What can we learn from the last 25 years of VET in Europe for shaping & formulating new policy?

In recent decades, the role of the (now) EU in stimulating, supporting and shaping change in VET has expanded and shifted from creating a space for exchange, cooperation and criteria-setting through funding towards playing a more extensive role in setting and monitoring priorities within the Lisbon Strategy through the use of benchmarks and instruments. The interest expressed in the 1980s in finding out how the neighbours were tackling new problems has been substantially supported through bottom-up cooperation initiatives, development interventions and support for peer learning. At this point in time, data nevertheless remain limited about the extent to which these processes are actually improving the experience of learners, opening up access to learning and qualifications for those who need them most and allowing young people and adults to build their competence today to live, learn and work in tomorrow's world.