In a fast-changing world and faced with global challenges of climate change, digital and green transitions, recovery from the pandemic and geopolitical tensions, the public sector more generally and policymaking institutions like the European Commission in particular are actively seeking and deploying new and innovative approaches to policymaking and regulation. This also requires policymakers to continue developing new competences to rise to the global challenges and to be able to deliver innovative and future-proof policy solutions. The EU Policymaking Hub is the professional development programme of the European Commission exactly targeted at developing such policymaking skills and competences.

To facilitate the policymaking competence development, it has developed a vision and a framework for innovative policymaking competences. While traditionally the focus on policymaking competence development centred on the activities structured around the policy cycle, namely policy planning, policy design and impact assessment, policy implementation and policy evaluation phases, the ability to tackle global, interconnected and complex societal challenges requires a more developed and future-oriented vision of policymaking competences.

While specific skills and knowledge are necessary for the activities at each step of the policy cycle, the new policymaking competencies framework identified a set of seven essential crosscutting competency areas that are necessary for innovative policymaking, throughout the policy cycle and at every stage of policymaking.

To navigate and explore the competence framework, simply click on the elements of the visualisation below.

Starting at an overview of the 7 competence clusters (A-E), the framework will ‘unfold´ and provide information on several levels of detail: Clicking on the + at the centre will display all competences for all clusters. Alternatively, each cluster can be selected individually to display the competences contained. Lastly, selecting one of the 36 individual competences will provide a detailed description of the competence in terms of attitudes, skills and knowledge required to master this competence from a foundational up to an expert level.