Council Recommendation of 30 June 1993 on Access to
Continuing Vocational Training
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in
particular Article 128 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,
Whereas the first principle established by Council Decision 63/266/EEC of 2
April 1963 laying down general principles for implementing a common vocational
training policy states that every person should receive adequate training,
with particular reference to the need to promote basic and advanced vocational
training and, where appropriate, retraining suitable for the various stages of
working life, and the need to offer to every person, by means of permanent
facilities for vocational advancement, the opportunity to gain promotion or to
receive instruction for a new and higher level of activity;
Whereas, under the terms of Decision 63/266/EEC, it is the responsibility of the
Member States and the competent institutions of the Community to apply such
general principles within the framework of the Treaty;
Whereas the development of human resources by means of vocational training is
one of the essential elements in increasing the competitiveness of the European
economy; whereas, as affirmed by the European Council meeting in Hanover on 27
and 28 June 1988, the achievement of the Single Market must be accompanied by
increased access to continuing training;
Whereas technological developments, their impact on employees' skills and the
growth of unemployment make it necessary to develop access to continuing
vocational training;
Whereas point 15 of the Community Charter of the fundamental social rights of
workers, adopted by the Heads of State and Government of 11 Member States at the
European Council meeting in Strasbourg on 9 December 1989, states in particular
that:
'Every worker of the European Community must be able to have access to
vocational training and to benefit therefrom throughout his working life. In the
conditions governing access to such training there may be no discrimination on
grounds of nationality.
The competent public authorities, undertakings or the two sides of industry,
each within their own sphere of competence, should set up continuing and
permanent training systems enabling every person to undergo retraining, more
especially through leave for training purposes, to improve his skills or to
acquire new skills, particularly in the light of technical developments.';
Whereas vocational training remains of constant concern to both employers and
workers in the context of the dialogue between the two sides of industry;
Whereas the Economic and Social Committee adopted a report on 22 October 1992 on
vocational training as a means of promoting vocational qualifications and a
strategic instrument for the economic and social development of the European
Community;
Whereas on 21 April 1993 the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative
report on vocational training policy in the European Community for the 1990s, in
which the subject of access to continuing training is considered;
Whereas transnational cooperation measures have been undertaken at Community
level;
Whereas demographic trends will significantly reduce the number of young people
entering the Community labour market, which, together with changes in the
working environment, must lead to an updating and greater adaptation of skills
among the working population;
Whereas it has been noted throughout the Community that the problems faced by
women in gaining access to employment are largely attributable to their limited
access to vocational training; whereas particular attention must be devoted to
ensuring that women have effective access to continuing vocational training;
whereas the increase in the number of working women should also be taken into
account;
Whereas cooperation in the field of continuing vocational training should also
be based on existing provisions in force in the Member States, while respecting
the diversity of national legal systems and practices, the powers under national
law of the parties concerned and contractual autonomy; whereas the initiatives
taken at national level by the Member States and the two sides of industry are
many and varied; whereas it appears, as regards the Community Charter of the
fundamental social rights of workers, and taking into account the international
dimension of the action, that they should be supported at Community level;
whereas, finally, it is essential to encourage a synergy of resources and
promote partnerships between the public and private sectors;
Whereas the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training has been consulted;
whereas it has recognized the strategic importance of the question of continuing
vocational training in undertakings, for the Member States and for the
Community, and the necessity for the Community to be seen to play an active role
in this area,
I. RECOMMENDS that Member States, taking into account the resources available
and the respective responsibilities of the competent public authorities,
undertakings and the two sides of industry, while respecting the diversity of
national legal systems and/or practices, gear their vocational training policies
to ensuring that every worker of the Community must be able to have access to
continuing vocational training without any form of discrimination and to benefit
therefrom throughout his or her working life;
II. RECOMMENDS that, in order to provide easy access for as many employees as
possible, Member States:
raise awareness among undertakings about the links between workers' skills
and the competitiveness of undertakings to encourage them to give priority to
improving the quality and skills of their employees and to establish training
plans and programmes appropriate to their size and business objectives, making
their managers aware of requirements in this respect and informing them
accordingly.
These plans and programmes may be established by taking into account available
human and financial resources, the organization of work, future skill
requirements, the need to anticipate industrial and technological change and the
transnational dimension of continuing vocational training;
make provision for specific incentives and technical support measures for
small and medium-sized undertakings.
These could include, for example, assistance with regard to advice on training
and assistance with regard to analysis of training needs;
encourage undertakings to give impetus to the continuing vocational training
necessary for their development, taking account of the particular situation of
the employees of the undertakings, particularly in order to promote, where
appropriate, the measures described below;
make provision for specific incentives and technical support measures which
are appropriate, necessary and adequate for undertakings facing industrial
change, in order to encourage vocational training and retraining for their
employees;
develop continuing vocational training in order to make it an important
feature of regional and local development, taking into account the specific
needs of employees and undertakings;
support the establishment of partnerships, particularly at regional or local
level, to analyse the requirements of undertakings and employees and to provide
up-to-date information on training opportunities in order to match supply and
demand as closely as possible;
impress on employers that they should inform their employees as soon as
possible and, if necessary, at the time of their recruitment, about the
undertaking's policy and activities in the field of continuing vocational
training and staff development and about the terms of access to continuing
vocational training, including the possibility of being assigned non-active
status for the purpose of continuing vocational training;
support initiatives which enable workers who so desire to assess their
continuing vocational training needs.
This assessment should be carried out within or outside the undertaking and/or
in partnership with specialized institutions.
The use of the results must be confidential;
encourage the information and consultation of employees' representatives or,
in the absence of such representatives, the employees themselves on the
development and implementation of the training plans and programmes of the
undertaking concerned;
make employees and undertakings more aware of the importance of continuing
vocational training leading to qualifications relevant to the employment market.
To this end, it should be ensured that training is not directed specifically
towards the post in question alone but that it provides the means of
anticipating and mastering developments in production systems and the
organization of work in order to strengthen the competitiveness of undertakings
and improve employees' job prospects;
encourage the development of the most suitable teaching and learning methods
in continuing vocational training which will facilitate access to continuing
vocational training for employees, e.g. methods of self-training on the job,
distance learning, media-assisted learning, etc;
help less-qualified employees, whatever their status, to benefit from
continuing vocational training measures enabling them to achieve a basic level
of qualification and giving them the basis for mastery of new technologies.
Particular attention should be paid to providing access to continuing training
for employees or groups of employees who have not benefited from training for a
certain length of time or who have limited opportunities for employment and job
prospects;
encourage access for, and effective participation by, women in continuing
vocational training.
This may in particular help to open up new professional fields to women and
encourage the resumption of a professional activity after a break in such
activity;
promote access to continuing vocational training for young people with a
vocational qualification or work experience, whatever their level of skills, and
encourage their participation therein, in order to enable them to realise their
full potential and acquire skills for the present and the future;
encourage access to, and participation in, continuing vocational training by
the unemployed.
Particular attention should be paid to the long-term unemployed with inadequate
and/or unsuitable qualifications, in order to improve their occupational
integration or reintegration.
The continuing vocational training of the unemployed which involves action by
undertakings is particularly suited to promoting reintegration into the labour
market;
encourage, in policies on access to continuing vocational training, a
transnational dimension, in particular to assist the free movement of workers;
III.
INVITES the Commission to reinforce cooperation with Member States and
the two sides of industry, in particular within the Advisory Committee on
Vocational Training, in order to support the implementation of point II;
INVITES the Commission to this end, in concert with the Member States and by
utilizing the existing Community action programmes and initiatives in the field
of training including, where appropriate, the European Social Fund, and
specialized bodies within the Community such as the European Centre for the
Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), to:
disseminate and add to the body of comparative information on continuing
vocational training systems, including existing provisions and methods for
integrating young job-seekers and the long-term unemployed into the labour
market;
facilitate suitable exchanges of experience in and methods for significant
innovations in continuing training;
support transfers of know-how between Member States, which are important for
implementing point II, by means of transnational partnerships and networks,
especially for the benefit of regions, sectors, types of undertaking and groups
of employees for whom access to continuing training is least developed;
Also INVITES the Commission to support moves by both sides of industry at
Community level, within the dialogue between them, to discuss access to
continuing training in greater depth; such dialogue could, if the two sides
consider it desirable, lead to relations based on agreement;
IV.
INVITES Member States to provide the Commission, three years after the
date of adoption of this recommendation, with a report setting out the measures
taken under the terms of points I and II;
INVITES the Commission:
on the basis of the reports from the Member States and the results of the
dialogue between the two sides of industry, to draw up an assessment report on
progress made on the basis of the recommendation in points I and II in the
sphere of access to continuing vocational training in the Community;
to submit this assessment report, not later than one year after the date
referred to in point IV.1, to the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training;
INVITES the Commission to submit this report to the European Parliament, the
Council and the Economic and Social Committee and to send it to the two sides of
industry at Community level.
