Towards a National and Harmonized Mobilization of Professional Sectors
In the French apprenticeship landscape, international mobility is progressing but remains very unevenly structured across sectors. Some OPCOs and professional branches already have established mechanisms, support systems, or practices; others are still in the exploratory stage, lacking information, tools, or a common doctrine. This heterogeneity creates unequal access to the same training and skill development opportunities for CFAs and, especially, for apprentices.
To address this situation, Euro App Mobility (EAM) has, since July 2024, initiated a national strategy for closer collaboration with the 11 skills operators (OPCOs). The explicit objective is to raise awareness among governance bodies, share a collective diagnosis, foster common actions, and ultimately contribute to greater consistency in the support methods for CFAs and assistance for the international mobility of apprentices.
By working with the OPCOs — at strategic, operational, and territorial levels — EAM aims to promote more transparent, secure, and equitable access conditions, regardless of the professional sector.
First Phase (July 2024 – November 2025): Meet, Raise Awareness, Diagnose
1.1 Ten Policy Meetings with Presidencies and General Management
Between July 2024 and November 2025, Jean Arthuis met with the general management of 10 out of the 11 OPCOs, at each of their headquarters. These discussions, sometimes extended to include members of the boards of directors, training, innovation, or institutional relations departments, marked a pivotal stage.
Their objective:
- to place international mobility on the OPCOs’ agenda,
- to clarify the economic, pedagogical, and social interest for the sectors,
- to identify needs and areas for improvement,
- to open up prospects for sectoral actions.
In line with the law of December 27, 2023, known as « For an Erasmus of Apprenticeship », this initiative contributes to and complements the national approach for defining a common OPCO strategy for apprentice mobility, led by the DGEFP.
1.2. Why OPCOs are Key Players
OPCOs possess crucial levers:
- knowledge of sectors, professions, and professional developments,
- support role for businesses and CFAs,
- capacity for information, structuring, and dissemination,
- proximity to VSEs-SMEs, which are predominant in apprenticeship,
- sectoral expertise on skill needs.
They are therefore essential for transforming institutional interest into operational momentum.
1.3. A Varied Assessment – But Rich in Insights
The meetings highlighted a wide diversity of situations:
- mechanisms already operational or existing but little known,
- local, experimental, or ad hoc initiatives,
- clear interest but still without organizational implementation,
- absence of a specific strategy on mobility.
This heterogeneity confirms the need for a structured dialogue allowing for increased national coherence, while respecting sectoral specificities.
1.4. Common Needs Expressed by the OPCOs
The discussions revealed several shared priorities:
- to legally secure apprenticeship mobility,
- to clarify the roles of each stakeholder,
- to make information accessible to businesses and CFAs,
- to share tools, models, and feedback,
- to build quantitative and qualitative databases,
- to have concrete and documented examples.
These findings paved the way for a second phase, conceived as collective, pedagogical, and operational.
2. Second Phase (2024-2026): Inform, Mobilize, Equip
2.1. Around Twenty Webinars Co-Hosted with Six OPCOs
Between 2024 and 2025, EAM co-organized around twenty webinars, including about ten exclusively with OPCO 2i, but also with Atlas, Uniformation, Mobilités, Afdas, and EP, each targeting specific audiences for awareness-raising through this media coverage, based on arguments adapted on a case-by-case basis:
- professional sectors,
- OPCO advisors,
- affiliated companies divided into sessions dedicated to groups and key accounts, and sessions targeting intermediate companies and VSEs-SMEs;
- HR managers, tutors, apprenticeship masters,
- CFAs and mobility referents.
With an average duration of one hour, these sessions made it possible to answer concrete questions, highly focused on the specific issues faced by employers or CFAs regarding their relationship with employers.
They revealed a major challenge: the demand for information is strong, and often exceeds the existing supply.
2.2. A Shared Need for Professional Tools
The feedback gathered was consistent:
- OPCO advisors wish to have reliable resources,
- businesses demand simplicity, clarity, and security,
- CFAs expect support and harmonization.
This expression of needs currently guides EAM’s methodological work and inspired OPCO EP to organize a major event titled « The Mobility Dialogues » on March 13, 2024, in La Rochelle, dedicated to highlighting the benefits of mobility for both apprentices and employers.
2.3. The Employer Clubs: Bringing Stakeholders Together in the Regions
Since January 2025, EAM has launched a new form of territorial mobilization: the Employer Clubs for a European Apprenticeship Area, organized each time with a partner OPCO.
Six Clubs have already taken place or are being launched:
- OPCO EP partnered for an event in Vendée in January, focused on local trades and craft sectors;
- Ocapiat partnered for an event in Bouches-du-Rhône in May, targeting employers in the agricultural sector;
- Opco Mobilités partnered for an event in Val-d’Oise in May, addressing stakeholders in the automotive sector;
- Atlas partnered for an event in Charente-Maritime in July, on professions in finance, consulting, expertise, and the digital sector;
- Afdas partnered for an event in October in Rhône, targeting employers in the tourism sector;
- Constructys will soon partner for an event in Marne, targeting the construction sector.
These meetings bring together training companies, CFAs, consular chambers, economic stakeholders, local authorities, and institutional partners. They enable:
- to highlight experiences;
- to facilitate peer-to-peer dialogue among stakeholders;
- to present concrete solutions;
- to foster the emergence of local and sectoral networks.
They constitute one of the major successes of this second phase.
3. Third Phase (2025-2026): Formalize Lasting Partnerships
3.1. Structuring Partnership Agreements
The final step involves supporting OPCOs ready to commit to a sectoral mobility strategy. The agreements notably provide for:
- information and mobilization actions,
- training for advisors, CFAs, and businesses,
- production and sharing of tools,
- facilitation of professional networks,
- support for pilot projects,
- monitoring and evaluation of effects.
They allow for the integration of mobility into a sustainable, organized, and committed dynamic.
3.2. Two Agreements Already Signed
Two OPCOs have already formalized their commitment:
- Ocapiat, in January 2025 during the International Agricultural Show,
- Atlas, on November 5, 2025.
These signings indicate a shift: mobility is becoming a recognized, supported, and structured sectoral topic.
3.3. A Dynamic That Continues to Expand
Other OPCOs have initiated discussions, at paces adapted to their priorities, professions, and organizations. This gradual approach is deliberate: it ensures the relevance of the actions undertaken and their adoption by professional sectors.
A Consolidated and Shared Dynamic
In less than two years, EAM’s approach with the OPCOs has enabled general management to be sensitized, structuring exchanges to be opened, professional networks to be mobilized, shared tools to be built, and the first formalized cooperations to emerge. This constant and demanding dialogue has proven particularly fruitful: the feedback from the OPCOs, the jointly conducted territorial initiatives, and the projects in preparation attest to a progressive appropriation of the subject by professional sectors.
This dynamic found concrete illustration on November 18, 2025, during the association’s annual seminar, where nearly half of the OPCOs were present. Their participation confirms the interest, trust, and collective will to continue this work. The coming months should allow this mobilization to be transformed into structuring, sustainable, and more homogeneous actions for the benefit of apprentices, businesses, and CFAs.
