The Government creates the Catalogue of Professional Competence Standards of Catalonia

The Government has approved Decree 204/2026, of November 3, which creates the Catalogue of Professional Competence Standards of Catalonia (FPCAT Catalogue), the official reference for identifying the competencies of the productive system and for designing vocational training degrees, certificates, and accreditations. The regulation, signed by President Salvador Illa i Roca and published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC) no. 9788, of November 5, 2026, replaces the Catalogue of Professional Qualifications in force since 2010. The text bears the official reference CVE-DOGC-A-26307107-2026 and enters into force twenty days after its publication in the DOGC, around November 25.

The decree is promoted by the Department of Education and Vocational Training, upon the joint proposal of Minister Esther Niubó Cidoncha and the Minister of Business and Labor, Miquel Sàmper i Rodríguez, with the prior opinion of the Legal Advisory Commission. Its raison d’être is the adaptation of Catalan regulations to the new state framework: Organic Law 3/2022, of March 31, on the organization and integration of vocational training, and Royal Decree 69/2025, of February 4, which deploys the management instruments of the national vocational training system. To this end, the regulation modifies the current Catalogue of Professional Qualifications, changes its name to align it with the term used in the European Union, and repeals Decree 28/2010, of March 2.

A digital repository managed by the FPCAT Agency

The FPCAT Catalogue is virtual in nature: it is a digital repository hosted in a computer application managed by the Public Agency for Professional Training and Qualification of Catalonia (FPCAT Agency), with design and accessibility requirements for everyone. It is applicable to the entire Catalan territory and is created taking into account the National Catalogue of Professional Competence Standards and the European Qualifications Framework.

Its functions, according to Article 5, are:

• To serve as a basis for the design of professional modules and training offers, with cumulative itineraries throughout life.
• To provide the foundation for the certification of achieved competencies with professional degrees or certificates.
• To be the reference in the accreditation processes of competencies acquired through work experience or non-formal and informal routes.
• To establish correspondences between the training programs of the FPCAT System and promote mobility and transparency.
• To facilitate the planning of human resources and the organization of professional profiles for organizations.

Twenty-eight professional families and three levels

The Catalogue is organized by FPCAT sectors, professional families, and competence levels, with the corresponding quality indicators. Annex 3 lists the 28 professional families, which include physical and sports activities, administration and management, agriculture, chemistry, healthcare, informatics and communications, the new artificial intelligence and data (ID) family, and the family of transversal activities and competences. Levels 1, 2, and 3 are defined by knowledge, skills, responsibility, and autonomy, and Annex 2 establishes their correlation with levels 3, 4, and 5 of the Spanish Qualifications Framework (MECU) and level 1 of the higher education framework (MECES).

Regarding content, the Catalogue integrates state standards from the National Catalogue and Catalan-scope standards, with a standardized alphanumeric code that ends with the level digit. The additional provision integrates standards derived from former competence units, which are now called competence elements (EC) and quality indicators (IQ) instead of achievements and achievement criteria; the Catalan competence units that are not incorporated are detailed in Annex 5. Each standard must contain identification data, professional competence, competence elements, quality indicators, and professional context.

Ex officio update and legal limit

The FPCAT Agency must develop and update the Catalogue continuously. Changes derived from the National Catalogue are incorporated ex officio, without specific approval. In contrast, the establishment, modification, or deletion of specific Catalan-scope standards requires a joint order from the departments competent in vocational training, upon the proposal of the Professional Training and Qualification Council of Catalonia, with prior sectoral verification and public information.

The decree also sets an explicit limit: the inclusion of standards in the Catalogue does not imply any regulation of professional practice nor does it affect the content of labor relations. The Education Council of Catalonia and the Labor, Economic and Social Council of Catalonia participated in the processing.

For centers, companies, and workers, the deployment of the Catalogue is the piece that organizes the entire chain: it defines what must be known how to do in each activity, which training accredits it, and how competence acquired through work is recognized, so that accreditations obtained in Catalonia can be read using the same parameters as in the rest of Spain and Europe.

Source: DOGC, no. 9788, November 5, 2026, General provisions, p. 1 (official reference: CVE-DOGC-A-26307107-2026).