On 20 November 2024, six employers’ organisations, including BusinessEurope and Ceemet, released a joint statement asking for the withdrawal of the proposal for a directive on improving and enforcing working conditions of trainees and combating regular employment relationships disguised as traineeships.
For the representatives of the business community, traineeships are an important tool to facilitate transitions into the labour market. They offer trainees the necessary skills and practical experience they need to start their professional career and grant access to professional networks which consequently increase their employability. Thus, they fully share the Commission´s aim of improving the quality of traineeships, with a particular focus on better aligning the learning outcomes with evolving labour market needs.
However, employers are of the opinion that the proposed Directive does not adhere to the principle of subsidiarity, according to which, the EU should only take action when it is more effective than actions taken at the national, regional, or local levels. Hence, given the diversity of national systems and regulatory frameworks, the signatories believe that the issue of traineeships should be addressed at the national level.
Moreover, they also consider that the proposed Directive is misaligned with the Commission 2024-2029 political guidelines which emphasise the importance of simplifying business processes and deepening the Single Market and highlight the need for a competition policy that supports companies in scaling up within global markets. Indeed, having reviewed the Directive, Ceemet and the five other employers’ organisations who signed the statement are concerned that its requirements will impose significant burdens on companies, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which will be discouraged from offering high-quality traineeships. This could negatively impact both businesses and potential trainees.
In this regard and in light of Article 39 of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission, with this statement they request that the Commission’s proposal for the Directive on traineeships is withdrawn and that efforts to improve the quality of traineeships across Europe focus on an updating of the existing Council Recommendation.