On the invitation of German Federal Education Minister, the European Commission and eight Member states have signed a memorandum of cooperation to promote joint actions in the field of vocational education and training in Europe. Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain
are the first countries to sign this European initiative which other Member States will soon join.
 

The memoradum for this initiative was signed on December 11th 2012 in Berlin. It focuses on promoting apprenticeship-type, work-based learning schemes which are a field of expertise where Germany has been particularly active. German experience in applying educational programmes based on dual training, i.e. vocational training that includes both a theoretical, school-based component and training periods in companies, are at the base of this initiative.

In the context of the Strategy for Education and Training 2020, which is focused on training focused on job creation, several countries have expressed their interest in developing dual training programs as those implemented in Germany. These countries have agreed in this memorandum to focus its efforts on improving the image and quality of vocational training. This collaboration will also contribute to long-term support to strengthen bilateral and multilateral initiatives in the field of vocational training.

The ultimate goal of the initiatives carried out both in the scope of this agreement and within the overall EU employment policies is that 80% of young Europeans are employed by 2020. On the occasion of the signature of the agreement special emphasis has been placed on the fact that this new European alliance has been started to best help the 7.5 million young Europeans who are in search of employment.