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(1) A skilled workforce is crucial to ensuring socially fair and just green and digital transitions, and to strengthening the Union’s sustainable competitiveness and resilience in the face of adverse external shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the fallout of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. More adequate and better-matched skills open up new opportunities and empower individuals to fully participate in the labour market, society and democracy, to harness and benefit from the opportunities of the green and digital transitions, and to exercise their rights.

(2) Across the Union, employers report that it is difficult to find workers with the necessary skills. The European Labour Authority, in its report entitled ‘Report on labour shortages and surpluses’, and the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity, in its report entitled ‘Cybersecurity skills development in the EU’, identified that 28 occupations were classified as having skills shortages in 2021, including in the healthcare, hospitality, construction and service sectors, and identified shortages of IT and security specialists, in particular cybersecurity experts, and workers with a science, technology, engineering and mathematics background. Increasingly, the biggest constraint to the successful green and digital transitions is the lack of workers with the right skills. Labour shortages can, in some cases, also be the result of unattractive jobs and poor working conditions. Tackling those issues, by means of offers of quality jobs and retention policies, is important for a well-functioning labour market. In many Member States, demographic ageing is expected to accelerate over the coming decade as ‘baby boom’ cohorts retire, reinforcing the need to make use of the full potential of all working-age adults, whatever their origin, through continuous investments in their skills as well as activating more people, in particular women and young people, especially those not in employment, education or training (NEETs), who face specific challenges that hinder their participation in the labour market. Efficient and comprehensive skills strategies, increased access to the education and training opportunities of disadvantaged groups, and combating stereotypes, in particular gender stereotypes, would help to increase employment and to reduce skills shortages. In order to ensure a socially fair and inclusive transition, such measures can be complemented with solutions for persons who are not able to reskill and upskill.

(3) The availability of skilled staff and experienced managers, who play an essential role in the Union’s sustainable growth, also remains the most serious problem for a quarter of the Union’s 25 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), constituting the backbone of the Union’s economy and prosperity, representing 99 % of all businesses and employing 83 million people. The Commission communication of 10 March 2020 entitled ‘An SME strategy for a sustainable and digital Europe’ recognises the essential role of SMEs in the Union’s competitiveness and prosperity.

(4) The lack of an adequately skilled workforce and the low rate of participation of working-age adults in training activities reduce opportunities in the labour market and result in social and economic inequalities that represent a significant challenge for the Union. The lack of an adequately skilled workforce and the low rate of participation in training activities also indicate considerable untapped potential of reskilling and upskilling to help mitigate increasing labour shortages in sectors such as manufacturing and services, and in particular in economic activities related to hospitality and manufacturing of computer and electronic equipment, and the care sector. However, participation in adult learning in the Union has stagnated over the last decade and 21 Member States fell short of the 2020 Union target. For many working-age adults, such as those in atypical forms of work, employees of SMEs, unemployed, inactive or low-qualified persons, skills development opportunities are too often out of reach. Increasing the reskilling and upskilling opportunities for those groups and for all working-age adults would contribute to reaching the Union employment target of 78 % for adults between 20 and 64 years old for whom the employment rate in 2021 was at 73,1 %. Further efforts are needed to provide effective support to adults with a low level of skills and to unemployed persons in accordance with the Council recommendations of 19 December 2016 on upskilling pathways: new opportunities for adults and of 15 February 2016 on the integration of the long-term unemployed into the labour market .

(5) Principle No 1 of the European Pillar of Social Rights (the ‘Pillar’) states that everyone has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable them to participate fully in society and successfully manage transitions in the labour market. Principle No 4 of the Pillar refers to active support for employment, to uphold everyone’s right to timely and tailor-made assistance to improve their employment or self-employment prospects, including the right to receive support for training and re-qualification. Principle No 5 of the Pillar on secure and adaptable employment states that, regardless of the type and duration of the employment relationship, workers have the right to fair and equal treatment regarding working conditions, access to social protection and training. Article 14(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the ‘Charter’) states that everyone has the right to education and access to vocational and continuing training.

(6) Principle No 3 of the Pillar underlines that regardless of gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, everyone has the right to equal treatment and opportunities, including employment, education and training. The European Year of Skills should be implemented in a manner that is inclusive and actively promotes equality for all. The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, adopted by the Commission in its communication of 4 March 2021, points out that by increasing participation of groups which are currently underrepresented, it is possible to achieve more inclusive employment growth.

(7) The Commission communication of 1 July 2020 entitled ‘European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience’ (the ‘European Skills Agenda’) calls for a skills revolution to ensure the recovery of the economy, to strengthen Europe’s global competitiveness and social fairness and to turn the green and digital transitions into opportunities for all. The European Skills Agenda aims to foster collective action on skills, to ensure that training content is aligned with the evolving labour market needs, and to better match training opportunities with people’s aspirations in order to encourage the uptake of such training opportunities across the working-age population. The European Parliament welcomed the objectives and actions of the European Skills Agenda in its resolution of 11 February 2021 .

(8) On 25 June 2021, the European Council welcomed, in its conclusions, the Union headline targets of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, in line with the Porto Declaration of 8 May 2021, thereby welcoming the ambition of ensuring, by 2030, an employment rate of at least 78 % and that at least 60 % of all adults participate in training every year.

(9) On 14 September 2022, the Commission President announced in her State of the Union address that the Commission would propose to make 2023 the European Year of Skills. She pointed to the problem of labour shortages in certain sectors and underlined the importance of investments in professional education and upskilling. She also underlined that attracting the right skills to the Union has to be part of the solution, supported by the speeding up and facilitating of the recognition of qualifications of third-country nationals. By means of the European Year of Skills, the Commission seeks to increase the momentum and foster the implementation of the many actions that it has already taken to strengthen reskilling and upskilling in the Union in order to address labour market shortages. The European Year of Skills is intended, by means of reskilling and upskilling, to support the sustainable growth of the Union’s social market economy, with the aim of boosting its competitiveness and of contributing to the creation of quality jobs.

(10) On 15 September 2021, the Commission President announced in her State of the Union address the launch of a structured dialogue at top level to strengthen commitments on digital skills and education. Member States appointed national coordinators for that process. The European Year of Skills builds on that structured dialogue process, expanding its focus in line with the objectives of this Decision.

(11) The European Year of Skills follows the European Year of Youth 2022 which sought to empower, honour, support and engage with young people, including those with fewer opportunities, in a post-COVID-19 pandemic perspective, with a view to having a long-term positive impact on young people. The European Year of Youth 2022 emphasised the importance of skills in order to find good quality employment for young people and to expand their employment opportunities.

(12) By promoting a mindset of reskilling and upskilling throughout the Union, the European Year of Skills can have a broader positive impact on society and democracy, as a better skilled workforce also means more active and engaged citizens. Reskilling and upskilling equip workers with the skills needed to benefit from better quality job opportunities, to enhance their well-being at work and to progress in their personal and professional development, whilst boosting the competitiveness of the economy and contributing to the creation of quality jobs.