Cedefop, the European reference agency for vocational education and training, published an analysis of apprenticeship incentives in eleven European countries. This study highlights the diversity of existing schemes, but above all, three strong trends that question the effectiveness of current public policies and open up avenues for action for stakeholders involved in the international mobility of apprentices.
1. Schemes Primarily Target Employers
Most European policies primarily aim to mobilize companies, which are considered essential actors in apprenticeships. The report emphasizes the growing relevance of non-financial incentives: HR attractiveness, employer brand, organizational gains, often deemed more decisive than direct economic aid.
EAM fully aligns with this logic through its Employers’ Club, which promotes the qualitative benefits linked to mobility: development of intercultural skills, attractiveness of trades, increased competitiveness. This finding reinforces the direction taken during our reflection seminar last month: to develop more tools, statistics, and non-financial arguments to support companies.
2. Financial Aid Dominates, but Regulations Remain Restrictive
Subsidies remain the main public instrument, but Cedefop highlights that the real obstacles are administrative complexity, an unclear legal framework, and a lack of coordination among different stakeholders.
This is precisely the core of EAM’s mission: to remove obstacles to mobility through the MONA projects, which experiment with long-term mobility formats, and MOBLT, which professionalizes mobility advisors to better support CFAs (Apprenticeship Training Centers) and companies within an emerging regulatory framework.
3. Insufficiently Targeted Schemes
The report shows that incentives remain largely universal, with little attention paid to SMEs, regions, vulnerable groups, or sectors facing shortages.
These strategic issues are addressed in the Employers’ Club, where EAM seeks to convince business leaders through gains in competitiveness. Our action benefits from the support of institutional partners such as the High Commission for Planning. On the other hand, the Club is careful to diversify its audiences and to expand regionally. Club representatives are present in 6 regions in France.
