Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council – 1st situation report on education and training in the nuclear energy field in the European Union

Education and Training is a centrepiece in ensuring welfare in the EU. Consequently, "An Agenda for New Skills and Jobs" is one of the seven Flagship Initiatives put forward by the European Commission in its Europe 2020 strategy. It aims at better matching labour supply and demand, including through labour mobility. This issue is of particular importance in the field of nuclear energy in the EU.

The role of nuclear energy is currently undergoing an intense debate at national and international level and it is finally up to the Member States to make their decision, be it "as planned" or long-term operation, power upgrade, new build or phase out. The recent Fukushima events (Japan, earthquake and tsunami, 11 March 2011) suggest continuing to improve the various information and training policies on nuclear matters and to coordinate them on a global scale.

The Council of the European Union, in its conclusions on the need for skills in the nuclear field 15406/08 of 13 November 2008, points out that there is a real risk of the loss of nuclear competencies for the European Union if no measures are taken and emphasises strongly that the preservation of skills in the nuclear field requires a general effort involving public and private players and in particular the nuclear industry.

The objective of this 1st situation report is to provide – to the extent possible – a comprehensive picture of the situation, to identify the current challenges, and to present the spectrum of both current or planned EU, national or international initiatives which could address the identified challenges in the most efficient and systematic manner possible.

EUR-Lex: COM(2011)563: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2011:563:FIN

European Commission: SEC(2011)1046: Commission staff working paper http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SEC:2011:1046:FIN:EN:PDF

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