The EU Academy is an EU-owned online hub containing first-hand knowledge, educational resources, and valuable insights, directly produced by EU institutions. It is designed for individuals and institutions whose work relates to the EU’s sphere of action, including course providers, educators and professionals seeking to deepen their understanding of EU policies across a wide array of fields. Its mission is to provide a modern and engaging learning environment that fosters the application of EU knowledge in a simple, smart, and inspirational way.

Launched in November 2020, the EU Academy was developed by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) in collaboration with Directorate-General for Digital Services (DIGIT), as part of the EU’s broader digital transformation strategy. It was born out of a need to combat disinformation and improve access to reliable, policy-relevant knowledge, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These educational resources are now published on the Europass platform, enriching the existing collection of learning opportunities, and allowing Europass visitors to find them via the Europass Course search function. Accessing EU Academy courses through Europass is simple and user-friendly. To find them, you can use the following filters:

• Select “European Union” under the “Country” filter, and/or

• Click on “Show more filters” to expand the advanced filters and choose “Online” under “Mode of learning”.

This will display the available EU Academy courses. 

All the information you need is organised into clear tabs, making it easy to navigate. From key information about the course to what you will achieve, everything is just one click away. If you are logged in to Europass, you can also save a course as your favourite by clicking on the star symbol in the top right corner of the course card. You can then prepare an application (if applicable), share it via email and copy the link.

This is the first time an EU level platform’s course offer is mapped to, and integrated in, Europass, expanding Europass with high-quality, policy-relevant learning from EU institutions. The EU Academy is open to everyone, from public sector professionals and educators to students and lifelong learners. It is especially valuable for those working in, or with, EU institutions, NGOs, or policy-related fields. Registration is free and only requires an EU Login account. Once logged in, learners can filter courses by topic, level, language, duration and more.

Courses are available directly through the EU Academy Portal and now they can also be found via Europass, which already hosts over 350,000 learning opportunity and qualification resources. To make this possible, EU Academy content was integrated into the QDR while preserving the above-mentioned filters. For more complex fields, such as EU Academy topics, a special mapping exercise was carried out to match each topic concept to a broad, narrow, and/or detailed concept in the International Standard Classification of Education: Fields of Education and Training 2013 (ISCED-f) taxonomy.

Upon completing a course, learners can receive digital certificates of completion or badges, depending on the course structure. These credentials can be added to CVs, Europass profiles, or used to demonstrate continuing professional development. Some courses also include graded assessments to prove the achievement of the planned learning outcomes.

Besides directly benefitting individual learners, the EU Academy also offers opportunities for universities, educational institutions, and training providers to:

• aligning curricula with EU policy priorities

• collaborating on content development

• offering students certified, real-world learning experiences

• enhancing international visibility and academic credibility.

By integrating EU Academy resources, institutions can enrich their programmes with up-to-date content and foster a deeper understanding of European affairs among their learners.