The European Commission is seeking the best ways to invest in the reskilling and upskilling of workers, Roxana Minzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Social Rights and Skills, said on Friday.

In this context, the European Commission launched a new scheme in November 2025 called the 'Skills Guarantee' to support workers and businesses and address labour shortages in strategic and growing sectors.

'This is indeed being worked on within the Commission as we try to identify the best ways to invest in workers' reskilling and upskilling so that, whether within the same company, the same industry or moving from one industry to another, we can reposition workers and give them the opportunity to remain in quality employment,' the European Commissioner told the high-level Conference on Tackling Labour Shortages and Surpluses in Europe, taking place in Bucharest.

According to Roxana Minzatu, Europe is generally considered to have a competitiveness problem. She noted that there is a shortage of highly skilled workers in occupations requiring specialised training, while labour surpluses are more common in administrative jobs or positions requiring only general education and qualifications.

'One of the reasons is that we have a shortage of talent, of people with the right skills for the right industry in the right location. But in reality, there are nuances. Some countries are significantly affected by shortages. Romania is one such country. Italy is among the most affected, as are the Netherlands and Bulgaria, while other countries are much less affected, such as Croatia and Ireland. On the other hand, when we look at surpluses, there is indeed a geographical concentration in countries such as Austria, Finland, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Greece,' the European official said.

Speaking about labour mobility, the Commissioner described it as a major competitive advantage for the European Union. At the same time, Minzatu acknowledged that difficulties remain in the portability of skills, even in areas covered by directives for regulated professions where procedures should, in principle, be automatic.

'Fair, decent and dignified mobility for workers remains an important part of our economic model and we must ensure that wherever skills are acquired, they can be used in another Member State so that people can more easily connect with opportunities. (...) We face difficulties in this area of skills portability, even where directives exist for regulated professions and things should happen automatically. It takes time. Member states request additional documents, there is a lack of trust and there is protectionism at national level. Then there are regulated professions. We also have technical and engineering professions where we would very much like to move towards a simpler system of automatic recognition,' Roxana Minzatu stressed.

She added that in September she will present the Fair Labour Mobility Package, a major legislative package of the European Commission, which 'will include a series of elements related to the social security of mobile workers, the digitalisation of social security, meaning greater protection for workers and easier controls for both authorities and companies'.

In her speech, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission also raised the issue of improving working conditions for EU workers, particularly in cross-border situations.

Minzatu concluded by saying that all pilot projects and EU regulations currently under discussion are paving the way for the Fair Labour Mobility Package in September and 'for a single market that works for people'.

According to the European Commission, the Skills Guarantee will strengthen strategic sectors in line with the future European Competitiveness Fund. It will enable workers to transition into strategic industries, secure new jobs and develop additional skills.

The Skills Guarantee pilot project, with a budget of 14.5 million euro, will focus on workers in the automotive industry and its supply chain who are at risk of unemployment. The pilot will test ways of accelerating and improving the transition of workers from these strategic sectors into jobs in growing or emerging strategic industries through targeted upskilling and reskilling programmes. It will support workers through workplace training and assistance in acquiring new skills, while companies in high-demand sectors will be able to recruit the talent they need more quickly, helping them remain competitive.

Grant agreements under the pilot project will be signed in June 2026, and the projects will run for up to 24 months, until the summer of 2028. The results of the pilot project will form the basis for the design of the future Skills Guarantee scheme.

The high-level Conference on Tackling Labour Shortages and Surpluses in Europe began on Thursday in Bucharest.

According to the organisers, the European Labour Authority (ELA) and EURES, labour shortages continue to affect almost every type of occupation in at least one European country. The greatest pressure is being felt in healthcare, construction and technical occupations, according to a report by the European Labour Authority.

Overall, the report suggests that Europe is no longer facing only short-term labour shortages. In many sectors, the problem is becoming structural and addressing it will require long-term measures, including better working conditions, stronger vocational training and closer cross-border cooperation. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Cristian Anghelache; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)