ECO Responds to the European Commission Call for Evidence on the evaluation of Europass

02 March 2023

The European Cancer Organisation (ECO) responded to European Commission Call for Evidence on Lifelong learning and career management - evaluation of Europass since 2018.

The consultation invited public feedback to analyse the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value of Europass since 2018. Respondents’ feedback on their experience with Europass and the usefulness of its tools will help the Commission further improve these services.

With the support of our Workforce Network, the European Cancer Organisation emphasised the following points in the response:

  1. There is a current low awareness among oncology professionals in Europe about the Europass initiative, including its supporting set of tools e.g., Digital Skills Self-Assessment Tool, Certificate Supplement, and European Digital Credentials for Learning.
  2. This, could in part, be a result of low integration between Europass and existing national and professional society initiatives in respect to learning and skills development.
  3. As a general remark, a number of key tools already exist across Europe to support individuals in their professional development and in conveying their professional skillsets to others. Examples include LinkedIn, ResearchGate etc. The success, or otherwise, of Europass, therefore depends upon avoiding duplication with existing tools, and in providing strong unique and EU added value offer.
  4. In respect to European cancer policy, ECO suggests means be found to connect DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) initiatives, such as Europass and other projects, to EU funded healthcare and oncology care training projects, such as those supported by both the Digital Europe programme, and the EU4Health programme.
  5. It is therefore notable that the present Europass Advisory Group contains no stakeholder organisations from the health sector. ECO advises this be corrected by employing a more open form of stakeholder input to the development of Europass.

Our full response is available here.

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