(1)

The Union’s shortage of workers is significantly limiting its ability to adapt to the ongoing transformations in the nature of work, production and communication occurring across economies and labour markets.

(2)

Employers across the Union are consistently reporting difficulties in finding workers with the required skills. Moreover, the ageing demographic is expected to reduce the available workforce and exacerbate skills shortages in the future. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which comprise 25 million entities across the Union, are particularly affected because they are struggling to find the right talent needed for sustainable growth, scalability, and competitiveness.

(3)

The shortage of skilled personnel spans all industrial ecosystems in many Member States, with high, medium, and low-skilled job vacancies on the rise. Sectors such as construction, manufacturing, information and communication technology (ICT), transportation, professional services, health and long-term care face persistent shortages. Additionally, labour shortages in key sectors crucial to the green transition have doubled between 2015 and 2021. This is further compounded by the fact that businesses struggle to find employees with adequate digital skills, and experience particular difficulties in recruiting ICT specialists.

(4)

Skills shortages pose a significant challenge to the Union’s aspirations to remain a competitive global leader and a hub for net-zero technologies, and to meet ambitious climate and energy targets. They also hamper the Union’s ability to harness the potential of the green and digital transitions, to strengthen the Union’s technological leadership, stimulate growth and innovation, and respond effectively to emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic or geopolitical conflicts. Skills gaps in specific sectors such as healthcare and long-term care limit the capacity to take care of the ageing population and to ensure access to quality healthcare for all.

(5)

Addressing these skills shortages requires substantial investment in upskilling and reskilling, as well as measures to boost the participation of working-age adults in the labour market, to facilitate labour mobility, to improve working conditions and attract individuals with the requisite skills to the Union.

(6)

The Union has consistently supported actions to address skills and labour shortages by maximising the potential of its domestic workforce. These actions include initiatives to improve labour mobility within the internal market, such as the European cooperation networks of employment services (EURES). Additionally, it seeks to elevate the participation rates of women, individuals with disabilities, and those with a migrant background in the labour market. Special emphasis is also placed on engaging underrepresented groups, notably the youth who are neither employed nor engaged in education or training (NEETs). The 2020 European skills agenda (1) outlines 12 actions to help individuals and businesses develop skills and to put them to use, including Council recommendations on vocational education and training (2), individual learning accounts (3), micro-credentials (4) and the launch of the Pact for Skills. The Pact for Skills supports collaboration between public and private organisations to strengthen collective action on skills to meet labour market needs and supports large-scale partnerships in key industrial ecosystems.

(7)

The Union works towards an inclusive approach to filling labour shortages, notably by enabling people of all generations in the Union to realise their life choices and their potential in the economy and society at large. To this end, a comprehensive set of Union policy instruments, notably the Commission Communication on ‘Demographic change in Europe: a toolbox for action’, is available to Member States with a view to better reconciling family aspirations and paid work, supporting and empowering younger generations to thrive, as well as empowering older generations and sustaining their welfare.

(8)

However, the demand for skilled workers cannot be met by the Union’s workforce alone. For the Union’s economy to succeed and be resilient, it is necessary to make it more attractive to global talent. Managed legal migration of jobseekers from third countries must be part of the solution to labour shortages faced by employers to find workers with the skills they need and to boost economic growth.

(9)

EU labour force survey data shows that third-country nationals with a tertiary education are more likely than Union citizens to be over-qualified for their job and to be working in low- or medium-skilled occupations. In 2022, the Union’s over-qualification rate was 39,4 % for non-Union citizens, 31,8 % for Union citizens from other Member States and just 21,1 % for nationals of the Member State in question (5). Over-qualification can lead to economic losses for the individuals concerned as well as for the Union economy.

(10)

While Member States retain the right to determine volumes of admission for people coming from third countries to work, the Union has established a comprehensive approach to legal migration, recognising the essential role that migrants play in the Union’s economy and society, to streamline migration procedures and harmonise admission conditions and rights of third-country nationals in the Union. The pact on migration and asylum (6) recognises that developing legal pathways to the Union for skilled third country nationals is an essential part of a comprehensive migration management system. Recast Directive (EU) 2021/1883 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7) (the so called ‘the Blue Card Directive’) is intended to attract highly skilled talent to the labour market. In order to address growing demand for skilled professionals in the ICT sector in the Member States, this Directive foresees that higher professional skills should be considered to be equivalent to higher education qualifications in specific ICT occupations. Additionally, the skills and talent package (8), adopted by the Commission in April 2022, emphasises that legal migration benefits both migrants and their countries of origin and destination. The package proposed legislative, operational and future-oriented policy measures to reinforce the Union legal migration framework, including proposals to amend Council Directive 2003/109/EC (9) and Directive 2011/98/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (10) in order to simplify procedures for the admission of third-country nationals of all skill levels and to reinforce their rights once they are resident in the Union.

(11)

Skilled people in need of international protection willing to take up employment in the Member States constitute a largely underused pool of possible job seekers that could respond to the employers’ needs. In line with the Commission Recommendation (EU) 2020/1364 (11) on promoting legal pathways to protection in the EU, the Commission has encouraged the Member States to put in place complementary labour pathways for people in need of international protection to leverage their skills, qualifications, and motivation, while addressing the skills and labour shortages in the Union.

(12)

In order to facilitate international recruitment and provide opportunities for third-country nationals to work in shortage occupations identified as of Union relevance, the Commission has proposed the establishment of an ‘EU Talent Pool’ (12), a platform bringing together and supporting the matching of profiles of jobseekers from third countries and job vacancies of employers established in the Member States. The Talent Pool will aim to make the Union more attractive to jobseekers from third countries and support employers in addressing skills and labour shortages in the Union. The EU Talent Pool could also support the operationalisation of the complementary labour pathways.

(13)

The Commission is also developing Talent Partnerships which are one of the key aspects of the external dimension of the Pact on migration and asylum and are operationalised in line with the Commission’s communication on attracting skills and talent to the EU (13).

(14)

In a context of increasing global competition for skills and talent, only one of the Union’s Member States features in the top five most attractive OECD countries for highly educated workers in 2023 (14). The ability to attract and retain talent depends on multiple variables including integration and inclusion policies, support measures for migrants with special needs, legal pathways to permanent residence and citizenship including for students, income prospects and tax, perception of future prospects, quality of life and recognition of skills and qualifications.

(15)

The issue of attracting skilled workers and the role of recognition of skills and qualifications is addressed across the range of Union actions on skills and migration. The Commission communication accompanying the European skills agenda (15) highlights the need to do more to improve legal pathways into the Union and the recognition of third-country nationals’ skills on the labour market of the Union. The Commission’s action plan on integration and inclusion 2021-2027 (16) acknowledges the importance of facilitating the recognition and comparability of qualifications of third country nationals to support third-country nationals to fully use their skills. The green deal industrial plan (17) announced actions, including work on the recognition of qualifications of third-country nationals and first signalled the value of a ‘skills-first’ approach to identify the actual skills of citizens and third-country nationals. The SME relief package (18) acknowledged that skills shortages are among the biggest challenges that SMEs face and recalled the commitment to present an initiative to improve the recognition of skills and qualifications of third country nationals to help address skills gaps in the labour market of the Union. The Commission Communication ‘Long-term competitiveness of the EU: looking beyond 2030’ similarly highlighted the fact that addressing skills shortages in the Union requires facilitating mobility by making it easier to recognise skills and qualifications of citizens of other Member States and those of third-country nationals.

(16)

On 14 September 2022, President von der Leyen announced the European Year of Skills (2023) in her state of the European Union address which highlighted the fact that attracting the right skills to the Union must be part of the solution to skills challenges. Decision (EU) 2023/936 of the European Parliament and of the Council (19), established four objectives for the European Year of Skills, including the objective of ‘attracting people from third countries with the skills needed in Member States’. That objective involves promoting learning opportunities (including language education and training where necessary), fostering skills-development and mobility, and facilitating the recognition of qualifications.

(17)

The recognition of skills and qualifications plays a key role in the context of attracting talent and recruitment in general. Qualifications and learning outcomes associated with qualifications serve as signals of achievement in learning. Qualifications and qualifications levels are often used to set entry requirements for jobs and may be linked with career advancement and remuneration. Qualifications are often required to demonstrate compliance with standards and requirements to work in certain roles, for example in regulated professions.

(18)

A ‘skills first’ approach advocates for identification and full use of a person’s skills – whether they are acquired in formal, non-formal or informal settings – rather than basing assessments solely on qualifications. Measures to attract talent and to increase participation in the labour market can be maximised and should be underpinned by a ‘skills first’ approach that values skills and seeks to match people with jobs that reflect their talent and potential.

(19)

The recognition of skills and qualifications of third-country nationals is organised and managed in different ways at national level, depending on legal requirements and organisation of employment, education, training and migration in different Member States. Member States take legally binding recognition decisions in cases where they grant rights to third country nationals holding specific qualifications. Such decisions provide a way to verify that a person has the necessary skills and qualifications before granting them rights in 3 particular cases, namely, to access a regulated profession, to access learning, or in the context of labour migration.

(20)

The first case of access to a regulated profession occurs where a third-country national may need to have their skills and qualifications recognised for the purpose of accessing or pursuing a regulated profession. Hundreds of professions fall into this category, for example in nursing, medicine, pharmacy, architecture and – in some Member States – bricklayers, plumbers, electricians and civil engineers. A ‘recognition of professional qualifications’ is required in order to get access to such professions in Member States where they are regulated.

(21)

To effectively ensure the freedom to establish and provide services and the free movement of people, while ensuring that professional standards and requirements are met, the Union established common principles, procedures, and criteria for recognition in order to promote transparency, fairness and consistency in the recognition of professional qualifications through Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (20).

(22)

The beneficiaries of Directive 2005/36/EC are nationals of Member States exercising free movement rights under Union law. To complement the Directive, the primary beneficiaries of this Recommendation are third country nationals who are in the process of obtaining a visa or work and residence permit in a Member State or are already legally resident in the Union, irrespective of whether they are holders of qualifications issued in the Union or in third countries. A number of the recommendations may also be relevant for the recognition of qualifications of Union nationals that hold qualifications issued in third countries, to ensure the principle of equal treatment is respected.

(23)

Recital 10 of Directive 2005/36/EC states that the Directive does not create an obstacle to the possibility of Member States recognising, in accordance with their rules, the professional qualifications acquired outside the Union of third-country nationals, but that such recognition should respect the minimum training conditions for certain professions. Some rules on the recognition of qualifications apply to third-country nationals, where they benefit from equal treatment with nationals of the host Member State under the Union legislation on asylum and legal migration, as well as from free movement (e.g. long-term residents, third-country family members of Union citizens, beneficiaries of refugee or subsidiary protection status, researchers, highly skilled workers possessing an EU Blue Card, third-country nationals falling within the scope of Directive 2011/98/EU and seasonal workers).

(24)

Directive 2005/36/EC also applies to nationals of specific third countries through various instruments and agreements. For example, Directive 2005/36/EC thus also applies to nationals of EEA countries (under the Agreement on the European Economic Area) and to nationals of Switzerland (under the EU-Switzerland Agreement on the free movement of persons). The Withdrawal Agreement and Trade and Cooperation Agreement concluded between the European Union and the United Kingdom clarifies arrangements for application of Directive 2005/36/EC to qualifications obtained in the United Kingdom before the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020.

(25)

The Union’s free trade agreements (FTAs) include provisions to support the development of mutual recognition agreements (MRA) for professional qualifications with third countries. The MRA for architects concluded in principle in 2022 between the Union and Canada enables access to practise as an architect in both territories in line with agreed criteria. The Union’s trade agreements also feature commitments to facilitate the temporary presence of skilled professionals in the Union, which can complement procedures to better recognise third-country qualifications.

(26)

The second case where third-country nationals may need to have their skills and qualifications recognised is ‘academic recognition’ meaning recognition for the purpose of access to forms of further learning such as academic studies, and vocational or professional training; or for use of an academic title. Academic recognition focuses on the validity, level and learning outcomes of a foreign educational qualification or of prior learning with a view to accessing further studies. The networks of the European Network of National Information Centres and the National Academic Recognition Information Centres (the ENIC-NARIC networks) provide information, advice and recognition decisions to facilitate entry to further studies (usually in higher education) and may have roles in taking recognition decisions, handling appeals or advising on recognition or comparability of qualifications, including for access to employment in some countries.

(27)

The Unesco and Council of Europe Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region is the primary legal instrument for the recognition of qualifications in Europe and beyond. It promotes fair and transparent recognition procedures within a reasonable time frame for upper-secondary and higher education qualifications. Article VII of the Lisbon Recognition Convention seeks to facilitate the recognition of higher education qualifications held by refugees, displaced persons and persons in a refugee-like situation who are unable to give documentary evidence of their qualifications in order to facilitate their access to higher education programmes or to employment activities. Furthermore, in 2017, the Lisbon Recognition Convention Committee adopted a Recommendation on the Recognition of Qualifications held by Refugees, Displaced Persons and Persons in a Refugee-like Situation which sets out principles for establishing policies on the recognition of qualifications held by refugees. The Unesco Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education establishes universal principles for the fair, transparent and non-discriminatory recognition of higher education qualifications and qualifications that give access to higher education and provide avenues for further study and employment.

(28)

The third case where third-country nationals may need to have their skills and qualifications recognised is in the context of labour migration procedures. For the purposes of issuing visas or work and residence permits for employment purposes, Member States verify the skills and qualifications of a third-country national. Assessment criteria and approaches differ between Member States. Recognition of skills and qualifications for labour migration can be organised as part of a pre-departure or post-arrival process to prepare third-country nationals for integration. High refusal rates for applications and long processing times can deter third-country nationals; and assessment based only on qualifications and formal education and training does not always capture the full skills set and potential of applicants and may hinder the integration of third-country nationals into the labour market.

(29)

Beyond the cases where recognition of skills and qualifications is required, third-country nationals may also need access to tools and information to support the transparency of their skills and qualifications for example, for employment in non-regulated professions or access to funding. While recognition of qualifications is not required, third-country nationals may nevertheless need to obtain a comparability statement, or information or advice on the nature and authenticity of their third-country qualifications in order to understand and explain the value of their skills and qualifications. Such a voluntary use of transparency instruments does not give additional rights to the qualification holder and does not fall within the scope of this Recommendation. Even though it is excluded from the definition of the term ‘recognition’ in the context of this Recommendation, obtaining such an official statement, or making their skills and qualifications understandable to employers might be referred to as ‘recognition’ in some Member States.

(30)

Long-standing initiatives such as the Europass framework (21) and transparency tools such as the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) (22), European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupation (ESCO), European Digital Credentials for Learning, and the Bologna Process transparency tools can be used to support the transparency and comparability of skills and qualifications across the Union in order to enable learning and career development.

(31)

In all three cases where third-country nationals may need to have their skills and qualifications recognised, procedures for the recognition of skills and qualifications of third-country nationals are often more complex and costly than those for Union citizens. Third-country nationals tend to have more limited access to support. They may experience difficulties due to linguistic barriers (if information and support services are not available in the languages that they know) or may struggle to navigate and understand the varying national systems for the recognition of skills and qualifications. Third-country nationals may be expected to organise and cover the costs of translating and officially certifying documents, and to supply documents and other evidence of their qualifications that are not required from Union nationals or are not typically issued in their home countries. Beneficiaries or applicants for international protection in the Union as well as people in need of international protection that are in third countries and may benefit from complementary labour pathways may even be unable to fully document their qualifications, for example when documents have been lost during flight or displacement.

(32)

Employers and recruiters often face challenges and costs when recruiting third-country nationals. Lack of access to information on qualifications obtained in third countries, burdensome administrative processes, translation requirements, verifying authenticity, compliance and lengthy processing times (including for recognition of skills and qualifications) can make it harder for them to attract talent in a competitive labour market. Some Member States apply the principle of preference for Union citizens (labour-market tests) which require companies to prove that they have unsuccessfully searched for national workers, Union citizens or legally residing third-country nationals with access to the labour market according to national legislation, before they are allowed to recruit a third-country national. This requirement creates a further burden for employers, particularly for SMEs.

(33)

The recognition of skills and qualifications issued in third countries can be challenging for national authorities in Member States because of a lack of access to information on third-country qualifications; differences in the organisation of education, training and qualification systems, language differences, difficulties with verifying authenticity, and a lack of established networks and contacts through which to build trust and understanding in qualifications obtained outside the Union. Furthermore, national authorities manage data and information on the recognition of skills and qualifications differently and inconsistently, and therefore have limited capacity to exchange information with each other and develop consistent approaches to recognising the skills and qualifications of third-country nationals.

(34)

The recognition of skills and qualifications of third-country nationals at national level should be planned, resourced and developed as part of ‘whole-of-government’ approaches to attracting talent, in line with shifts in the supply of and demand for skills.

(35)

National authorities should enhance their capacity to simplify and expedite recognition procedures and provide relevant support and information to third-country nationals, recognition authorities, public employment services, labour inspectorates and migration authorities. Cooperation at Union level in the area of skills and qualifications and the expertise and experience of Member States in the recognition of skills and qualifications can support national authorities and inform the collective capacity of the Union to reform and enhance processes for the recognition of third-country nationals’ skills and qualifications. Cooperation can enable expertise- and information-sharing and consistent approaches to the recognition of third-country nationals’ skills and qualifications, in particular for qualifications that are frequently seen in recognition procedures in Member States.

(36)

Administrative cooperation, partnerships and agreements with third countries, and cooperation with education and training providers and other stakeholders in third countries, can facilitate trust, transparency and easier exchange of information and authentication of qualifications.

(37)

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine created an urgent need to facilitate access to the Union labour market for beneficiaries of temporary protection. Commission Recommendation (EU) 2022/554 (23) set out recommendations and guidance to support Member States in facilitating the recognition of professional qualifications of people fleeing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. A Commission assessment (24), published in June 2023, of the Member States’ uptake of and responses to that Recommendation identified a range of promising practices. The assessment highlighted the fact that some Member States had taken significant steps to facilitate the integration of Ukrainian professionals, especially in the fields of health and teaching. Recommendation (EU) 2022/554 sent a strong political signal to Member States to do all they could to meet the urgent needs of the situation. Stakeholders, such as the group of coordinators for the recognition of professional qualifications, expressed their appreciation for Recommendation (EU) 2022/554 and some suggested the measures should be extended to other third-country nationals.

(38)

The Union is committed to supporting human and economic development through development assistance and cooperation. Partnerships with third countries to attract talent are developed in a mutually beneficial manner that support filling both partners’ labour-market needs. Union and Member State policy and action on international recruitment should mitigate any potential negative implications for countries of origin. Efforts to attract talent should not lead to human-capital flight or a ‘brain drain’ which can limit the socioeconomic capacity and development of third countries and their ability to manage essential services. Systematic approaches to international recruitment are necessary, including mutually beneficial partnerships with countries of origin, such as Talent Partnerships, that support the development of skills and capacity in the country of origin,