Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-06-06-Speech-1-251-000"
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"en.20110606.26.1-251-000"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, tomorrow, we will vote on the role of vocational education and training in the Europe 2020 strategy. In this connection, it is worth taking a brief look at the position we are starting from. We currently have a level of youth unemployment of 21%, in other words, almost double the normal average. We have an EU-wide school drop-out rate of over 14%. The participation of women in gainful employment is still very low. Many people with disabilities, as well as migrants, are without jobs.
The goal of the Europe 2020 strategy is precisely to tap this potential in terms of workers and to bring them into the workplace so that the EU, too, can deal with globalisation. Thus, it is also our job to ensure that initial vocational education in particular is of high quality. The discussion began in connection with the Copenhagen process, followed by the Bruges Communiqué, and now it is up to us to see to what extent this area can also be incorporated into the Europe 2020 strategy.
An absolutely key element is the fact that young people must have the opportunity, not only in their studies, but also in their vocational training, to undertake part of their training in another EU Member State. It is a key element because someone who has already worked in another Member State will also take the opportunity later on to regard the European labour market as his or her labour market, with all the opportunities that that offers. It is therefore an absolutely key aspect that we must pursue.
The second major area is, of course, that of further training. On account of demographic change, people are having to work for longer and longer – or they can work for longer, but everyone has to take that decision for themselves. People are living until they are much older and will continue with their careers for much longer, and in order to be able to carry on in skilled work until they are older, they will also need to undertake further training.
There is currently a very low level of participation in further training initiatives. Here, too, it must be ensured that the willingness of both employers and workers exists and increases when it comes to taking advantage of further training and continuing to gain education by means of lifelong learning. For this, of course, the options on offer also need to be flexible. We must take everyone into consideration. Further training must fit in with other elements of people’s lives and it must be possible to do it alongside work and family life. For that reason, we clearly need to create flexible opportunities in future.
The area of universities has received a great deal of attention – in connection with the Bologna Process, for example – and a similar situation faces us in the area of vocational training, including with regard to mobility. We could almost say that no one has noticed this. Nevertheless, alongside the universities, the area of vocational education and training is particularly important and we therefore must not ignore it. For that reason, I would like at this point to thank my fellow Members from the other groups once again for their very committed cooperation."@en1
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