154th CoR Plenary Session (15 - 16 March)

Following European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's announcement in her 2022 State of the Union address, the Commission has formally proposed to make 2023 European Year of Skills. The aim is to give fresh impetus to lifelong learning, boost EU companies' competitiveness and help achieve the green and digital transitions in a socially fair manner. Building on existing EU action, the activities of the European year would promote skills policies and investment so as to address labour shortages and secure a better skilled workforce.

As part of the digitalisation of education and skills, a number of innovative learning tools and platforms have been devised in many European States and regions. Still the search to improve the digital experience in skills education through better provision of online services and material is ongoing. Digital skills innovation and the creation of new online material is necessary in order to avoid 'digital fatigue'. Issues of digital divide arise in terms of age, gender, disability, social strata, wealth and ethnic background. These divisions require attention and action as they create a two-tier society and cause further social exclusion.

The European education area (EEA) is about promoting cooperation among European Union (EU) Member States to build more resilient and inclusive national education and training systems. The aim is also to improve access to quality education and lifelong learning for all across the EU. EU leaders first endorsed the vision for a European education area at the Gothenburg Social Summit in 2017. Following the first initiatives, the overall approach to forming the EEA by 2025 was outlined in a 2020 European Commission communication and two 2021 Council of the EU resolutions. On 18 November 2022, the Commission adopted its progress report on the achievement of the EEA by 2025. The report highlights the first results of the implementation of actions and reforms and points to some positive trends in education, such as the decreasing number of early school leavers and the rising tertiary educational attainment rate.

Adequate skills and competencies ensure that individuals can successfully navigate today's rapidly changing employment environment. Moreover, a skilled workforce enhances innovation and business competitiveness and, ultimately, the sustainable growth and resilience of the European economy. Feedback on graduate education and career pathways can help to monitor policy-making and practice in education and training, and identify areas for transformation, thus enhancing the relevance of graduates' skills and competencies. This in turn can improve their integration into the job market and society, and the management of existing and potential skills gaps and mismatches.

Why should young people in the EU worry about demographic change? For one thing, because the share of children and young people in the total population has been decreasing, while the share of elderly people continues to grow. Adding these figures up means today's children are expected to face an increased burden in supporting the remainder of the population as they grow up and move into work. Indeed, in 2019, out of the 447 million inhabitants of the EU-27, 68 million were children (aged 14 or less) and 91 million were older people (aged 65 years or more). A third of the total EU population — around 142 million — were under the age of 30. There were slightly more boys than girls, with the former representing 51 % of the population aged 14 years or less.

The latest demographic data show that existing demographic tendencies, such as increasing median age, declining fertility rates and a shrinking working age population, continue to prevail. However, it is also becoming clear that the influence of the pandemic in 2021 was more significant than during the previous year – for instance, 'excess mortality' increased even further, while life expectancy decreased in many Member States. The pandemic also accelerated another phenomenon, present in our lives in recent decades: the digital transition. Social distancing measures favoured automation and digitisation, an increased use of e-government, and led to higher rates of remote working. Parallel to this, new problems and challenges appeared, touching diverse demographic groups in different ways and to differing degrees. Digital fraud, cyber-threats, digital dependency and a deepening digital divide pose more and more challenges for citizens and the EU.

Ageing has many faces. Without doubt the prolonging of life expectancy represents a major achievement of progress and economic development. However, it has also changed the age structure of several countries towards larger proportions of the elderly in the population, thus posing new societal challenges. From an economic point of view, the increase in individuals traditionally considered unproductive (over 65 years of age) is affecting economic growth in the EU and the sustainability of its welfare systems. When looking at EU territorial data, it can be seen that some areas are becoming younger, while at the same time others are ageing and depopulating, foremost because of the outward mobility of young people.

In the EU, the free movement of workers is guaranteed as one of the four economic freedoms to which EU citizens are entitled. This freedom has facilitated intra-EU labour mobility. However, the uneven distribution of highly skilled workers and the growing competition for talent has led to the brain drain phenomena, with some regions (‘sending regions’) experiencing a significant out-migration of their highly educated workforce to the advantage of other regions (‘receiving regions’). Local and regional authorities (LRAs) in these regions have to cope directly with the socio-economic effects caused by the significant loss of talent. This may require formulating appropriate policies and measures aimed at mitigating and/or preventing brain drain at territorial levels.

The labour market participation of older people is declining, especially for women. In addition, the labour market is becoming increasingly digitalised and competitive. It is recommended to promote labour market measures that increase effective labour inputs. This implies to continue with measures that aim to encourage and enable the employment of older workers, especially in view of the increases in retirement ages and the abolishment of early retirement schemes. These include measures related to active labour markets, active and healthy ageing, re-training/ re-skilling and life-long learning, combining work and (partial) pension, and in some cases changing rules to make it harder to fire older workers simply based on their age.

The processes of brain drain and brain gain are in public debate today, just like when the first European universities were established. Discussions are going on in both the academic and the political sphere. There are several interconnected levels at which the issue needs to be addressed: at local, regional, national and supranational (EU) levels. Coordination of different funding sources should be improved at the EU level in the governance of post-2020 cohesion policy and programs. The local and regional authorities can best analyze the specific needs of communities and find answers to them. Hence they play an important role in reducing the potential negative effects of brain drain, and can support brain gain, brain re-gain and brain circulation processes.

Youth unemployment remains an important societal challenge in the EU. LRAs play an important role in employment, training, education and youth policies, and could be a bridge between different stakeholders such as social partners, educational institutions, youth organisations and the business sector. The performance of youth labour markets is closely linked to education and training systems. There is unfortunately a gap between the skills possessed and those needed. To address youth unemployment, a multifaceted approach is required, taking into account changes in the economic circumstances. Individuals of different ages, genders, ethnicities or social backgrounds have substantially diverse prospects for overcoming unemployment.