The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) is an
agency of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
. Established in 1975, Cedefop is headquartered and located in
Thessaloniki region,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
, and has a
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
office. Cedefop is the
acronym
An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
of its French title,
Centre
Européen pour le
Développement de la
Formation
Professionnelle (C.E.DE.FO.P.). Cedefop supports the development of European
vocational education
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
and training (VET) policies and contributes to their implementation.
Cedefop works closely with the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
,
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
s, representatives of
employers and
trade union
A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ...
s, researchers and practitioners in vocational education and training (VET), with the aim of strengthening European cooperation. It provides the evidence on which to base European vocational education and training policy and identifies trends in and challenges for VET. The agency also brings together policy-makers, social partners, researchers and practitioners to share ideas and debate the best ways to improve European VET policies. The issues it covers span guidance and counselling; training for older workers; forecasting the demand and supply of
skills
A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. For example, in the domain of w ...
; the recognition and validation of learning that takes place outside the education system; and the development of
qualification
Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to:
* Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...
frameworks.
History
Against a background of social changes and economic problems in the mid-1970s, Cedefop emerged as a consensus among Member States of the then
European Economic Community (EEC) over the need to improve vocational education and training (VET). Although education had been a research field since the early 1960s, the late 1960s and early 1970s saw a trend towards more focused and systematic research into VET.
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
set up its Federal Institute for Vocational Training Research (Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildungsforschung) in 1969. In
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, the Centre d’études et de recherches sur les qualifications (CEREQ) was set up in 1970. Three years later,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
also set up a vocational training institute, the Istituto per lo sviluppo della formazione professionale dei lavoratori
ISFOL.
In 1970, the EEC's Economic and Social Committee set up a study group to examine education and training in the then six EEC Member States. The committee proposed establishing a European institute for vocational training research and guidance, largely based on the West German model.
Cedefop was established on 10 February 1975. Its location in
West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
was a clear signal that the western sector of the then divided city was a part of the EEC. In October 1993 the Council of Ministers decided to relocate Cedefop to Greece. On 1 September 1995 Cedefop moved to provisional premises in Thessaloniki, and to its own building in August 1999. Much of Cedefop's early work involved studying the comparability of vocational training qualifications in Member States. Around 200 occupations were categorised and their equivalence with other occupations and qualifications determined. The assumption was that vocational training policies in Member States would increasingly be brought into line with each other leading to a mutual recognition of qualifications and certificates and development of a common vocational training policy, as foreseen under Article 128 of the
Treaty of Rome.
However, agreement was not reached on mutual recognition, other than for the regulated professions, or on a common vocational training policy. The
1992 Treaty on European Union (Article 129) changed the role of EU policy on vocational training to one of supporting and supplementing action of Member States, while fully respecting the responsibility of Member States for the content and organisation of vocational training. This role has been transferred to Article 166 of the
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...
, which entered into force on 1 December 2009.
Governance
Cedefop is run by a Management Board on which national governments, trade unions, employers’ organisations and the European Commission are represented. Day-to-day operation is the responsibility of the executive director, who is appointed by the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
on the basis of recommendations from the Management Board. Cedefop's budget comes from the European Commission.
Activities
Cedefop provides comparative analyses and expertise gathered through research and networking. Its activities cover initial and continuing VET and VET aspects of lifelong learning. They integrate the interests, priorities, and needs of policy-makers among its major partners the European Commission, Member States and the social partners.
Cedefop contributes to the concept, design and supports the implementation of common European tools, such as the European qualifications framework, European credit system in VET, the European quality assurance reference framework, the Skills Panorama and
Europass
Europass is a European Union ( Directorate General for Education and Culture) initiative to increase transparency of qualification and mobility of citizens in Europe. It aims to make a person's skills and qualifications clearly understood throughou ...
. Collectively, these tools support mobility for learning both within national systems and across borders. The annual report of activities is submitted to the European Union institutions.
References
External links
*
Description of Cedefop on EU websiteRegulation (EEC) No 337/75 of the Council of 10 February 1975 establishing a European Centre for the Development of Vocational TrainingArchivesof CEDEFOP at th
Historical Archives of the EUin Florence
1975 in the European Economic Community
Agencies of the European Union
Government agencies established in 1975
Organizations based in Thessaloniki
Vocational education in Europe