Report 220
Towards an individual right to adult learning for all europeans
By Sofia Fernandes, Senior Research Fellow at the Jacques Delors Institute (Paris) and Director of the Académie Notre Europe, & Klervi Kerneïs, Research assistant for Employment and social policies at the Jacques Delors Institute (Paris), Foreword by Jacques Delors.
INFOGRAPHIC → Towards an individual right to adult learning for all Europeans
Back in 1993, Jacques Delors championed lifelong learning as the “catalyst of a changing society” and made it a priority issue for the European Commission and the EU in general. More than two decades later the European Pillar of Social Rights, proclaimed in 2017 under Jean-Claude Juncker’s presidency of the Commission, outlined in its very first principle the right to “quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning for all”.
Today, with the European Union going through the worst economic crisis in its existence, the need to make this principle a reality has never been as urgent. Rising unemployment and acceleration of the transitions already at work in the labour market –eg., the green and digital transitions– are having widespread consequences on individuals, their jobs and their competences. Whether people need to maintain their skills throughout the crisis, reskill to find a job in an in-demand sector, or take advantage of short-time work to upskill and
increase their employability, adopting a life cycle approach to learning is ever more relevant. Not only will it make us more resilient to reap the benefits of these transformations, but it will also give us the opportunity to lead and drive them.
This report looks at the current state of adult learning in the EU and calls for a European initiative to foster the creation of an individual right to adult learning in each member state through
the establishment of individual learning accounts (ILAs) according to European guidelines. Welldesigned ILAs could increase the coverage and inclusiveness of the EU’s adult learning systems, contribute to improving their relevance and quality, and promote lifelong guidance. Forming just one piece of the puzzle within the wider adult learning ecosystem, ILAs would create synergies with existing programmes and funds for adult learning, and fully engage all relevant stakeholders (eg., businesses, regions, –trade unions and public employment services). This report also stresses the importance of protecting the rights of mobile workers and thus suggests that ILAs at member state level should pave the way towards a future European Individual Learning Account.
With the European Commission set to unveil its Action Plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights at the beginning of next year –and with 2021 also bringing with it the Social Summit in Porto and an initiative by the European Commission on individual learning accounts– the aim of this report is to feed the discussion on individual training entitlements so that decisive action can be taken at European level to ensure EU citizens are resilient and fit to take full
advantage of the transitions and massive labour market changes coming our way.
Today, the green and digital transitions should be driving us, everywhere in Europe, to reskill at all ages.– Jacques Delors Click To Tweet
SUR LE MÊME THÈME
ON THE SAME THEME
PUBLICATIONS
Social Europe: social dialogue at the heart of the debate
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Employment and skills for the green transition in the EU
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Making the most of the European Year of Skills
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MÉDIAS
MEDIAS
En Europe, le grand chamboulement du marché du travail
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Enrico Letta: “L’Europa resta una costruzione storta senza il pilastro sociale”
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Learning mobility: making it the norm in the EU
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ÉVÉNEMENTS
EVENTS
Académie Notre Europe – “Social Europe” session [FR]
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My Europe – The European Union, ally or danger for workers? [FR]
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Towards an individual right to adult learning for all Europeans
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The European Union and work: what competences, what debates, what perspectives? [FR]
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What place for responsible capitalism in Europe? (FR)
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High-level forum on individual learning accounts – Online Conference
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Comment garantir une relance verte et juste ?
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Webinar | SURE : a welcomed catalyzer for an European Unemployment Insurance*
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Académie Notre Europe n°5 – Social Europe and Budget
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Barcelona, 25 October 2019 – Sovereignty, inequalities and social Europe
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Ludwigsfelde, 2 October 2019 – Citizen dialogue and Trilateral Experts seminar on Social Europe
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Paris, 5 September 2019 – Global Convergences Forum
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Paris, 21 May 2019 – Europe: which answers to the Digital economy’s social challenges?
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Argenteuil, 11 mai 2019 — Europe and fraternity
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Paris, 6 April 2019 — Social justice in the energy transition in Europe
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Paris, 5 April 2019 – European elections: what stakes for disability?
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Training on European issues
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Bruxelles, 21 February 2019 – Expert Debate on the European Pillar of Social Rights
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Paris, 18 December 2018 – Social Europe
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Paris, 11 January 2019 – Académie Notre Europe: Social Europe
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Paris, 20 November 2018 – How to accompany the low-carbon transition to be fair?
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Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, 14 November 2018 – What is Europe doing to protect us? Trade Policy, Social Europe, Environment and Security
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Paris, 24 October 2018 – Companies: missions and reasons to be
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Dardilly, 10 October 2018 – What future for social Europe?
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Paris, 3 October 2018 – Is European solidarity still possible?
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Brussels, 3 October 2018 – Europe needs a social pact for the energy transition
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Paris, 24 September 2018 – European social dialogue: what future?
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Bruges, 12 July 2018 – Just a transition or a just transition? Jobs, skills, energy poverty
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Luxembourg, 20 June 2018 – The reform of the EMU: which social dimension?
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Paris, 17 May 2018 – France and the European Pillar of Social Rights
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Toulouse, 17 April 2018 – A protective Social Europe : myth or reality?
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Tours, 4 April 2018 – Toward a Social and Political Europe?
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Angers, 29 March 2018 – From the Treaty of Rome to today
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Paris, 2 February 2018 – How to deal with the populist phenomenon?
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Champigny-sur-Marne, 23 January 2018 – Social Europe
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Aulnay-sous-Bois, 16 December 2017 – Active Citizens Forum
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Paris, 5 December 2017 – The future of social democracy
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Luxembourg, 21 October 2017 – Europe: Changing the economic and social framework
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Brussels, 16 October 2017 – “Making the Energy Transition a European Success”
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Créteil, 28 September 2017 – Social Europe: utopia or reality?
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Paris, 28 September 2017 – What future for a Social Europe?
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Brussels, 10 July 2017 – Guaranteeing solidarity in EU Cohesion policy post-2020
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Prague, 8 June 2017 – Hamonization of EU social standards
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Rome, 20 March 2017 – Completing economic governance and enhancing social cohesion
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