Etf interview en v2 by Action Global Communications Ltd

EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An ENPI project Talking about the Neighbourhood

Shortcut to the job market: higher degree or practical skills? The name of the organisation, the European Training Foundation, sounds self-explanatory. In fact, it can be misleading because the ETF does not operate in the European Union, nor it is engaged in training, and is not a foundation. It’s an EU agency that helps partner countries to develop their vocational education and training (VET), as well as labour market systems related to employment, explains its Director, Madlen Serban, in an exclusive interview to the EU Neighbourhood Info Centre. Interview with Madlen Serban, Director of the European Training Foundation How does the ETF achieve its goals of helping partner countries develop vocational education and training, as well as labour market systems related to employment? We try to make sure that each country has appropriate public policies addressing these areas, that there is a legislative framework to back it, and that the stakeholders are getting support in their implementation. So the whole cycle consists of policy development, adoption and implementation. By stakeholders, I mean governments, but as the policy should be inclusive, we are also working with employers, trade union associations at the national and sectoral levels, as well as civil society organisations. We have 35 partner countries, grouped according to the EU’s external instruments into enlargement, neighbourhood South and East, and Central Asia.

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Who benefits from your work? The ETF works at the systemic level, helping partner countries to strengthen vocational educational training and labour market institutions. So the first to benefit are the policy makers, i.e. both governments and their partners – associations of employers, trade unions and civil society associations as well as institutions that specialise in vocational education and training such as VET centres or council. We encourage countries to have an inclusive policy-making process, embracing civil society. Take the young Mediterranean leaders initiative in the Southern neighbourhood, in a region where young people make up more than half the population. We cannot develop policies for them. We have to work out policies together with them. In 2012, we organised a competition to select young leaders under the age of 30 with experience in public management, with a view to involving them in the policy-making process in the VET sector, known as the Torino Process (as the ETF is based in Torino). What is the source of funding for the ETF? We are non-commercial so we do not raise funds ourselves. We act as an external arm of EU policies in education, training and employment, so we are funded by the EU, with the money being allocated by co-decision of the European Parliament (EP) and the Council. The ETF functions within a multi-year financial framework. Under discussion now, is the 2014-2020 programme, based on a multi-year strategic plan with a mid-term benchmark in 2017. In addition, we submit the annual work programme.

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Interview with Madlen Serban EU Neighbourhood Info Centre - An ENPI project

“In the early days of Arab Spring we were the only EU agency acting in the area of human resources development, present in such countries as Tunisia and Libya.”

“We are opening up avenues for larger scale EU funding by helping to identify policy areas that need support…”

In Focus

First of all, our strategy and funding have to be adopted by the Governing Board and then approved by the European Parliament. In the Governing Board, the European Commission, represented by the Directorate General for Education & Culture, and each Member State has one vote. We also have six observers - three are independent experts appointed by the EP and three represent partner countries. Does the ETF make an intellectual or financial input into local initiatives? The ETF does not fund individual initiatives, and it’s not the money that attracts the countries, regions or institutions, but a strong belief that VET makes a diﬀerence for their communities. However, our partners may not have the right knowledge, so we try to empower them by taking advantage of our own expertise. Besides, we can mobilise expertise from EU Member States, partner countries themselves and from international organisations. What do you consider as your most important achievements? It’s first and foremost our capability to act when we are needed. In the early days of Arab Spring, for example, we were the only EU agency acting in the area of human resources development, present in such countries as Tunisia and Libya. We were there to support the societies in systemic development. Now we have very good relations with the Libyan authorities and stakeholders, which is a big strategic achievement. Even though we see a lot of violence there, we carry on working with the government to make sure that when the violence subsides, citizens will have a way to move ahead. The same applies to Egypt. What’s also important is that we are opening up avenues for larger scale EU funding by helping to identify policy areas that need support in the form of expertise and assistance funded by the Development and Cooperation (DEVCO) budget. To give you an example, we mobilized a €50 million project in Egypt.

“It’s not the money that attracts the countries, regions or institutions, but a strong belief that VET makes a diﬀerence for their communities.”

What are your biggest challenges? The main challenge in the South is stability. Second, in both regions we continue fighting with the perceptions in societies, both in the minds of authorities and citizens, that VET is a second-best choice. People believe that a university degree will provide them with jobs for life. Yes, high aspirations in this sense are an asset, but this is not enough, because we face an overproduction of university graduates, which creates a mismatch between demand and supply on the labour market. Another challenge is the highly centralised system of vocational education and training. There are still very few regional initiatives that fly, and we are proud to be supporting them.

European Training Foundation website http://www.etf.europa.eu/web.nsf/pages/home European Commission – Lifelong Learning Policy http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/vet_en.htm Erasmus Mundus http://ec.europa.eu/education/external-relation-programmes/mundus_en.htm Tempus http://ec.europa.eu/education/external-relation-programmes/tempus_en.htm EU Neighbourhood Info Centre – project fiche and news - TEMPUS IV for higher education http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?lang_id=450&searchtype=simple&id=248&id_type=10 EU Neighbourhood Info Centre feature - Employment, the number one priority for the new Tunisia http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?id=479&id_type=6&lang_id=450&subject=11

EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An ENPI project The EU Neighbourhood Info Centre is an EU-funded Regional Information and Communication project highlighting the partnership between the EU and Neighbouring countries. The project is managed by Action Global Communications.