On Wednesday, the MEPs of the European Union voted on detailed plans to reform the digital version of the “Europass” system to make it easier for those residing in the euro zone to better access the integrated job market.
“In a digital Europe, young people need tailored support systems to enter the job market and also in order to develop their careers. We are preparing this new Europass platform for a uniform and EU-wide CVs and qualifications basis,” stated the European Parliament social and education spokesman Heinz K. Becker.
Europass has been used by more than 100 million people since 2005, but it was too complicated, said German EPP member Thomas Mann, one of the MEPs responsible for steering the plans through Parliament.
Europass establishes a transparent framework for professional documents such as CVs and standardizes them so that the people’s skills and competences can be used and understood in any EU country. That makes it easier for millions of Europeans to move around Europe for work, study and volunteering every year.
The European Parliament ECON session (Photo: European Parliament)
The Parliament and the European Commission have already put forward the New Skills Agenda for Europe in the past. The Agenda adopted by the Commission back in June of 2016 launched 10 different actions that would allow the kind of appropriate and optimal training, skills and support bases for the citizens of EU.
The Europass is an extension of this reform effort to create new opportunities for adults by reaching out to low-skilled adults and helping them acquire a minimum level of literacy, numeracy as well as digital competency.
This new platform and its related support programs aim to make Europass more accessible, including to people with a disabilities. MEPs want technical adjustments to the program in order to make is increasingly more viable in the actual job market.
Until now, the Europass has consisted of five documents: a CV, a language passport, a certificate section, a diploma and a mobility document.
The idea is to add a new tool, which is the “e-portfolio” that would gather all the necessary information about a person in one place.
A Bulgarian EPP member said that this would be a new “electronic briefcase” of a sort in which you would have all the necessary tools and data from one place for the purpose of job seeking.
The recruitment process will also be made easier thanks to a data system than makes the recognition of skills and qualifications more transparent across the EU.
In addition, care will be taken to safeguard people’s personal data.
Once MEPs have approved them, they will also need the approval of the European Council
By MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr) |
