ETF Yearbook 2011 - Social partners in vocational education and training

The ETF Yearbook 2011 focuses on the role of the social partners in the fields of vocational education and training, lifelong learning and active labour market policies. The social partners have a particularly important function in policy making in the fields of VET and employment. Their involvement in social dialogue around human capital development is therefore a key development field for the ETF’s work. The social partners represent business and the world of work; employment systems and job profiles are constantly changing, and their ‘voice’ needs to be continuously heard when skills have to be updated. The social partners are recognised in Europe as the ‘official’ representatives of the labour market. In the EU15, social partner involvement in VET policy making and in active labour market policies is deep at both national and European levels while it is continuously increasing in the newer EU member states. However, there is still a lack of traditions, structures and practices in most ETF partner countries. This yearbook analyses the actual role played by the social partners in selected EU countries, at the European level and in different ETF partner country contexts and discusses possible ways to develop their capacities.