By Irina Ilieva, Head of Marketing, Communications and Policy, JA Europe
Europe is moving decisively to modernise its education and skills systems. From the European Education Area to the expansion of micro-credentials and the emerging Union of Skills agenda, the direction is clear: learning must become more transparent, more portable, and more closely aligned with labour-market needs.
Yet across Member States, one challenge remains stubbornly unresolved. Employability skills—the human capabilities that employers consistently value—are still difficult to recognise, validate, and carry across borders.
At the World Economic Forum Meetings 2026, this gap was not theoretical; it was discussed, debated, and tested against real labour-market needs.
Across Davos week, JA Europe actively contributed to high-level dialogues on skills, trust, societal resilience, and leadership readiness. We co-hosted and participated in roundtables and panels on education redesign, the human capabilities required for effective leadership, and how young people can navigate an AI-driven economy.
At Wisdom House Davos during the roundtable “Empowering the Next Generation with Human Skills for Leadership, Work and Impact,” business leaders, policymakers, and education experts united around a shared conclusion: while technical skills evolve at speed, long-term leadership and employability rely on human capabilities—critical thinking, collaboration, adaptability, ethical judgement, and empathy.
These themes carried into discussions on societal resilience. At Leaders Forum Davos powered by Poland, in a panel on how governments, businesses, and communities can cooperate to face systemic challenges of the 21st century, education and skills emerged as foundational—not only for employability, but for Europe’s capacity to absorb shocks and maintain social cohesion.
The same message echoed during Davos Innovation Week, where JA Europe joined conversations on women shaping the future of technology. In the age of AI, leadership rests as much on trust, judgement, and responsibility as on digital competence.
Across these conversations, one reality became increasingly evident: Europe broadly agrees on the importance of employability skills, yet still lacks a robust, credible, and portable system to recognise them in a way that employers trust and young people can carry across borders. Diplomas alone no longer tell the full story. Too often, young people complete their education with talent, motivation, and experience—but without a clear signal that translates readiness into opportunity.
In effect, we are asking young Europeans to cross borders with incomplete passports.
This is precisely where micro-credentials can make a difference—if they are designed with credibility, relevance, and scale in mind.
JA Europe leads EMPASS, an Erasmus+ initiative designed to develop and validate a European employability micro-credential that responds to persistent skills mismatches affecting young people entering the labour market. This project contributes to the objectives of the European Education Area by improving skills transparency, employability, and lifelong learning outcomes across Member States.
As JA Europe CEO Salvatore Nigro shared,
“JA Europe didn’t just attend Davos—we brought execution, trust, and the ability to scale solutions across a network that is both local and global. What struck me most was the shift in tone: less inspiration, more architecture, and EMPASS reflects that shift. Young people are already developing the skills employers need, but those skills too often remain invisible. This micro-credential is about turning employability into something concrete, trusted, and portable so what young people can do truly counts wherever they go in Europe.”
EMPASS validates transversal skills through a structured, digital assessment framework informed by employers and education providers. It complements formal education pathways by making employability skills visible, comparable, and portable so a young person’s capabilities can travel with them, from classroom to workplace, and from country to country.
Pilots are currently underway in Greece, Spain, and Romania, combining assessment, mentoring, and personalised learning pathways. Young people who complete the process earn a digital micro-credential that signals not just participation but demonstrated capability. Early feedback from learners and employers has been consistent: recognition matters, and clarity builds trust.
What distinguishes EMPASS is its ecosystem approach. The project brings together education institutions, employers, social partners, and policy stakeholders to ensure relevance to labour-market needs. It is also designed to integrate into Europe’s digital credentials infrastructure, supporting transparency and cross-border recognition.
This alignment matters. Europe does not need more isolated initiatives. It needs bridges—between education and employment, between national systems, and between policy ambition and lived experience.
As European Commission Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu remarked in Davos, “From here, we want Erasmus as a right.” Rights, however, only work when they are usable. Mobility without recognition leaves too many young people stranded between systems.
Looking ahead, Europe’s challenge is not a lack of ambition; it is implementation. Too many pilots remain pilots, and too many credentials fail to earn employer trust.
The European Education Area and the Union of Skills provide a strong framework. The task now is to translate that framework into credentials that work in practice—credentials that young people can carry, and employers can recognise.
Employability skills are not an abstract policy debate. They are the passport to participation, mobility, and dignity in Europe’s labour market. Europe’s future depends on ensuring that every young person leaves education with a passport that is recognised and trusted.
