EU DECODED: Will the deal to end fake internships be reached by 2025?

euronews (in English)

In this episode, we focus on a directive on unpaid internships that aims to end the exploitation of around 1.5 million young Europeans.

Transcript

00:00Thousands of young Europeans are being exploited during their first years in work.

00:19The Commission is working on a directive to shield them from sharp practice in the workplace.

00:26But EU countries still cannot agree over the proposals.

00:29Judy Coded looks at what is causing the blockage.

00:32Currently, there are more than 3 million trainees in the EU working to temporary contracts.

00:38Almost half of these are unpaid.

00:41The European Commission proposed a new type of quality traineeship in March 2024.

00:46These would offer fair remuneration, social security protection and equal access for vulnerable

00:52groups.

00:53The 27 governments of the EU failed to get a consensus in December and the proposal will

00:59be further discussed in 2025.

01:01We want to hear opinions about the need of comprehensive EU regulation on traineeships.

01:29I think it's more exploitation than anything else, because they are not paid, they don't

01:36make a lot of money.

01:38There are companies that take advantage of it to hire trainees just so they don't have

01:44to pay people who work for them.

01:47And on top of that, there are also a lot of trainees who are not paid.

01:53Paolo Soler is covering the EU debate on this topic.

01:58Some Member States are trying to water down the Commission's proposal, but others want

02:05stricter rules, which are not in line with the EU regulations.

02:10Paolo Soler is covering the EU debate on this topic.

02:14Some Member States are trying to water down the Commission's proposal, but others want

02:20stricter rules, which are not in line with the EU regulations.

02:24The key aspect where Member States cannot agree is basically the scope of the directive.

02:30Countries like Spain and Germany, for example, think that this proposal doesn't work the

02:36way it is drafted right now.

02:38So, the Spanish Labour Minister, for example, she said that this could lead to a race to

02:42the bottom because we are prioritising low price over the need to promote education.

02:49But others, like the Baltic countries or the Nordic countries, are saying the opposite,

02:55that the text works the way it is.

02:57There are also other problems with the anti-discrimination clause and also with enforcement measures,

03:04and the Commissioner has already said that this is a diluted version of the text that

03:09the Commission proposed in the first place.

03:11The European Youth Forum and trade unions are saying that about three quarters of the

03:17trainees may not be covered by this directive, just the open market positions.

03:22What are the situation of the other three quarters?

03:25Yes, we have three other options.

03:27We have the traineeships linked to an educational curricula, those that we need to finish a

03:32bachelor's degree, for example.

03:34We also have the active labour market policies that are trying to help young people to find

03:41better job opportunities or to find a job when they are unemployed.

03:44And we also have the ones linked to professional training.

03:47And once the Council reaches an agreement, what will be the next steps and when can we

03:54expect this directive to come into force?

03:57Well, the next steps are clear.

03:59First, the Police Council presidency that is starting in January will have to find the

04:05right balance between member states.

04:07Once they agree, the European Parliament also needs to agree on its position first at committee

04:12level and then during a plenary session.

04:15And then the trilogue negotiations can start.

04:18So the Commission, the Council and the Parliament need to gather together and find a final text.

04:24On average, 78% of young Europeans have completed at least one traineeship, according to a 2023

04:31Eurobarometer.

04:32A fifth of those choose to do the traineeships in a different EU member state.

04:37In Germany, France and the Netherlands, up to 90% of youngsters take up traineeships.

04:42Fewer as a proportion take them up in Malta, Czechia and Sweden.

04:48With us is Executive Vice President for Social Rights and Skills, Rosana Misantu.

04:54How do you believe unpaid traineeships foster discrimination and brain drain among young professionals?

05:03We have a gap in not just labour force but in skills as well.

05:10We have also huge unemployment for the young people.

05:14Obviously, we are counting a lot on the quality of traineeships to attract them to the labour market,

05:19to skill them, to equip them.

05:21So we have to work with member states.

05:23And I'm sure, and I count on them, I'm sure that they understand that the quality of traineeships,

05:28the minimum standards that we want to impose for the traineeships throughout Europe is for the best

05:34interest of those countries, of their industries, of their economies, of, of course, first of all,

05:39of the young generations.

05:40I think that member states are not prepared to go as far as you would like them to.

05:46Will you accept those limitations or do you have a strategy to push, to expand how broad this director will be?

05:55If you are to analyse member states, we see that there are numerous member states that have legislation

06:00banning unpaid traineeships that connect the level of the payment for the trainees to the minimum wage.

06:06Others are well covered by the collective agreements, by social dialogue.

06:11So commission is not going, obviously, where legally it cannot.

06:14But through minimum standards in the directive and through our recommendation,

06:19our intention is to offer the best quality of traineeships and the best protections for,

06:24for our younger generation of workers.

06:26Young professionals, even trade unions, are saying that the directive, as it is currently,

06:32might not cover more than a quarter of the young trainees.

06:36Is it possible to enlarge the scope so that more young people will be covered by the guidelines?

06:4324 percent would be really a type of scope that is unacceptable, I think,

06:49for the young people that called for this, for this, for this legislative protection.

06:55They called it to the Conference of Europe and European Parliament called for it.

06:59So we need to think that if we do legislation, we do it so that we really offer the young generation protection,

07:07fair remuneration for their work.

07:09Is a legally binding ban on unpaid traineeships out of reach?

07:15Legally speaking, we cannot, at EU level, go into that direction to ban,

07:22or to work on the payment of traineeships, because that is member state competence.

07:27Madam Executive Vice President, thank you very much for being with us in our program EU Decoded.

07:33Average youth unemployment rate in the EU is 14.9 percent, more than double the rate of the general population.

07:40But when young people get a job as an intern, they may be stuck in that role for many years

07:46without benefiting from labour rights.

07:49Can the European Union succeed in setting a bar on minimum standards for trainees?

07:54The jury is out.

07:57EU Decoded

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