CERI Eye: European Qualifications Framework, European Parliament

Patrick Werquin reports back from the:

Conference on the European Qualifications Framework, European Parliament, held in Brussels, 29-30 January 2009

170 experts from 60 countries drawn from South and North America, the Middle- East, Africa the Asia-Pacific region and Europe met for two days at the European Parliament in Brussels for intensive discussions on qualification frameworks. The conference demonstrated the global interest in the European Qualifications Framework and its potential to built partnerships and links between the EU and the rest of the world. The conference brought together a range of experiences together, including perspectives from inside the EU, the European Commission, Partner countries of the EU and other countries from around the world. The conference also drew on experiences and perspectives available from key international organisations, such as the UNESCO, the ILO, the World Bank and the OECD. I was in charge of moderating a session and took this opportunity for informing participants about some of the main findings from the activity on the role of national qualifications systems in promoting lifelong learning (Bridges to Lifelong Learning, OECD, 2007).
For me, the most striking finding of this conference is that Canada, after years of hesitation or even opposition, is resolutely heading toward the creation of a national qualifications framework. It should be a fascinating work to study how it will impact on the permeability of educational and training systems and on the labour market mobility.

Participants encouraged the ETF to take the lead in promoting future global discussions and knowledge-sharing on qualification frameworks. The discussion at the conference will be continued through a range of activities culminating in a second conference in 2011.