Brussels, 10/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 10 March, the EU28 labour ministers adopted a recommendation in Brussels on high-quality traineeships (see EUROPE 11034).
Only the United Kingdom made it clear during the meeting that it would not be applying the recommendation. The other member states agreed to inform the European Commission by 2016 of measures they will be taking to comply with the recommendation. The main youth umbrella group in Europe, the European Youth Forum, criticises the measures as “limited and weak”.
Ministers did not spend long discussing the matter. The Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU unveiled the recommendation as a way of helping young people in Europe who are sorely affected by the impact of the economic and financial crisis. Although practices vary widely within the member states, basic principles are needed to boost the quality of training courses, which are often the first way onto the labour market for young people and which help them develop a professional approach, explained Greek labour minister Ioannis Vroutsis.
The United Kingdom is pleased that a non-binding approach has been selected for the member states, but says that it will not be making use of the recommendation itself, finding it too prescriptive, said the British representative to the EU, Shan Morgan.
EU Social Affairs and Employment Commissioner Laszlo Andor expressed disappointment, unhappy that the changes made by the Council of Ministers' working group had “watered down” some key measures, like the ones on working conditions.
Similar criticisms have been voiced by the European Youth Forum. In a press release dated 4 March (after the member states' representatives to the EU on the COREPER committee endorsed the recommendation), the European Youth Forum said it “strongly criticises the recommendations as limited and weak”. It explains: “The recommendation is weak in its scope. It does not refer to internships that are part of academic or vocational training and does not necessarily apply to all internship opportunities that are funded through European social and structural funds. This is a cause for concern; any internship schemes created under the Youth Guarantee and with the use of the Youth Employment Initiative funds (Ed: 6 billion in 2014 and 2015) must come under a Quality Framework in order to ensure that they are a valuable experience for young people and can concretely contribute to getting young people into employment”. The organisation is unhappy that the recommendation talks about guaranteed rights for interns, but does not have any tangible suggestions. Interns' right to social security protection is not guaranteed and the question of appropriate remuneration is not mentioned either. (JK)