BAKGRUNN (fra kommisjonsforslaget)

Learning mobility has proven to be a highly valuable experience for people in gaining knowledge and skills needed for personal, educational, and professional development, and for civic engagement and social inclusion 2 . Organising learning mobility is also a strong driver for education and training institutions and non-formal and informal learning providers to enhance the quality of learning they offer. In the context of the green and digital transitions, requiring a ‘skills revolution’, learning mobility contributes to tackling skills gaps, accelerates skills development and builds a strong sense of citizenship and understanding of common values across Europe and beyond.

Under this proposal, learning mobility means moving physically to a country other than the country of residence, in order to undertake study, training or non-formal or informal learning. It has a broad scope covering all types of learning mobility and learners and staff in all sectors of lifelong learning, including school, higher education, vocational education and training, adult learning as well as the learning mobility of young people, youth workers and staff in the area of early childhood education and care, and in the area of sport. It also covers both intra-EU and international learning mobility to and from the EU.

The proposed recommendation is a key building block of the European Education Area where learning is not hampered by borders, and everyone has an opportunity to learn or to study abroad. It will reinforce the necessary framework conditions to enable learning mobility for everyone and to allow more people to benefit from the Erasmus+ programme 3 and other cross-border learning mobility schemes.

The proposed EU learning mobility framework updates the 2011 Council Recommendation ‘Youth on the move’ – promoting the learning mobility of young people 4  by expanding its scope from young people to learners at any age and to educators and staff. This new learning mobility framework also addresses new learning patterns, including the proliferation of digital tools for learning and blended learning, as well as more sustainable mobility.

This update was announced in the Commission Communication on Achieving the European Education Area by 2025 5 , in order to enable more learners and teachers to overcome obstacles and benefit from a mobility opportunity. The Communication identified the following key objectives of the updated framework – enabling mobility opportunities for a much wider variety of participants, fostering green and digital mobility and encouraging balanced mobility. The Communication also highlighted that international cooperation in education and training, including learning mobility, is essential for achieving the EU’s geopolitical priorities and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

This policy proposal on learning mobility is part of the package on maximising the potential of talent mobility together with the Commission Recommendation on recognition of qualifications of third-country nationals and a legislative proposal on the EU Talent Pool, promoting the EU as an attractive destination for talents to learn, study and work.

Talent Partnerships aim to strengthen cooperation between the EU, Member States and partner countries to boost international labour mobility and development of talent in a mutually beneficial way. They provide a stable, policy-driven and flexible structure which can effectively promote cooperation also in the area of education and training including on learning mobility for both learners and staff. They will increase public awareness and enhance learning mobility from third countries. They will also support efforts to build effective skills systems in third countries and at the same time contribute to the labour force of the EU in priority sectors for the green and digital transition.

Learning mobility of students from third countries may also contribute to faster recognition of their qualifications when entering the EU labour market. It could help to bridge the gap between qualifications obtained in third countries and the European requirements by providing participants with micro-credential certificates, transcripts and other supporting documentations that can help credential evaluators to assess their qualifications quickly and accurately. It will also signal the relevant language competencies, cultural adaptability, and exposure to the European education standards which may facilitate further validation of their learning outcomes.

Furthermore, learning mobility, in particular exchanges including work-based learning components which equip participants with labour market experience can serve as a steppingstone for individuals to consider returning to the EU and seek work opportunities. In follow-up to the 2017 Council Recommendation on Tracking Graduates 6 , developing tools and methods for exchanging comparable learning and job-related information on mobile graduates (who move to another EU country for study- or work-related purposes) is a priority under the activities carried out by the European Network on Graduate Tracking, such as the Eurograduate 2022 survey. 

•Challenges to be addressed by the proposed recommendation

Although much has been achieved in the area of learning mobility since the 2011 Council Recommendation ‘Youth on the move’, evidence reveals that more needs to be done to offer learning mobility opportunities for everyone, and in particular for people with fewer opportunities 7 .

The 2022 Eurobarometer survey on Youth and Democracy in the European Year of Youth 8 , revealed that only 15% of respondents have participated in studying, training or apprenticeship in another EU country. The same survey also highlighted that young people saw improving education and training, including the free movement of students, apprentices, and pupils, in the top three focus areas for the 2022 European Year of Youth. According to the 2023 Eurobarometer survey on Integration of young people into the labour market with particular focus on traineeships, 21% of young respondents had at least one of their traineeships in another EU country; the main barriers mentioned to accessing cross-border traineeships were lack of financial resources and of information about these opportunities.

In 2023, the Mobility Scoreboard 9 identified good performance in most of the areas of the 2011 Recommendation. However, the situation was mixed for individual Member States. Systemic support for the participation of disadvantaged learners 10  in learning mobility was revealed as the area with the greatest need for further progress.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education, training and work-based learning in an unprecedented way. It had a negative impact both on physical mobility and on the mental and physical health of learners and staff 11 . The pandemic also revealed deep inequalities in accessing online opportunities, including educational activities, for children 12 . At the same time, it has led to the rapid development of new learning mobility patterns such as blended mobility and virtual exchanges. The youth work sector has also been heavily affected, as shown in the 2021 EU Youth Report, and the pandemic has heightened the need for resources, including for digital youth work, to support young people’s learning mobility, development, engagement and health. 

Evidence including the study contracted by the Commission ‘Supporting learning mobility: progress, obstacles and way forward’ 13 , the outcome of the call for evidence and public consultation underlined the key barriers to learning mobility, including financial and social constraints, lack of information and guidance, language and accessibility barriers, and administrative obstacles. Another important barrier hampering mobility is the limited extent of automatic recognition of qualifications and the outcomes of learning periods abroad, as recognition procedures are often slow, information is not readily available, and are left to the discretion of individual institutions.

In 2022, European citizens at Conference on the Future of Europe in their proposals on future policies highlighted the need for the EU and its Member States to promote opportunities for mobility: ‘Promote European exchanges in different fields, both physically and digitally, including educational exchanges, twinning, travel and professional mobility (including for teachers and local elected politicians)’ and to ‘establish by 2025 an inclusive European Education Area within which all citizens have equal access to quality education and life-long learning, including those in rural and remote areas’ 14 . According to the recommendations, such exchanges should be made accessible across Member States for all, regardless of their age, level of education, background and financial means. The proposals also asked to strengthen the existing EU mobility programmes and to ensure diverse access to them. One of the recommendations specifically encouraged the EU to include sport activities in EU-level exchange and mobility programmes.

In 2023, the European Citizens’ Panel on learning mobility provided 21 recommendations 15 on enabling more widespread and diverse participation in the Erasmus+ programme and other learning mobility schemes. The recommendations focused on targeted provision of information, inclusion of individuals of all ages and backgrounds, the importance of multilingualism, learning mobility of employees, and other aspects of learning mobility, including the recognition of the role of educators in organising learning mobility and greener mobility.

Learning mobility has the potential to decrease skills shortages by improving the employability of participants, developing their transversal competences and contributing to better skills match. Similarly, being an attractive learning mobility destination can in turn increase the local employers’ access to workforce. Currently three quarters (74%) of SMEs in Europe say they concretely face skills shortages for at least one job role in their company at the moment. Also, nearly 4 in 5 companies point out in the survey that it is generally difficult for them to find workers with the right skills, and more than half of them (53%) find it difficult to retain skilled workers 16 .

• Objectives of the proposal

This policy proposal aims to increase opportunities for learning mobility for everyone through action of Member States and the Commission. Its ambition is to gradually move towards making learning mobility in the European Education Area the norm rather than an exception.

To boost learning mobility and to make it more inclusive, the Commission proposes to establish and work towards achieving by 2030 new EU-level targets:

–    In higher education, the share of graduates with a learning mobility experience should be at least 25%.

–    In vocational education and training, the share of vocational learners benefiting from a learning mobility abroad should be at least 15%.

–    In all education and training, and youth and sport systems, people with fewer opportunities should account for at least 20% of all learners benefiting from learning mobility abroad.

The proposal also aims to give a specific boost to learning mobility for teachers and apprentices through dedicated policy frameworks, as set out in the annexes. Teachers with learning mobility experience are important role models for learners and key promoters of learning mobility in schools. For the teachers themselves, learning mobility can bring about significant benefits related to cultural, cognitive, and personal learning experiences, in addition to knowledge and skills to fostering exchange of good practices. Opportunities for learning mobility also increase the attractiveness of teaching profession and can help to attract to and to retain teachers in schools. The increased mobility of apprentices will help to address skills gaps, to support the green and digital transitions, and to increase the employability of young people. Apprentices face a specific set of barriers such as the complexity of legal obligations related to the status of the apprentice, the young age of apprentices themselves, the diversity of national apprenticeship schemes and curricula to comply with during the mobility exchange and the reluctance of employers to engage in learning mobility due to the risk of productivity loss. The recommendation aims to provide a coherent policy framework including proposals for short-term incremental changes and elements of a comprehensive long-term strategy.

• Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area

The proposal builds on and complements existing policy provisions that enable and support learning mobility. The most relevant are as follows:

The Council Resolution of 18 February 2021 on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European Education Area and beyond (2021-2030) 17  set as one of its strategic priorities making lifelong learning and mobility a reality for all. The Council Resolution of 16 May 2023 on the European Education Area: looking to 2025 and beyond 18 emphasised that identifying and removing the remaining obstacles to learning and teaching mobility is key to the full achievement of the European Education Area. 

The first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights 19 states that everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable people to participate fully in society and successfully manage transitions in the labour market, everywhere in the European Union.

The European Year of Skills 20  was launched on 9 May 2023 to run until 8 May 2024, with a view to promote skills policies and investments to match people’s aspirations, needs and skills-set, including the skills acquired during mobility, with labour market needs and opportunities.

The European Union Youth Strategy 2019-2027 21 stressed the importance of learning mobility for young people to experience exchanges, cooperation, cultural and civic action in the European context. The Council Resolution on the Framework for establishing a European Youth Work Agenda 22  called for the promotion of the European dimension of youth work through cross-border and transnational exchange, cooperation, intercultural learning and peer-learning.

The Council Recommendation of 20 December 2012 on validation of non-formal and informal learning 23 and the 2023 European guidelines on validation of non-formal and informal learning 24 underlined that the validation of learning outcomes acquired through non-formal and informal learning can play an important role in enhancing employability and learning mobility, particularly in the case of the socio-economically disadvantaged or the low-qualified.

The Council Recommendation on a Quality Framework for Traineeships of 10 March 2014 25  covers traineeships outside formal education and training, including cross-border traineeships. The Commission is currently working to update this framework.

The Council Recommendation on the European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong learning of 22 May 2017 26 has among its wider objectives to increase the mobility and social integration of workers and learners.

The Council Recommendation of 15 March 2018 on a European Framework for Quality and Effective Apprenticeships 27 laid down 14 criteria to promote a common understanding of national apprenticeships systems, a key factor in increasing mutual trust and facilitating transnational mobility of apprentices. The recommendation encourages to progressively promote transnational mobility of apprentices, either at the workplace or education and training institutions, as a component of apprenticeship qualification. The mobility of apprentices is also fostered by the European Alliance for Apprenticeships.

The Europass Decision of 18 April 2018 established a European framework to support the transparency and understanding of skills and qualifications acquired in formal, non-formal and informal settings, including through mobility, through an online platform offering web-based tools and information on services offering guidance for transnational learning mobility and career management.

The Council Recommendation of 26 November 2018 on promoting automatic mutual recognition of higher education and upper secondary education and training qualifications and the outcomes of learning periods abroad 28 stressed the importance of recognition of European qualifications and learning periods abroad in higher education and upper secondary education without any separate recognition procedure. The Implementation Report 29 as well as the related Council conclusions, adopted on 26 May 2023 30 , emphasise that substantial additional efforts are required to make automatic recognition a reality in the EU.

The Council Recommendation of 22 May 2019 on a comprehensive approach to the teaching and learning of languages 31 aimed for enhancing language learning from early age and building ‘language awareness’ in schools and vocational education and training institutions so that more young people speak at least two European languages in addition to their mother tongue.

The Commission communication of 30 September 2020 on achieving the European Education Area by 2025 32 stressed that the Union’s exchange programmes and international education cooperation have contributed to making Europe an attractive destination, boosting innovation and job creation.

The Council Recommendation of 24 November 2020 on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience 33 introduced a new EU-level target of 8% of vocational learners benefiting from a learning mobility abroad by 2025. The recommendation highlighted the importance of mobility opportunities for learners and staff in the VET sector, and for organisations as an important way to put internationalisation strategies into practice. The Osnabrück Declaration 34  endorsed by ministers in charge of VET, European Social Partners and the Commission asked national authorities to support and facilitate the mobility of VET and adult learners, including apprentices.

The Western Balkans Agenda on Innovation, Research, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, a comprehensive, long-term cooperation strategy of the EU and the Western Balkans, launched at the EU-Western Balkans Brdo Summit on 6 October 2021, includes an objective for improving learning mobility.

The European strategy for universities 35 of 18 January 2022 includes objectives to develop a European Quality Assurance and Recognition System to encourage automatic recognition of qualifications across Europe, and to support transparent and fair recognition of third country qualifications, including those of refugees, through the network of academic recognition centres 36 and the EU transparency tools – the European Qualifications Framework and European Digital Credentials for Learning.

The Council Recommendation of 5 April 2022 on building bridges for effective European higher education cooperation envisages the enhancement of systemic and long-lasting transnational cooperation at institutional level, including through the development of a joint European degree label and institutionalised cooperation instruments such as a possible European legal status for alliances of higher education institutions.

The Council conclusions of 5 April 2022 on enhancing teachers’ and trainers’ mobility 37 calls for the promotion and expansion of mobility for teachers and trainers in order for it to become a common feature in their training and career. The Erasmus+ Teacher Academies, supported by the 2021-2027 Erasmus+ programme, also test new measures supporting mobility of teachers and enabling mutual learning among teachers and teacher educators through transnational networks, communities of practice and joint programmes between teacher education institutions.

The Council Recommendation of 5 April 2022 on the mobility of young volunteers across the European Union 38 aims to facilitate better transnational youth volunteering in the Union. It emphasises the importance of inclusiveness, quality, recognition and sustainability dimensions of transnational youth volunteering.

• Consistency with other Union policies

Learning mobility supported at EU level links with other relevant policy areas such as education and training, employment, citizenship and democratic participation, social inclusion, non-discrimination, legal migration and integration, learning of languages, creativity and culture, climate action, and digitalisation.

Besides contributing to realising the European Education Area, the proposal supports the implementation of the European Skills Agenda, which seeks to address skills mismatches and to promote upskilling and reskilling and the EU strategy on the rights of the child that recognises children’s right to have the best possible start in life and to develop their full potential and calls for more efforts to guarantee inclusive, non-segregated and quality education 39 . It also supports the Digital Education Action Plan, which aims to harness the potential of digital technologies for learning and teaching. In its first principle, the European Pillar of Social Rights 40 states that everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable people to participate fully in society and successfully manage transitions in the labour market, everywhere in the European Union. The proposal is also aligned with EU policies and initiatives aimed at promoting mobility such as the European Skills Agenda and those promoting multilingualism and intercultural dialogue, including the EU’s Strategy on Multilingualism. By promoting learning mobility, the proposal encourages individuals to develop their language skills, cultural awareness, and intercultural competencies. 

Many EU programmes and instruments support learning mobility, in particular:

· the Erasmus+ programme offers transnational and international learning mobility opportunities for learners at any age, education and training staff, youth workers, and various youth participation activities;

· the European Solidarity Corps offers young people opportunities to participate in volunteering and solidarity activities across the EU and beyond, and in humanitarian aid-related activities globally;

· the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) support Member States and regions in their endeavours to ensure equal access to inclusive non-segregated education, training and skills development opportunities from early childhood education to tertiary level. By promoting general and vocational education and training, as well as adult education and learning, these funds also help to facilitate accessibility and inclusion for persons with disabilities, enabling learning mobility for all. The ALMA (Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve) initiative is funded by the European Social Fund Plus and aims to help disadvantaged young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) to integrate into society by easing their way back into education, training or employment. The initiative offers participants a work-related experience of 2-6 months in another Member State, as part of a comprehensive project cycle that includes training, coaching and counselling.

·Interreg addresses border obstacles including to learning mobility and provide national and regional authorities as well as institutions for education and training with the opportunity to cooperate for the development of skills, notably of young people.

·The Technical Support Instrument offers Member States, upon request, tailor made expertise to reform and enhance learning mobility, notably through Flagship initiatives focusing on talent attraction, youth education and skills. Additionally, the flagship initiative “Public Administration Cooperation Exchange” (PACE) promotes cooperation and cross-border exchanges of civil servants among Member States to strengthen their skills and administrative capacity, including in the area of education.

·The Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe identifies learning mobility between the EU and partner countries as one of the main ways to eradicate poverty, fight against inequalities and discrimination, and promote human development.

·The Instrument for Pre-Accession assistance (IPA III) identifies that, under the regulation, opportunities shall be ensured to contribute to the socioeconomic development of the countries in an accession process to the EU membership, with special emphasis on youth.