Study on obstacles to recognition of skills and qualifications : final report

Ecorys UK is pleased to present the Draft Final Report for the study on the Obstacles to Recognition of Skills and Qualifications for the European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs, Unit E2 - Skills and Qualifications. Facilitating the recognition and transferability of skills and qualifications between economic sectors, types and levels of education and training, education and employment, and geographic areas, has a fundamental role to play in easing skills shortages and mismatches, which have an impact on the lives of individuals, the profitability of enterprises, and the capacity for growth and prosperity of the European economy as a whole. Recognition is not a goal in itself, but rather a tool for quality integration into the labour market. Although the recognition of skills and qualifications remains the responsibility of EU Member States, the EU has sought to facilitate recognition over the years through a range of tools including legal measures (e.g. the Professional Qualifications Directive1 or the Lisbon Recognition Convention), frameworks (e.g. the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET), and a range of tools (e.g. the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System in higher education (ECTS), ECVET or Europass)