Safeguarding teaching standards in Europe: ETUCE position on the Skills Portability Initiative
On 29 April 2026, the ETUCE Committee adopted a joint position of education sector trade unions on the European Commission’s upcoming Skills Portability Initiative, warning that reforms to the recognition of teaching qualifications must not weaken the profession or lower qualification standards.
The Commission’s initiative, announced within the Union of Skills, aims to facilitate labour mobility and modernise processes for the recognition of teaching qualifications, including for regulated professions and third‑country nationals. ETUCE stresses that this initiative is particularly relevant for teachers, who are among the most mobile regulated professions in the EU: secondary school teachers rank 2nd, primary school teachers 12th, and early childhood teachers 16th in terms of cross‑border mobility. ETUCE represents 4.9 million teachers and education personnel across Europe and therefore sees significant implications for the profession, education systems, and national qualification frameworks.
In the position paper, ETUCE underlines that teaching must remain a regulated profession, grounded in high‑quality initial teacher education, solid pedagogical preparation, and continuous professional development. Education trade unions call on the European Commission to ensure that the Skills Portability Initiative fully respects national competence in education and is developed in close cooperation with education trade unions through social dialogue. Addressing teacher shortages must not rely on increased labour mobility or brain drain but on improving salaries, working conditions, workload, and access to quality initial education and CPD. Mobile teachers, once their teaching qualifications are recognised, must be employed as fully qualified professionals, with equal pay, rights, and career opportunities in line with national collective agreements.
ETUCE further demands that national qualification requirements remain the benchmark for the recognition of teaching qualifications, rejecting any mechanism that would weaken pedagogical standards or create downgraded employment statuses. Recognition systems should be simplified and better supported, including access to financial assistance, language training, and mentoring while teachers await recognition, without lowering standards.
The position is stressing that digital tools supporting the recognition of teaching qualifications must remain publicly governed, voluntary, inclusive, and transparent, and must complement and not replace legal safeguards and human oversight.
Finally, ETUCE expresses strong reservations about automatic recognition mechanisms, such as a European Professional Card or Common Training Frameworks for teachers, given the diversity of national systems, linguistic requirements, and the insufficient level of social dialogue in several countries.