MPF publishes the “Common Competency Framework for Healthcare Assistants in Long-Term Care (CCF)”, a reference framework that sets out the competencies that healthcare assistants across five EU Member States are expected to demonstrate in their day-to-day work.
Healthcare assistants provide essential daily care in residential, institutional and home-based settings. Yet, unlike nurses and other regulated health professions, there is no common EU-level mechanism for comparing their skills and qualifications. Job titles, training requirements and recognition arrangements vary considerably between countries, leaving employers, training providers and public authorities with limited shared reference points. This fragmentation becomes particularly relevant when several Member States are interested in recruiting for similar occupational profiles and exploring cooperation with the same partner countries.
From fragmentation to a shared reference for competencies
The new publication, "Common Competency Framework for Healthcare Assistants in Long-Term Care" responds to this gap by comparing what healthcare assistants are expected to know, do and demonstrate across Austria, France, Greece, Ireland and Malta, without seeking to harmonise national qualifications or replace national requirements.
This work was carried out by Labor Mobility Partnerships, building previous EU work regarding healthcare assistant competencies and was complemented by consultations with long-term care providers, employers, training actors and public authorities. The employer-informed approach helped to validate the relevance of the competencies identified, grounding the framework in existing national systems and making clearer where expectations already converge and where important differences remain.
A basis for cooperation between EU Member States
By identifying a common competency baseline, the Common Framework can inform the more detailed work needed when a mobility partnership is developed, including adapting training, assessing skills or establishing appropriate certification and recognition arrangements in each destination country. As stated by Home and Community Care Ireland (HCCI), the largest healthcare workers association in the country, “A common framework helps employers recruit, train and support staff more effectively, while giving care workers clearer development and career pathways, by creating greater consistency in expectations and standards, the framework can contribute to workforce quality, professional recognition and mobility across the sector. Initiatives such as this are essential to building a sustainable LTC workforce capable of meeting future care needs.”
Its multi-country dimension also creates an opportunity for cooperation between Member States. Identifying competencies that several destination countries have in common gives interested Member States a common reference when engaging with partner countries, supporting more coordinated labour mobility initiatives around common workforce needs.
This is especially relevant when considering the current shortages in the sector, highlighted by the Fédération Nationale Avenir et Qualité de Vie des Personnes Agées (FNAQPA) in France, “A national report by a former Minister of Labour estimated the number of new carers needed in France by 2030 at 350.000, including a massive retirement wave in the next few years. Despite national communication campaigns about long-term care and huge collective efforts to attract new professionals, we know it will be impossible to reach such an objective on such short notice. Worst still, despite these campaigns, schools for new carers do not fulfil their quotas, with an average occupancy rate of 70%. Even at 100%, they are not enough to fill the gap. That is why international labour mobility will be essential in the next few years to meet our huge needs and allow our members to fulfil their mission and maintain an expected quality standard. The demand of our members for a structured and ethical international mobility is high, and our role as an umbrella organisation is to meet this demand.”
Laying the groundwork for future mobility
Beyond the framework itself, B-Care explored how this foundation could support future cooperation. The project identified four mobility scenarios matching EU Member States with Talent Partnership countries, including Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Bangladesh and Pakistan, in different configurations. These scenarios offer a practical starting point for further discussions, including on where a more coordinated or Team Europe approach to skills development and recruitment may be feasible. Together, the Common Framework and the mobility scenarios provide complementary building blocks for future cooperation.
Project background
The Common Competency Framework was developed under the Building Competency and Recruitment Pathways for Long-Term Care in Europe (B-Care), funded by the European Union through the Migration Partnership Facility (MPF). The project was implemented by Labor Mobility Partnerships (LaMP) between August 2025 and June 2026.
Access the publication on the MPF Resources webpage.