Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee on the 'Report from the Commission on access to continuing training in the Union` (98/C 19/31)

On 12 May 1997 the Commission decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned report.

The Section for Social, Family, Educational and Cultural Affairs, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 17 October 1997. The rapporteur was Mr Rodríguez García-Caro.

At its 349th plenary session of 29 and 30 October 1997 (meeting of 30 October 1997) the Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion unanimously.

1. Introduction

1.1. In June 1993 the Council adopted a Recommendation on Access to continuing training (93/404/EEC), the main aim of which was to facilitate and promote soundly based continuing training to be pursued throughout a worker's active life.

1.2. The recommendation operated on three levels:

1.2.1. A general objective based on the principle that every worker must be able to have access to vocational training throughout his working life.

1.2.2. Fifteen specific objectives making it possible to attain this overarching objective, while leaving the decision on the ways and means for doing so up to the Member States and the social partners.

1.2.3. A system to monitor developments in the Member States and at Community level.

1.3. The monitoring system was based on a triple process:

- national reports on the measures adopted,

- a social dialogue support system,

- a Community report on access to continuing training.

1.4. The proposal for a recommendation was referred to the Economic and Social Committee. At its plenary session on 25 March 1993 () an opinion was adopted by a majority of the Committee's members.

1.5. The Committee's main comments can be summarized as follows:

- Support for the proposal in view of the importance it attached to vocational training and improving access to training in the interests of workers, employers and the competitiveness of the national and European economies.

- Common strategy for the social partners in the framework of the social dialogue to improve access to continuing training at Community and national levels, and establishment of the structures necessary to put this into effect.

- The recommendation to be addressed to the social partners.

- Importance of complementing in-firm continuing training arrangements with an efficient system of public and private-sector training.

- Reinforcement of public and private-sector training centres, particularly with a view to the reintegration of vulnerable groups into the labour market with the help of ESF funds.

- Lack of transparency and information impeding access to training.

- Promotion of access to training in the smallest firms and problem sectors, and improving the access to continuing training of workers in these sectors.

- Call to the Commission to look at the possibility of framework agreements on access to in-firm training, in the framework of the social dialogue.

- Criticism of lack of support for systems of training leave and work-release schemes for personal training plans.

- Continuing training objectives and content relevant to organization and financing omitted from proposal.

- Development of new teaching methods.

- Establishment of a European vocational training pass recording initial training, work experience and formal continuing training.

- Importance of national government reports.

- Lack of statistical data on continuing training at national and Community level. Need for this.

1.6. Four years after the publication of the recommendation the Commission has submitted its report, the three main aims of which, based on the content of the recommendation, are as follows:

- To evaluate overall progress in the Member States.

- To propose, on the basis of the reports received, new avenues for action.

- To launch a debate on the policies to be pursued in this field.

2. Commission Report

2.1. The first chapter of the main body of the text of the Commission's report gives a summary of the national reports on the measures adopted in the Member States to promote and encourage access to continuing training on the basis of the specific objectives of the recommendation.

The same chapter also contains an explanatory summary of the social partners' views on the application of the Council's recommendations at national level.

2.2. The second chapter contains the Commission's analysis, based on various sources of data and information, of the main obstacles to access to continuing training in the Member States and the Union as a whole and a forecast of future prospects.

2.3. Finally, the report submitted for the Committee's opinion draws conclusions from its analysis based on the methods used in the report and the objectives of the recommendation. The document concludes with three action guidelines intended to enrich the debate and guarantee the future continuity of this Community action.

2.3.1. The document's conclusions as to the approach can be briefly summarized as follows:

- Process of drawing up national reports viewed positively.

- Importance of the participation of the social partners.

- Positive assessment of joint drawing up of reports.

- Satisfaction with initiatives for promoting access, both in terms of Member States' policies and of the social partners' and corporate policies.

- Better understanding of the situation via systems such as the Community survey of continuing training.

- Establishment of new indicators.

- Publication of findings of reports to make the best use of them.

- Significant initial results despite legal nature of instrument.

- Submission of proposals on instruments needed to continue Community action.

2.3.2. The conclusions as to the objectives can be summarized as follows:

- Continuing training is crucial in determining workers' opportunities for developing their skills and employment prospects and companies' competitiveness.

- There are major inequalities with regard to access. Efforts are needed to raise the access level.

- These disparities cause serious inequalities between workers which may affect their future employment.

- Access to continuing training is part of the broader goal of lifelong learning.

- The most significant developments are taking place in Member States already fairly advanced in terms of access. This could accentuate national disparities. This should be taken into account in structural fund programming.

- Access to continuing training being developed through diversification and exploitation of different opportunities and approaches, which does not make for clarity.

- Various initiatives taken to enable workers to evaluate their skills viewed positively.

- Encourage the development of true equality of access to lifelong learning and new skills.

2.3.3. The guidelines proposed in the report as a focus for the debate on future Community actions can be summarized as follows:

- To establish at Community level common conditions for facilitating access to continuing training, through consultations with the social partners.

- To enhance the process of drawing up reports by establishing common criteria as a basis for comparative assessment using all the resources available at Community level.

- To encourage fast-moving future trends driven by the speed of change, which encourage and improve access to continuing training by means of the new technologies becoming available to society.

3. Comments

3.1. General comments

3.1.1. The Committee stresses the need to promote and encourage policies serving the objective, so necessary to firms and citizens, of facilitating access for all workers to continuing training throughout their working lives.

3.1.2. This principle, which is in keeping with the rights which the constitutions of the Member States confer on their citizens, must be guaranteed and strongly emphasized. This principle must, as in the past, be the focus for all action and the cornerstone of any initiative planned once the report currently under discussion is finally submitted.

3.1.3. The Committee shares the view that evaluation instruments need to be used to obtain as clear a view of the situation as possible, whilst being aware of the difficulties which this usually entails.

The Committee endorses the approach adopted in drawing up the final report. The incorporation of different and sometimes contradictory points of view, all of them however relevant to improving access to training, has enhanced the methodological approach underlying the report, giving a broad overview of the progress achieved in implementing the recommendation.

3.1.4. The Committee feels however that the system for drawing up reports on trends and in access to continuing training still falls short of the ideal. The system needs to be improved by seeking, if not complete agreement, then at least the broadest possible consensus, so that the situation at national and Community level can be presented with a minimum of distortion.

The Committee supports the initiatives being taken to standardize the criteria used in drawing up the reports of the Member States and social partners. Harmonization in this area in no way implies interference in the prerogatives of the Member States. Using similar parameters, rather, makes it easier to assess the situation with regard to access in all the Member States.

3.1.5. The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) has extensive and valuable experience of assisting the Commission in promoting the development of basic and continuing vocational training at Community level.

The Committee is surprised that the report makes no mention of CEDEFOP's contribution to vocational training. The Committee feels that the Commission should take account of this as an additional component of the efforts being made to promote access to continuing training.

3.1.6. Firms need to adapt to demand. And to achieve this, workers need to match their skills to the increasingly important interaction of supply and demand in the market economy. Competitiveness requires an effort on the part of firms and a corresponding effort on the part of workers, who need to acquire the knowledge necessary to take up the challenge of achieving higher productivity.

Access to skills is thus a priority, which must be tackled head-on by employers and workers. For workers, lagging behind, failing to improve skills may become a major handicap in future career development.

3.1.7. Although employers and workers share responsibility for continuing training, it is up to employers to facilitate training for workers, and workers themselves must recognize the need to retrain. Obliging workers to attend training courses is a waste of effort unless workers are convinced of the need to do so.

The Committee therefore considers it particularly important to promote continuing vocational training measures, so as to avoid a paradoxical situation where there are mechanisms to facilitate access to training but few workers who feel that training could have a positive impact on their vocational skills.

3.1.8. At a time when unemployment affects a high proportion of the Union's citizens, continuing education and training throughout working life are an essential way of improving personal skills, enabling workers to acquire the knowledge which our competitive society requires from those seeking access to the labour market. We should not forget that opportunities for employment and promotion are directly related to a worker's level of training. For this reason, the social partners, the Member States and the Commission must together promote access to lifelong continuing training.

3.2. Specific comments

3.2.1. The Committee agrees with the Community objective set out in action guideline No 1. It nonetheless has reservations with regard to the establishment of common conditions for facilitating access. A special effort should be made to secure equal access for men and women.

The active participation of the social partners in the consultation process is necessary and irreplaceable if the objective itself and the action proposed are to be brought into harmony.

3.2.2. Individual national reports provide a picture of the situation in their respective Member States. According to the text under consideration, the national reports discuss the measures adopted with a view to achieving the specific objectives of the recommendation, but omit to mention any shortcomings which may exist in other fields of activity.

We should not be content merely to maximize the progress made; rather, the Member States should be required to do everything in their power to attain the ultimate objective of the recommendation.

3.2.3. The Commission devotes particular attention in its report to the views expressed by the social partners in their respective reports.

The Commission notes the different views expressed by the social partners on the progress achieved in improving access to continuing training, without however sharing these. Thus the ETUC feels that no real progress has been made, whilst UNICE believes that progress has been considerable.

The social partners need to be self-critical in their assessments, although it is important that each party bring to the discussion its own view, defined by its role as observer and, more importantly, as participant.

The use of uniform criteria in drawing up reports could bring greater objectivity to opinions on the access situation in the Member States and the Union.

3.2.4. The Committee disagrees with the tenor of point 1.3 of the report. Whilst the social partners often adopt diverging points of view in legitimate defence of the interests they represent, the Committee does not feel that the views summarized in the report can on the whole be described as diverging.

This is illustrated by the general agreement achieved on the following points:

a) Both parties agree that the impact of the recommendation has been very limited and that it is not well known in the Member States. The Committee feels that the Commission and the Member States should act with greater vigour in this regard.

b) The social partners also agree that progress has been made with regard to support and incentives for SMEs or companies undergoing industrial change. The efforts made by the Member States are acknowledged. However, the Committee feels that action in these areas should be further developed.

c) Both parties express their concern with regard to training for the least qualified, agreeing that little progress has been made in this field. The greatest possible support is needed from the Member States to ensure that citizens enjoy equality of opportunity and skills, enabling them to enter the labour market with the basic knowledge required. This should be made a priority to prevent the gap widening still further between the most skilled, those enjoying the easiest access to training, and the least skilled, whose situation makes it enormously difficult to improve their skills.

d) Finally, we could mention the particular attention devoted by the social partners to the young unemployed. The employers are aware of the need for coordination with providers of training to this section of the population, to ensure that their skills meet the demands of the labour market.

3.2.5. Following on from the above points, reference should be made to the information obtained from the Community survey on continuing training.

Surprises arising from recent surveys in other fields make it inadvisable to use as a point of reference opinions and information volunteered without any substantiating evidence.

The Committee considers the assertions made in point 2.1 too restrictive, as they are apparently based essentially on the results of the survey.

3.2.6. The Committee does not wish to cast doubt on the report's findings, but merely to stress the need to develop indicators to verify the views expressed in point 3.1. Reliable instruments are needed to enable the Member States and the Commission to monitor trends in access to continuing training, eliminating as far as possible the element of subjectivity from the data.

3.2.7. The Commission regards the findings of the various national reports as hopeful. This may be true of some Member States but not of the Union as a whole.

Future action must concentrate on doing more for the most disadvantaged. The recommendation appears to be based on the assumption that awareness of the problem and initiatives to tackle this differ from one Member State to another. For this reason, actions aimed at reducing disparities in the Union should be a priority, beginning with the equalization of access to training between Member States, with initiatives being concentrated on those Member States which fall furthest below the Community average.

3.2.8. The Committee calls on the Commission and the Member States, in the interests of equity and solidarity, to concentrate their efforts on those with the most acute skills-related problems, i.e. the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, the unemployed over-forties, the least skilled workers etc. As in other areas of life, it is those with the most opportunities for training who will continue to have the best access to training measures, thus widening the gap with those whose working situation is most problematic.

3.2.9. The Committee wishes to stress the importance of initial training. The education and training of children should be geared to the situation they are likely to encounter when they have to become part of society in general and the labour market in particular.

Education syllabuses should be brought progressively into line with the training which young people will need in order to compete in the labour market.

Here lies the importance of lifelong training and the Committee wholeheartedly supports all initiatives undertaken to this end.

The social partners have an important role to play in the policies to be pursued in this area, as any initiative on continuing training for workers requires the active participation of the social partners to guarantee its effectiveness.

3.2.10. Finally, the Committee would like to stress the role to be played by the various institutional participants. The Commission and the Member States must be the initiators of the process, but the Committee also calls for greater involvement of the social partners as active instigators of the practical attainment of the objectives.

Brussels, 30 October 1997.

The President of the Economic and Social Committee

Tom JENKINS

() OJ L 181, 23. 7.1993, p. 37, Council Recommendation of 30 June 1993 on access to continuing vocational training.