Public consultation on individual learning accounts.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation on individual learning accounts and invites any citizen or relevant stakeholder (policy makers, managers, representatives of institutions, etc.) to participate. This consultation seeks to gather views on the problem definition, as well as the objectives, content and impacts of the proposed initiative.

What are individual learning accounts?

They are personal accounts in which training entitlements can be accumulated and spent on quality-assured training. They are a way of providing individuals with training entitlements used by public authorities and social partners in the Member States, in addition to, for example, training voucher programmes (e.g. public employment services) and individual learning budgets (e.g. of companies for their employees).

Can individual learning accounts be part of the solution to the challenges of the dual ecological and digital transition in the context of the Covid-19 crisis?

The dual digital-ecological transition and the COVID-19 induced disruptions lead to significant structural changes in labour markets and will fundamentally change the skill requirements of many jobs. This increases the importance of lifelong skills development to reduce skills gaps, support labour market transitions and foster social inclusion. At the same time, a high and growing share of workers are in atypical forms of work, such as part-time work, temporary work, fixed-term work, casual and seasonal work, platform work and self-employment. This, coupled with the increasing number of labour market transitions throughout working life, means that a growing share of people are at risk of not receiving sufficient training support from an employer.

In short, through this public consultation, the aim is to find out how individual learning accounts can help ensure that adults continue to acquire the skills they need, regardless of their employment status, and therefore to make decisions and take action to achieve that goal.

How to participate?

If you wish to contribute your views to this consultation via the form provided, you first need to create a user account or register via this link for transparency reasons determined by the EU.

Both the registration and the form can be accessed via the following link, which provides additional information on the consultation and its aims:

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12876-Individual-Learning-Accounts-A-possibility-to-empower-individuals-to-undertake-training/public-consultation

The consultation is open until 16 July.