European Commission 10 July 2026, COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL on the implementation of the Council Recommendation on vocational education and training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience

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This Commission Staff Working Document (SWD(2026) 181 final), issued pursuant to Article 36 of the 2020 Council Recommendation on Vocational Education and Training (VET) for sustainable competitiveness, social fairness and resilience, reports on the five-year implementation of that Recommendation across EU Member States, tracking progress against six reform priorities and three quantitative targets (work-based learning exposure, VET graduate employment rates, and learner mobility). The document finds that the EU average for work-based learning exposure (66.0%) has exceeded its 2025 target of 60%, while the employment rate target of 82% has not been fully met at 80.2%, and the mobility rate of 5.3% in 2023 remains substantially below the revised 2030 target of 12% set by the 2024 Council Recommendation 'Europe on the Move.' The SWD identifies persistent cross-cutting challenges including fragmented governance, insufficient integration of green skills, teacher and trainer shortages, low VET attractiveness relative to academic pathways, and over-reliance on EU funding for infrastructure modernisation, and serves as a preparatory input to the forthcoming European VET Strategy announced in the Union of Skills Communication.AI