Major training policies are not born in HR departments: they are also shaped at European level. Since 2021, the Union has pursued a quantified target that structures national policies — and, indirectly, employers' obligations: by 2030, at least 60% of adults should participate in training every year.
A course set in Porto
The target appears in the European Pillar of Social Rights action plan, presented by the European Commission in March 2021 and endorsed at the Porto social summit in May 2021. The plan sets three headline targets for 2030: an employment rate of at least 78% for people aged 20 to 64; at least 60% of adults participating in training every year; and a reduction of at least 15 million in the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion, including 5 million children. The Pillar's very first principle explicitly concerns « education, training and lifelong learning ».
Why 60%?
Because skills expire faster than careers. The digital and green transitions, automation and shortages of qualified labour: the Commission regards upskilling and reskilling as preconditions for a competitive economy and a resilient society. One adult in two who never trains during the year represents a quiet erosion of productivity and employability.
Where do we stand?
Each Member State has translated the European ambition into a national commitment. According to the Commission, these national commitments combined would bring adult participation in learning to around 57.6% by 2030 — close to the collective target, provided each country keeps to its trajectory. Progress is monitored through the European Semester and the Social Scoreboard.
What it changes for a Belgian employer
Belgium moved early: the individual right to five training days per year (Act of 3 October 2022) and the mandatory annual training plan in companies with at least 20 workers are the most concrete national translation of this ambition. The Regions complete the framework with financial incentives — the SME e-wallet (kmo-portefeuille) in Flanders, the Chèque-Formation in Wallonia, paid educational leave in Brussels. The European target is therefore no abstraction: it already shapes the law and the budgets Belgian companies work with.
From intention to practice
Reaching 60% is not about multiplying catalogues: it is about making sure every worker actually completes at least one useful training course each year — and being able to prove it. That requires measuring participation, chasing up absentees, tracking certificates and scheduling refreshers. This is the job of a platform such as Remind-R, which turns a statistical target into a concrete calendar: enrolments, automatic reminders, attendance and certificates, without administrative friction.