opinion on skills, employability and labour market inclusion under the Mediterranean Pact<\/u><\/a>, I believe the message is clear:\u00a0investment, skills and quality jobs must go hand in hand. That link must guide\u00a0implementation.<\/p>\nSummit participants welcomed initiatives inspired by the EU\u2019s\u00a0Youth Guarantee, which could help young people move from education or unemployment into work or training. These\u00a0approaches must fit\u00a0local circumstances, not follow a one-size-fits-all model and should pay\u00a0particular attention to those currently left behind.<\/p>\n
Make every skill count<\/h4>\n
Qualifications matter. But\u00a0they do not tell the whole story. Young people also learn through volunteering, community projects, informal learning and practical experience. Those abilities have value, yet too\u00a0often employers and institutions\u00a0fail to recognise them.<\/p>\n
That is why the MED Skills Tracker\u00a0deserves attention. This\u00a0pilot approach to documenting and recognising skills across the Euro-Mediterranean region\u00a0could make those abilities more visible. Better skills information can help people show\u00a0what they know, help employers find\u00a0talent and support fairer mobility.<\/p>\n
But mobility must not become a one-way ticket\u00a0out of the region. Young people need\u00a0a genuine right to stay: the chance\u00a0to build fulfilling lives in their own communities, alongside\u00a0the freedom to study, work and gain experience elsewhere. Skills should circulate to\u00a0benefit both shores, not deepen shortages in places where talent is already scarce.<\/p>\n
Think big. Deliver locally.<\/h4>\n
Renewable energy, digital connectivity and sustainable trade can open up new economic opportunities. But a project\u2019s scale or infrastructure tells only part of the story. We should ask tougher questions: how many quality jobs will it create\u00a0locally? What\u00a0training will it provide? And can smaller businesses take part?<\/p>\n
The summit highlighted the need to remove\u00a0barriers for\u00a0small and medium-sized enterprises and link\u00a0economic transformation with social inclusion. It also reminded us that opportunity is rooted in the Mediterranean\u2019s\u00a0cultural heritage, which\u00a0can sustain entrepreneurship, responsible tourism and quality employment.<\/p>\n
None of this\u00a0will happen\u00a0automatically. Public authorities, businesses, education providers and social partners must work together to turn\u00a0economic potential into local opportunity. Development must reach\u00a0the people it is meant to serve.<\/p>\n
Give civil\u00a0society a permanent voice<\/h4>\n
The pact will be judged by what it delivers, not what it promises. Consultation after decisions are taken is not enough. Employers\u2019\u00a0organisations, trade unions, economic and social councils, youth representatives and other civil society actors must have a meaningful role in setting\u00a0priorities, monitoring results and identifying what is not working.<\/p>\n
In Lisbon, participants called for civil society involvement in the pact\u2019s\u00a0governance, including its political steering structures. They also proposed giving\u00a0the Euromed Summit a permanent place in\u00a0its structured civil society consultation process. More than three decades of dialogue have built valuable experience. It is time to put that experience to work in implementing the pact.<\/p>\n
The Mediterranean does not lack ambition. Now it needs\u00a0delivery: training that leads\u00a0to quality jobs, fair opportunities for women and young people, and investment that strengthens\u00a0local economies and social inclusion. These are the results that matter.<\/p>\n
Success is\u00a0not another project announcement. It is\u00a0people seeing\u00a0a future for themselves on either shore of the Mediterranean \u2013 with\u00a0the freedom to seek opportunities elsewhere and the genuine choice to build that future at home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Thomas Wagnsonner is a member of the European Economic and Social Committee <\/i><\/em><\/p>\nHe is also a vice-president of the EESC\u2019s Euromed Follow-Up Committee and rapporteur for the EESC opinion on skills, employability and labour market inclusion under the Pact for the Mediterranean.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Skills without jobs. Investment without inclusion. The Mediterranean Pact must move beyond project announcements: linking training to decent work, strengthening local economies and giving civil society a permanent voice. Its real test: whether people can build a future at home<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7926,"featured_media":470505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25711,25681,29788],"tags":[25847,27047,36558,36556,36557],"class_list":["post-470504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinions","category-politics","category-diritti-en","tag-eesc-en","tag-eu-en","tag-job","tag-mediterranean-pact","tag-skill"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7926"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470504"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470508,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470504\/revisions\/470508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}