europass-cv

Create or edit a Europass CV in the Candidate XML format that the official europass.europa.eu editor imports (2020 format, HR-XML 3 based). Use when asked to produce, convert, fix or check a Europass CV/XML/PDF for import into Europass, or when an import 'shows only personal data' or is rejected as an old format.

Europass CV (Candidate XML)

The current Europass editor imports and exports one format: an HR-XML 3 "Candidate" document with Europass and EURES extensions, embedded as attachment.xml in its PDFs. There is no official schema. This skill gives you a reference, an unofficial XSD, a JSON to XML generator, a PDF extractor and a checker that asks the real importer what it understood.

Workflow: create a CV

1. Collect the data and write it as JSON following docs/cv-json.md (see examples/cv.json). Only person.givenName and person.familyName are mandatory. Keep the person's data as given; do not invent values.
2. Generate: node tools/build-cv.mjs cv.json > cv.xml. Read stderr: a warning means a value outside a codified list (the editor will flag that field); an error means the importer would reject the file (impossible date, blank entry title, unknown phone country code).
3. Validate the structure: sh tools/validate.sh cv.xml (needs xmllint).
4. Check against the real importer, if allowed to send the data to the Europass service: node tools/check-import.mjs cv.xml. It prints the sections the editor will display and a count per section; all expected sections must be listed and the field errors must be none.
5. Deliver cv.xml. The person imports it at europass.europa.eu, "Create your CV" then "Import Europass CV", and downloads the official PDF from there. If you also produce a PDF, embed the XML as an attachment named attachment.xml with MIME type text/xml; the importer reads such PDFs exactly like the bare XML.

Workflow: edit an existing Europass CV

1. Get the XML: from a PDF exported by the editor, node tools/extract-xml.mjs cv.pdf > cv.xml; an XML file is used as is.
2. Edit the XML directly, following docs/format.md. Keep every element you do not understand: the importer ignores unknown elements and other tools may need them. When adding content, mirror the shapes already in the file.
3. Validate and check as in steps 3 and 4 above.

Rules the importer enforces (the schema cannot express them)

• RenderingInformation/Design/SectionsOrder must list every section that should be visible (work-experience, education-training, language, profile-skills, driving-licence, publication...). Sections that are imported but not listed stay hidden; the person sees only personal data.
• A Telephone communication needs CountryDialing, oa:DialNumber and CountryCode; without the dialing code the whole file is rejected.
• Dates are YYYY, YYYY-MM or YYYY-MM-DD; an impossible day rejects the whole file.
• Social Media UseCode is one of facebook, twitter, instagram, linkedin, youtube, pinterest, tumblr. Other links use ChannelCode Web.
• Custom sections: one Others per entry, all with the same Title; the importer keeps only the last Other of an Others and merges same-titled Others. Every Other needs a non-blank Title.
• Digital skills (Skills/PersonCompetency/hr:CompetencyName) must be distinct.
• Long texts are HTML escaped inside the text node (<p>...</p>).
• CandidateProfile needs languageCode; PersonName is mandatory.
• The old SkillsPassport v3 XML (namespace europass.cedefop.europa.eu) is rejected as an old format: never produce it.

Where things go

Content	Element
Name	CandidatePerson/PersonName (oa:GivenName, hr:FamilyName)
E-mail, phone, links, address	CandidatePerson/Communication (see docs/format.md)
Nationality, birth date, sex, mother tongue	NationalityCode, hr:BirthDate, GenderCode, PrimaryLanguageCode
About me	CandidateProfile/hr:ExecutiveSummary
Work experience	EmploymentHistory/EmployerHistory/PositionHistory
Education	EducationHistory/EducationOrganizationAttendance (EducationLevelCode = EQF, sibling of EducationDegree)
Languages	PersonQualifications/PersonCompetency with eures:CompetencyDimension per CEFR skill
Digital skills	Skills/PersonCompetency (hr:TaxonomyID Digital_Skill)
Driving licence	eures:Licenses/eures:License/hr:LicenseTypeCode
Publications	PublicationHistory/Publication
Anything else (soft skills, certifications, hobbies...)	Others custom sections
Profile picture	eures:Attachment (base64 data URI, base64 encoded again)

Not importable: a personal headline or motto (put it as the first bold line of the summary), instant messengers, legal documents, a separate certifications section.

Files

• docs/format.md: every element, its editor field and the importer's responses to known mistakes.
• docs/codifications.md: the closed value lists (section names, social media, telephone types, licence categories, NACE, CEFR, EQF, languages).
• docs/cv-json.md: the generator's input.
• schema/europass-candidate.xsd: the unofficial XSD (four namespaces).
• examples/: minimal.xml, full.xml, cv.json, all fictional.
• tools/build-cv.mjs, tools/extract-xml.mjs, tools/check-import.mjs, tools/validate.sh.

Privacy

check-import.mjs sends the file to a European Commission server. Only do that with the person's consent or with fictional data. Never paste a real CV into an issue or a log.