On September 24th, in Brussels, the European Coalition for Apprentice Mobility sent a clear political signal: international mobility is no longer simply a “plus” in vocational education and training (VET) pathways; it is becoming a strategic lever. Meeting at the European Commission at the initiative of Valerie HayerThe meeting, chaired by the Renew Europe group, brought together Members of the European Parliament, representatives of the Commission, and coalition members from across Europe. Commissioners were notably present. Roxana Mînzatu et Nicholas Schmitalongside other European leaders mobilized on the issues of skills, employment and training.
What is changing today is the context, and therefore the objective. Europe is facing a new equation: ecological and digital transitions, recruitment challenges, competitiveness, but also geopolitical instability. Within this framework, Mobility is no longer limited to a discovery experience.It becomes a concrete tool for skills development, career path security, and cooperation between territories. Implicitly, the issue is also international Preparing skills also means strengthening ties and cooperation with partners outside the EU, in a world where interdependencies are increasingly strong.
This is precisely where training networks already engaged internationally have a role to play: transforming mobility into a genuine tool for sustainable and reciprocal partnerships—internships abroad, exchanges of best practices, joint projects, capacity building for teams, and cooperation between regions. This perspective resonates particularly strongly with Africa, where major challenges related to training, employment, transitions, and territorial development are already concentrated.
For rural areas, this dynamic is particularly strategic. It can strengthen the attractiveness of vocational education and training (VET), open up opportunities for young people who still too rarely have access to these experiences, and support local sectors facing skills shortages. But above all, current events remind us that mobility should not be considered solely “among Europeans”. The international dimension is once again becoming central : skills and transitions are also built through educational, economic and territorial cooperation with other regions of the world.
The meeting reaffirmed the objective set at the European level: to achieve 12% of vocational education and training apprentices will be mobile by 2030But beyond the numerical objective, the discussion focused mainly on what conditions scaling up: greater simplicity, greater readability, enhanced support, and systems that actually “work” for work-study programs (organization, company, schedule, recognition of acquired skills).
The meeting on September 24th confirms a fundamental shift: Mobility in vocational education and training is no longer an isolated “pedagogical” topic.This is a matter of European strategy, and an area of opportunity for territories, including rural ones — provided that it is approached not only as an individual experience, but as a lever for structuring international cooperation.
