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According to data published today by the Federal Statistical Office, more and more applications for professional recognition are being filed in. In 2017, some 25,000 new applications were submitted (a 9 percent increase over the previous year) and 21,800 qualifications were recognized (a 14 percent increase over the previous year). Since the Recognition Act came into effect in 2012, some 111,500 applications for the recognition of foreign professional qualifications were submitted, the Federal Statistical Office reports.

On April 16, 2015 German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foreign Skills Approval (IHK FOSA) in Nuremberg. On her trip Federal Chancellor was accompanied by Johanna Wanka, the Federal Minister of Education and Research.

The first day of the European Validation Festival - Unlocking talents in Europe, on 14 June in Brussels, featured a marketplace with 40 stands where organisations had the opportunity to present their initiatives and practices on validation of informal and non-formal learning. The experts from all around Europe shared practices and exchanged ideas and knowledge about how the work experience of job applicants who move from one country to another can be recorded faster and more transparently. The participants agreed that there is a lot to learn from each other. After all, there are many initiatives and best practice projects in Europe dedicated to this topic.

German Bundestag passed the Integration Act on July 7. The guiding principle on which the new legislation is based is that of “support and challenge”. Refugees who have good prospects of being allowed to stay permanently will be eligible to take integration courses and to take advantage of job and training opportunities sooner than before. But they will also be required to work on their own integration. Those asylum seekers who refuse to take an integration course or who do not meet their duties to cooperate will have their benefits curtailed.

Under the motto “Discover your talent”, the European Commission encourages stakeholders from all over Europe to organise events on a local, regional or national level.

The “2013 Shortage Analysis” conducted by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research (IW) on behalf of the BMWi’s competence centre has found that companies in Germany increasingly have trouble filling vacancies because there are not enough suitable candidates.

In recognition of its brilliant public achievements, the BQ-Portal gets into the final for the European Public Sector Award. The European Public Sector Award (EPSA) was launched to identify particularly innovative and successful projects. This award is aimed to encourage administrative agencies throughout Europe to learn from the best practices of others and to modernize their structures.

The new Skilled Immigration Act (FEG) makes it easier for skilled workers with vocational training and individuals with practical knowledge to immigrate to Germany. The first amendments of the Skilled Immigration Act came into force on November 18, 2023.