Transnational vocational education and training in the Upper Rhine region

"The conciliation between youth unemployment in the Alsace and the increasing skilled labour shortage in Baden-Württemberg presents a great opportunity for cross-border co-operation in the Upper Rhine region", said Peter Friedrich, Minister for the Bundesrat, Europe and International Affairs, in Offenburg during a panel discussion on transnational vocational education and training in the Upper Rhine region.

"With the framework agreement on cross-border vocational education and training, we have created an important basis for the emergence of a truly transnational employment market and thus open up for young people new perspectives. Now it is important to make the opportunities and advantages of such a vocational education and training provision known and to intensively advertise in-company vocational training."

Minister Friedrich and the President of the Euro District Strasbourg-Ortenau and District Administrator of the Ortenau District, Frank Scherer, were the hosts of this event, held at the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences for Engineering, Science, Communication and Media Engineering. The other members of the panel were the retired Alsatian Regional President Philippe Richert, the Counciller of the City and Urban Community Strasbourg Michaël Schmidt, the President of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Region Alsace and Spokesman of the Division Economy of the Trinational Metropole Region Upper Rhine Jean-Louis Hoerlé and the entrepreneur Hans Nussbaum. The panel discussed the challenges and opportunities of an increased co-operation in providing vocational education and training to young people in the Upper Rhine region.

"We identified and implemented the significance of a cross-boundary vocational education and training provision for the employment market already early on. I am very happy that, with its pilot project of binational vocational education and training provision, the Euro District has pioneered in this field and that today the Upper Rhine region can profit from our work and first experiences", said Scherer.

"It is a fundamental goal of the Alsace region to provide the occupational exchange in the border region with a new impulse. This is also a core aspect in the programme for the promotion of economy and employment as passed by the Regional Council. We have launched a new, transnational dynamic in order to support the Alsatian young people and job seekers in their professional advancement", said Richert. "To this end, many innovative measures have already been introduced: the opening of the transnational vocational education and training provision for young people of all training stages in the Alsace, in Baden-Württemberg and in Rhineland-Palatinate, vocational education and training programmes that are tailored to meet the requirements of businesses in the border region as well as German language courses for job seekers, apprentices and employees."

"Already the pilot project for vocational education and training launched by the Euro District Strasbourg-Ortenau in 2008 was an essential step towards promoting the transnational, integrated employment market. This provided the basis for the agreement that now was signed", said Schmidt. "The Euro District thus fulfils its function as a laboratory for Europe."

"I am overjoyed about the final conclusion of the joint framework agreement for transnational vocational education and training in the Upper Rhine region. It constitutes an historic milestone and allows for regulation of the financial modalities in an apprenticeship, which comprises theoretical learning in France and practical work in Germany. The reverse constellation is equally desirable", said Hoerlé. "The aim is to further develop vocational education and training and the dual system. This is also one of the top priorities of the chambers of industry and commerce. The framework agreement will render the employment market in the Upper Rhine region more permeable and thus will help to remedy the skilled labour shortage in Germany and the unemployment rate on the French side."

The framework agreement for transnational vocational education and training was signed on 12 September 2013 by 28 partners from Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and the Alsace. These partners include the Federal States of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, the French state, the Alsace region, the Académie de Strasbourg as well as German and French employment agencies and chambers. The agreement is a key measure in the plan for the promotion of work and employment passed by the Alsatian Regional Council on 28 June 2013, which allocated a specific budget totalling four million Euro.

The agreement allows apprentices to complete the theoretical part of their apprenticeship in their home country and to work through the practical part at a business in the neighbouring country. In this context, the young people acquire important occupation-related language skills as well as intercultural competences. The diploma will be issued in the country where the theoretical training was completed. Given the fulfilment of certain conditions, apprentices may also enter into the examinations of the partnering country and thus attain a German-French dual qualification.