CEDEFOP
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP)
The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP) 1 , established in 1975, helps promote and develop vocational education and training (VET) in the European Union (EU). It is based in Thessaloniki (Greece). As the EU's reference centre for VET, CEDEFOP provides information on and analyses of VET systems, policies, research and practice. CEDEFOP assists the European Commission in encouraging, at Community level, the promotion and development of VET. The main tasks of CEDEFOP as defined in its founding Regulations (EEC No 337/75 of 10 February 1975) are to:
- compile selected documentation and analyses of data;
- contribute to the development and coordination of research;
- exploit and distribute useful information;
- encourage joint approaches to VET problems;
- provide a forum for debate and exchanges of ideas.
Furthermore, CEDEFOP coordinates the Study Visits Programme in close cooperation with national liaison officers in each country.
The Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) has been working closely with CEDEFOP for many years and is national coordinator within the framework of the CEDEFOP network's ReferNet and TTNet.
