As expected following the last discussion on the subject by the representatives of the Member States (see EUROPE 13533/26), the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council failed to obtain, on Monday 2 December, a qualified majority on the draft directive on the working conditions of trainees.
Germany, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Belgium, the Netherlands, Cyprus and Austria were unable to give the green light at this stage, as most of these countries highlighted the lack of ambition in the text put forward by the Presidency and wanted more time.
This was also the request made by Roxana Mînzatu, the new Vice-President of the Commission for People, Skills and Preparedness, in her first public speech. While the services of former European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit had warned in recent weeks about the lack of ambition of the text and the dilution of the initial objectives, the new Vice-President reiterated these concerns and considered that the latest text presented did not make it possible to improve the conditions of trainees or to combat bogus traineeships.
The new vice-president criticised in particular the reduction in the scope of the directive to cover only traineeships carried out on the open market (i.e. agreed between a trainee and a traineeship provider - a company, non-profit organisation or public authority - and without the intervention of a third party, usually on completion of studies and/or in the context of a job search), which will now concern only 24% of paid trainees.
At the request of some of the Member States, the Presidency had reduced the scope of application and excluded work placements linked to education or vocational training, work placements linked to trial periods and work placements carried out as part of active employment policies.
The new European Commissioner also considered that the aim of determining the correct employment status for trainees contradicted the initial objective of combating jobs disguised as fake traineeships. She also criticised the addition of exemptions allowing, in particular, differentiated treatment in terms of pay.
Within the Member States, while Poland is aiming to reach an agreement under its own Presidency, which starts on 1 January, and has therefore not supported the text, Portugal, through the voice of Minister Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, has indicated that it considers the latest Hungarian compromise to be constitutionally incompatible. Germany, represented by State Secretary Rolf Schmachtenberg, refused to allow the new mandate of the Vice-President of the Commission to begin with such a text. He also relied on Spanish arguments to justify Berlin’s abstention.
And the Spanish minister, Yolanda Díaz, was especially critical, deploring in particular the excessively narrow scope of application, which had excluded apprenticeships, for example, and was in total contradiction with a recommendation on traineeships from the International Labour Organization (ILO), which “tells us that we need to extend training to all sectors, all companies and promote collective bargaining to improve working conditions”.
This draft directive, as amended, “reverts to a model that we don’t want: the quest for the lowest cost” and which could create “a substitution effect between certain workers and others”, added the Spanish minister. “This directive goes against common sense”, she criticised, saying that it would encourage an informal economy.
Slovenia also claimed that the text presented did not meet the initial objectives of the proposal, and Bulgaria has deplored the exemptions provided for, which allow categories of people in a disadvantaged situation to remain on the labour market. Bulgaria wants as well to introduce into the text a clear limit on the number of traineeships.
While France, Luxembourg, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Estonia were able to support the text - although Tallinn did ask for a statement on the role given to trainee representatives to be inserted - believing that a good balance had been struck in recent weeks, particularly in terms of respecting existing national models, countries such as the Netherlands pointed out that, despite the good advances such as the role given to the social partners and respect for specific national characteristics, more work was still needed to reach a broad agreement between the Member States.
The Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU will consider the various options, a source said, but has not yet decided whether it will pass the dossier directly to the Polish Presidency or make one last attempt.
Link to the draft general approach guidelines not adopted: https://aeur.eu/f/eld (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)