Skills Mobility partnerships Exploring Innovative Approaches to Labour Migration

This EMN–OECD Inform reviews how Skills Mobility Partnerships (SMPs) and SMP-like schemes are being designed and implemented across EU Member States and internationally. The introduction (page 1) explains SMPs as multi-stakeholder, skills-centred mobility arrangements combining training, skills recognition, and regulated migration to achieve “quadruple wins” for origin countries, destination countries, employers and migrants. Drawing on contributions from 23 EU Member States, OECD, ETF, ICMPD and CGD, the report documents varied SMP models—including Belgium’s PALIM, Germany’s Triple Win and PAM programmes, Slovakia’s DIGI-Talents, Spain’s GECCO scheme, THAMM in North Africa, and IOM MATCH (pages 4–6). Challenges identified include cost, scalability, employer involvement, fragmented projects and qualification-recognition barriers (pages 9–10). Opportunities highlighted include labour-shortage reduction, human-capital formation, improved TVET quality, circular migration, and mutually beneficial EU–third country partnerships.