New Skills Portability Initiative makes skills and qualifications easier to use across EU borders

When workers move abroad, their skills travel with them, but their qualifications can be held back by lengthy recognition procedures, administrative barriers and translation requirements.

To address these challenges, the new Skills Portability Initiative, part of the Fair Labour Mobility package, aims to make it easier to understand and recognise qualifications gained in another EU country for professionals, employers and public authorities.

The initiative will support greater digitalisation of qualifications, including through a new EU digital standard for qualifications in the EU Digital Identity Wallet and an online tool linking national databases to make qualifications easier to compare across the EU.

For apprentices and VET learners, easier recognition and comparison of qualifications can also support mobility by helping skills and qualifications gained through training to be understood across borders.

For the first time, common rules will also cover non-EU nationals and EU citizens with non-EU qualifications. Together, these measures aim to make recognition easier and faster, help businesses recruit across borders and contribute to reducing skills shortages and mismatches in the Single Market.

Click the "More" button to learn more about the Skills Portability Initiative.