Debašu stenogramma

Pirmdiena, 2021. gada 8. februāris - Brisele

18. Eiropas Prasmju programma ilgtspējīgai konkurētspējai, sociālajam taisnīgumam un noturībai (debates)

  President. – The next item is the oral question to the Commission on European Skills Agenda for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience by Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová, Lina Gálvez Muñoz, Dragoș Pîslaru, Elena Lizzi, Kim Van Sparrentak, Anna Zalewska, Eugenia Rodríguez Palop, on behalf of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (O-000006/2021 – B9-0004/21).

I should like to remind Members that there will be no catch—the—eye procedure and no blue cards will be accepted. Furthermore, remote interventions from Parliament’s liaison offices in the Member States are foreseen.

  Vilija Blinkevičiūtė, Autorė. – Gerbiama Pirmininke, pone Komisare, kolegos, žaliasis kursas, skaitmenizacija turi didžiulę įtaką mūsų gyvenimui, darbui, bendravimui. Vykstantys demografiniai pokyčiai, globalizacija ir dabar ypač COVID-19 pandemija iš tiesų smarkiai keičia ir įtakoja mūsų darbo ypatumus ir verčia iš naujo ir iš esmės peržiūrėti, ar turimi įgūdžiai ir kvalifikacijos atitinka naują realybę.

Komisijos komunikatas „Europos įgūdžių darbotvarkė, kuria siekiama tvaraus konkurencingumo, socialinio sąžiningumo ir atsparumo“ siekia suteikti atsaką į šiuos iššūkius, ypač užtikrinant, kad įgūdžių esminė pertvarka taptų darbotvarkės ašimi ir kad visą gyvenimą trunkantis mokymasis, kuris yra įtvirtintas Europos socialinių teisių ramstyje, taptų realybe visoje Europos Sąjungoje.

Taigi, šiame kontekste Europos Parlamento Užimtumo ir socialinių reikalų komitetas norėtų Komisijai užduoti sekančius keturis klausimus. Ir pirmas klausimas liečia konkrečių terminų nustatymą tiems veiksmams, kurie numatyti Komisijos komunikate. Siekiant, kad įgūdžiai atspindėtų darbo rinkos poreikius bei prisidėtų prie greito ir efektyvaus atsigavimo po COVID krizės, įgūdžių darbotvarkėje nustatyti veiksmai privalo būti įgyvendinti per kuo įmanoma trumpesnį laikotarpį. Taigi, ar Komisija galėtų pateikti apžvalgą su konkrečiomis datomis iki kada numatoma įgyvendinti nustatytus veiksmus?

Antras klausimas: COVID-19 pandemija išryškino skaitmeninių įgūdžių atotrūkį ir dar labiau padidino egzistuojančius skirtumus švietimo sistemoje, įskaitant nelygybę lyčių srityje. Be to, iš mokymo pasitraukusių asmenų skaičius padidėjo ypač tarp nepalankiausioje padėtyje esančių visuomenės grupių. Taigi, kaip Komisija ketina užtikrinti, kad tiek švietimo, tiek visą gyvenimą trunkančio mokymosi programose skaitmeniniam švietimui būtų skiriamas ypatingas dėmesys? Ar Komisija galėtų paaiškinti, kaip ketinama užtikrinti, kad švietimo ir visą gyvenimą trunkančio mokymosi programos būtų aukštos kokybės ir įtraukios, kad būtų sudarytos lygios galimybės visiems, ypač tiems, kurie priklauso pažeidžiamiausioms visuomenės grupėms ar gyvena kaimo ar atokiose vietovėse? Kaip Komisija teiks paramą valstybėms narėms, siekiant sustiprinti jų pastangas užtikrinti aukštos kokybės ir įtraukias švietimo ir visą gyvenimą trunkančio mokymosi programas?

Trečias klausimas: europinės įgūdžių darbotvarkės įgyvendinimas pareikalaus tinkamo finansavimo. Tam, kad ši darbotvarkė būtų sėkmingai įgyvendinta, šalia numatyto Europos Sąjungos finansavimo yra būtinos reikšmingos viešosios ir privačios investicijos nacionaliniu lygmeniu. Taigi, ar Komisija galėtų paaiškinti, kokių konkrečių priemonių ji imsis skatindama nacionalinį viešąjį finansavimą ir privataus kapitalo lėšų pritraukimą bei mažindama didžiulius skirtumus tarp valstybių narių visą gyvenimą trunkančio mokymo srityje? Ir ar Komisija gali paaiškinti, kaip ji skatins įmones prisidėti ir finansuoti darbuotojų ir pameistrių mokymus? Ir paskutinis klausimas: ar Komisija galėtų išvardinti, ką reikėtų padaryti siekiant padėti valstybėms narėms priderinti savo nacionalines švietimo sistemas prie darbo rinkos poreikių visoje Europos Sąjungoje? Kaip pritraukti ir vystyti žmonių talentus ir įgūdžius, kurie gyvybiškai svarbūs tiek asmeniniam žmonių tobulėjimui, bet taip pat ir Europos įmonių konkurencingumo didėjimui?

  Nicolas Schmit, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, honourable Members, first I want to thank you, and in particular the Members of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, for this question on a very important topic. Indeed the Skills Agenda is the centrepiece of our efforts to bring to life the principles of the UN pillar of social rights and notably principle number one. This principle states that everyone, I quote, ‘has the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning.’ We need to invest in people and in building a strong human capital to prepare and accompany the green and digital transitions, as well as to respond to the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. Our goal is to empower people with education and training, with a view to boosting the creation of quality jobs and setting the conditions for a more innovative, competitive, inclusive and sustainable development model.

You rightfully asked about the progress we made in implementing the European Skills Agenda. The agenda was adopted by the Commission on 1 July 2020. It is a five-year plan to help Europe develop more and better skills and to put them to good use. Since last July, 7 of the agenda’s 12 flagship actions have already been launched. Such actions include the Council recommendation on vocational education and training which we already had the pleasure of discussing in this House. We have also launched the new Europass platform. The remaining five actions will be launched in 2021, notably the initiatives on Individual Learning Accounts and on micro-credentials.

The agenda is centred around inclusive learning. It is vital to address this point across all actions, for example in the Council recommendation on vocational education and training. We also underlined the importance of digital skills, and digital education and training. This is even more fundamental in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore the digital education plan for 2021-2027 adopted on 30 September 2020 puts forward inclusion as one of its guiding principles. We are also working on the Skills for Life initiatives to reach out to the most vulnerable and to create concrete opportunities for engaging with learning.

Our ambitions will fail to reach that goal if we collectively do not invest. We need to make the best use of the unprecedented funding of the Union budget to tackle the economic and social consequences of this crisis. This includes of course the European Social Fund+ which can now be implemented following the agreement in trilogue between Parliament and Council’s negotiators very recently. Additionally, the Commission has encouraged Member States to use the Recovery and Resilience Facility where one of the seven flagship initiatives for reforms and investments is re-skill and upskill.

The European Parliament has played a central role in strengthening the position of education and skills in the legal framework of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. I thank you for that as there can be no recovery and no resilience if we do not ensure adequate investment in skills and in quality jobs, especially also in the transition from one job to another.

Member States should put a strong emphasis on investment in skills in their national recovery and resilience plans, but we are working now with Member States to make sure that upskilling and re-skilling is a top focus area. This is not all. Skills are a shared responsibility and it is essential for everybody to play their part. This is why we will put in place a number of measures to unlock private investment in skills. We will look at how fiscal frameworks can do better to support reforms and investment in skills, and how enterprises could better report on their employees’ skills development.

All these efforts culminate in the Pact for Skills, which Commissioner Breton and I launched on 10 November 2020. The pact represents a shared engagement model for skills development. Partnerships should be created in order to respond to the skills challenges in different sectors and should involve social partners, too. To date, three skills partnerships are already in place and altogether EUR 11 billion have been committed by partners in industrial ecosystems to upskill their workforce in the coming years.

Yes, the question of helping Member States to align their national education systems with the labour market is an important one. Of course the organisation and content of education and training is a matter for the Member States, but targeted and up-to-date skills intelligence can help align training with evolving labour market needs, as well as support individuals in their choices.

As part of the Skills Agenda the Commission, in cooperation with Eurostat and the EU Agency Cedefop, is improving and making more widely available such skills intelligence at regional and sectoral level. Let me give you just one example. A Big Data initiative using artificial intelligence has analysed over 150 million job vacancies across Europe. This is an example of assessing skills needs in real time. The results are already online and the Commission is disseminating our findings with key stakeholders such as the European network of public employment services and with social partners.

The Skills Agenda already in its name sets the path towards which we have to go: sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, and I know that I can count on this Parliament to go on this path.

VORSITZ: RAINER WIELAND
Vizepräsident

  Andrea Bocskor, a PPE képviselőcsoport nevében. – Elnök Úr! Az erőforráshiány, az erőforrás-hatékony, digitalizált és klímasemleges gazdaságra való átállás, illetve a mesterséges intelligencia bővülő alkalmazása új kihívások elé állítja a foglalkoztatási és munkaerőpiacot. Új szakmák jönnek létre, miközben az eddigiek átalakulnak vagy megszűnnek. Ez egyértelműen jelzi, hogy a készségek és képességek terén gyors változásra van szükség az Európai Unió és tagállamai versenyképességének érdekében.

A Covid19-világjárvány felgyorsította a digitális átállást, és megmutatta a különböző korosztályok digitális készségeinek szintjét. A biztonsági intézkedések miatt tevékenységeink nagy része a digitális térbe tevődött át, a távmunka és a távoktatás milliók számára vált egyik napról a másikra a mindennapok részévé, felszínre hozva a digitális felkészültségünk korlátait.

Örülök annak, hogy az új európai készségfejlesztési menetrend a Covid-járvány okozta gazdasági és munkaerőpiaci kihívások kezeléséhez is hozzá kíván járulni. Üdvözlöm az előremutató javaslatokat, és fontos, hogy fenntartható utat mutasson a jövő generáció számára. A készségfejlesztésben nagyon fontos a modern, innovatív és minőségi oktatás és képzés, melyek közvetlenül kapcsolódjanak a munkaerőpiachoz és a társadalmi igényekhez, egyben hozzá kell, hogy járuljanak a fiatalok fontos készségekkel való felvértezéséhez, ami felkészíti őket a valós életre. Kiemelten kell kezelni a szakképzést és az egész életen át tartó tanulást, hiszen nagyon fontos, a képzések, átképzések révén, hogy mindig a munkaerőpiacon maradhassanak, és nagyon fontos, hogy ne csak a fiatalokra, de a felnőttekre és a szépkorúak is gondoljunk.

  Lina Gálvez Muñoz, en nombre del Grupo S&D. – Señor presidente, comisario Nicolas Schmit, todas las personas e instituciones coincidimos en la importancia de mejorar nuestras cualificaciones y competencias para que nuestras economías avancen en competitividad, resiliencia y en justicia social, y para transitar de manera exitosa a una economía verde y digital.

Pero las competencias, ¿son las que necesitamos? ¿Quién lo define? ¿Cómo y quién accede a ellas? ¿Estamos todas las personas en la misma disposición de acceder a las mismas?

Normalmente, cuando nos acercamos al debate sobre las competencias, pensamos que estas son neutras y accesibles para todo el mundo y que conseguirlas o no solo depende de nuestros méritos y esfuerzos. Pero, ¿es realmente solo una responsabilidad de individual? Creo que no, que ni tenemos que individualizar la responsabilidad de estos procesos, ni que sean neutros. Por ejemplo, las capacidades no son independientes de los estereotipos de género o etnia y, por tanto, tampoco lo son las oportunidades para obtenerlas a lo largo de nuestras vidas. E individualizar la responsabilidad en cada persona en relación con las capacidades que sean capaces de adquirir es injusto, porque no todos tenemos las mismas oportunidades, sobre todo teniendo en cuenta las desigualdades educativas con las que llegamos al mercado de trabajo y que han aumentado, además, con la pandemia.

Por ello, desde las instituciones públicas y desde el Parlamento Europeo, tenemos que intentar garantizar que los procesos de cualificación y recualificación sean accesibles para todas las personas, con especial atención a las personas de colectivos más vulnerables, zonas de mayores niveles de desempleo o zonas rurales y aisladas. Que estos procesos estén libres de estereotipos porque necesitamos todos los talentos para que Europa avance de manera más innovadora y justa. Que los procesos de aprendizaje sean remunerados para que las personas provenientes de entornos desfavorecidos no jueguen con desventaja. Que estos procesos cuenten con suficiente presupuesto y la activa participación de todos los agentes sociales y que incluyan las capacidades digitales para permitir a toda la ciudadanía una mayor alfabetización digital... (el presidente retira la palabra a la oradora).

  Dragoș Pîslaru, on behalf of the Renew Group. – Mr President, here we are, finally having a debate that our group, Renew Europe, has actually been calling for ever since June 2020, when we launched a paper called ‘Skills at the heart of Europe’. Skills are actually the key ingredient for our future. It’s about our small entrepreneurs, it’s about research, it’s about how we produce the vaccines for the population, and it’s at the core of productive activity. Skills are actually about the social underpinnings of independent living, having good wages and being able to provide for your family. Skills are about the future of our society. There is no Green Deal or digital transformation without proper skill investment.

Here we are with the ambitious new Skills Agenda for Europe before us. We are in the Parliament, putting the right questions and coming with our own contribution to this very important debate. There are three major things to remember. It’s about coordination, how we better coordinate so that skills are going to be sought in all the policy areas, and how we are going to have efficient implementation and transform the words in this nice motion for resolution into facts. That’s the question for the Commission. How do we use that funding for the future?

This is the most important thing. So repeat after me: skills, skills, skills. This is actually the future for Europe. Thank you very much, and we are looking forward, as the Parliament, to supporting the Commission in the implementation of the strategy.

  Julie Lechanteux, au nom du groupe ID. – Monsieur le Président, le débat d’aujourd’hui porte sur la stratégie européenne en matière de compétences en faveur de la compétitivité durable, de l’équité sociale et de la résilience. Un titre bien alambiqué pour parler de l’éducation, de la formation de nos jeunes et du marché du travail qui les attend. Derrière ces formules ampoulées se cache une réalité plus crue que vous n’assumez pas, comme à votre habitude: celle d’une crise économique qui n’en est qu’à ses débuts, avec comme corollaire un chômage endémique auquel l’immigration incontrôlée n’est pas étrangère.

Selon le dernier rapport Eurostat de novembre 2020 concernant l’Union européenne, il y a plus de 3 millions de jeunes de moins de 25 ans au chômage, ce qui correspond à une augmentation de près de 17 % en seulement un an. En parallèle de ce constat accablant, la Commission européenne affirmait encore récemment que l’immigration représenterait une source de talents inépuisable. On marche sur la tête! Quand je vois que le PDG d’AstraZeneca est un Français, je me dis que des génies, en France comme en Europe, nous en regorgeons. Mais par manque de volonté politique et de vision, et à cause de sous-investissements dans la formation et la recherche scientifique, vous les avez fait fuir.

Alors, Monsieur le Président, engagez des moyens pour former, encourager et garder nos jeunes au lieu de les obliger à choisir entre chômage ou expatriation, et mettez fin à votre pacte sur la migration, réel danger pour nos emplois et notre civilisation.

  Eugenia Rodríguez Palop, en nombre del Grupo The Left. – Señor presidente, la Agenda de Capacidades Europea no puede facilitar solo la transición hacia sectores y empleos en expansión. No se trata de responder a las necesidades de un mercado laboral cambiante que fagocita trabajadores a conveniencia, precariza los itinerarios formativos y refuerza la inestabilidad de los mercados laborales.

Hay que pensar seriamente en el tipo de profesionales que queremos, no solo en los mercados que tenemos. La Agenda tiene que dotar de competencias a quienes más lo necesitan, pensando en ellos y eliminando los sesgos de clase, raza y género que perpetúan la desigualdad, y no solo para hacer justicia, sino porque para ser competitivos hay que contar con todos los talentos y capacidades posibles.

Sabemos que la diversidad es rentable; por eso, esta propuesta no solo implica a los poderes públicos, sino también a las empresas: los empresarios tienen que mejorar la cualificación de sus trabajadores, evitando favorecer a los de siempre, facilitando oportunidades formativas y contribuyendo a su formación. Está claro que hay que seguir esforzándose por el bien de todos y de todas.

  Daniela Rondinelli (NI). – Signor Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, gli investimenti nel capitale umano sono lo strumento chiave per superare la crisi economica e occupazionale in atto. La proposta della Commissione, però, rischia di rimanere lettera morta se non andiamo verso un modello formativo europeo ambizioso, concreto e monitorabile, articolato in funzione della transizione verde e digitale.

Questo approccio, infatti, deve prevedere tre condizioni indispensabili per una formazione di qualità: il mutuo riconoscimento delle competenze acquisite; la definizione di condizioni di lavoro e salariali dignitose per gli apprendisti, tali da prevenire ogni forma di sfruttamento, e soprattutto il rilancio dei patti locali per le competenze, in modo che la formazione si evolva mantenendo un legame forte con le vocazioni e i bisogni dei territori, accompagnandone quindi i processi di trasformazione produttiva.

Solo grazie quindi a quest'equilibrio tra la dimensione europea e locale potremo restituire dignità alla formazione, che rappresenta una straordinaria fonte di opportunità lavorativa e una irrinunciabile incubatrice di coscienza sociale e cittadinanza attiva.

  Romana Tomc (PPE). – Gospod predsedujoči.

To, da je koronavirus že spremenil naš trg dela, je sedaj vsem jasno in ta razprava prihaja res ob pravem času. V teh dneh se namreč sprejemajo tudi odločitve o številu vpisnih mest v izobraževalne sisteme. Danes bom omenila samo dva sektorja.

Prvič, visoko na lestvici potreb po kadrih so tisti, ki se ukvarjajo z informatiko, z računalništvom. Ta znanja bodo zelo pomembna za našo prihodnost.

Tudi mi v Evropskem parlamentu poudarjamo pomen digitalizacije za našo družbo in če želimo to doseči, moramo graditi na teh tehničnih poklicih.

Drugo področje pa je področje zdravstva. Mnogi evropski zdravstveni sistemi so med pandemijo padli v še večjo krizo, ne zaradi opreme, ampak zaradi kadrov, ki jih vsaj v nekih delih Evropske unije močno primanjkuje.

Vendar je pandemija kratkoročni izziv, veliko večji je staranje prebivalstva, ko bomo potrebovali veliko osebja, ki bo celovito skrbelo za naše zdravje. Na vse to moramo misliti danes, ne naslednje leto.

Vsi pozivi, da se morajo izobraževalni sistemi prilagoditi trgu, so resda že tradicionalni, vendar enkrat je potrebno narediti prvi korak.

Upam, da bo Komisija naredila vse, kar je v njeni moči, da bo take korake podprla in s tem zagotovila izvajanje programa znanj in spretnosti za Evropo, ki bo bolj konkurenčna.

  Marc Angel (S&D). – Mr President, according to Cedefop, almost half of all EU workers will need to update their skills and/or gain new ones to get or keep jobs and to embrace the opportunities of the digital and the green transitions, and therefore we Socialists and Democrats fully support the EU Commissioners’ efforts in implementing the Skills Agenda and the European Pillar of Social Rights by pushing Member States to join this path in order to leave no one behind.

Member States must use money from EU funds – the Recovery Fund included – to adapt their education and training systems. Vulnerable groups must have an equal access to education, skilling and upskilling.

The EU and Member States must avoid the creation of new gaps resulting from unequal access to technology, especially between generations, gender and between rural areas and cities.

As Socialists and Democrats, we will stand with EU citizens and will support them to embrace transition without forgetting to strengthen, next to their skills, also their personal development and critical thinking.

In a changing world, being aware of the necessity of the new skills agenda is crucial for both workers and employers.

  Radka Maxová (Renew). – Pane předsedající, pandemie koronaviru absolutně změnila naše životy. Místo každodenního setkávání jsme se přesunuli na on-line scénu, a to včetně zaměstnání a vzdělávání. To ještě značně prohloubilo stávající nerovnosti a zkomplikovalo životy lidí a v tomto může právě pomoci Evropská agenda dovedností. V rámci ní je důležité myslet i na osoby se zdravotním postižením a spoluobčany, kteří z různých důvodů žijí na okraji společnosti nebo přímo v chudobě. Tito lidé nejsou ohroženi jen současnou koronavirovou krizí, ale i přechodem na více digitální svět a ekonomiku spojenou se zeleným přechodem. Proto je velmi důležité zajistit programy, které budou rozvíjet právě toto vzdělávání a dovednosti, které budou souviset se změnou budoucího trhu práce. Pracovní trh bude silně ovlivněn digitalizací a přechodem na zelenou energii. Nesmíme v těchto programech zapomenout ani na podporu přístupu internetu pro všechny. Jedině tak využijeme aktuální situaci ke spravedlivější společnosti a rovnému přístupu ke všem našim obyvatelům.

  Stelios Kympouropoulos (PPE). – Mr President, dear colleagues, the latest World Economic Forum Future of Jobs report shows that over the next years, 40% of workers will require reskilling of approximately six months. Having this in mind, the Commission’s Skills Agenda Communication has rightly placed skills at the heart of the EU policy agenda. We will need quality and inclusive training and lifelong learning opportunities for all, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable people of our society and workers in sectors that will undergo fundamental changes. Digital skills and literacy, green skills as well as competences such as critical thinking and problem—solving should be key elements in order to harness the potential of the digital and green transitions and bridge the existing skills gaps.

However, this can only be achieved through a holistic approach, involving all relevant stakeholders and enabling us to anticipate the changing nature of jobs and the skills needed in order to adjust our education systems. And that is the only way to succeed in one of the biggest challenges of our lifetime: to enable our workforce to thrive in new job types that don’t yet exist.

  Радан Кънев (PPE). – Г-н Председател, здравната криза не просто промени трудовия пазар, тя преди всичко ускори промените, за които говорим от дълго време, но говорехме в бъдеще време. Те вече са реалност. Работата от разстояние, гъвкавото, но и несигурно работно време, изместването на традиционни работни места от компютърни технологии. И те идват заедно с тежка икономическа криза и увеличена безработица. Проблемите станаха видими през Ковид-кризата, но те няма да изчезнат с нея. Естествено е да чуваме днес призиви за засилена държавна намеса, за нова роля на правителствата, дори на европейските институции, за увеличени публични разходи. Но ако опитваме насила да задържим пазара на труда в 20-ти век, ще се провалим, ще разрушим социалното пазарно стопанство и социалните си системи. Нов публичен ангажимент, нови публични разходи са нужни, но те са нужни с цел не да спрат промените, а да подпомогнат адаптацията ни към тях. И те трябва да следват единствено три приоритета: образование, образование и образование.

  Anne Sander (PPE). – Monsieur le Président, Monsieur le Commissaire, bien avant la pandémie, nous savions déjà que les compétences et l’apprentissage étaient déterminants.

Avec la crise du COVID-19, la transformation du monde du travail s’est accélérée de manière exponentielle, vers toujours plus d’usages numériques. Nos entreprises ont donc besoin d’une main d’œuvre encore plus qualifiée pour répondre aux nouveaux défis, en particulier se préparer à l’apparition de nouveaux métiers. En effet, 65 % des enfants entrant à l’école primaire exerceront un métier qui n’existe pas encore.

Or, aujourd’hui, 42 % des Européens manqueraient de compétences informatiques de base. En plus, la crise actuelle met en difficulté bien des jeunes qui sont en train de se former – pas de stages, pas de mobilité, cours à distance –, ce qui occasionnera des difficultés supplémentaires pour les intégrer dans le monde du travail.

Plus que jamais, les liens doivent être renforcés entre la formation et le monde de l’entreprise. Et dans cet esprit, l’apprentissage doit être valorisé en tant que voie d’excellence pour l’insertion professionnelle et l’acquisition de nouvelles compétences.

Je salue donc cette stratégie que la Commission européenne souhaite mettre en œuvre, car elle permettra de répondre aux défis que l’Union européenne est en train de vivre.

  Antonius Manders (PPE). – Voorzitter, deze crisis toont nog meer aan dat kennis macht is. We hebben al jarenlang nagelaten om ons onderwijssysteem, ons onderwijs, onze opleidingen aan te passen aan de markt. We zijn altijd met het oude denken bezig geweest. Deze crisis toont echt genadeloos aan dat we dat verkeerd hebben gedaan. Ik hoop dat het nog op tijd is om een permanente opleiding voor jong en oud in te voeren op Europees niveau.

Op dit moment zijn wij te veel afhankelijk van grote Amerikaanse techbedrijven. We zijn afhankelijk van technische platforms uit China. Er zijn nauwelijks Europese bedrijven die daarmee kunnen concurreren, omdat wij al jarenlang – in onze ogen – vanuit de voorsprong stil zijn blijven staan. Het wordt tijd dat we eindelijk eens heel veel gaan investeren, tijd vrijmaken en faciliteren dat onze werknemers in Europa onze economie weer op dat niveau kunnen brengen dat we gewend waren en dat we in de toekomst weer zullen gaan zien dat dat gebeurt. Want de kennis hebben we. Kennis maakt macht en koppelt jong en oud.

  Nicolas Schmit, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, I would first like to thank honourable Members for this very encouraging debate. I would even say that there is a perfect consensus on this issue. We all agree that skills are the future. It’s the future for our societies and the future for our economy.

Some have referred to the World Economic Forum and asked for a skills revolution, and indeed we probably need some kind of skills revolution because we have a technical revolution. We need a revolution in our way of producing, due to the need to adapt to climate change. Therefore, I think this skills revolution has first to guarantee to everybody, and remember I quoted Principle 1 of the Social Pillar, that everybody has to get equal access to skills, equal access to quality education, and equal access to lifelong learning, the young and adults.

This is also something very important for Europe’s social model. It’s a basic element of our idea of equal opportunities. Yes, we have a revolution in the digital world and we have a lot of vacancies there which are not filled. Here it’s a challenge now to train people, to give them the right education and to give them the right skills. Sometimes we have to leave the usual models to skill them because technology also gives us the tools to skill people in a different way.

We are talking about just transitions. I would say that this means first investing in people, investing in human capital, because our labour markets are changing. It’s true that they are changing and we should now anticipate technological change and prepare every person – every young person – for the changes and give them the opportunity to learn to learn. This is the challenge we all face and now we have the Skills Agenda and I agree that it’s up to us to implement it.

(Applause)

  Der Präsident. – Die Aussprache ist geschlossen.

Die Abstimmung findet am Mittwoch, 10. Februar 2021, statt.

Schriftliche Erklärungen (Artikel 171)

  Атидже Алиева-Вели (Renew), в писмена форма. – Щастлива съм, че Европейскaта програма за умения обуславя важността на ученето през целия живот и повишаването на уменията и квалификацията на служителите, за да им се даде възможност да бъдат добре подготвени за конкурентната работна среда. Трябва да осигурим равен достъп до обучение за всички хора, независимо от техния пол, възрастова група и етнически произход. Хората с увреждания също трябва да могат да се възползват от възможностите, които се предлагат. Променящите се условия на труд и преходът към дистанционна работа, наложени от пандемията, изискват от всички работещи да повишат своята дигитална грамотност и да подобрят своите дигитални умения. Съюзът изпитва недостиг на квалифициран персонал, а в бъдеще този проблем ще се задълбочи. Несъмнено цифровото образование трябва да бъде насърчавано в целия ЕС, особено в селските райони.

Изключително се радвам да видя, че програмата се фокусира и върху възрастните, като им предоставя повече възможности за разширяване на квалификацията и им позволява да бъдат активни на пазара на труда. Програмата обхваща и младежите, предоставяйки възможности за обогатяване на техния трудов опит. ЕС играе съществена роля за подпомагането на действията на държавите членки в областта на образованието и обучението, и всяка държава трябва да се възползва в пълна степен от всички възможности, които предоставя тази програма.

  Victor Negrescu (S&D), în scris. – În contextul pandemiei, milioane de persoane nu au avut acces la educație sau la programe de formare, iar dificultățile de adaptare la noul context digital au crescut decalajul dintre statele membre și din interiorul acestora. Inegalitățile socioeconomice au făcut accesul la educație tot mai dificil.

Agenda pentru competențe în Europa trebuie să fie în centrul acțiunii europene, astfel încât dreptul la pregătirea de calitate, pe tot parcursul vieții, să devină o realitate pentru toți cetățenii, în toate zonele și sectoarele. În contextul în care, pe viitor, 90 % dintre locurile de muncă vor necesita competențe digitale, este esențial ca instituțiile europene și statele membre să susțină dobândirea de noi competențe prin programe și instrumente europene precum Erasmus+, Garanția pentru copii și Garanția pentru tineret, programele Europa Digitală și Europa Creativă.

Alocarea a minimum 20 % pentru tranziția digitală din Planurile de redresare și reziliență devine esențială, iar respectivele resurse trebuie acompaniate de măsuri adecvate și de fonduri suplimentare investite structural de fiecare stat membru. Investiția noastră de astăzi în competențele europenilor va dicta competitivitatea și performanța economică a Europei în viitor.