The Council of the European Communities (EC) has passed a number of decisions related to the creation of a labor market for skilled workers and to the facilitation of their free movement in a merging Europe. The establishment of comparability of vocational training qualifications is seen as a first step toward achieving the mutual recognition of diplomas, certificates, and other formal qualifications and as a prerequisite for enabling workers to make better use of their qualifications to obtain suitable employment in another Member State. The procedure involves several steps: EC selection of relevant occupations or groups of occupations; establishment of expert groups; preparatory studies and development of preliminary lists of possible occupations; development and discussion of draft occupational descriptions; and development of comparative tables. Member States are responsible for dissemination of all information developed. All EC Member States should establish by mutual agreement each occupational description with the title, duties, and tasks. A general assessment indicates that the process has proved its worth because a detailed source of information pertaining to occupations and sectors has been compiled that clarifies differences in training systems in the various sectors and the 12 Member States. Member States should compile the data necessary for every occupation at the EC level. (Appendixes include a chart showing stage of work on comparability by sector and sample occupational description.) (YLB)