The European Trade Union Confederation is calling on the European Parliament to take the lead in delivering a strong and ambitious Traineeship Directive that guarantees fair conditions for young people across Europe.
Following today’s EPSCO Council meeting, it is clear that the Parliament must now step in to provide the European vision that national governments have failed to offer.
While the ETUC welcomes the fact that ministers engaged with the proposal, the outcome of the Council meeting reflects a disappointing lack of urgency and ambition. Too many Member States continue to defend national systems that, in practice, leave young people exposed to exploitation and precarity. Low pay and insecure conditions are keeping young people in poverty — a reality that demands coordinated European action, not fragmented national responses.
The Traineeship Directive is not a new idea — it is the result of more than a decade of mobilisation by young workers who are demanding an end to unpaid labour, vague promises, and insecure futures. Across Europe, trainees are still being asked to work without pay, without rights, and without a real path to stable employment. That must change.
We urge the European Parliament to seize this moment and deliver a directive that ensures fair pay, clear learning objectives, access to social protection, and enforceable rights for all trainees. A strong directive would not only protect young people — it would strengthen Europe’s social model and show that the EU can deliver real improvements in people’s lives.
ETUC Confederal Secretary Tea Jarc, said:
“Young people are not asking for special treatment — they are demanding fairness. They want to contribute, to learn, and to build a future, but they are being met with unpaid work, empty promises, and systems that fail to protect them.
“Unpaid internships are not just unfair — they are a major barrier to social mobility. They exclude those who cannot afford to work for free, reinforcing inequality and keeping young people trapped in poverty.
“The Parliament now has a chance to show that Europe stands with its youth — not with those who profit from their insecurity. We need a directive that reflects the reality of young workers, not the myths that have allowed exploitation to flourish.”
“Young people can't be used as cheap labour under the guise of traineeships. False traineeships are abusive practices that Member states should not be shy to tackle.”
