The European Qualifications Framework (EQF)
The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) is a common reference framework for qualifications developed by EU as a translation tool to make national qualifications easier to understand and more comparable. The EQF consists of 8 levels and covers all levels and all sub-systems of education and training, focusing on Learning Outcomes (LOs) and the person’s knowledge, skills, autonomy & responsibility. The EQF seeks to support cross-border mobility of learners and workers, promote lifelong learning and professional development across Europe.
The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)
ECTS is a tool of the European Higher Education Area for making studies and courses more transparent. It is a central tool in the Bologna Process, which aims to make national education systems more comparable internationally. ECTS helps students to move between countries and to have their academic qualifications and study periods abroad recognised. It also supports the planning, delivery and evaluation of higher education programmes. ECTS credits represent learning based on defined Learning Outcomes and their associated workload.
EUROPASS
Europass is a service of European Commission that offers free online tools supporting learners, workers and job-seekers across Europe in studying and working in different European countries. It provides reliable information by giving links to relevant European and national sources and helps trainees find courses, jobs, guidance and support with validation and recognition of their qualifications. Europass allows its’ users to effectively communicate their skills and qualifications in Europe. The European Commission provides this service free of any charge and in 29 different languages.
The European Higher Education Area (EHEA)
The EHEA is an international collaboration on higher education and the result of the political will of 49 countries with different political, cultural and academic traditions, which, step by step during the last twenty years, built an area implementing a common set of commitments: structural reforms and shared tools. These 49 countries agree to and adopt reforms on higher education on the basis of common key values. Through this process, countries, institutions and stakeholders of the European area continuously adapt their higher education systems making them more compatible and strengthening their quality assurance mechanisms. The main goal of EHEA is to increase staff and students’ mobility and to facilitate employability.
Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area
The Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area is based on an intergovernmental agreement within the Bologna Process. Its major goal is to follow the objectives expressed through the Bologna Process: international transparency, recognition, and mobility. The Framework’s aim is to organise national higher education qualifications into an overarching European-wide qualifications framework. Within this Framework, qualifications are defined according to levels of complexity and difficulty. Generic descriptors of the requisite learning outcomes at each level have been defined that are broadly applicable in all national contexts.
ENIC/NARIC network
The ENIC/NARIC network is a network of national centres set up to directly support institutions and citizens with the recognition of academic qualifications. It is a joint initiative of the European Commission, the Council of Europe and UNESCO, aiming at providing up-to-date information supplied and maintained by the competent bodies in each member country and by each member organization on current issues in international academic and professional mobility, and on procedures for the recognition of foreign qualifications.
The European multilingual classification of Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO)
ESCO is the multilingual classification of European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations, a substantial part of the Europe 2020 strategy and the New Skills Agenda for Europe. ESCO has been developed by The European Commission since 2010 and is continuously updating it. The ESCO classification identifies and categorises skills, competences, qualifications and occupations relevant for the EU labour market and education and training, and systematically shows the relationships between the different concepts. It comprises 2942 occupations and 13485 skills in all fields.
The European e-Competence Framework (e-CF)
The e-CF was published by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), and the framework is a major component of the European Union’s initiative for digital skills development. It provides a reference of 41 competences as required and applied in an IT professional work context, using a common language for competences, skills, knowledge and proficiency levels that is applied and understood across Europe. It provides structured information for 5 e-CF competence areas and proficiency levels, and an overview of best practice examples for knowledge and skills relate to the 41 e-Competences generic descriptions
The Digital Competence Framework for citizens (DigComp)
DigComp 2.0 identifies the key components of digital competence in 5 areas – Information and data literacy, Communication and collaboration, Digital content creation, Safety, and Problem solving. It addresses the European citizens as a whole as the users of digital/ICT services and covers 8 proficiency leves. It is foreseen for a wide set of stakeholders and end users, such as national authorities, interest groups and key players (e.g. other digital competence frameworks and training providers). DigComp 2.0 can be used as a base to develop a digital competence framework for a specific context.
The Entrepreneurship Competence Framework (EntreComp)
EntreComp isdeveloped by the European Commission as a tool to improve the entrepreneurial capacity of European citizens and organisations. It is a reference framework to explain what is meant by an entrepreneurial mindset. EntreComp offers a comprehensive description of the knowledge, skills and attitudes that people need to be entrepreneurial and create financial, cultural or social value for others. It currently defines 3 competence areas, a list of 15 competences, learning outcomes and proficiency levels that describe what it means to be entrepreneurial.
The European Training Foundation (ETF)
The European Training Foundation is a European Union agency that helps transition and developing countries harness the potential of their human capital through the reform of education, training and labour market systems, and in the context of the EU’s external relations policy. ETF has been functional since 1994 and operates within key EU instruments’ policy-driven approach to external assistance: The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance; the European Neighbourhood Policy; and the Development Co-operation Instrument. These are intended to support partner countries to design and implement reform strategies that align with their own national policy priorities.
European Skills Agenda
The European Skills Agenda is a five-year plan to help individuals and businesses develop more and better skills and to put them to use, by:
- Strengthening sustainable competitiveness, as set out in the European Green Deal
- Ensuring social fairness, putting into practice the first principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights: access to education, training and lifelong learning for everybody, everywhere in the EU
- Building resilience to react to crises, based on the lessons learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic.