Action plan 2021-2027 tracker: employment and skills

The 2021-2027 Action plan on integration and inclusion's goals in the area of employment and skills include:

strengthened cooperation at the EU, national and local levels among key labour market actors and the migrants
migrant entrepreneurs, including social entrepreneurs, receive more support through easier access to financing, training and advice
more migrant women participate in the labour market
assessment of migrants’ skills is more effective and faster; upskilling and reskilling are continuously supported, including through validation procedures for non-formal and informal learning.
more migrants participate in high-quality Vocational Education and Training (VET).

Explore all actions in this integration area below.

1. Partnerships for labour market integration

Status

Continuous

Type

Funding
Partnership
Project

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

Within the European Partnership for Integration with European social and economic partners, the EC’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs and the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, hold regular meetings to discuss the labour market integration of refugees and other migrants. A third joint statement focusing on displaced people from Ukraine and the European Year of Skills was published in December 2022.
One of the topics under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) 2023-2025 Thematic Facility is ‘multistakeholder initiatives for migrant integration into the labour market’. As a result of the call, 8 projects were launched in Spring 2024, including LABOUR-INT 3.
The EC also forged links between the European Partnership on Integration and the European Integration Network (EIN) at the November 2023 labour market integration EIN meeting.
The EC works closely with employment services through its Public Employment Services (PES) Network. In March 2025, the PES Network published a news item based on a survey carried out in the Autumn of 2024, focusing on services delivered by PES, funding, partnership and communication.
The ESF+ Community of Practice on Migrant Integration, part of the Social Innovation+ initiative serves as a platform for sharing knowledge, experiences, and best practices concerning the integration of migrants. It aims to foster collaboration among stakeholders, including policymakers, practitioners, and researchers, to enhance the effectiveness of migrant integration policies and projects funded by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).

2. Supporting exchanges among employers

Action	Support employers through exchanges and peer-to-peer learning, building on the Employers Together for Integration initiative
Status	Continuous
Type	Partnership
Implementation	This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. Planned activities under the Employers Together for Integration initiative could not be maintained due to the COVID-19 restrictions. Instead, the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs cooperated with the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a foundation working with over 400 major companies committed to integrating refugees, as well as other employers and employer organisations at various occasions.

3. Entrepreneurship and mentoring

Status

Continuous

Type

Funding
Partnership
Publication

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

Under the InvestEU programme, €2.8 billion are dedicated to social investments and skills. The programme supports also microfinance and social entrepreneurship through a range of financial products particularly helpful to vulnerable people, including migrants.
Beyond financing, the InvestEU Advisory Hub provides capacity building and targeted advisory services. An example is the 2022 Social Inclusive Finance Technical Assistance (SIFTA), managed by the European Investment Bank.
In March 2023, the EC launched in partnership with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) the Youth Entrepreneurship Policy Academy, which brings together various stakeholders to improve related policies and programmes.
The EC and the OECD also provide evidence on the situation of migrant entrepreneurs through the Missing Entrepreneurs reports and the next International Migration Outlook which will include a special focus on migrant entrepreneurship.

4. Facilitate qualifications recognition

Status

Continuous

Type

Partnership
Publication

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place in 2026-2027. It focuses on sharing and scaling up good practices via a number of networks and platforms, and in partnership with EU countries, such as:

A March-April 2022 European Integration Network (EIN) meeting
A June 2022 seminar on the skills of people fleeing the war against Ukraine organised with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Austrian labour ministry
The June 2022 joint European Union Agency for Asylum and (EUAA) and OECD survey on the skills profile of people fleeing the war against Ukraine
EUROCITIES mutual learning meeting 27 June 2023 on skills development and recognition of qualifications for migrants
The November 2023 European Integration Network (EIN) meeting in Madrid
Dissemination of the results of the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) project on recognition of qualifications of displaced people from Ukraine with France, implemented by the OECD
Webinars in 2024 – see an example following the 2023 EC Recommendation on the recognition of qualifications of third-country nationals.
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) published in May 2023 the third edition of the European guidelines for validating non-formal and informal learning. The European inventory on the validation of non-formal and informal learning, an overview, was then published in May 2024.

5. Enhance the EU Skills Profile Tool

Status

Continuous

Type

Tool

Implementation

The EU Skills Profile Tool for Third-Country Nationals is mostly used in reception centres and by organisations supporting the integration of asylum seekers and refugees.

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. The action aims to promote its use among authorities and other integration stakeholders, including before arrival and in the case of resettlement and complementary pathways schemes. The tool is thus continuously improved:

With its translation to Ukrainian in March 2022, it is now available in 31 languages.
As of early 2023, the tool was also integrated with Europass: a profile can now be exported from the EU Skill Profile Tool to Europass.
The tool was also updated to use the latest version of the multilingual classification European Skills, Competences, and Occupations (ESCO).
Its interface was further adapted to mobile in 2024.

6. Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme

Status

Continuous

Type

Funding
Programme

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. The Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme 2021-2027 protects and promotes EU rights and values. In 2021, 25 projects were selected under a call promote equality and to fight against racism, xenophobia and discrimination, including the 4IncludE network which, among many other issues, sees entrepreneurial skills as means to inclusion.

The CERV programme for 2023-2024, also includes a call for proposals for network of towns to EU citizenship rights and European common values with a focus on EU citizens with a migrant background too.

7. Supporting displaced persons from Ukraine

Status

Continuous

Type

Funding
Partnership
Publication
Tool

Implementation

This action is continuous, with more initiatives expected to take place until 2027. So far it includes:

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EC mobilised the Pact for Skills network to help hire and train temporary protection beneficiaries. Since Ukraine obtained the status of a candidate country to the EU in June 2022, the pact is open to Ukrainian stakeholders too.
To support integration in the labour market, the EC published in June 2022 its Guidance for access to the labour market, vocational education and adult learning of people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In October 2022, the EC and the European Labour Authority (ELA) launched the EU Talent Pool pilot initiative to help beneficiaries of temporary protection find employment.
In terms of accelerating the recognition of qualifications obtained in Ukraine, the European Training Foundation (ETF) resource hub provides comprehensive information on the Ukrainian education system both employers and protection beneficiaries.
In the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) offered EU countries (France, Italy and Poland) dedicated support. See more about Supporting reforms to strengthen labour markets, social protection systems and migration management in France.
The Social Innovation + Initiative call for innovative approaches to mitigate the societal consequences after the Russian invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2024 with a budget of €20 million.
The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights FRA jointly published in June 2023 a report Barriers to employment of displaced Ukrainians.
The specific Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs (EYE) project targeted at Ukrainian would-be or new entrepreneurs that started in October 2023 ended in January 2026. The Ukrainian entrepreneurs can further benefit and continue participating under normal EYE. Participation in this programme allows young Ukrainians who are willing to start or grow a company to acquire more solid business skills, knowledge and network by exchanging with experienced host entrepreneurs in Europe.