At the initiative of the European social partners, a tripartite opinion of the Advisory Committee on Vocational Training has been adopted on the subject of individual learning accounts (ILAs) and strengthening training provision in Europe.

This opinion sets out the joint priorities of the social partners and Member States on how the Commission could develop a policy proposal to strengthen training provision across the EU. This opinion was prepared ahead of the anticipated Commission proposal for a Council recommendation on ILAs, which is expected to be published later this year.

The opinion highlights that across Europe, social partners, social dialogue and collective bargaining play a key role in facilitating employees’ effective access to training in different ways in each country and that ILAs are just one of several options for financing training.

The opinion also emphasises that ILAs should not replace existing employer or government funded and/or social partner driven approaches to training as well as other forms and modalities of training financing.

Continuous dialogue between the workforce and their management at company level, as well as collective bargaining at sectoral and/or cross-industry levels, including the widespread practice of training funds across Europe are crucial factors in facilitating the choice of training activities available.

Improving incentives to training provision across Europe is an important priority for the recovery and resilience plans in the coming years.