On Wednesday 3 April, the members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) gave a lukewarm welcome to the Commission’s proposals on quality traineeships, namely a draft Directive establishing a principle of non-discrimination of trainees in relation to other employees and a revised recommendation listing a series of principles, such as fair remuneration for trainees (see EUROPE 13375/14).
The Parliament rapporteur, Monica Semedo from Luxembourg (Renew Europe), who in 2023 led Parliament in asking the Commission to work on a legislative initiative to ban unpaid traineeships (see EUROPE 13201/9), said she was “disappointed” during an exchange of views with the European Commission’s Deputy Director-General for Employment Services, Stefan Olsson.
Admittedly, “there are improvements to ensure that trainees are not seen as cheap labour, there is a clear description of the objectives of traineeships and the principle of non-discrimination and inclusion”, she noted, but “this must be guaranteed and not just recommended”. And the fact that the principle of equitable remuneration is found only in the recommendation means that it is not “legally binding”, she added.
Mrs Semedo also disagreed with the European Commissioner for Employment, Nicolas Schmit, that the Commission did not have the power to impose an explicit ban on unpaid traineeships on Member States. But “there have been other occasions when the Commission has gone beyond [its powers, Editor’s note]”, insisted the MEP, regretting “an opportunity that the Commissioner did not seize”.
The ECR Group finds it regrettable that the Commission has proposed these initiatives at the very end of the parliamentary term, thereby transferring the matter to the next Parliament.
The Conservative Group, represented by Anna Zalewska from Poland, welcomed the message that “the days of unpaid permanent trainees are over”. It also felt that working on a definition of a trainee on the basis of the two proposed initiatives would also potentially have consequences for the way Parliament operates.
“If we accept the proposed definition, we will have to eliminate the use of trainees in certain places, including Parliament”, the ECR Group said, calling for a clear distinction to be made between the two concepts.
On behalf of The Left Group, Portugal’s José Gusmão also voiced concern about the difficulty of defining discrimination against trainees in comparison with regular workers, when trainees, by their very nature, do not have the same level of experience as other workers.
He regretted that the Commission’s proposal was not clear enough to prevent abuses and criticised the fact that it was still up to Parliament to rectify matters.
Trainees must be given a minimum guarantee of a decent wage, and “the Commission cannot say that this is not its responsibility and wash its hands of it”, stressed Mr Gusmão.
France’s Dominique Bilde (Identity and Democracy), meanwhile, praised the very good French model in place, which prohibits the exploitation of trainees. She asked that the new European legislation not jeopardise these protective national models. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)