Shaping Europe’s future through education and training

Gabriel is fifteen years old. To reach his full potential and best contribute to society he needs learning opportunities. The Europe of tomorrow is being built in the classrooms and training centres of today. To help reverse the decline in basic skills and improve teaching and how digital tools and AI are used in education, the Commission has put forward the education and skills package.

The package is adapted to changing labour market needs and focuses on four priorities

• raising achievement in basic skills
• harnessing digital and AI tools for education
• strengthening the teaching profession
• improving vocational education and training (VET) 

It includes concrete initiatives to reverse the decline in basic skills, thanks to European school alliances that will bring schools and school authorities from different EU countries together, and the EU network of advisory and support services that will connect national and regional services.

The package also includes recommendations on how to make the teaching profession more attractive and address teacher shortages through better working conditions, stronger training and professional development and by empowering teachers in the use of AI. Finally, the package contains a new VET strategy to support learners to get the necessary skills to drive innovation and growth.

On 20 November, the Commission will host the 2026 European Education and Skills Summit to launch implementation of the package alongside EU countries and relevant stakeholders. Meanwhile the Council is now invited to examine and adopt the concrete proposals in the package.

For more information

Press release - Commission launches Education and Skills package to tackle declining basic skills, rapid digital change and teacher shortages

Factsheet on the education and skills package