EURODESK SUMMARY - 2014-03 EPSCO Council adopts Quality Framework for Traineeships Today the EU's Council of Ministers

adopted the Quality Framework for Traineeships enabling trainees to acquire high-quality work experience under safe and fair conditions, and to increase their chances of finding a good quality job. The Council Recommendation on a Quality Framework for Traineeships in particular calls on Member States to ensure that national law or practice respect the principles set out in the guidelines, and to adapt their legislation where necessary. The Commission will now carefully monitor the implementation of the Quality Framework in all Member States. Traineeships are a key element of the Youth Guarantee proposed by the European Commission in December 2012 and adopted by the EU's Council of Ministers in April 2013. Currently one in three traineeships is substandard with regard to working conditions or learning content, according to a November 2013 Eurobarometer survey. Many of these substandard traineeships are used by employers to replace entry level jobs. The guidelines will increase transparency with regard to traineeship conditions, for example by requiring that traineeships be based on a written traineeship agreement. The agreement should cover learning content (educational objectives, supervision) and working conditions (limited duration, working time, clear indication whether trainees will be paid or otherwise compensated and whether they will qualify for social security). Traineeship providers will be asked to disclose in the vacancy notice whether the traineeship will be paid. By setting common quality standards for traineeships, the Quality Framework for Traineeships will support the implementation of Youth Guarantee schemes by Member States. It will also encourage more transnational traineeships and help the extension of EURES to traineeships, as requested by the European Council in its June 2012 Conclusions. The Framework does not cover traineeships that form part of university degree or that are mandatory to access a specific profession. Read more: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/lsa/141424.pdf http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-236_en.htm Erasmus+ poll on social inclusion of young people NEETs is the name for young people who are not in employment, education or training. Social inclusion of NEETs is high on the agenda at the EUs youth conference, which is taking place this week in Thessaloniki, Greece. Read the EU's priorities for promoting social inclusion of young people and take the poll to select which priority should be the most important one. Find out more: https://www.facebook.com/EUErasmusPlusProgramme/app_20678178440 Progress for ending roaming charges in the EU Making a call or sending an email from a mobile phone abroad would cost the same as doing so at home starting 15 December 2015, under legislation adopted by the European Parliament's Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) on 18 March. Before the new rules can enter into force, they will still need to be approved by both the European Parliaments plenary and the Council. Read more: http://tinyurl.com/pgwj7af

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STORY Surveys: Have your say The Erasmus Student Network, in the framework of the STORY project, has launched a series of surveys. STORY stands for Strengthening the Training Opportunities for international Youth and the project aims at improving the accessibility and quality of international traineeships and increasing the awareness of such opportunities for youth. The surveys are open to students, higher education institutions, national agencies, receiving companies or organisations. Completing the surveys will take 15 minutes. Students taking part to the survey will get the chance to win prizes. Find out more here. 24-30 March 2014: European Get Online Week With the slogan "Get Online to Get Employed" the new Get online week has started running all over Europe from 24 to 30 March 2014. The slogan is aimed at helping young and unemployed Europeans get the e-skills needed for the 21st century workplace. The European Get Online Week is an annual digital campaign organised by Telecentre Europe with the support of the European Commission, aiming at helping young and unemployed Europeans get the e-skills needed for the 21st century workplace. Find out more: http://www.getonlineweek.eu Youth Knowledge Book: The history of youth work in Europe - Volume 4 Since 2008, the European Union-Council of Europe youth partnership has regularly organised debates and discussions of the history of youth work policy and practice in various countries in Europe. The results have been published in three volumes of the Youth Knowledge Series. The history of youth work in Europe covers the 2011 workshop in Tallinn, which was co-organised by the Estonian authorities with the support of Finnish and Flemish partners, and sums up the discussions in the previous three volumes. Read more: http://youth-partnership-eu.coe.int/export/sites/default/youthpartnership/publications/YNB/YKB18-text.pdf Eurofound Publication: "Social situation of young people in Europe" According to a new Eurofound publication on the social situation of young people in Europe, the number of young people living at home with their parents has increased from 44% to 48% between 2007 and 2011. This holds true especially for young men. Nearly half of young people in the EU live in households experiencing some form of deprivation with 27% at moderate levels and 22% experiencing serious deprivation. The publication puts emphasis on both social and employment issues affecting young people offering a comparative insight across EU Member States of the social situation of youth in Europe and evolving trends. Read more: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2014/04/en/1/EF1404EN.pdf

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