The European Taxonomy of Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) has been developed over the last ten years, in particular with the aim of promoting worker mobility in Europe (European Commission 2017, 2018). This classification intends to make a decisive contribution to this goal by providing Europe-wide comparability of occupations, competences and qualifications. Integrated in the strategy "Europe 2020", ESCO is supposed to provide a classification basis for main instruments of the European labor market, namely EURES and EUROPASS. In addition, ESCO intendeds to support the identification of necessary skills, competencies, and qualifications in the labour market. Thus, it could potentially become a basis for curriculum development (Europäische Kommission, 2014; Winch, 2021). With regard to the vocational training systems in the member states, this raises the question of whether the effects of ESCO will remain limited to labor market mobility or whether the identification of qualification and skills demands as well as the definition of occupational skill profiles could have an impact on the contents of national VET programs.

The aim of this contribution is to analyze mechanisms of European governance in the interplay between European labor market policy and VET policy. In this respect, a multi-level analysis of European VET governance is provided. This includes an analysis which actors and which forms of coordination are significant in the context of ESCO and how they interact with each other.

Main research questions are:

• Which forms of coordination and control are relevant for the development and implementation process of ESCO?
• To which extent does ESCO as a new transparency instrument lead to new forms of European VET governance – and in particular: Can ESCO be seen as a prototype of new European governance between "hard law" and "soft law"?

Drawing on educational governance theories (Schimank 2007; Altrichter/Heinrich 2007; Kussau/Brüsemeister 2007), relevant governance-levels in the context of ESCO are discussed and theoretically conceptualized within a multilevel framework. In this respect, this paper particularly focuses on the institutional regulatory structures, the constellation and interactions of stakeholders in the ESCO development process as well as the growing relevance of committees and experts (Lawn, 2019). This includes different forms of governance at the supranational level - and, beyond that, the respective networks of experts and institutions at the European and national levels.

For this purpose, the direct and indirect governance effects of European legal acts ("hard law") in the implementation of the ESCO classification are examined. In addition, typical governance forms of "soft law" such as negotiation and competition systems (e.g. open method of coordination) are analyzed. In a second step, the analysis focuses on constellations and tasks of the central actors involved in the ESCO development process and their coordination, especially at the European level. Concluding, the question will be addressed whether ESCO operates as a new prototype of European governance between "hard law" and "soft law".

Methodologically, this paper is based on three different methods of analysis. Firstly, a document analyses of European legal acts, resolutions, declarations and action programmes in the ESCO context. This analysis aims to examine the significance of governance "qua hierarchy" through direct or indirect effects of binding legal acts. In addition, typical governance forms of "soft law" such as negotiation and competition systems (e.g. open method of coordination) are analyzed. Secondly, in order to reconstruct ESCO governance with the respective roles, tasks and constellations of relevant actors at the national and supranational level, minutes and documents of central European bodies in the ESCO construction process are evaluated. Finally, for a more in-depth analysis of the governance processes in the ESCO development and implementation process, qualitative semi-structured interviews with ESCO Committee Members were carried out and will be analyzed. Within the scope of comparative country studies in Germany, Ireland, Poland and Latvia, qualitative interviews will be conducted with experts and relevant stakeholders on the significance and (governance) effect of ESCO in the respective countries. These interviews also facilitate a qualitative analysis of stakeholder structures.

Initial results of the analyses show a diverse interweaving of governance forms through binding legal acts, soft legislation and the financial support of action programs, which are supposed to support the development and implementation of ESCO. Due to the linking of labor market and education policy - in this case through the linking of ESCO and EURES - a greater depth of intervention through binding legal acts (regulations, resolutions, etc.) seems to exist within the area of European vocational training policy, which usually is located within the framework of "soft law”. With regard to governance in the ESCO construction process, the analyzed documents suggest a differentiated approach of the Commission, in which the (steering) mechanisms in the context of EURES and VET differ. While in the EURES context a rather hierarchical regulation through regulations and decisions becomes visible, the coordination process between the European Commission and the member states includes consultations and meetings of the working groups of the co-member states as well as "soft" forms of coordination through consultation and negotiation. In the coordination process, different logics become apparent: on the one hand, the project logic from the point of view of the Commission and, on the other, a conflicting logic between education and labor market policy.

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