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Section 4: Evaluation

had established or were in the process of establish- 4.6 ELGPN as a member-state-driven
ing national guidance forums or other co-operation network
mechanisms. During the 2011–12 Work Programme,
a national forum or a cross-ministerial working group During the first two phases the added value of the
was established in Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Network has been related to the fact that EU member-
Malta and Sweden. In Norway, the work of ELGPN states face broadly similar challenges and problems.
fed directly into the establishment of a new National The establishment of the ELGPN was an initiative by
Unit for Lifelong Guidance which focuses on co- the EU member-states through the Open Method of
ordination of guidance in different sectors, widening Co-ordination. It has been a mechanism to promote
access and developing the evidence base and quality structured co-operation between its member coun-
development for the services. As noted earlier, Ger- tries and parallel international collaborative projects
many and Greece, with Cyprus, organised a twinning with mutual interests.
programme to promote the national development of One of the goals of the 2011–12 Work Programme
a co-ordination mechanism in Greece and Cyprus. In was to gain stronger political influence for the Net-
the Czech Republic, the ELGPN influence was partic- work on EU policy processes. In 2011–12 ELGPN
ularly visible on enhanced co-operation at regional was invited to contribute to the implementation
level. The challenge for future work is to support the of the Europe 2020 flagship initiatives in relevant
continuing evolution of existing co-operation and networks and to EC-led thematic working groups.
co-operation mechanisms (for a brief review of the However, despite its acknowledged role in the Life-
current state of such mechanisms, see Annex 4). long Learning Programme 2007–13, the ELGPN does
Participation in WP4 has been a significant stimu- not have an explicit channel for direct interventions
lus to the development of national quality-assurance in policy development. Consultation on key policy
systems in lifelong guidance in many member coun- documents has often been informal: for example,
tries. The development of commonly agreed quality through members’ contacts with bodies which have
criteria or standards at national level has been a par- a national mandate in the key policy processes (e.g.
allel process with ELGPN in Germany and Lithuania. educational committees or employment commit-
Croatia and Denmark have been expanding quality tees). The current mandate is not clear and there are
criteria across sectors. Hungary, Ireland, Norway and different expectations of the role of ELGPN in this
Portugal have national initiatives to enhance the respect among the Network members.
current feedback mechanisms and create a more The ELGPN Work Programme is endorsed by the Evaluation
consistent evidence base for lifelong guidance policy Plenary Meeting before submission to the European
development. In general, the WP4 products were Commission and is designed to cover the activi-
welcomed by members as a major tool to support ties for the two-year contractual period. In practice,
national development and as a strong basis for future during the implementation of the Work Programme,
ELGPN programmes. The quality-assurance frame- needs have emerged among the Network members
work can help to evaluate national guidance systems that have required immediate reactions to EU guid-
and to identify issues requiring attention and gaps ance-related policy developments. These efforts to
that need to be filled. To achieve these goals, the co-construct policy directions across Europe have
tools need to be translated into national languages produced some potential tensions among the Net-
and promoted among relevant stakeholders. work Members. One of the challenges relates to the
A summary of the perceived added value of ELGPN different ways in which different languages concep-
to each member country is provided in Annex 10. tualise lifelong guidance and related terminology.

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