EU Action Plan on Labour and Skills shortages - a BusinessEurope position paper

Key messages:

BusinessEurope broadly welcomes the European Commission’s Action Plan on Labour and Skills shortages. This is a pressing social policy challenge that is impacting upon the productivity and competitiveness of employers of all sizes and across different sectors. This Plan should not only serve as a roadmap to help reduce labour and skills shortages, but also as a guide for the EU’s social policy dimension during the course of the next EU political cycle for the period 2024-2029.
In designing and implementing actions to reduce labour and skills shortages, it is important to work in the context of a coordinated approach to reforms at the EU level, including in the areas of labour markets; education and training systems; and migration and mobility policies.
A particular priority should be developing a more joined up approach between the priorities and reforms identified through the European Semester process and the EU’s funding instruments, notably the European Social Fund+, fully taking into account the role of social partners. A key focus should be the better use of the ESF+ to incentivise employers to offer training opportunities for their workers. Such an approach would support the creation of EU added value in terms of the functioning of the Single Market and support coordination and cooperation with and between Member States in areas that are within the national competence.