Title page
Contents
Abstract 11
Executive summary 12
Rapport de synthèse 20
Kurzfassung 28
1. Introduction: Political and legal context 37
2. Problem definition 39
2.1. Scope and definitions 39
2.2. Prevalence of traineeships in the EU27 42
2.3. What is/are the problems? 53
2.4. Consequences of the identified problems 67
2.5. What are the problem drivers? 71
2.6. How likely is the problem to persist? 92
3. WHY SHOULD THE EU ACT? 93
3.1. Legal basis 93
3.2. Subsidiarity: Necessity of EU action 93
3.3. Subsidiarity: Added value of EU action 94
4. OBJECTIVES: WHAT IS TO BE ACHIEVED? 95
5. WHAT ARE THE AVAILABLE POLICY OPTIONS? 96
5.1. What is the baseline from which options are assessed? 96
5.2. Description of the policy options 102
5.3. Options discarded at an early stage 106
6. WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS OF THE POLICY OPTIONS? 107
6.1. Identification of impacts of measures under Policy Area 1 107
6.2. Identification of impacts of measures under Policy Area 2 116
6.3. Identification of impacts of measures under Policy Area 3 123
6.4. Identification of impacts of accompanying measures 127
7. HOW WILL ACTUAL IMPACTS BE MONITORED AND EVALUATED? 127
Annex 1. Additional evidence for the problem definition 129
Annex 1.1. Industry and occupation classifications used for descriptive evidence 129
Annex 1.2. Additional figures on unpaid trainees 131
Annex 1.3. Summary tables on paid and unpaid traineeships 131
Annex 1.4. Data on usefulness of traineeships for finding a job 133
Annex 1.5. Detailed socio-demographic characteristics 133
Annex 1.6. Additional characteristics of trainees in the Eurobarometer 154
Annex 1.7. Detailed analysis of the vacancy data 158
Annex 1.8. Mapping of legal provisions across Member States 161
Annex 2. Synopsis report 185
Annex 2.1. Survey 185
Annex 2.2. Interviews 192
Annex 3. Analytical methods 198
Annex 3.1. Methodology to estimate the prevalence of traineeships 198
Annex 3.2. Baseline projections 212
Annex 3.3. Estimation of the number of problematic traineeships 213
Annex 3.4. Traineeships of long duration, including consecutive traineeships 215
Annex 3.5. Methods to estimate the costs of the policy options 216
Annex 3.6. Detailed approach and methodology for stakeholders consultations 224
Annex 3.7. Legal analysis 243
Annex 3.8. Vacancy analysis 255
Annex 4. Conclusions of the evaluation and link to the study 257
Table 1. Procedures for registering complaints and reporting malpractice 76
Table 2. Existence of systems of inspections or guidance for inspectorates 77
Table 3. Legal requirements on the maximum duration of traineeships 79
Table 4. Restrictions on Consecutive Traineeships 80
Table 5. Clarity in traineeship's conditions for termination, extension or renewal 81
Table 6. Existence of a cap on the share of trainees in a company 81
Table 7. Existence of general obligation for trainees' remuneration/compensation 83
Table 8. Access to social protection by Member State and type of traineeship 86
Table 9. Legal provisions regarding written agreement and written information 87
Table 10. Legal provisions on the provision of a supervisor and/or mentor 88
Table 11. Legal analysis - existence of teleworking arrangements 92
Table 12. Projected trends by type of traineeship in the EU27 (thousands) 97
Table 13. Long duration and prior work experience requirements (thousands) 111
Table 14. Costs of new labour inspectors and training under three scenarios 115
Table 15. Suggested monitoring indicators by objective 127
Table 16. NACE classification aggregated 129
Table 17. ISCO classification aggregated 130
Table 18. paid, unpaid and total number of trainees - All types - 2016 and 2019 131
Table 19. paid, unpaid and total number of trainees - MPT - 2016 and 2019 132
Table 20. paid, unpaid and total number of trainees - ECT - 2016 and 2019 132
Table 21. paid, unpaid and total number of trainees - ALMP - 2016 and 2019 132
Table 22. paid, unpaid and total number of trainees - OMT - 2016 and 2019 132
Table 23. Logit estimation results 134
Table 24. Share of trainees and employees by urbanisation (2016-2019 averages) 144
Table 25. Composition of trainees by gender, Eurobarometer 2023 155
Table 26. Composition of trainees by age, Eurobarometer 2023 155
Table 27. Composition of trainees by level of education, Eurobarometer 2023 156
Table 28. Composition of trainees by level of urbanisation, Eurobarometer 2023 157
Table 29. Overview level of experience in traineeship vacancies 158
Table 30. Distribution of level of experience across countries(number of vacancies) 159
Table 31. Employee status under national law, by country and type of traineeship 161
Table 32. Legal provisions on status and remuneration - ALMP 161
Table 33. Legal provisions on status and remuneration - OMT 164
Table 34. Legal provisions on status and remuneration - MPT 166
Table 35. Legal provisions on status and remuneration - ECT 171
Table 36. Restrictions on consecutive traineeships and duration - ALMP 178
Table 37. Restrictions on consecutive traineeships and duration - OMT 180
Table 38. Restrictions on consecutive traineeships and duration - MPT 181
Table 39. Restrictions on consecutive traineeships and duration - ECT 183
Table 40. Imputed variables 201
Table 41. ISCO 3-digits occupations for MPT 205
Table 42. Average yearly growth rate 2014-2019 by (un)paid traineeship type 212
Table 43. Historical and projected number of trainees in the EU (in thousand) 213
Table 44. Survey questions used to assess problematic traineeship 214
Table 45. Estimated number of problematic traineeships in the EU, 2019 215
Table 46. Unit cost per person for familiarisation with new EU legislation 216
Table 47. Aggregate familiarisation costs 217
Table 48. Aggregated costs from extending social security to all trainees 218
Table 49. Costs of transparency of vacancies 219
Table 50. Estimated costs of traineeships specific training for labour inspectors 219
Table 51. Labour inspectors and training costs - high bound scenario 220
Table 52. Labour inspectors and training costs under - intermediate scenario 220
Table 53. Estimated recruitment costs by traineeship type 221
Table 54. Costs of issuing a written traineeship agreement 221
Table 55. Estimates of trainees' remuneration in the EU MS 222
Table 56. Total costs of measure on fair remuneration 224
Table 57. Summary of EU-level interviews 225
Table 58. Studies mapping or assessing national frameworks for traineeships 243
Table 59. Overview EURES vacancies by type, on 30/10/2023 256
Table 60/Table 59. How the study addresses the evaluation conclusions 257
Figure 1. Categories of traineeships 41
Figure 2. Stock of paid trainees in the EU27 45
Figure 3. Composition of paid traineeships by type of traineeship, 2006-2021 45
Figure 4. Prevalence rates - paid trainees and apprentices in the EU27, 2006-2021 46
Figure 5. Paid and unpaid trainees in the EU - estimates using the EU-LFS 47
Figure 6. Employment and traineeships during the Covid-19 pandemic 52
Figure 7. Problem tree 54
Figure 8. Share of individuals whose last traineeship lasted more than 6 months 57
Figure 9. Share of traineeships lasting longer than six months by type 58
Figure 10. Share of trainees whose traineeship lasted longer than six months 58
Figure 11. Trainees' share with more than one traineeship with the same employer 59
Figure 12. Traineeships lasting more than 6 months and usefulness to find a job 60
Figure 13. Access to social protection during the last traineeship 62
Figure 14. Trainees' working conditions compared to employees 62
Figure 15. Mentoriship during the traineeship - Eurobarometer 2023 results 63
Figure 16. Perception of access for vulnerable groups to traineeship opportunities 65
Figure 17. Access to necessary equipment to carry tasks remotely 67
Figure 18. Adequate guidance/mentoring to carry tasks remotely 67
Figure 19. EU youth unemployment (15-29) and total unemployment rates 73
Figure 20. Information to be included in vacancy notice 89
Figure 21. Reasons not to have had a traineeship 90
Figure 22. Access to adapted equipments for trainees with disabilities 91
Figure 23. Reasons not to have had a cross border traineeship 92
Figure 24. Intervention logic 106
Figure 25. Eurobarometer 2023 results - pay or financial compensation 131
Figure 26. Ecorys (2023) proxy - 21 MS 131
Figure 27. trainees and usefulness of traineeships to find a job 133
Figure 28. Unpaid trainees and usefulness of traineeships to find a job 133
Figure 29. Paid trainees in the EU27, by gender 136
Figure 30. Gender composition of trainees by type of traineeship in the EU27 137
Figure 31. Paid trainees in the EU27, disaggregated by age 138
Figure 32. Age composition of trainees by type of traineeship in the EU27 139
Figure 33. Paid trainees in the EU27, disaggregated by level of education 140
Figure 34. Educational composition of trainees by type of traineeship in the EU27 141
Figure 35. Paid trainees in the EU27, disaggregated by citizenship 142
Figure 36. Trainees' composition by traineeship type and citizenship in the EU27 143
Figure 37. Paid trainees in the EU27, disaggregated by degree of urbanisation 144
Figure 38. Composition of trainees by type and degree of urbanisation in the EU27 145
Figure 39. Prevalence rates in the EU27 by sector 146
Figure 40. Sectoral composition for trainees and employees in the EU27 147
Figure 41. Sectoral composition of traineeships by type in the EU27 148
Figure 42. Gender sectoral composition for trainees and employees in the EU27 149
Figure 43. Paid trainees in the EU27 by occupation 150
Figure 44. Occupational composition for trainees and employees in the EU27 151
Figure 45. Occupational composition of traineeships by type in the EU27 152
Figure 46. Paid traineeships by firm size in the EU27 153
Figure 47. Traineeship composition by traineeship type and size of firm in the EU27 153
Figure 48. Size of the hosting company or organization, Eurobarometer 2023 154
Figure 49. firm size for paid and unpaid traineeships, Eurobarometer 2023 154
Figure 50. Vacancies by country 158
Figure 51. Distribution of stakeholder categories 185
Figure 52. Benefits of having trainees 186
Figure 53. Stocks of paid trainees for each iteration of the procedure - EU27 203
Figure 54. Trace plots from 100 burn-in iterations - imputed variables' means 204
Figure 55. Stocks of current tertiary students in the EU27 - LFS and UOE 209
Boxes
Box 1. German cases against employers misusing a traineeship 56
Box 2. Reporting mechanisms in Austria 115