Members of Parliament call for European legal act

At the meeting of the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) on 8 June, Members of Parliament (MEPs) called on the European Commission to present a directive on high-quality traineeships. The  motion for a resolution, which was adopted by a majority, contains recommendations on specific regulatory content in addition to the fundamental demands for a legal act. According to MEPs, a directive should protect trainees through minimum quality standards and contain rules on the duration of internships as well as adequate remuneration in line with the cost of living. In addition, access to social protection should be ensured. This could also affect the health and accident insurance coverage of interns. Uniform regulations across Europe should also cover compulsory traineeships, which are part of vocational training.

Traineeships help young people gain access to the labour market

Since 2014, the number of people doing traineeships in other EU countries has been steadily increasing. Traineeships play an important role for young people in gaining work experience and facilitate the transition from education or training to the labour market. At the same time, traineeships are important to prepare young people for the demands of the labour market and to counteract a mismatch between skills supply and demand. This is subject to the prerequisite that employers offer quality traineeships.

Quality framework ensures high-quality traineeships

The European Commission published an evaluation of the 2014 Quality Framework for Traineeships January this year. This confirms that the 2014 Council Recommendation on a Quality Framework for Traineeships is a key reference point for Member States on high-quality internships. A large majority of respondents, including public authorities, public employment services, business representatives and young people, considered the Quality Framework and its 21 principles to be still relevant. The European Parliament has now called on the European Commission to present a proposal for a directive ensuring the quality of traineeships in the European Union.