Europass CV: what it is and how to fill in each section

First step: read what the call or job ad asks for

Before you open the editor, look at the exact wording of the vacancy, the Erasmus call or the secondment notice. If it names the Europass format, use it. If it only says CV, the format is your choice. Four official texts we read on 12 October 2026 show how far apart the requests are.

If the text says nothing about format

Then Europass is one option among several. Our judgement, not a rule from any source we read: for a private employer in a country that has its own CV convention, follow that country's guide, because the Europass layout prints a label in front of many fields and a full profile turns into a long document. For EU bodies, Erasmus offices and Austrian employers, the Europass layout is what the reader already knows.

What Europass is and who runs it

Europass is the European Commission's set of online tools and information for learning and work. Its About page says the Commission provides the service free of charge in 31 languages, and the site footer names the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion as its manager. Besides the CV editor there is a profile, a cover letter editor, the Diploma Supplement, the Certificate Supplement, Europass Mobility and storage for European digital credentials. The current platform went live in July 2020, and every participating country has a National Europass Centre as its first point of contact.

• It is not recognition of a degree. The Europass FAQ says using Europass gives no automatic recognition of skills or qualifications.
• It is never paid. The FAQ says you cannot buy a CV or any service from Europass and will never be asked for bank details; report such a request to the national authorities.
• It is not limited to EU citizens. The FAQ says the tools are free for everyone, whatever their nationality or country of residence.
• It does not translate. You write each language version of the CV yourself.

The profile and the CV are different things

The FAQ describes the profile as your personal online space for every skill, course, job and achievement, and the CV as a document you make from all or part of it for one job or course. A lasting profile needs registration through EU Login, which also gives you the Library for storing CVs. Without registering you can still use the online editor; the FAQ says a guest can only download the finished CV, and that information a guest enters stays available for 48 hours after the last visit.

Languages: 29, 30 or 31

The language list on 12 October 2026 named 31 languages, among them Turkish, Ukrainian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Macedonian, Serbian and Montenegrin next to the EU languages, and the About page also says 31. Some older FAQ answers still say 29 or 30. Go by the list: if your language is on it, both the interface and the CV can be in it.

Steps in the editor that work without an account

We did not create an account for this page. The steps below are the ones the Europass FAQ describes for guest users of the online editor at europa.eu/europass.

1. Open the CV editor and select the language you will write the CV in. Europass does not translate content afterwards.
2. Fill in the sections, or import a Europass PDF you downloaded earlier. Europass CVs saved as PDF or XML before July 2020 import too; Word, ODF and PDF files made from the old offline templates do not.
3. Remove sections you do not need and move the rest with the arrows on their left; drag single entries up or down inside a section.
4. Add your own sections with names you choose, for example Projects or Publications.
5. Add a photo only if the target country expects one. The editor takes PNG or JPG under 20 MB.
6. Choose a template. The FAQ says you can pick a different layout for each application.
7. Download the PDF, which the FAQ names as the format you can save in. As a guest, download before you leave.
8. To change the CV later, import that PDF into the editor again, edit and download a new copy.

Language skills: five boxes per language

The profile uses the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) self-assessment table. For each language you choose a level for listening, reading, spoken interaction, spoken production and writing by reading the descriptions. The export prints the five levels in a row under the skill names and adds the key 'A1 and A2: Basic user; B1 and B2: Independent user; C1 and C2: Proficient user'. It is a self-assessment, so name a certificate when you have one. Which test score matches which level is covered on the CEFR page of this guide.

Digital skills

The FAQ says you can list tools and software, describe what you used them for and sort them into groups, for example design tools or the tools of your job. A group name plus four or five named tools reads faster than a long flat list.

The EQF level in Education and training

Each education entry has a field for the level in the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). Europass's EQF page says a short-cycle degree corresponds to level 5, a first-cycle (bachelor) degree to level 6, a second-cycle (master) degree to level 7 and a doctorate to level 8. The FAQ adds that the level may be printed on your diploma or Diploma Supplement, or you can ask the institution.

Section by section: what to write, with a sample line

The field names below are copied from a real Europass PDF exported from the editor on 22 May 2026, the file we measured on our Europass and ATS page. The sample lines are for an invented applicant, a mechanical engineer from İzmir applying for a building-services post in Vienna. Replace every detail with your own.

Three things that go wrong in the export

• Empty optional fields left switched on. The export prints the label for every field you fill in, so a filled Department or Website line takes space on every job.
• A full history. The Create your Europass CV page tells you not to include a full detailed history but to keep the facts that match the job.
• Two date styles. The editor writes months as 06/2023 and full days as 02/11/2021; in text you type yourself, such as a project line, keep to one of them.

Proof: what we read and when

Every statement about Europass above comes from these pages, all read on 12 October 2026. Links are under Sources.

Europass changes its editor from time to time and calls change every year. Check the linked pages before you apply.

When a Europass CV is a poor fit

No source we read says employers dislike Europass, and EURES Austria says many companies require it. The points below are our judgement, marked as such.

• Jobs in the US or the UK. Europass's own tips include a photo and the editor offers date of birth and nationality; the photo page of this guide explains why those countries expect none of them.
• A long career or an academic record. The editor prints every filled field with its label; the real export we looked at ran to six pages, while the Bucharest call caps the CV at two.
• An upload to an employer's applicant tracking system. How a parser reads a Europass PDF is measured, line by line, on a separate page of this guide.
• Proving that a degree counts abroad. A Europass CV describes the degree; recognition comes from the country's recognition body.

Alternatives and next steps

1. Read the call. If it names Europass, build the CV in the editor and keep to any page limit the call sets.
2. If it is silent, write the CV in the convention of the target country; the Germany guide covers the German tabular CV.
3. Back every language level with a certificate, a date and a score where you have them.
4. Before you upload any PDF to an employer portal, run it through the free checker and read the parser view.

CitedCV does not produce the Europass layout. When a call leaves the format to you, it can write the CV in English, Turkish or German with EU, UK, US, German or Turkish conventions, using only the education, jobs and skills you enter.

Questions people ask

Sources

1. Europass, About Europasseuropass.europa.eu/en/about-europass
2. Europass, Create your Europass CVeuropass.europa.eu/en/create-europass-cv
3. Europass, Frequently Asked Questions (page 2)europass.europa.eu/en/faq?page=1
4. Europass, Frequently Asked Questions (page 3)europass.europa.eu/en/faq?page=2
5. Europass, In which languages is Europass available?europass.europa.eu/en/which-languages-europass-available
6. Europass, CEFR self-assessment gridseuropass.europa.eu/en/common-european-framework-reference-language-skills
7. Europass, Description of the eight EQF levelseuropass.europa.eu/en/description-eight-eqf-levels
8. Europass, National Europass Centreseuropass.europa.eu/en/about-europass/contact-us/national-europass-centres
9. European Commission, DG HR, letter on seconded national experts, 21 March 2025 (via the Croatian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs)mvep.gov.hr/UserDocsImages/2025/datoteke/Letter%20RP%20EN_24.3.2025._163903.pdf
10. Politehnica University of Bucharest, FILS, Erasmus+ selection March 2026fils.upb.ro/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/ERASMUS-selection_March2026.pdf
11. EURES, Living and working conditions: Austriaeures.europa.eu/living-and-working/living-and-working-conditions/living-and-working-conditions-austria_en
12. EURES, Living and working conditions: Germanyeures.europa.eu/living-and-working/living-and-working-conditions/living-and-working-conditions-germany_en