On Thursday 20 June in Luxembourg, ministers and representatives of ministers for employment and social affairs of the EU27 confirmed their concerns about the draft directive and recommendations on quality traineeships, presented last March (see EUROPE 13432/22).
The Belgian Minister for Social Affairs, Frank Vandenbroucke, summed up the general concerns: the aim will be to clarify the provisions for understanding the effects and consequences of these two tools, to clarify the scope of the texts and in particular to what type of traineeships and trainees they apply.
The drafts will have to be sufficiently flexible to take into account the role of labour inspectorates and social partners, and it will be necessary to continue working on the coherence between the two tools.
The European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, recalled that young trainees often find themselves in complicated situations and that they need to be “better protected”, training needs to be consolidated and bogus traineeships tackled.
Spain insisted that traineeships “must not be synonymous with job insecurity or fraud”. It is necessary to “better define the scope of application” and avoid creating “third-rate workers”.
Germany felt that more leeway should be given to combat bogus traineeships, reduce the administrative burden for employers and administrations, and avoid overburdening SMEs. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)