What Role for Vocational Skills? The Higher Education Bias of EU Action for the Knowledge Economy
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2023
Author(s)
Abstract
The awareness of the necessity to adapt to the knowledge economy has been ever-present in the European debate, as greatly encapsulated by the “European year of skills” which is underway until May 2024. This adaptation, however, contains an interesting paradox. While vocational education and training (VET) has been an area of Community action since the Treaty of Rome, the EU has only been allowed to support Member States’ policy action in (higher) education policies. However, the EU supports intergovernmental cooperation and student mobility more widely and successfully in the area of higher education (HE) than in VET. European Union support for learners’ mobility is face with little demand the European credit transfer system for VET has experienced failure. In contrast, the EU has succeeded to foster a community approach with joint financial and legal instruments in the area of HE. This project analyses why and how European integration has developed differently in the areas of HE and VET. It takes the perspective of supranationalist theory and relies on (archival) EU documents and interviews with EU-level decision makers, bureaucrats and interest group representatives. The analysis is guided by the three components of supranationalism – EU rules, supranational organisation and transnational society. Taking EU-level advocacy into account (transnational society), the project compares how the respective credit transfer systems (EU rules) and portfolios in the European Commission have developed (supranational organisation). It is argued that even though supranational organisation in VET is strong with two dedicated EU agencies, transnational society has remained weak. A more coherent transnational society in the area of HE policy has instead led to a stronger development of supranational organization, which has the potential to lead to an expansion of EU rules.
Event Title
UACES Annual Conference
Event Location
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Event Date
3.-6.09.2023