Fostering the recognition of VET qualifications across the EU is essential to address future labour shortages, says CEDEFOP

Fostering the recognition of VET qualifications across the EU is essential to address future labour shortages, says CEDEFOP

The EU’s working-age population is projected to decline by 57.4 million by 2100, with around 24 million individuals aged 20-64 having unmet employment needs, according to CEDEFOP paper “Policies and tools for comparing and recognising VET qualifications in Europe”. 

As outlined by the Union of Skills Communication*, the mobility of workers inside the EU can address labour shortages by tapping into persons with competences acquired in different contexts, across borders, or through formal and informal setting. Moreover, CEDEFOP notes that to facilitate this, it is essential to easily compare and recognise qualifications across countries and institutions, enabling individuals to access employment and learning opportunities that match their skills and competences.

CEDEFOP’s paper provides an overview of the policies and tools employed by EU Member States to ensure the comparability and recognition of VET qualifications. It explores the role of existing EU transparency tools supporting the recognition of foreign qualifications, as well as the methods used by national authorities and stakeholders to compare and recognise VET qualifications and identifies relevant themes and concepts that could support the development of a practically oriented framework for diverse recognition purposes in Europe.

The findings highlight the need for conceptual consistency of terms such as ‘professional’, ‘vocational’, ‘recognition’, ‘reference point’ and ‘substantial difference’; the importance of building mutual trust between national qualification systems and using learning outcomes in recognition processes; as well as the potential of digitalisation and artificial intelligence to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of comparison and recognition processes.

* An EU Commission Communication is a non-binding policy instrument that can take many forms: it may include policy evaluations, commentary or explanations of action-programmes or brief outlines on future policies or arrangements concerning details of current policy. The Union of Skills Communication, published in March 2025, is a plan to improve high quality education, training, and lifelong learning in order to increase the number of skilled workers across the EU, and to promote competitiveness.

CEDEFOP Paper “Policies and tools for comparing and recognising VET qualifications in Europe” available here.