De New Skills Agenda for Europe is afgelopen vrijdag 10 juni aangenomen door het college van EU-commissarissen. Er komen tien acties om mensen in Europa uit te rusten met betere vaardigheden zodat zij goed inzetbaar zijn op de arbeidsmarkt en kansen van mensen verbeteren.
''According to studies, 70 million Europeans lack adequate reading and writing skills, and even more have poor numeracy and digitals skills. This puts them at risk of unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. On the other hand, a large number of Europeans, particularly high-qualified young people, work in jobs that do not match their talents and aspirations. At the same time, 40% of European employers report that they cannot find people with the right skills to grow and innovate. Finally, too few people have the entrepreneurial mindset and competences to start their own business and keep adapting to evolving requirements of the labour market.
Increasing skills levels, promoting transversal skills and finding ways to better anticipate the labour market's needs, including based on dialogue with the industry, are therefore essential to improve people's chances in life, and support fair, inclusive and sustainable growth as well as cohesive societies."