According to a report published by the European Commission, unemployment is closely related to low skills, and nearly one third of Europe's population have no - or low - formal qualifications. The report suggests to apply mutual experience and policy learning as important tools in the fight against precarity and unemployment.

The report 'New skills and jobs for Europe' published by the European Commission is based on an extensive review of 17 research projects funded by the Sixth and Seventh Framework Programmes (FP6 and FP7). The projects investigated various training and job creation strategies designed to promote economic and social cohesion, as well as specific objectives of the Europe 2020 flagship initiative. The report stresses that around 77 million European citizens aged between 25 and 64 have no - or low - formal qualifications, and that unemployment is closely related to low skills. Recently, Eurostat published that the unemployment rate in the euro area and in the EU increased in October 2012 in comparison with September.

Among its conclusions, the report highlights that equal access to education and continuous vocational training are associated with higher levels of employment. Other key findings include the fact that transversal skills with strong emphasis on areas such as communication, problem solving, linguistics and information and communication technologies, are increasingly important; or that, in the light of increasing economic uncertainty, good governance of skills can ensure the mutual enforcement of skill evolution and job creation.

Furthermore, the Commission underlines that the high importance of making the market fit for workers. This can be achieved by adjusting workplaces in order to enhance people's capabilities and to compensate restricted work capacities. Incentives such as technical assistance, carefully targeted in-work benefits or wage cost subsidies, are cited as examples of good practice in this regard.