In March 2008 the European Council asked the European Commission to supply a comprehensive assessment of Europes skills requirements up to 2020.
To support the European Commission, Cedefop reviewed its earlier medium-term forecast of occupational skills needs 2006-2015, published in February 2008, and extended the time horizon to 2020. The result was the booklet just published, Future skill needs in Europe: focus on 2020.

Inevitably, the data are broad and should be treated with some caution; but the forecast in its new form brings important insights into the likely future development of European labour markets.