Welcome to Sedefop's skill set and match podcast.

When it comes to meeting the demands of researching and designing European policy,

European Union policy makers have a powerful tool of knowledge

to make use of and benefit from,

the Union's decentralized agencies, of which one is SEDAFOP.

Doubtless, this treasure trove of information and recommendations

in all sorts of different policy fields is valuable, but the key to making

this contribution truly precious is to maximize synergies and complementarity. In other words,

ensure that the work of these agencies fits in a larger and coordinated scheme of activities

and that all institutions cooperate and benefit from each other's

contributions. That's even more true when the activity areas of agencies are linked, as is the case

with SEDAFOP and ETF. SEDAFOP, the European Center for the Development of Vocational Training,

focuses on vocational education and training, vet, skills development and qualifications

across the EU.

ETF, the European Training Foundation, supports the EU in providing assistance to neighboring

countries in the field of human development, improving people's skills and capabilities.

The two agencies have an established structure of cooperation, and as part of that, they meet twice a year to brief one another on their activities.

On the occasion of the first such physical meetings since the pandemic broke out, we met in

Thessaloniki with the heads of the two organizations, Javier Mateo,

director at interim of ETF, and Juergen Zeebel, executive director of Sedefop,

to discuss the gains and perhaps pitfalls of working alongside with related but distinct

remates. Welcome and thank you for joining us. Thank you. Thank you. It's a great

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