{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2006-702/annex/division-1/division-1.3/division-1.3.3",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2006-702/annex/division-1/division-1.3/division-1.3.3.json",
  "legislation": "eudn/2006/702",
  "legislation_title": "Council Decision of 6 October 2006 on Community strategic guidelines on cohesion (2006/702/EC)",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2006-702",
  "path": "annex/division/1/division/1.3/division/1.3.3",
  "kind": "division",
  "number": "1.3.3",
  "heading": "Increase investment in human capital through better education and skills",
  "text": "Europe needs to invest more in human capital. Too many people do not enter, or remain in, the labour market, because of lack of skills including in basic literacy and numeracy, or due to skills mismatches. To enhance access to employment for all ages and to raise productivity levels and quality at work, there is a need to step up investment in human capital and to develop and implement effective national lifelong learning strategies for the benefit of individuals, enterprises, the economy and society. In the framework of the Employment Guidelines, Guidelines for action under this heading are the following:\nExpand and improve investment in human capital.\nAdapt education and training systems in response to new competence requirements.\nReforms in labour market training to attract more people into employment and increase adaptability of workers and enterprises need to be coupled with reforms in education and training systems. In previous programming periods, the Structural Funds have invested substantially in education and training systems. In the next programming period, the investment in human capital should be reinforced by focusing on the Lisbon objectives in line with the integrated guidelines for growth and employment. The following general priorities should be addressed:\nexpanding and improving investment in human capital including the development of appropriate incentives and cost-sharing mechanisms for enterprises, public authorities and individuals,\nsupporting coherent and comprehensive lifelong learning strategies, with particular attention given to addressing the skill needs of the knowledge economy, including support to cooperation and the establishment of partnerships between Member States, regions and cities in terms of education and training to facilitate the exchange of experience and good practice, including innovative projects. Particular attention should be given to addressing the needs of disadvantaged groups,\nsupporting the design and introduction of reforms in education and training systems using, where relevant, common European references and principles, in particular to raise the labour-market relevance of education and training,\nstrengthening the links between universities, research and technological centres and enterprises, in particular through networking activities and joint actions.\nUnder the Convergence objective, many Member States and regions are faced with very significant education and training challenges. Financial resources should be used for the implementation of reforms, which should address the following specific priorities:\nensuring an adequate supply of attractive, accessible and high quality education and training provision at all levels, including the improvement of staff competences and qualification, promoting flexible learning pathways and new options starting as early as the school and preschool stage, actions to achieve a significant decline in early school-leaving and higher completion rates of upper secondary education and improved access to pre-school and school education,\nsupporting the modernisation of tertiary education and the development of human potential in research and innovation, through post-graduate studies, further training of researchers, and attracting more young people into scientific and technical studies,\npromoting the quality and attractiveness of vocational education and training, including apprenticeships and entrepreneurship education,\nensuring, where appropriate, greater mobility at regional, national or transnational level, and promoting frameworks and systems to support the transparency and recognition of qualifications and the validation of non-formal and informal learning,\ninvestment in education and training infrastructure including ICTs, where such investments are necessary for the implementation of reform and/or where they can significantly contribute to increasing the quality and effectiveness of the education and training system.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2006/702/annex/division/1/division/1.3/division/1.3.3",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-01T15:17:27.846378+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}