Renew Europe CoR President François Decoster proposed the creation of macro-regional skills and mobility clusters at a meeting of subnational leaders.

The proposal aims to boost vocational education and apprenticeships across the European Union, in order to help citizens acquire new skills and find new opportunities in the European labour market.

In his report on skills and talent mobility, adopted at a meeting of the European Committee of the Regions on 22-23 February, Decoster aims to shed light on how mobility can be used to help match the needs of our citizens with quality skills.

“Talent and skills mobility within the EU is crucial for local and regional development, but to ensure that no region is left behind, we also need to prevent brain drain and maintain intellectual capital within our communities,” said Decoster.

“This is why talent mobility is the key element, which fosters interconnected hubs of excellence, amplifying our collective potential for innovation and progress.”

In his report, Decoster advocates for more mobility of people in vocational education and training (VET) as well as apprentices across Europe.

As a way of circumventing some of the legal, linguistic, administrative and even socio-psychological hurdles, Decoster suggests the creation of macro-regional mobility clusters for VET and apprentices across Europe.

These clusters would offer an answer to the existing lack of harmonisation processes for VET and apprenticeships between EU Member States, and increase the trust and access to information.

Decoster’s report is a response to the European Commission’s proposal of the Skills and Mobility Package in November 2023.