EARLALL Working Group on Skills and Labour Market Highlights Sectoral Skills and New EU Funding Opportunities

12/12/2025

On 12 December 2025, EARLALL convened its Working Group on Skills and Labour Market, led by the Regional Ministry of Education of Catalonia. The meeting was chaired by Teresa Escriche and focused on current working group priorities, sectoral skills intelligence, and emerging EU funding opportunities relevant to regional skills ecosystems.

A key focus of the meeting was EARLALL’s ongoing capacity-building work through sector skills webinars, aimed at strengthening evidence-based policymaking across regions. Participants discussed skills analysis in sectors of strategic importance for EARLALL members, including:

• Applied Arts and Craftsmanship – 16 December 2025
• Battery industries – Winter 2025/26
• Energy – Spring 2026
• Construction – Autumn 2026

The webinar on Applied Arts and Craftsmanship explored skills challenges and opportunities in the sector, highlighted regional and European initiatives, and examined how VET, lifelong learning and cultural policies can safeguard Europe’s artisanal heritage. Contributions came from OECD and regions including Tuscany, Centre-Val de Loire and Catalonia, with speakers from regional authorities, VET centres and art and design schools. The materials are already available here.

The working group also exchanged on Erasmus+ funding opportunities, underlining the importance of early preparation given the programme’s competitiveness.

The meeting closed with a forward-looking exchange on the new EU Skills Guarantee, a flagship initiative under the Union of Skills. The discussion also fed into reflections on EARLALL’s upcoming 25th anniversary, highlighting the network’s role in facilitating cooperation, sharing regional expertise and shaping future-oriented skills and labour market policies across Europe.