The crucial role played by vocational education and training (VET) in helping to achieve a number of targets set out in the Europe 2020 strategy is widely acknowledged and defined in the renewed Copenhagen process (2011-2020), taking into account, in particular, its potential in addressing Europe's high level of unemployment, especially youth unemployment and long-term unemployment, promoting a culture of lifelong learning, countering social exclusion and promoting active citizenship.

40. Highlights the recent success achieved by EUNAVFOR Atalanta – which must continue – in curbing the occurrence of pirate attacks in the western Indian Ocean and in enhancing the credibility of the CSDP; notes that Operation Atalanta is the first ever CSDP naval mission and that it should constitute a model for the further development and implementation of the maritime dimension of the CDSP, taking stock of its successes, its shortcomings and lessons learned; welcomes the positive role taken by the EU with EUNAVFOR Atalanta in the SHADE (Shared Awareness and De-confliction) mechanism in promoting coordination between the multinationa ...[+++]l, national and regional naval forces operating in the area, and notably with NATO’s operation Ocean Shield; also welcomes the good cooperation between EU agencies (such as the EU Satellite centre SatCen and EMSA) and third actors, particularly in the field of satellite vessel imagery interpretation, even when there are no formal arrangements underpinning such cooperation; calls on the EU to formalise the bridging among existing EU tools and bodies, such as that developed among Atalanta, EMSA and SatCen, so as to avoid duplication of tasks, resources and expertise and to reap the clear operational benefits of such synergies;

3. Recognising the importance of both the quality and continuity of care, calls on Member States to improve, facilitate, and encourage specialist training, education and reinsertion measures for all those people, including informal carers and those requiring professional qualifications, with long-term care responsibilities for older people; such training may also help improve the status of this important work. Urges Member States to tackle the issues of poor payment of care work, shortage of personnel, lack of training or inadequate training, which all put a strain on care provision. Notes the important contribution made by civil societ ...[+++]y, church and charity organisations in the provision of care;

In seeking to increase the effective retirement age, in wishing to extend time at work, in proposing even to replace pay-as-you-go pension schemes with funded pension provision, the rapporteur vindicates and harmonises the attacks on workers.

To ensure that funding is allocated as efficiently as possible, this Communication also calls on Member State to tackle areas of inefficient spending, such as high failure, dropout and graduate unemployment rates, excessive duration of studies and low attainment levels, and it proposes focusing on the training of education staff, new basic skills, lifelong learning, ICT, active citizenship and information.

There is considerable evidence, however, that tackling the problem of the unemployed at an early stage has the greatest outcome in terms of preventing the drift into long-term unemployment.