Europe’s skills challenge is not only about advanced technologies or specialist occupations. It is also about whether lifelong learning can become accessible, measurable and socially inclusive across the labour market.
The Agenda is framed around sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, linking skills policy to the European Green Deal, the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European Digital Strategy, the Industrial and SME Strategy, the Recovery Plan for Europe, and EU initiatives on youth employment.
These targets show that Europe’s skills challenge is not only about advanced technologies or specialist occupations. It is also about whether lifelong learning can become accessible, measurable and socially inclusive across the labour market.
The Agenda is framed around sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, linking skills policy to the European Green Deal, the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European Digital Strategy, the Industrial and SME Strategy, the Recovery Plan for Europe, and EU initiatives on youth employment.
Skills Agenda 2025: four benchmarks for Europe’s learning transition
The European Skills Agenda sets objectives to be achieved by 2025, based on quantitative indicators covering adult learning, access to training for low-qualified and unemployed adults, and basic digital skills.
| Indicator | 2025 objective | Latest level available | Required increase | Policy meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participation of adults aged 25–64 in learning during the last 12 months | 50% | 39.5% / 2022 | +27% | Lifelong learning must become a standard feature of working life, not only a response to unemployment or crisis. |
| Participation of low-qualified adults aged 25–64 in learning during the last 12 months | 30% | 18.4% / 2022 | +63% | The largest gap concerns people most exposed to labour-market exclusion, automation risk and weak career mobility. |
| Share of unemployed adults aged 25–64 with a recent learning experience | 20% | 14.1% / 2023 | +42% | Training must be more closely integrated into active labour-market policies and re-employment pathways. |
| Share of adults aged 16–74 with at least basic digital skills | 70% | 55.6% / 2023 | +26% | Digital inclusion remains a structural condition for employability, access to services and participation in society. |
Editorial comment: These figures show that Europe’s skills policy is becoming a central component of employment policy, social inclusion and competitiveness. The most demanding benchmark is the participation of low-qualified adults, where the required increase is much higher than for the general adult population.
The Funding of the European Skills Agenda
Funding the European Skills Agenda: EU investment in people and skills
The European Skills Agenda underlines that a large-scale investment effort is needed to support skills development across Europe. Alongside enterprise and national public funding, the EU budget prioritises investment in people and their skills. The Recovery Plan for Europe also supports skills-related activities, while the Commission works with national authorities and the European Investment Bank to explore mechanisms that can unlock additional public and private investment.
| EU programme / instrument | Investment in skills (€ billion) |
Policy role |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) | 67.7 | Supports recovery-oriented reforms and investments, including skills-related activities connected to resilience, digitalisation and labour-market transformation. |
| European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) | 42.0 | Acts as the main EU social investment instrument for employment, inclusion, upskilling and access to training. |
| Erasmus+ | 26.1 | Supports education, training, mobility, cooperation and skills development across learning systems. |
| European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), including Interreg | 8.7 | Contributes to territorial development, regional skills capacity and cross-border cooperation, including through Interreg. |
| InvestEU | 2.8 | Helps mobilise investment and financing for projects that can include human capital, skills and innovation capacity. |
| Just Transition Fund (JTF) | 3.1 | Supports regions affected by the climate transition, including reskilling and upskilling for workers in transition. |
| European Globalisation Adjustment Fund | 1.1 | Provides support for workers affected by restructuring and globalisation-related shocks, including retraining and reintegration measures. |
| Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) | 0.8 | Can support integration pathways, including skills recognition, learning and participation in host labour markets. |
| European Solidarity Corps | 0.8 | Supports youth participation, solidarity activities and non-formal learning experiences. |
| Digital Europe | 0.5 | Targets digital capacity, advanced digital skills and Europe’s ability to respond to technological transformation. |
| Technical Support Instrument (TSI) | 0.024 | Provides technical support to Member States for reforms, including reforms linked to skills systems and public administration capacity. |
| EU4Health Programme | 0.016 | Includes limited skills-related support in the health policy area, particularly where workforce capacity and resilience are relevant. |
| Total EU investment in skills | 153.64 | Combined EU-level contribution to skills-related priorities under the European Skills Agenda. |
Editorial comment: The funding structure shows that skills policy is not financed through a single instrument, but through a broad EU investment architecture. The largest contribution comes from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, followed by ESF+ and Erasmus+. This confirms that skills are treated as both a social-policy priority and a competitiveness issue: they are linked to employment, inclusion, regional development, digital transformation, industrial adaptation and the green transition.
Source: European Commission, European Skills Agenda – Funding section. Note: the Commission page specifies that resources from the Recovery and Resilience Facility specifically for skills investment could not yet be estimated.
Council Recommendation on vocational education and training
On 24 November 2020, the Council delivered a Recommendation 2020/C 417/01 on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience.
It updates the European framework for VET in response to labour-market transformation, the green and digital transitions, demographic change and the need for stronger resilience after economic and social shocks.
The core message is that VET should no longer be seen only as an initial pathway for young people entering specific occupations. It should become a flexible, lifelong system supporting young people, adults, workers, jobseekers and vulnerable groups throughout their careers. VET is presented as a strategic instrument for employability, competitiveness, innovation and social inclusion.
The Recommendation calls on Member States to modernise VET systems so that they are more agile, labour-market relevant and learner-centred. Programmes should combine occupation-specific skills with broader key competences, including digital, green, entrepreneurial and transversal skills. Curricula should be updated regularly through skills intelligence, graduate tracking, labour-market forecasting and close cooperation with employers, social partners and training providers.
A major recommendation concerns work-based learning and apprenticeships. Member States are encouraged to expand high-quality apprenticeships and practical learning opportunities, making them a central part of VET provision. This is linked to youth employment, smoother school-to-work transitions and stronger cooperation between education systems and companies.
The text also stresses the need for flexible and modular pathways. VET should allow learners to progress, reskill and upskill throughout life, including through short modules, blended learning, online provision and recognition of non-formal and informal learning. This approach is important for adults who need to adapt to technological change or move between sectors.
Another key priority is inclusion. VET systems should be accessible to low-qualified adults, people with disabilities, migrants, minorities, people in rural areas and others at risk of exclusion. The Recommendation also highlights the need to address gender stereotypes in occupations and improve access to digital learning infrastructure.
The Council sets three EU-level objectives for 2025: at least 82% of VET graduates should be employed, 60% of recent VET graduates should benefit from work-based learning, and 8% of VET learners should take part in learning mobility abroad.
Finally, the Recommendation asks the Commission to support Member States through EU funding, peer learning, quality assurance, Centres of Vocational Excellence, apprenticeships, micro-credentials, Europass, skills intelligence and cooperation with social partners. Overall, it frames VET as a key pillar of Europe’s response to future skills needs, industrial change and social fairness.
Click here to read the Recommendation
It updates the European framework for VET in response to labour-market transformation, the green and digital transitions, demographic change and the need for stronger resilience after economic and social shocks.
The core message is that VET should no longer be seen only as an initial pathway for young people entering specific occupations. It should become a flexible, lifelong system supporting young people, adults, workers, jobseekers and vulnerable groups throughout their careers. VET is presented as a strategic instrument for employability, competitiveness, innovation and social inclusion.
The Recommendation calls on Member States to modernise VET systems so that they are more agile, labour-market relevant and learner-centred. Programmes should combine occupation-specific skills with broader key competences, including digital, green, entrepreneurial and transversal skills. Curricula should be updated regularly through skills intelligence, graduate tracking, labour-market forecasting and close cooperation with employers, social partners and training providers.
A major recommendation concerns work-based learning and apprenticeships. Member States are encouraged to expand high-quality apprenticeships and practical learning opportunities, making them a central part of VET provision. This is linked to youth employment, smoother school-to-work transitions and stronger cooperation between education systems and companies.
The text also stresses the need for flexible and modular pathways. VET should allow learners to progress, reskill and upskill throughout life, including through short modules, blended learning, online provision and recognition of non-formal and informal learning. This approach is important for adults who need to adapt to technological change or move between sectors.
Another key priority is inclusion. VET systems should be accessible to low-qualified adults, people with disabilities, migrants, minorities, people in rural areas and others at risk of exclusion. The Recommendation also highlights the need to address gender stereotypes in occupations and improve access to digital learning infrastructure.
The Council sets three EU-level objectives for 2025: at least 82% of VET graduates should be employed, 60% of recent VET graduates should benefit from work-based learning, and 8% of VET learners should take part in learning mobility abroad.
Finally, the Recommendation asks the Commission to support Member States through EU funding, peer learning, quality assurance, Centres of Vocational Excellence, apprenticeships, micro-credentials, Europass, skills intelligence and cooperation with social partners. Overall, it frames VET as a key pillar of Europe’s response to future skills needs, industrial change and social fairness.
Click here to read the Recommendation
Pact for skills
The Pact for Skills is one of the flagship actions of the European Skills Agenda.
Its purpose is to bring together public and private organisations and encourage them to make concrete commitments to the upskilling and reskilling of adults. In policy terms, the Pact translates the broad EU skills agenda into a more operational model based on cooperation, sectoral partnerships and shared responsibility.
The central idea is that skills policy cannot be delivered by public authorities alone.
The Pact is open to a wide range of actors, including national, regional and local authorities, companies, social partners, sectoral and cross-industry organisations, chambers of commerce, education and training providers, and employment services. This broad membership structure reflects a key policy assumption: skills mismatches emerge at the intersection of labour demand, training systems, regional economies and individual career paths. For this reason, the Pact promotes collective action rather than isolated training initiatives.
Members commit to a Charter built around four principles:
These principles are significant because they connect skills policy with both competitiveness and social inclusion. The Pact is not only about producing more technically qualified workers for the green and digital transitions. It is also about ensuring that access to learning is fair, continuous and responsive to changing labour-market needs.
The Pact offers three main services, through the Networking Hub. Members can:
The Knowledge Hub supports peer learning, webinars, seminars and access to policy updates, tools and good practices. The Guidance Hub provides information on EU and national funding opportunities and guidance on working with public authorities.
Analytically, the Pact’s value lies in its function as a coordination platform. It does not replace national education systems or company-level training, but it can reduce fragmentation by aligning employers, public authorities and training providers around common skills priorities. Its emphasis on partnerships is particularly relevant for industrial ecosystems undergoing structural change, such as green technologies, digital services, advanced manufacturing, social economy, health, transport and energy.
The main challenge is implementation. Voluntary commitments can create momentum, but their effectiveness depends on measurable outcomes, sustained investment, quality of training and the capacity to reach workers who are least likely to participate in adult learning. The Pact will therefore be most useful where it moves beyond networking and becomes a mechanism for matching real labour-market demand with accessible, inclusive and well-funded reskilling pathways.
Its purpose is to bring together public and private organisations and encourage them to make concrete commitments to the upskilling and reskilling of adults. In policy terms, the Pact translates the broad EU skills agenda into a more operational model based on cooperation, sectoral partnerships and shared responsibility.
The central idea is that skills policy cannot be delivered by public authorities alone.
The Pact is open to a wide range of actors, including national, regional and local authorities, companies, social partners, sectoral and cross-industry organisations, chambers of commerce, education and training providers, and employment services. This broad membership structure reflects a key policy assumption: skills mismatches emerge at the intersection of labour demand, training systems, regional economies and individual career paths. For this reason, the Pact promotes collective action rather than isolated training initiatives.
Members commit to a Charter built around four principles:
- promoting lifelong learning for all
- building strong skills partnerships
- monitoring skills supply and demand while anticipating future needs
- working against discrimination while supporting gender equality and equal opportunities
These principles are significant because they connect skills policy with both competitiveness and social inclusion. The Pact is not only about producing more technically qualified workers for the green and digital transitions. It is also about ensuring that access to learning is fair, continuous and responsive to changing labour-market needs.
The Pact offers three main services, through the Networking Hub. Members can:
- identify partners
- use relevant EU tools such as Europass, EURES and the European Network of Public Employment Services
- promote their own activities
The Knowledge Hub supports peer learning, webinars, seminars and access to policy updates, tools and good practices. The Guidance Hub provides information on EU and national funding opportunities and guidance on working with public authorities.
Analytically, the Pact’s value lies in its function as a coordination platform. It does not replace national education systems or company-level training, but it can reduce fragmentation by aligning employers, public authorities and training providers around common skills priorities. Its emphasis on partnerships is particularly relevant for industrial ecosystems undergoing structural change, such as green technologies, digital services, advanced manufacturing, social economy, health, transport and energy.
The main challenge is implementation. Voluntary commitments can create momentum, but their effectiveness depends on measurable outcomes, sustained investment, quality of training and the capacity to reach workers who are least likely to participate in adult learning. The Pact will therefore be most useful where it moves beyond networking and becomes a mechanism for matching real labour-market demand with accessible, inclusive and well-funded reskilling pathways.
Union for skills
The European Commission’s Union of Skills is a new EU strategy designed to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness by investing in education, training and lifelong learning. Its starting point is clear: Europe needs more skilled people to respond to technological, industrial and social change, while many businesses — especially SMEs — struggle to find the talent they need.
The initiative aims to deliver higher levels of basic and advanced skills, give people more opportunities to update their competences throughout their working lives, facilitate recruitment across the EU, and help Europe attract, develop and retain top talent. In this sense, the Union of Skills connects social policy with competitiveness: better skills are presented not only as a tool for individual employability, but also as a condition for Europe’s economic resilience and the affordability of its social model.
The page highlights several warning signs. One in five adults struggles with reading and writing, one in four 15-year-olds underperforms in reading, mathematics and science, and nearly four in five SMEs report difficulties in finding the talent they need. These figures explain why the Commission frames skills as a structural bottleneck for the single market and for Europe’s capacity to manage the green and digital transitions.
The Union of Skills is organised around four main components. The first is building skills for quality lives and jobs. This includes a basic skills support scheme, stronger science, technology, engineering and mathematics education through the STEM education strategic plan, and a new EU vocational education and training strategy to make VET more attractive, innovative and inclusive.
The second component is regular upskilling and reskilling. The Commission plans to expand the use of micro-credentials, reinforce the Pact for Skills, and pilot a skills guarantee for workers at risk of unemployment. This part of the strategy is particularly important because it treats learning as a regular feature of professional life, not as a one-off intervention after job loss.
The third component concerns the free movement and portability of skills. The Commission wants to make qualifications and competences easier to use across the EU through a skills portability initiative, work towards a European degree, develop a new European VET diploma, and strengthen European Universities alliances and Centres of Vocational Excellence. This is a key single-market issue: skills have limited value if they cannot circulate easily across borders.
The fourth component is attracting, developing and retaining talent. The Commission plans to establish an EU talent pool for recruitment from outside the EU, has presented a visa strategy, and launched the Choose Europe for Science initiative to attract and retain researchers and highly skilled talent.
A major institutional innovation is the proposed governance framework. The Union of Skills will be informed by a European Skills Intelligence Observatory and supported by a European Skills High-Level Board, bringing together education providers, business leaders and social partners. The Commission has also proposed a recommendation on human capital in the European Semester to connect skills policy more directly with EU economic and social policy coordination.
Analytically, the Union of Skills signals a shift in EU policy: skills are no longer treated as a sectoral education issue, but as infrastructure for competitiveness, industrial policy, labour mobility and social fairness. Its success will depend on implementation: whether Member States, businesses and training providers can turn EU-level objectives into accessible, high-quality learning pathways for young people, workers and adults at risk of exclusion.
The initiative aims to deliver higher levels of basic and advanced skills, give people more opportunities to update their competences throughout their working lives, facilitate recruitment across the EU, and help Europe attract, develop and retain top talent. In this sense, the Union of Skills connects social policy with competitiveness: better skills are presented not only as a tool for individual employability, but also as a condition for Europe’s economic resilience and the affordability of its social model.
The page highlights several warning signs. One in five adults struggles with reading and writing, one in four 15-year-olds underperforms in reading, mathematics and science, and nearly four in five SMEs report difficulties in finding the talent they need. These figures explain why the Commission frames skills as a structural bottleneck for the single market and for Europe’s capacity to manage the green and digital transitions.
The Union of Skills is organised around four main components. The first is building skills for quality lives and jobs. This includes a basic skills support scheme, stronger science, technology, engineering and mathematics education through the STEM education strategic plan, and a new EU vocational education and training strategy to make VET more attractive, innovative and inclusive.
The second component is regular upskilling and reskilling. The Commission plans to expand the use of micro-credentials, reinforce the Pact for Skills, and pilot a skills guarantee for workers at risk of unemployment. This part of the strategy is particularly important because it treats learning as a regular feature of professional life, not as a one-off intervention after job loss.
The third component concerns the free movement and portability of skills. The Commission wants to make qualifications and competences easier to use across the EU through a skills portability initiative, work towards a European degree, develop a new European VET diploma, and strengthen European Universities alliances and Centres of Vocational Excellence. This is a key single-market issue: skills have limited value if they cannot circulate easily across borders.
The fourth component is attracting, developing and retaining talent. The Commission plans to establish an EU talent pool for recruitment from outside the EU, has presented a visa strategy, and launched the Choose Europe for Science initiative to attract and retain researchers and highly skilled talent.
A major institutional innovation is the proposed governance framework. The Union of Skills will be informed by a European Skills Intelligence Observatory and supported by a European Skills High-Level Board, bringing together education providers, business leaders and social partners. The Commission has also proposed a recommendation on human capital in the European Semester to connect skills policy more directly with EU economic and social policy coordination.
Analytically, the Union of Skills signals a shift in EU policy: skills are no longer treated as a sectoral education issue, but as infrastructure for competitiveness, industrial policy, labour mobility and social fairness. Its success will depend on implementation: whether Member States, businesses and training providers can turn EU-level objectives into accessible, high-quality learning pathways for young people, workers and adults at risk of exclusion.
European Education Area
Building transnational campuses for the future of higher education
The European Universities Initiative is one of the EU’s flagship projects for transforming higher education. Its objective is to create long-term transnational alliances between higher education institutions, paving the way for the “universities of the future”.
According to the European Commission, the initiative now includes 73 European Universities alliances involving almost 650 higher education institutions across Europe.
The initiative is closely linked to the broader European strategy for universities, and is implemented primarily through Erasmus+. Its purpose is not simply to fund cooperation projects, but to support deeper, structural and sustainable collaboration between universities, universities of applied sciences, universities of technology, arts institutions and other higher education providers. The aim is to strengthen the international competitiveness of European higher education while promoting European values and identity.
A central feature of the initiative is the creation of European inter-university campuses. Through these alliances, students, doctoral candidates and staff should be able to study, teach, train, conduct research or work across partner institutions, physically, online or through blended formats. The Commission also highlights the ambition that at least 50% of students within an alliance should benefit from mobility opportunities.
The initiative also supports joint and flexible curricula, interdisciplinary learning, innovative pedagogies, work-based experience, traineeships and potentially micro-credentials. In policy terms, this reflects a shift from traditional bilateral university cooperation towards integrated European education ecosystems. It also creates a basis for exploring a possible joint European degree, based on common European criteria while remaining compatible with national qualification frameworks.
Another important element is the role of alliances as knowledge-creating teams. The Commission presents European Universities as platforms for challenge-based learning and innovation, where students, academics, researchers, companies, entrepreneurs, local authorities and civil society actors work together on real-world problems. This is particularly relevant for the digital and green transitions, because universities are expected not only to teach existing knowledge but also to co-produce solutions for societal and regional challenges.
The initiative is also open to cooperation beyond the education sector. Alliances may work with SMEs, start-ups, public authorities and civil society organisations. This makes the European Universities model strategically relevant for regional development, skills ecosystems and innovation policy, not only for higher education reform.
The Commission provides a dedicated map of European Universities alliances and partners, where users can identify active alliances, their member institutions and related factsheets. The page also explains the Seal of Excellence, a quality label awarded to high-quality alliance proposals that did not receive Erasmus+ funding because of budget limits. In 2024, eight university alliances received this label, and several have already started activities despite not receiving Erasmus+ funding.
Analytical comment: the European Universities Initiative can be read as an attempt to create a new governance layer in European higher education. It does not replace national university systems, but it pushes them toward deeper integration, shared resources, joint strategies and more permeable mobility structures. Its success will depend on whether alliances can move beyond project-based cooperation and become durable institutional platforms for education, research, innovation and skills development across Europe.
According to the European Commission, the initiative now includes 73 European Universities alliances involving almost 650 higher education institutions across Europe.
The initiative is closely linked to the broader European strategy for universities, and is implemented primarily through Erasmus+. Its purpose is not simply to fund cooperation projects, but to support deeper, structural and sustainable collaboration between universities, universities of applied sciences, universities of technology, arts institutions and other higher education providers. The aim is to strengthen the international competitiveness of European higher education while promoting European values and identity.
A central feature of the initiative is the creation of European inter-university campuses. Through these alliances, students, doctoral candidates and staff should be able to study, teach, train, conduct research or work across partner institutions, physically, online or through blended formats. The Commission also highlights the ambition that at least 50% of students within an alliance should benefit from mobility opportunities.
The initiative also supports joint and flexible curricula, interdisciplinary learning, innovative pedagogies, work-based experience, traineeships and potentially micro-credentials. In policy terms, this reflects a shift from traditional bilateral university cooperation towards integrated European education ecosystems. It also creates a basis for exploring a possible joint European degree, based on common European criteria while remaining compatible with national qualification frameworks.
Another important element is the role of alliances as knowledge-creating teams. The Commission presents European Universities as platforms for challenge-based learning and innovation, where students, academics, researchers, companies, entrepreneurs, local authorities and civil society actors work together on real-world problems. This is particularly relevant for the digital and green transitions, because universities are expected not only to teach existing knowledge but also to co-produce solutions for societal and regional challenges.
The initiative is also open to cooperation beyond the education sector. Alliances may work with SMEs, start-ups, public authorities and civil society organisations. This makes the European Universities model strategically relevant for regional development, skills ecosystems and innovation policy, not only for higher education reform.
The Commission provides a dedicated map of European Universities alliances and partners, where users can identify active alliances, their member institutions and related factsheets. The page also explains the Seal of Excellence, a quality label awarded to high-quality alliance proposals that did not receive Erasmus+ funding because of budget limits. In 2024, eight university alliances received this label, and several have already started activities despite not receiving Erasmus+ funding.
Analytical comment: the European Universities Initiative can be read as an attempt to create a new governance layer in European higher education. It does not replace national university systems, but it pushes them toward deeper integration, shared resources, joint strategies and more permeable mobility structures. Its success will depend on whether alliances can move beyond project-based cooperation and become durable institutional platforms for education, research, innovation and skills development across Europe.
Digital Education Action Plan: modernising Europe’s education systems for the digital age
The Digital Education Action Plan 2021–2027 sets out the European Commission’s strategic vision for high-quality, inclusive and accessible digital education across Europe. It was adopted in 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic exposed both the potential of digital learning and the structural weaknesses of education and training systems. The plan defines digital education as the use of digital tools, technologies and content to support teaching, learning and assessment, from online courses and learning platforms to virtual classrooms and educational apps.
The initiative responds to a clear policy problem: digital transformation is reshaping how people learn, work and participate in society, but access to digital learning remains uneven. The Commission notes several persistent challenges: many learners, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, still lack access to digital technologies; education institutions face infrastructure and capacity limits; teachers need more training to use digital tools effectively; and overall digital skills levels remain too low across the EU.
The Action Plan is built around a broader objective: helping national education and training systems adapt to the digital age while making education more flexible, inclusive and resilient. It is therefore not only a technology agenda. It is also a social and educational reform agenda, because digital education can widen access to learning but can also reinforce inequalities if infrastructure, teacher training and digital skills are not addressed together.
The plan is part of the wider European Education Area and contributes to several EU policy priorities, including EU Digital Strategy, NextGenerationEU, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Union of Skills, the European Skills Agenda, the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and the 2030 Digital Compass.
Analytically, the Digital Education Action Plan can be seen as a bridge between education policy, social inclusion and Europe’s competitiveness agenda. Its success depends on whether Member States can turn digital education from an emergency response into a stable public capability: modern infrastructure, trained teachers, accessible tools, stronger digital skills and inclusive learning models. The future 2030 Roadmap on digital education and skills will build on the review of the Action Plan and is expected to reinforce the EU’s digital education ecosystem.
The initiative responds to a clear policy problem: digital transformation is reshaping how people learn, work and participate in society, but access to digital learning remains uneven. The Commission notes several persistent challenges: many learners, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds, still lack access to digital technologies; education institutions face infrastructure and capacity limits; teachers need more training to use digital tools effectively; and overall digital skills levels remain too low across the EU.
The Action Plan is built around a broader objective: helping national education and training systems adapt to the digital age while making education more flexible, inclusive and resilient. It is therefore not only a technology agenda. It is also a social and educational reform agenda, because digital education can widen access to learning but can also reinforce inequalities if infrastructure, teacher training and digital skills are not addressed together.
The plan is part of the wider European Education Area and contributes to several EU policy priorities, including EU Digital Strategy, NextGenerationEU, the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Union of Skills, the European Skills Agenda, the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and the 2030 Digital Compass.
Analytically, the Digital Education Action Plan can be seen as a bridge between education policy, social inclusion and Europe’s competitiveness agenda. Its success depends on whether Member States can turn digital education from an emergency response into a stable public capability: modern infrastructure, trained teachers, accessible tools, stronger digital skills and inclusive learning models. The future 2030 Roadmap on digital education and skills will build on the review of the Action Plan and is expected to reinforce the EU’s digital education ecosystem.
Funding
A massive investment in skills is needed. In addition to money from enterprise and governments, the EU is prioritising investing in people and their skills in our budget. The Recovery Plan for Europe proposed by the Commission in May 2020 will also focus on skills related activities.
Which EU funds foreseen ressources for skills for 2021-2027?
A massive investment in skills is needed. In addition to money from enterprise and governments, the EU is prioritising investing in people and their skills in our budget. The Recovery Plan for Europe proposed by the Commission in May 2020 will also focus on skills related activities.
Which EU funds foreseen ressources for skills for 2021-2027?
- European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) €61.5 billion
- Erasmus €16.2 billion
- InvestEU €4.9 billion
- European Globalisation Adjustment Fund €1.1 billion
- European Solidarity Corps €0.8 billion
- Digital Europe €0.5 billion
eBriefing PaaS · EU Education, Skills & Lifelong Learning
Need a constantly updated European picture of Education, Training and Lifelong Learning policies?
eEuropa can prepare a tailored eBriefing PaaS: a policy-as-a-service document that is kept constantly updated for one year, or for as long as your organisation needs. It provides a structured European overview of EU education, training, skills, lifelong learning, digital education, vocational education and learning mobility policies.
The service can support policy monitoring, institutional analysis, stakeholder briefings, strategic planning and regulatory intelligence, including an assessment of how the European framework on skills, education and lifelong learning may evolve over time.
