The European Union needs an instrument with the force of law to put an end to unpaid internships, known in corporate circles as “internships”, MEP Monica Semedo told Euractiv.

Semedo, Member of the European Parliament from Luxembourg and a member of the Renew Europe family, recalls that the European Parliament has repeatedly called for stronger measures to protect young people entering the workforce to prevent precarious work and abuse.

“This has been a request of young people for many years, and the EU must fulfill it,” she emphasized in an interview with Euractiv.

In the latest resolution adopted by the EP on this matter, the rapporteur of which was Semedo, it was confirmed the need to improve labor standards for young people, to continue the fight against abusive employers and to ban unpaid employment.

The European Commission has left it to member states to regulate unpaid internships

In 2014, the European Commission adopted a so-called “Quality Framework for Traineeships” to offer more protection, especially for young workers, but the European Parliament notes that, ten years on, unpaid traineeships are still a reality in society. space.

This is due, among other things, to the fact that the mechanism adopted by the European Commission in 2014 is optional.

Semedo states that the latest EC recommendations should be transposed by the Commission into binding documents that “first of all” guarantee that internships, regardless of their duration, are paid by the employer.

MEPs discussed the topic again last week in the European Parliament’s plenary session, and Nicolas Schmidt, the European commissioner for employment, announced that a proposal would be tabled before the end of the European legislature’s current mandate.

However, given the ongoing negotiations between the various EU institutions before the adoption of the regulatory draft, it is unlikely that a decision on this issue will be made before the European Parliament elections in June.