Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – Towards a quality framework on traineeships: Second-stage consultation of the social partners at European level under Article 154 TFEU

Author (Corporate)
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Series Details (2012) 728 final (5.12.12)
Publication Date 05/12/2012
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In the Communication "Towards a job rich recovery" of 18 April 2012 (Employment Package), the Commission announced that it would present a Council Recommendation on a quality framework for traineeships by the end of 2012. In parallel, a public consultation was launched to seek the views of different stakeholders about the need for such an initiative, its scope, form and possible content.

The public consultation received over 250 responses. There was broad agreement on the important role of traineeships in smoothing the transition from education to work and on the need for high-quality traineeships. Trade unions, the NGO community, most educational institutions, private individuals and several national governments expressed their support for a quality framework for traineeships.

In their replies to the public consultation, the European social partners asked to be formally consulted on the possible direction of action under the procedure provided for in Articles 154 and 155 TFEU. According to these articles, the Commission must consult the social partners before submitting proposals in the social policy field. The Commission accepted the request, stressing that the social partners can play a key role in establishing and implementing a quality framework on traineeships.

On 11 September 2012, the European social partners were invited to give their views on the possible direction of EU action in a first-stage consultation. Following the responses received, the Commission is now launching a second-stage consultation on the content of the proposal.

This Communication brings together the main results of this first-stage consultation as well as recent evidence about quality problems related to traineeships. It goes on to set out options for EU-level action. To help the social partners prepare their replies to this consultation, this Communication is accompanied by an analytical document giving background information and analysis (e.g. giving a definition of traineeships' types, their benefits and costs, reporting stakeholders views, problem definition and policy objectives).

Source Link Link to Main Source http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0728:FIN:EN:PDF
Related Links
EUR-Lex: COM(2012)728: Follow the progress of this document through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2012:728:FIN
European Commission: SWD(2012)407: Analytical document http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SWD:2012:0407:FIN:EN:PDF
European Commission: SWD(2012)408: Summary of the analytical document http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=SWD:2012:0408:FIN:EN:PDF

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