Ashton (2004) indicates how the relationship between state, labour and capital underpins national policy on workplace learning. Rainbird (2004) states that within individual countries we can see the significance of power at the level of state regulation, individual organization and at the workplace level. Individual workers, work groups and workers' collective organizations have a range of formal and informal mechanisms for expressing their needs in relation to a range of factors which affect work environment. In many countries there are ways in which training professionals and collective actors such as trade unions can work together to provide resources of different kinds to support learning.

Within the Lisbon Strategy framework, European countries give primacy to job-related training programmes as a basic component of the European social model and promote agreements between partners under the lifelong learning vision. Governments have supported the development of regulations that affect workplace learning in a range of different forms. It may concern skill formation through the education and training system, which impacts on the skills and knowledge applied in the workplace.

The objective of this paper is to outline, 1) what historical and contextual conditions shape job-related training regulatory framework in Spain and Norway in particular, 2) what are the main characteristics of the regulatory frameworks for job-related training in each country, and 3) how these mechanisms affect training in the workplace. The characteristics of job-related training programmes for adults are the result of historical traditions rooted in local practices but also have similarities as the result of supranational processes that shape adult education offers and demands.

In the case of Spain, the statement of the Professional Training for Employment Subsystem in 2007, was the result of a historical and contextual process of several agreements between the state, trade unions and stakeholders. This regulation sets a framework that intends to introduce unified mechanisms to express workers' and enterprises' training needs, and to work together with the State and with educational providers in order to meet new labour demands. 

Adult education in Norway takes a particular configuration as a result of social values and traditional educational principles, which have led to the configuration of a unified and comprehensive educational system. A major reform called Competence Reform was carried out during the '90. It focused particularly in the adult group, whether employed or unemployed. This reform was the result of national negotiations between the state, trade unions and enterprises.

These changes in Adult Education regulatory framework strengthened the recognition of the importance of training in economic development, in quality of life improvement and in prevention against social inequality and unemployment. The main objective of the reforms in both countries was to contribute to meeting individual, social and labour needs in terms of skills and competencies and provide opportunities for adults’ access to education for the enhancement of their skills. In the Spanish as well as the Norwegian context, the reform was designed on tripartite collaborative agreements between trade unions, employers and the state.

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