The role of local authorities in implementing skills management and local strategies to respond to labour market needs as well as the need to invest in retriaining in automotive regions facing transformation were the main points raised by EPP-CoR members during a debate on the European Year of Skills with Nicolas Schmit Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights.

Tanya  Hristova, CoR SEDEC Chair rand Mayor of Gabrovo said "The local level is becoming increasingly important in implementing skills management and often has a more innovative approach. By putting people at the heart of lifelong learning policies, we can achieve further improvements in the effective deployment of resources for the development of education and training. The focus will be on reaffirming the need for investment in skills to unlock better opportunities for all, and especially for young people."

Thomas Schmidt, Minister for Regional Development, Free State of Saxony said "The automotive industry throughout Europe is facing a huge structural transformation and manufacturers and suppliers are equally affected. Almost 7.5 million people work in the automotive and supplier industry in the EU. Their working environment will change massively in many areas due to a continuously rising share of electric cars and the increasing importance of digitalization. The topic of education and training, and especially retraining in small and medium-sized companies, is therefore extremely important for the regions concerned. As chairman of the CoR's Automotive Regions Alliance, I expect that the European Commission's 'European Year of Skills' will also focus on employees in the automotive industry. The 31 member regions of the Alliance will keep putting the issue on the agenda as a high priority."

Jesús Gamallo Aller, Director-General for External Relations and Relations with the European Union of Galicia said that the region of Galicia, in the Northwest of Spain, has designed its own Skills Agenda to respond to the changing needs of our labour market. "We are closely working with companies and clusters to identify the training needs in each economic sector, we are modernising our public employment service using AI and we’re putting in place individual learning accounts and micro-credential schemes to help companies find the right skilled workers. In short, in an ageing and shrinking region like Galicia, we’re making a serious commitment to fill the gaps between the labour market needs and the labour force skills. Therefore, we welcome the celebration of the European Year of Skills and look forward to contributing to other regions in the EU through our experience."

Emil Boc, CoR COTER Chair said that skills are the natural bridge between education, employment, and support towards the successful achievement of the European Pillar of Social Rights especially in the aftermath of the pandemic and in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine. He added "Crisis and incertitude cause worrisome setbacks in the fields of education and employment, and younger generations are always the first to pay the price for it. So welcome to the European Year of Skills." Boc who serves as Mayor of Cluj-Napoca stressed "Let's not forget the greater impact that EU Cohesion Policy can have on skills, especially through the ESF and ERDF. Skills and cohesion, together, are fit to identify and strengthen strategic areas of action, and help our citizens to reach their potential, and meet their professional expectations."

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