Press Release: Europass: a new instrument for better recognition of qualifications and skills in the enlarged Europe

The European Commission adopted in January 2004 a proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on a single framework for the transparency of qualifications and competences (Europass). Conceived with an eye to lifelong learning, the proposal integrates various transparency-promoting instruments into a coherent framework, identified by the single label 'Europass', which will be accessible on the Internet and to which other instruments may also be added in the future. Co-ordination, rationalisation and computerisation are the key concepts of the proposal, which thus makes these instruments more accessible, more user-friendly, more visible and more familiar. The urgent need to improve the transparency of qualifications and competences has become even more pressing with the impending entry of ten new Member States as emphasised by the Education Ministers of 31 European countries, the social partners and the Commission in November 2002 in the Copenhagen Declaration, to which this proposal for a decision represents a concrete response.

http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/home http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/en/home

CEDEFOP: Homepage http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/

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