European Commission puts skills and education at the centre of priorities to boost competitiveness

For the first time, the European Commission has put forward a Human Capital Recommendation that explicitly connects investments in skills and education with competitiveness within the European Semester, the EU's annual framework to coordinate economic, fiscal and social policy.

Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, presented the 2026 European Semester Autumn Package on 25/11/2025. This year, it outlines economic and employment policy priorities aimed at boosting competitiveness.

"One of the key enablers of the Competitiveness Compass is the investment in talent and human capital, including through the Union of Skills. It is a meaningful and powerful instrument that puts education and skills at the heart of our political agenda," stated Mînzatu.

The Human Capital recommendation tackles six topics, four are particularly focused on education:

• Addressing skills shortages in strategic sectors: Identifying and tackling talent gaps in key areas such as IT, AI, clean technologies, decarbonisation, the bioeconomy, cybersecurity…