On 20-21 April 2015, the Latvian Presidency hosted the meeting of the European Directors General for Vocational Education and Training (VET). The main task of the meeting was to discuss the progress on the 2015 VET Review and prepare for the meeting of Ministersresponsible for VET from the EU Member States, candidate countries and the European Economic Area countries, with the involvement of European social partners and the European Commission, taking place in Riga on 22 June 2015.
The draft Presidency Conclusions setting medium-term deliverables for the period 2015-2020 were presented and discussed among the VET Directors and the European social partners with a view to endorse the Riga Conclusions during the meeting of ministers in06.2015. The boosting of the European Alliance for Apprenticeships will be another topic on the agenda of the meeting, with a broad participation of business representatives.
The participants also discussed vocational education and training in the context of growth and jobs agenda, the Bruges Communiqué adopted in 2010, the overall Copenhagen process that sets a long-term vision of VET in Europe and the Education and Training 2020 strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training and its priorities. While the vision and strategic objectives defined in the Bruges Communiqué are valid until 2020, the aim of the Riga Conclusions is to define a set of focused medium-term deliverables for the period 2015-2020.
As a result of the meeting in Riga, the participants expressed broad support for the draft Presidency Conclusions to be further developed during discussions at the Advisory Committee on VET in May 2015 in Brussels.
The meeting was co-financed by the Erasmus+ programme for education, training, youth and sports.