Meeting of Directors General for VET (DG VT) is a traditional event and its content is based on the 18 - month
Presidency programme and the consultations between Czech Presidency programme team and the representatives of the
European Commission. DG VT meeting serves as an opportunity not only to review the achieved results in the field of
VET but also as an impetus for a continuous cooperation between the stakeholders. This meeting offers a chance of
discussing the challenges confronted by European VET systems and exchanging experiences and visions directly
connected with Copenhagen Process. The meeting comprises of three parts, a specific presidency agenda and the
European Commission agenda which seek points of equilibrium between the broader European values and the presidency
priorities in the specific field of vocational education and training. The third, common part, is dedicated to the
common topics and discussion.
In the Prague DG VT meeting the Czech Presidency agenda will include the overview of the main tendencies of
development in the Czech educational policy and priorities of the Czech Presidency in the field of education.
Discussions should also aim at presenting the policy of employment and the demonstration of the support of further
vocational education and training. Furthermore, the priorities of vocational education and training in the Czech
Republic and the Strategy of Lifelong Learning in the Czech Republic will be presented. Role of social partnership as
a key factor for further changes and progress in the VET and as an impetus for successful implementation of
employers´ needs will be stressed followed by good practice examples provided by representatives of social partners
and employers.
European Commission agenda will envisage the recent developments at European level concerning learner mobility,
state-of-play of the Adult Learning Action Plan, New skills for New Jobs and update information on Recommendation on
the establishment of the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) and Recommendation on
the establishment of a European Quality Assurance Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQARF). Other
topics such as the Roadmap for Bruges 2010, Research into forms of individual career development and continuing
vocational training (CVT) and the EQF: linking to a globalised world will be presented by CEDEFOP and ETF.
Considerable time in the programme will also be dedicated to the common discussions based on the issues outlined in
the background paper which will be sent in advance by both Czech Presidency and the European Commission. Background
paper for discussions initiated by the Czech presidency will concern the topic of partnership between the education
and training institutions and employers in the context of lifelong learning based on the outcomes of the Prague
conference on April 6-7th.
Discussions in the European Commission blocks will deal with issues of future priorities for the Copenhagen process
within the Strategic framework for European Cooperation in Education and Training and the responses of VET systems to
the current economic crisis.The outline of the Swedish presidency programme will conclude the meeting.
The event is prepared with financial contribution from the European Commission (Directorate-General for Education and Culture)
