Skills development and vocational education and training (VET) reforms are moving higher on the political agendas in the Eastern Europe (EE) countries, as the governments increasingly acknowledge a clear connection between skills and socio-economic strategies and the country’s competitiveness. Moreover, social partners from national to local levels show growing interest in participating in the skills dialogues as many employers in the region have started to face significant problems with workforce skills that is becoming a constraint for their business development and overall economic growth.

There is no one size fits all and simple solution for better relevance of education and training to labour market, as very few national systems can be transferred directly to another country with the same outcomes. The aim of this paper is to facilitate a debate about the pros and cons of the different approaches to skills development and VET policies, and foster policy dialogue among public and private stakeholders in the EE countries with a view to give countries better insights for choosing their own approach.