Cedefop Annual Report, 2014

Better links between education and training and the labour market was a main thread of the Greek and Italian European Union (EU) Presidency programmes of 2014. This thread guided Cedefop's work and demand for its expertise throughout the year. With youth unemployment rates at more than 40%, improving young people's employability through more work-based learning was central to both Presidency policy agendas. Skill mismatch and labour market imbalances have become a main concern. In 2014, two thirds of Member States were recommended to make their vocational education and training (VET) more relevant, effective and efficient. Countries began to put youth guarantees in place as recommended by the Council. Developing and extending apprenticeships is a main feature of this work and a strand that Cedefop reinforced substantially in 2014. As the EU's agency for VET, Cedefop also assisted the Commission, Member States and social partners in their efforts to empower young people and adults to manage education and career transitions. Besides the mandate from 2010 to conduct regular skills and supply forecasts, since 2014 Cedefop has also been responsible for developing and maintaining the EU skills panorama in cooperation with the European Commission. Outcomes have helped improve Europe's quantitative and qualitative information base on trends in skills and jobs. Besides its assistance to European and international initiatives, Cedefop piloted an interactive conference format to promote policy learning and a new strand of work: supporting Member States and social partners more directly, as proposed by its recent external evaluation. [For the 2013 report, see ED560859.]