On Wednesday 20 March, the European Commission presented two initiatives to improve the quality of internships in the EU and prevent bogus internships, i.e. employment relationships disguised as internships. But its proposals have received a mixed reception, with the main criticism being the absence of a legal ban on unpaid internships.
The Commission, which has presented a directive establishing a principle of non-discrimination of interns performing the same work as another employee, including at pay level (see EUROPE 13374/8), has accompanied it with a recommendation revising the 2014 EU Council recommendation.
In more explicit language, this text calls on the Member States to pay interns “fairly” and to offer them the same access to social protection as other workers.
When transposing the directive, the Member States will have to use this recommendation to make it very clear that “internships must be remunerated”, said Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights.
The EU Council’s revised recommendation sets out these principles: - recommend fair remuneration for interns; - guarantee interns access to adequate social protection; - appoint a tutor to provide targeted support and advice to interns; - promote equal access to work experience opportunities for people in vulnerable situations; - enable hybrid and remote working, ensuring that interns are provided with the necessary equipment; - improve employability by offering additional career advice and encouraging placement organisations to offer interns a regular position at the end of their placement.
According to the European Court of Auditors (see EUROPE 13344/20), one third of ALMP (Active Labour Market Policy) and open market internships are still unpaid, while for the remaining two thirds, compensation may be insufficient to cover basic expenses, preventing some young people from more precarious backgrounds from accessing internships.
European trade unions disappointed
However, the proposed directive does not appear to address these issues explicitly, according to the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which has called for greater clarity in the language used.
“Young workers must be certain that the Traineeships Directive will effectively ban unpaid internships”, was the reaction from the ETUC. “The European Parliament has voted on several occasions to ban unpaid internships. The unions are now calling on the members of the European Parliament to ensure that this measure is included in the final directive”.
“Unpaid internships mean that bright young people from working class backgrounds are excluded from many careers because they can't afford to work for free. The proposed directive does little to remedy this scandal, by handing a new task to the under-resourced employment authorities”.
Jarosław Duda (EPP, Polish), shadow rapporteur on the subject, nonetheless welcomed this very first European directive on traineeships, “which focuses on preventing discrimination in working conditions, including pay. Much remains to be done, but the fact that this proposal is on the table is an important step”.
The European Parliament rapporteur on this subject, Monica Semedo (Renew Europe, Luxembourgish), who had called on the Commission to ban unpaid internships, also welcomed the proposal “and its will to be inclusive and accessible, but I expected more”.
The MEP appreciates the reference to the principle of non-discrimination and is pleased that the proposal combats abuse, “but the Commission missed to ensure that internships are fairly remunerated and this is disappointing”.
The recommendation on fair remuneration “is non-binding and therefore (...) may not be legally enforced”.
Links to documents: https://aeur.eu/f/bfn; https://aeur.eu/f/bfo (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)