New European Union of Skills Package harnesses the ‘untapped potential’ of persons with disabilities in the labour market

New European Union of Skills Package harnesses the ‘untapped potential’ of persons with disabilities in the labour market

On 5 March 2025, the European Commission (EC) published a Communication on the Union of Skills, which aims to ensure the EU has a skilled workforce to increase the productivity and competitiveness of businesses. To do so, it will tackle ongoing skills and labour gaps in the EU. 

The Union of Skills Package is composed of four key pillars:

Building skills for quality jobs and lives through a strong educational foundation, with an inclusive lifelong learning approach:

• This strand includes initiatives such as an Action plan on Basic Skills and a STEM Education Strategic Plan, both also published on 5 March. The former aims to step up the support for basic literacy, mathematics, science, digital skills and citizenship, and the latter, to reverse the trend of a declining performance in STEM skills at school, and to attract more students in STEM tracks and careers; 
• It also proposes upcoming initiatives, such as the update of the Digital Competence Framework (DigComp) by the end of this year, an AI in education initiative and an European Strategy for VET both by 2026, and an initiative on Increasing Accessibility of Higher Education by 2027.

Upskilling and reskilling an agile workforce mastering the digital and clean transition, notably those with lower and middle skills:

• One of the initiatives under this pillar is a Pilot of a Skills Guarantee for Workers in 2025, to ensure that workers in sectors undergoing restructuring or at risk of unemployment have the opportunity to develop further their careers in other sectors and/or companies.

Circulating skills with the free movement of people across the EU, unlocking the single market’s full potential:

• Within this pillar, the Skills Portability Initiative, due in 2026, might lead to legislation to address the mobility of workers, including in unregulated professions, as well as actions to facilitate and modernise recognition processes of regulated professions.
• Additionally, between 2025 and 2026, a Pilot European VET Diploma will be developed and tested.

Attracting and retaining skills from third countries to address skills shortages and develop top talent in Europe 

• This pillar includes the development of a new Visa Strategy by the end of this year, as well as the Revision of the EU Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion.

It is worth noting that the text underlines how persons with disabilities often encounter additional obstacles in developing their skills, resulting in untapped potential in the EU labour force. EPR calls for the initiatives within the Union of Skills to take into consideration the key role of service providers of vocational rehabilitation, vocational education and training, and employment support to persons with disabilities to ensure the development of their skills, and their inclusion in the labour market.

Access the EC Communication on the Union of Skills here.

STEM Strategy available here.