Individual learning accounts - a BusinessEurope position paper

Key messages

BusinessEurope is not convinced about the added value of an EU initiative focused on individual learning accounts. What is needed is a Council recommendation supporting the Member States and social partners in their efforts to create or develop well-functioning approaches to training in line with changing labour market needs.
EU action to support Member States and social partners to improve their skills training provision can be helpful. The draft recommendation should be adapted to better emphasise the possibility for member states to further strengthen their existing approaches to training, including the possible role of training funds, or other preferred national solutions.
Regular discussions between governments and social partners, including with a view to making good use of the resources made available through the recovery and resilience facility, is what can really make the difference to ensure better learning outcomes in line with changing labour market needs and reduce in the short term the growth bottlenecks that structural skills mismatches represent for our societies and labour markets.

Taking into account existing national practices, a stronger role for employers in the governance of education and training systems, including as concerns the updating of curricula so that they are more responsive to evolving labour market needs.
Well-designed and inter-operable national cross-industry and sectoral approaches to training that simultaneously support and incentivise employers to offer job relevant training and workers to take up such training opportunities, including better possibilities for labour market transitions across occupations and sectors.