With a mandate to promote EU policies in its partner regions, one particular line of ETF’s policy support is providing support on initial and continuous VET, in a LLL perspective, to facilitating adaptation to industrial changes and stimulating cooperation between education and businesses in order to develop employability and labour market relevance. This orientation is particularly relevant for Southern Mediterranean countries where the current socio-political developments demonstrate the critical importance of a more concerted effort by key stakeholders in addressing unemployment in the context of weak public institutions, limited inclusiveness and accountability in governance. The current changes and possible political transition in some countries offer new opportunities to address these challenges and underline the imperative of more market-responsive education for both economic competitiveness and social equity. Likewise, the EU is paying an increasing attention to entrepreneurial learning (EL) and skills for SMEs with competiveness and employment concern. This is acknowledged and well documented in the ‘Europe 2020 strategy’ and more specifically in the Small Business Act for Europe (SBA) which establishes a comprehensive EL and SME policy framework for the EU and its Member States. The Southern Mediterranean countries are following a quite similar approach in developing EL and skills for SMEs through the Euro-Med Industrial Cooperation and the Charter for Enterprises . ETF intervention strategy for 2012 builds on its previous activities in the region, on the Euro-Med industrial cooperation action plan 2011-2012 and will be permanently fine-tuned and adapted to the priorities of partner countries and those set up by the European Union in the area of education, training and employment policies.