On 19 November, the European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) and the European Training Foundation (ETF) jointly held the Regional Webinar for Candidate Countries and EAfA Partner Countries.

The event marked the 6^th regional webinar by EAfA and the ETF. It explored the latest policy developments of work-based learning (WBL) practices in candidate countries, welcomed two new Partner Countries, Israel and Moldova, and presented the EAfA-ETF activities planned for 2022. In recent years substantial progress has been made in supporting candidate countries to adopt new initiatives in the area of apprenticeships. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of these initiatives, showing that they are needed to build resilience and support citizens to find the best pathways following the global crisis.

The webinar featured opening remarks from Cesare Onestini, Director of the ETF, who addressed the common goal of the ETF and EAfA to create more and better apprenticeships in Europe and Partner Countries through sharing ideas to find new solutions. Ana Carrero, Deputy Head of Unit for the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) then underlined the policy developments that have been put in place to support this goal.

The webinar also included the following speakers:

• Jasmina Poličnik, Secretary at the Upper Secondary, Short-Cycle Higher Vocational and Adult Education Directorate at the Ministry for Education, Science and Sport, Presidency of the Council of the EU Team;
• Neil Taylor, Head of the EBRD in Kosovo;
• Stefan Thomas, Senior Human Capital Development Expert - Work Based Learning, ETF;
• Norbert Shoebel, Team Leader, Apprenticeships Future Proof Skills International Cooperation, DG EMPL;
• Koli Sinjari, Secretary General, National Chamber of Crafts, Albania;
• Zoran Jovchevski, Advisor from the National VET Center, North Macedonia;
• Marko Vukašinović, Head of Directorate for Planning and Implementation of EU Funds, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Montenegro;
• Gabrijela Grujić, Assistant Minister, Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Serbia;
• Süleyman Akgül, Head of Work based Vocational Education Department of DG VET, Ministry of National Education, Turkey;
• Emmanuelle Roure, Team Leader for Neighbourhood, International Affairs Unit, DG EMPL;
• Lida Kita, Senior Human Capital Development Expert – Social Inclusion – Country Liaison for Israel, Serbia and Turkey, ETF;
• Alessandro Brolpito, Senior Human Capital Development Expert - Digital Skills and Learning, ETF;
• Cristina Mereuta, Senior Human Capital Development Expert - Coordinator for Active Labour Market Policies, ETF; 
• Georgios Zisimos, Head of Policy Advice and EU Programming Unit, ETF. 

Participants were invited to share their inputs for future EAfA activities, including the upcoming regional ETF-EAfA event in Belgrade, Serbia in 2022. The upcoming event will be an opportunity to discuss digitalisation in candidate and Partner Countries and how EU funds are being used for digital enhancement projects in vocational education and training (VET). It will also explore policies and tools being developed aimed at supporting young people.

See the ‘Related documents’ section below to download the report of the discussion. You can also watch Part 1 and Part 2 of the event recording.