Building evidence on skills shortages, gaps and mismatches and defining the sector's strategy on skills

The defence sector in Europe is facing a challenge to ensure that the European defence industry has access to relevant skills and competencies, and remains responsive to wider skills trends. The project will contribute to maintaining and improving the defence-related skills pool that will feed the European defence industry and help it maintain its competitive advantage, remaining in a position to deliver high-tech solutions.

The study was launched on 23 March 2018 to complete evidence on skills, introduce an industry-led European Defence Skills Partnership and deliver a sectoral skills strategy, agreed and validated among stakeholders. Through a call for tenders the one-year project was awarded to RAND Europe and Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini.

The study will mark the completion of the Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills launched as part of the European Commission’s New Skills Agenda for Europe. It will deliver a skills strategy for the defence sector and launch a European defence skills partnership. This will result in the implementation of the sectoral strategy and the rolling-out at national level of this implementation through the European Structural Investment Funds. The project is expected to consolidate stakeholder cooperation on skills, map skills in Member States and contribute to better anticipating skill needs of Europe's defence sector so that European, national and regional policies can be more effectively targeted.

During the project, partnership members will work together to deliver the sectoral strategy with  implementation roadmaps, and recommendations/solutions for education and training and for rolling out actions at national and regional levels through the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF). They will address synergies with other instruments and tools such as Erasmus+, the European Network of Defence-related Regions etc., and propose concrete measures for after 2020 to improve the defence knowledge and innovation base.