The European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) held its High-Level Event 2025 in Brussels on June 30 and July 1. The gathering was designed to highlight the relevance of apprenticeships, addressing topics such as clean technologies, green industries, and the promotion of gender equality in STEM fields. Its aim was to strengthen and secure the skills needed for a resilient Europe, prepared to face future challenges, while contributing to the European Commission’s new initiatives: the Union of Skills and the Clean Industrial Deal, two strategies focused respectively on teacher training and upskilling, and on the decarbonisation of European companies.
María José Fernández Campos, FPEmpresa’s delegate, attended both days of the event as the Association’s representative. She emphasized that apprenticeships are much more than training: “they are a strategic tool for Europe’s future,” she stated. Among the key points, Fernández Campos highlighted quality and inclusion as priorities, the exchange of best practices, cross-sector cooperation, and the crucial role of local engagement in implementing and adapting policies to specific contexts.
Social commitment to inspire educators
The High-Level Event 2025 was opened by Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Social Rights and Capabilities, who began with the following announcement: “By 2028, our goal is to attract 1 million girls and women to STEM education, and 50,000 to apprenticeships in this field.” Along the same lines, Anna Banczyk, Head of the Vocational Training Unit (CEDEFOP – DG EMPL), stressed at the closing session the need to “engage early with students and their families, presenting them with a new reality of jobs.”
During the event, participants had the opportunity to build new collaborations through networking and to gain first-hand insights into the concerns that must be addressed in order to continue supporting European development and innovation. After her participation, Fernández Campos underlined the role of this event as a key lever for building a greener, more digital, and more inclusive Europe. The EAfA gathering, she remarked, “not only inspired, but made it clear that we need to act with vision, collaboration, and commitment.”
