This article argues that the framework for the governance of technological knowledge and skills that is formulated for national consumption emerges from a supranational terrain of politics outside the jurisdiction of national and European parliamentary activity and scrutiny. Traditionally understood as a space where ideas circulate and initiatives are discussed rather than the place where policy is prepared, the supranational is often perceived as a sphere of influence or of control rather than one of the dimensions of the governing process. This dimension is becoming disconnected from national politics with the tendency for governments to now increasingly formulate programmes in partnership with preferred commercial and not-for profit global or national entities or local groups. This process of "selective de-institutionalisation" neutralises the political process and the discussion and understanding of the consequences for current and future governance of the nature of and access to knowledge for education and work. This paper examines mechanisms pushing forward this trend and discusses the nature of this process. (Contains 4 tables and 52 notes.)