Mobility in the EU: Is Europe able to build the area of skills and qualifications?

This paper presents the various political and legal instruments, which support the process of building the area of skills and qualifications in the EU. The European area of skills and qualifications can be understood, as a citizen-and-business-friendly, internal EU platform, where skills and qualifications are easlily comparible and internationallly recognized. The aim of building the area of skills and qualifications in Europe is directly connected to the personal development of learners, and thereby the development and mobility of wider European society, and the strenghtening of the EU Single Market.

 This paper will deal specifically with the education and learning policy instruments related to lifelong learning and mobility. It will discuss the modernisation of the directive on the recognition of professional qualifications and the resolution on the European Qualifications Framework, and will explain their effects on the functioning of the internal market. It will compare the actions taken by the various Directorates General of the European Commission as well as selected international organisations.

The most recent EU educational policy instruments – namely the European Qualifications Framework and national qualifications frameworks – focus on the learning outcomes, quality assurance and recognition of informal and non- formal learning. In the light of the ongoing reforms to European qualifications systems and the EU strategies for education and skills, the question of their ability to build an internal European area of skills and qualifications remains unanswered. Is Europe unified enough to restore the renaissance type of mobility in the field of education and training?