Europe needs a flagship lifelong learning initiative as its workforce ages and jobs and skills become redundant, according to a university umbrella group, which described the European Commission’s recent ambition to create a “Union of Skills” as insufficiently ambitious.

The recently announced commission initiative focused on “the development of our union’s human capital to strengthen EU competitiveness”, alongside creating an “action plan on basic skills” and a “STEM education strategic plan”.

It set out a series of actions including a pilot scheme centred on “regular upskilling and reskilling” for workers; a “skills portability initiative” to improve international recognition of qualifications and skills; and the introduction of an “EU talent pool” and dedicated visa strategy to recruit from non-EU countries.

�ճ����European University Association (EUA) described the communication as a “timely call for more and better investment in citizens’ skills and competencies”, describing many of the proposals as “sound and necessary” in a policy paper.

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However, the EUA said, “the urgency and scale of Europe’s present and future skills and education needs” demand “a more strategic and enduring approach to enhance its lifelong and continued learning capacities”.

A lifelong learning initiative, the umbrella body said, “would align with Europe’s economic and societal needs and ongoing transformations, be attractive for European and international talent and send a strong, positive signal towards the EU’s global partners and competitors”.

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Without such an initiative, the new measures proposed by the commission “risk getting lost”, the EUA said. It envisaged member states and higher education institutions collaborating more effectively on lifelong learning, an area the body described as “more important than ever, given the declining and ageing workforce and job and skills redundancy”.

Many countries are currently considering how to ensure their universities, traditionally focused on providing full-time study to young people, are better equipped to address skills gaps and educate adults in new areas. A much-delayed lifelong learning entitlement – which will provide loans to cover more modular study in England – is now due to be launched in 2027.��

“Similarly to how the European Universities Initiative addresses obstacles to transnational interuniversity cooperation, a European flagship initiative will contribute to raising awareness of lifelong learning, but also to enhancing institutional and national frameworks, eliminating obstacles and identifying concrete goals for collaborative and coordinated action,” the EUA said.

The Union of Skills places particular emphasis on STEM subjects, citing Europe’s “growing challenge in meeting the demand for skilled talent” in fields such as clean technology, aerospace, defence and digital technology while highlighting the persistent STEM gender gap.

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In response, the EUA encouraged the commission to extend its proposals beyond STEM disciplines, noting that skills needs and labour shortages vary significantly across individual disciplines.

“Similarly, the promotion of accessible and inclusive education needs to go beyond enhancing the participation of disadvantaged students in STEM,” the university group said, adding, “Although the underrepresentation of women in STEM is already addressed in many national and institutional contexts, it would benefit from further European support.”

The EUA emphasised the need for sufficient funding, noting the growing financial pressures faced by universities in multiple EU countries. “Failure to step up investment risks undermining universities’ ability to fulfil their core missions in education, research and societal engagement, which all contribute to the wider objectives of the Union of Skills,” the group said.

“A European-level instrument, such as a ‘Skills Fund’, aimed at leveraging investment from both public and private funders, could provide targeted support through grants, and potentially study loans on agreed priorities, to be awarded under thematic calls.”

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emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com