Minister Kalliomäki at informal ministerial meeting

Mr Commissioner,
Distinguished Colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Europe is faced with many challenges: we must invest in improving our competitiveness in order to be able to tackle globalisation. On the other hand, it is important that we boost social unity and cohesion.

This meeting is a welcome opportunity for us to discuss European policies on vocational education and training and their role in enhancing competitiveness, the quality of skills and competences as well as social cohesion in Europe.

But to start with, I would like to say a few words about Finland's EU Presidency, which is now drawing to an end.

The main aims we set for our education and training policy agenda were to reach a decision on the Lifelong Learning Programme, to promote the Education and Training 2010 working programme, to enhance quality, equity and efficiency in education, to reinforce links between education and innovation and to consolidate European cooperation in the field of vocational education and training (VET).

I am glad to say that, with your cooperation, we have achieved all the key aims in the field of education and training and are now in a good position to pass on the Presidency to Germany.

As we all know, the Council and the European Parliament have reached a consensus on the new Lifelong Learning Programme, and it can be launched from the beginning of 2007, as planned. The fact that the Decision was achieved in the tight timetable is due to the excellent work done by the previous Presidencies and the European Parliament, for which I want to extend our warmest thanks.

This programme will enable a growing number of students, learners, teachers, schools and businesses to benefit from European cooperation.

I am certain that the new programme and the wide range of cooperation it offers will have a very positive effect on the quality of education and training, on consolidating the European dimension in education and training - and on promoting student mobility.

I am also pleased to note that the Council and the European Parliament have adopted the Recommendations on the European Mobility Charter and on the Key Competences for Lifelong Learning. These recommendations will boost mobility and will support implementation of national lifelong learning strategies.

This succession of decisions continued last month with the Council Conclusions on the efficiency and equity and on the enhanced European cooperation on VET. We will discuss the latter theme in more detail today. The Council also conducted a full discussion on the modernisation of higher education in Europe.

Another source of satisfaction for me is that the Council reached an agreement at a general level on the Recommendation for a proposal on the establishment of a European Qualifications Framework (EQF) in support of lifelong learning.

The Framework will improve the comparability of qualifications awarded by different Member States. It is built on learning outcomes and on acquired skills and competences; I think this is a good approach and will improve the transparency of European education and training systems and will facilitate cooperation at all levels. This agreement in principle promotes significantly the further development of the EQF.

I have been delighted at the interest shown by my European colleagues in our Presidency meetings. We have arranged seminars on equity and efficiency, on adult learning and on lifelong guidance.

I take this opportunity to thank all the Member States, the Commission and the European Parliament for their excellent cooperation in promoting education and training matters.

And now, let us move on to today's theme: vocational education and training.

Vocational education and training plays a key role in the achievement of the Lisbon goals. It forms a major part of lifelong learning and is a crucial factor contributing to the accumulation of human capital, thereby facilitating the achievement of the goals we have set for economic growth, employment and social cohesion.

It is worthwhile to stress here that higher education alone is not enough to achieve the aims. VET serves the majority of students, and the majority of the work force will continue to need training and the skills and competences VET provides.

The Copenhagen Process, in which our follow-up conference is the second in line, has been successful in spotlighting the importance of VET for the development of European skills and competitiveness.

The challenge is to develop European competitiveness so that we can give a full response to future challenges. We need skilled workers who can operate flexibly in the changing labour market and meeting the demands of innovation society.

VET should provide a broad skills base and at the same time highlight excellence at all levels of education and training. A sufficiently versatile skills reserve makes is needed to effectively support development of innovations and to respond to the needs of the industry, service sector and the welfare state.

With a view to securing European competitiveness, it is vital that young people in vocational training receive skills and competences that meet the demands of the labour market. It is similarly important to make sure that they get knowledge, skills and competencies supporting lifelong learning.

The young people currently in vocational training will encounter tomorrow's labour markets, requiring vocational competences, capacity for continuing learning, and social skills. In addition, these young people will face growing pressures for flexibility, and for mobility in the labour market.

Another important part of European vocational training policy is to upgrade the skills and competences of working adults. Globalisation, the ageing workforce, technological changes and sustaining welfare policies require growing investment in learning taking place in the workplaces.

In order to be able to ensure competent and competitive work force, we need to be ready to discuss the sharing of cost between business, society and individuals — the share of corporate investment will certainly grow in the future.

In Europe we have 70 million adults who do not have vocational training. In view of this, we should take care to develop a feasible solution to the need to identify and recognise skills and competences acquired outside the formal training system.

This will make it possible to offer opportunities for low skilled adults to upgrade their skills and competences. It will for example enable us to support integration of immigrants into working life — a very topical question in many European countries.

The vocational training systems of European countries differ greatly. In spite of this — or perhaps thanks to this — we have succeeded well in advancing cooperation in VET.

Diversity is also an asset and an incentive for mutual learning. It is evident that we have achieved significant progress in concrete issues both at the European level and between individual countries.

Another important development project alongside the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) is the construction of a credit system for vocational education and training (ECVET).

In early October we arranged a seminar on this subject in order to give the Member States a chance to extensively discuss the planned system.

The results were encouraging and the discussions showed that the Member States had made good preparations for the ECVET consultation which now has been launched. As I see it, the ECVET, when it is ready, will be an excellent complement to the corresponding system in higher education, contributing to the mobility of vocational learners and adults with vocational qualifications in Europe.

In this context, I would like to take up the question of quality assurance in VET and especially the ENQA-VET network.

When improving the quality of VET, we should at the same time lay emphasis on good governance of VET systems and providers.

Here we must pay special attention to ensure that training corresponds to the needs of employers and of individuals and to anticipating skills needs. We must take care of quality assurance at national level and develop teachers' and trainers' competencies. In addition, we must improve public and private investment in VET by developing shared funding and investment arrangements.

In European cooperation, peer learning has proved to be a useful framework — but its working methods should be further developed in order to make the results more accessible to all.

Dear colleagues,
Today we can discuss European cooperation in VET from different perspectives. Our purpose is to find a common European position of the priorities and strategies we want to set for VET in the future.

The conclusions adopted by the Council in November will give a solid ground for our discussions. We now also have a new point of view, since we have with us here all the countries participating in the Copenhagen Process, the European social partners and the European Commission. In addition, the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training CEDEFOP will contribute to our discussion.

Finland considers it important to continue the well-progressing work within the Copenhagen Process. In the light of the survey we undertook to prepare the drafting of the Council Conclusions, the participating countries and European social partners take a very positive view of the enhanced European cooperation in vocational education and training and see it important to carry on the Copenhagen Process. This is a good starting point for us to continue our work.

At the current stage of the Process, I consider it as important to carry on the work we have been collectively doing with such success. Particular attention should be paid in developing research and statistical data in order to be able to build our European and national development measures on a more reliable knowledge base.

We need evidence-based decision-making — we need sound statistical information and researched knowledge about the performance of vocational education and training enabling decision making!

Here I want to particularly stress the major role of the Commission in creating a common knowledge framework for VET. I would also like to underscore that more important than collecting new data is to make systematic use of the existing data.

It is now four years since the Copenhagen Declaration was adopted. Two years ago, in Maastricht, ministers, social partners and the Commission agreed on new, specified priorities.

Now we are moving to a new phase: it is time to translate the Copenhagen Process into practical action at the level of training providers and training institutions. In this we have a lot of work ahead of us. I look forward to concrete examples of this in our discussion.

Dear colleagues, with these words I open today's discussion, and take great pleasure in giving the floor to Commissioner Jan Figel' from the European Commission.