Using cross-border mobility in vocational education and training in the Greater Region SaarLorLux region

High unemployment rates on one side of a border and training opportunities on the other, the lack of training programmes for specialised jobs on the one side of the border and well defined vocational programmes on the other side: cross-border vocational education and training (VET) is an increasingly used tool to accommodate the differing needs inside the European Union in recent years. This paper will present, explain and analyse the diverse approaches and concepts of tailor-made as well as more standardized cross-border VET programmes in the Greater Region SaarLorLux (DE, FR, LUX, BE) and explain the different mobility types (from short-time exchange programmes, to internships as well as a formalised division of mobility between days of apprenticeship in one country and days of practical training in another country). This cross-border region is the largest transboundary commuting area and therefore the largest transboundary labour market in the EU.