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The Social Modernization Act passed in 2002 in France, making “certification” official, helped link this term to the accreditation of experiential learning. This paper aims to show that its imperatives extend beyond the strict question of the validation of informal learning, a notion that emerged and was developed as the relationship between training and employment was being transformed. As a result, training no longer has the prominent role it had. This analysis is being made at the request of the Commission technique d’homologation, the organization that contributed to disseminating the idea of certification. The study of the internal discussions of this committee, when it was in operation (1972–2002), illustrates these changes and shows the difficulty in moving to this new approach.