Schuman Associates launched the Skills Coalition in response to a major gap in EU-level policy dialogue: the absence of a unified platform bringing together a broad spectrum of stakeholders with deep expertise in upskilling, training, and reskilling.

The Schuman Associates Skills Coalition successfully brought together 26 organisations including major EU sectoral associations, academic institutions and private sector actors, who are committed to promoting skills and quality jobs and enabling good match between skills and labour market demands essential to underpinning competitiveness across all sectors, taking into account the challenges posed by the Green and Digital transition.

The Schuman Associates Skills Coalition fully supports the recent statement by the Co-Chairs of the Intergroup on the Future of Education and Skills for a Competitive Europe for robust investment in education and training within the upcoming Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028–2034. As committed members of its Advisory Committee, we are proud to stand alongside the Intergroup at this pivotal moment.

Education and skills are not costs: they are long-term investments that underpin Europe’s resilience, competitiveness, and inclusive growth.

We collectively support the Co-Chairs of the Intergroup call to:

• Allocate at least 5% of GDP to education and 1% to training across Member States
• Earmark 20% of the EU’s entire MFF to education and training
• Substantially increase the Erasmus+ budget, with a boost to fulfil its transformative potential
• Ease investment through greater flexibility in fiscal rules and innovative mechanisms like Individual Learning Accounts (ILAs)
• Promote equity, innovation, and sustainability across all learning sectors: formal, non-formal, and informal

The Intergroup’s forward-looking vision aligns with our belief that education and the development of skills must be a strategic pillar of the EU’s renewal. We urge the European Commission and Member States to take bold, unified action to make education and training a cornerstone of the next EU budget.