Considerations on COM(2023)719 - Proposal for a COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION ‘Europe on the Move’ - learning mobility opportunities for everyone - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2023)719 - Proposal for a COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION ‘Europe on the Move’ - learning mobility opportunities for everyone. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2023)719  |
| date | May 13, 2024 |
(2) Learning mobility has proven to be highly valuable for learners to gain the competences44 needed for personal, educational and professional development. Cross-border learning experiences increase intercultural understanding and help develop a common European identity. Organising learning mobility, both incoming and outgoing, is also a strong driver for education and training institutions and non-formal and informal learning providers to improve the quality of learning on offer.
(3) Learning mobility is important to help address skills shortages in the EU, in particular those necessary to achieve green and digital transitions and for the transition of learners to the labour market. Work-based learning, including periods spent in another country, brings benefits to skills acquisition and employability. Learning mobility can also facilitate the integration of third-country nationals into the EU labour market.
(4) Providing learning mobility opportunities for everyone is essential for achieving the European Education Area. The Commission Communication of 30 September 2020 on achieving the European Education Area by 202545 announced an update of the learning mobility framework, the 2011 Council Recommendation ‘Youth on the move’ – promoting the learning mobility of young people’46, and the development of the policy framework for the learning mobility of teachers to enable more learners and teachers to benefit from mobility. This Recommendation updates the 2011 Council Recommendation to strengthen its provisions, expand learning mobility opportunities – from young people to learners of any age and staff – and address new learning patterns, including blended learning.
(5) One of the strategic priorities of the Council Resolution of 18 February 2021 on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021-2030)47 was to make lifelong learning and mobility a reality for all. The Council Resolution of 16 May 2023 on the European Education Area: looking to 2025 and beyond48 emphasised that identifying and removing the remaining obstacles to learning and teaching mobility while encouraging inclusive, sustainable and balanced mobility is key to the full achievement of the European Education Area.
(6) Data collected by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) reveal that countries need to step up efforts to improve their average performance in providing comprehensive support for the mobility of vocational education and training (VET) learners, in particular for apprentices. Analysis of the national implementation plans49 of the 2020 Council Recommendation of 24 November 2020 on VET for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience50 shows that only about half of Member States prioritised measures to enhance mobility in VET.
(7) Analysis51 of the implementation of the Council Recommendation of 15 March 2018 on a European Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeships52 and Cedefop evidence53 suggests that apprentice mobility is still underdeveloped and more needs to be done to enable them to participate in mobility exchanges.
(8) The Council conclusions of 5 April 2022 on enhancing teachers’ and trainers’ mobility54 called for the promotion and expansion of mobility so that it becomes a common feature in their training and career.
(9) Analysis of the implementation of the EU Youth Strategy55 shows a need for increased efforts to enable effective access for all young people and youth workers to mobility opportunities. This includes volunteering in the civil society sector and further work on effective systems for validation of competences gained through non-formal and informal learning mobility, in synergy with the Council Recommendation of 5 April 2022 on the mobility of young volunteers across the European Union56.
(10) The lack of foreign language competences remains one of the major obstacles to embarking upon learning mobility experiences, studying and working abroad, and fully discovering Europe’s cultural diversity. At the same time, some course offer in a foreign language may encourage learners from another country to engage in learning mobility
(11) The report on the implementation of the Council Recommendation on automatic recognition of qualifications and learning periods abroad57 as well as the related Council conclusions58 emphasised that substantial additional efforts are required to make automatic recognition a reality in the EU. In the field of higher education, considerable improvements have been made in the understanding of the concept of automatic recognition among national authorities. However, remaining inconsistencies and a lack of transparency are a significant factor that deters students from participating in mobility activities.
(12) Promoting learning mobility with third countries can make European education systems more attractive to the rest of the world and attract talent to their education institutions. International cooperation in education and training, including learning mobility, is essential for achieving the EU’s geopolitical priorities, in particular the Global Gateway, and for delivering the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
(13) The benefits of promoting access for people with fewer opportunities to learning mobility are particularly important, and this objective of inclusion is at the core of the 2021-2027 Erasmus+ programme. It is crucial to extend this objective to other learning mobility schemes throughout the EU.
(14) The European Universities initiative targets 50% mobility among participating institutions, while the possible development of a joint European degree also requires mobility to be embedded in the curricula. The increased Erasmus+ budget for 2021-2027 underpins the EU’s objective to get more students to participate in learning mobility at least once during their studies. It is therefore important to increase the 20% learning mobility target, which was first set in the context of the Bologna Process in 2009. The tools that have been developed since then, together with the measures proposed by this Recommendation, create the necessary framework conditions for getting at least 25% of higher education graduates participating in learning mobility.
(15) Learning patterns have evolved in the last decade, including due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which boosted virtual and blended learning. The expansion of learning mobility opportunities to learners, educators and staff in all education and training, youth and sport sectors in formal, non-formal and informal settings also prompted the development of flexible learning mobility formats.
(16) Balanced mobility for researchers, in particular early career researchers, should be further supported to increase their personal and professional development to the benefit of the competitiveness of the research and innovation system in Europe.
(17) This Recommendation aims to contribute to the achievement of the European Education Area by 2025. The vision for quality in education includes promoting the dual freedom for learners and teachers to be mobile, in particular for people from disadvantaged social backgrounds and those with disabilities, and for institutions to freely associate with one another in Europe and beyond. Inclusive and equitable education and training systems should support cohesive societies and lay the foundations for active citizenship and improve employability. It invites the Member States to set enabling conditions for learning mobility, and remove obstacles and provide incentives that are tailored to the specific needs of learners, educators and staff in different sectors.
(18) This Recommendation also aims to facilitate greater cooperation with key third countries as envisaged in the Talent Partnerships initiative, promoting the EU as an attractive destination for talented people from third countries to learn, train and study.
(19) This Recommendation aims to recall the existing synergies and complementarities between the EU programmes that address learning mobility, such as Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, and other funding instruments at EU, international, national and regional level, such as cohesion policy funds, in particular the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund Plus, withits Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve (ALMA) initiative.
(20) This Recommendation also aims to boost learning mobility for teachers and apprentices through dedicated policy frameworks in the Annexes. Schools are facing teacher shortages, and learning mobility should increase the attractiveness of the profession. Teachers who have experienced mobility may become role models for learners and can help promote transnational and international cooperation. The Council conclusions on enhancing teachers’ and trainers’ mobility during initial and in-service education and training stress the positive impact of learning mobility abroad on the professional development of teachers as well as on education systems, while identifying obstacles to mobility. Apprentices also face a set of specific barriers related to the special features of work-based learning. Their mobility should help to address skills gaps, support the green and digital transitions and increase employability, in particular of young people,
RECOGNISES THAT:
(21) For the purposes of this Recommendation, the same definition of ‘learning mobility’ is used as in Regulation (EU) 2021/817 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2021 establishing the Erasmus+ programme. It means moving physically to a country other than the country of residence to undertake studies, training or non-formal or informal learning. This Recommendation covers both intra-EU and international learning mobility to and from the EU.
(22) Learning mobility under this Recommendation covers learners and staff in all sectors of lifelong learning, including school, higher education, vocational education and training, adult learning as well as the learning mobility of young people, youth workers and staff in both early childhood education and care and in sport. It covers all types of learning mobility, including short-term mobility, group mobility, blended mobility, credit mobility and degree mobility.
(23) For the learning mobility target in higher education, the mobility actions covered include outgoing mobility of a minimum of 2 months, including both traineeships and study mobility, and shorter mobility consisting of at least 3 European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) credits. These can be either fully physical or blended, consisting of both a virtual and physical component. The target is calculated at graduate level, for graduates participating in learning mobility at least once during their studies.
(24) To respond to the calls59 for a more ambitious target than the current 8% target for learning mobility abroad for VET students, this Recommendation proposes increasing the participation target for VET learners, including apprentices, to 15% by 2030. The target for VET builds on the indicator defined in the Council conclusions on a benchmark for learning mobility (2011/C372/08)60 and the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience. It is measured as the share of learners and apprentices enrolled in vocational upper-secondary and post-secondary level programmes who participated in a mobility period abroad during their studies. It includes participants of flexible mobility opportunities such as under Erasmus+ (for example short-term mobility, group mobility, blended mobility, mobility linked to participation in skills competitions).
(25) In line with Regulation (EU) 2021/817, ‘people with fewer opportunities’ means those who, for economic, social, cultural, geographical or health reasons due to their migrant background, or for reasons such as disability or educational difficulties or for any other reason, including a reason that could give rise to discrimination under Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, face obstacles that prevent them from having effective access to learning mobility opportunities.
(26) For the purposes of this Recommendation and in line with the implementation guidelines for the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps Inclusion and Diversity Strategy61, barriers to learning mobility include disabilities, health problems, barriers linked to education and training systems, cultural differences, social barriers, economic barriers, barriers linked to discrimination and geographical barriers.
ACKNOWLEDGES THE COMMISSION’S INTENTION TO BUILD UPON EXISTING INITIATIVES TO SUPPORT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS RECOMMENDATION AND TO STRENGTHEN THE EVIDENCE BASE ON LEARNING MOBILITY BY:
(27) Developing guidelines for the preparation of action plans referred to in point 12 of this Recommendation as well as drafting an overview report of these plans to support peer learning opportunities and the exchange of good practice.
(28) Further supporting the implementation of this Recommendation by building on the cooperation and co-creation of the expert groups under European Education Area governance.
(29) Encouraging and supporting youth participation in designing and implementing learning mobility strategies and programmes at national, local and European level.
(30) Further developing, promoting and providing support through the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes for the use of EU tools that support the implementation of learning periods abroad like the European Student Card initiative, Online Language Support, the European School Education Platform, the European Youth Portal, General Online Training, Youthpass and Europass.
(31) Further developing, promoting and providing support through the Erasmus+ programme for the use of EU tools that support the transparency and validation of outcomes of learning periods abroad and credentials, in particular Youthpass and the Europass platform/Europass Mobility, including through semantic interoperability via the European Learning Model and European Digital Credentials for Learning.
(32) Further developing and providing support to the European Universities alliances, including through the Erasmus+ programme and policy support, allowing them to realise their full potential and act as role models for the higher education sector by fostering seamless and embedded mobility in European inter-university campuses, promoting the use of micro-credentials, and paving the way towards a possible joint European degree.
(33) Providing further support from the Erasmus+ programme by encouraging cooperation and mutual learning among Member States on ensuring the automatic recognition of qualifications and outcomes of the learning periods abroad carried out in education and training sectors at all levels, including for virtual and blended learning.
(34) Continuing to support Member States towards a comprehensive approach to the teaching and learning of languages, in particular through peer learning activities, the promotion of initiatives and events like the European Day of Languages and cooperation with stakeholders and international organisations like the Council of Europe and the OECD on developing innovative tools for language learning.
(35) Promoting the building of synergies and complementarities between the EU programmes that address learning mobility, such as Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, and other funding instruments at EU, international, national and regional level such as Cohesion Policy funds, in particular the European Social Fund Plus and the European Regional Development Fund programmes, to maximise the impact of the actions that promote learning mobility opportunities, including by supporting the implementation of tools and strategies to increase the participation of people with fewer opportunities.
(36) Helping Member States to reform and enhance learning mobility systems at national and multi country level.
(37) Mapping the areas of intervention of the existing funding instruments at EU, international, national or regional level to raise awareness of their potential actions and good practices in support of learning mobility and foster an effective synergetic approach across the relevant stakeholders.
(38) Working with the Member States and relevant stakeholders on further improving the quality and availability of data and developing EU-level methodologies for data collection and analysis, including surveys, for example the European graduate tracking survey, on learning mobility in all education and training and youth sectors, that can also account for inclusiveness and territorial diversities, in full compliance with EU data protection legislation.
(39) Revamping the Mobility Scoreboard, in close cooperation with experts from the Member States, to follow up the implementation of this Recommendation and expand it to cover all education and training, and youth sectors.