The European Training Foundation (ETF) is an

agency of the European Union The agencies of the European Union (formally: ''Agencies, decentralised independent bodies, corporate bodies and joint undertakings of the European Union and the Euratom'') are bodies of the European Union and the Euratom established as juridica ...

. Established in 1990, operational since 1994, the European Training Foundation is located in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The ETF helps improve

vocational training Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an in ...

systems in non-EU countries, mostly in neighbouring regions such as the countries preparing for EU accession,

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

, the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

and the

former Soviet Union The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...

. The ETF offers these countries insight, know-how and experience in training people for new jobs and in developing

lifelong learning Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated"Department of Education and Science (2000).Learning for Life: Paper on Adult Education Dublin: Stationery Office. pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons ...

programmes. It cooperates closely with its sister agency, the

European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) is an agency of the European Union. Established in 1975, Cedefop is headquartered and located in Thessaloniki region, Greece, and has a Brussels office. Cedefop is the acro ...

(Cedefop), which has a mandate on vocational training within the EU member states. It counts approximately 130 staff, representing most EU member states and some of the ETF non-EU partner countries. Its first director was Peter de Rooij, Dutch (1994-2004), followed by Muriel Dunbar, British (2004-2009) and Madlen Serban, Romanian (2009-2017). From 1 September 2017 to 15 February 2021 the ETF's Director was Cesare Onestini, Italian. From 16 February 2022 Xavier Matheu, Spanish, has been appointed Director ad interim.

External links

European Training Foundation
*https://ec.europa.eu/info/departments/employment-social-affairs-and-inclusion_en Description of the ETF on the EU website]

References

{{Authority control 1990 in the European Economic Community Agencies of the European Union Government agencies established in 1990 Organisations based in Turin Vocational education in Europe