Today, we look at two issues related to social and employment policy and to the EU's competitiveness.
These are the shortage of skilled labour, and traineeships offered to young people starting out in the workforce.
I will start with labour and skills shortages. These have been increasing in all EU Member States for almost a decade.
Employers across the EU say they find it difficult to recruit workers with the right skills. Nearly two-thirds of Europe's 25 million SMEs say they cannot find the talent they need.
These shortages have economic as well as social implications. They risk reducing the EU's capacity for innovation and attractiveness for investments, weaken our competitiveness and hold back the potential for sustainable growth.
They also pose a threat to the green and digital transitions. Both of these are expected to create millions of new jobs in the coming years.
For example, demand for digital skills is expected to more than double by 2030. But around 70% of EU companies experience difficulties in recruiting ICT specialists.
There simply are not enough available to fill the vacancies.
As agreed at the Val Duchesse social summit, today the Commission is presenting an action plan to address these shortages by working with Member States and social partners.
It will contribute to unlocking the EU's growth potential and support its competitiveness, prosperity and security.
The plan addresses five key areas.
Firstly: removing barriers for more people to join the labour market. This includes providing more support for those who have more difficulty finding jobs – such as women, older and younger people, and people with a migrant background.
We also advise Member States to review tax and benefit systems, improve sick leave policies, and give retirees more opportunities to combine work with their pensions.
Then, more support for skills, training and education, including with EU funding opportunities, and reforms in education systems to respond better to the needs of the labour market.
We also plan to make it easier for workers and learners – apprentices, for example – to move between EU countries, as well as improve the recognition of qualifications.
Attracting talent from outside the EU is important as well.
We will press ahead with the EU Talent Pool and make the EU more attractive to talent coming from outside.
Lastly, poor working conditions are also driving labour shortages in certain sectors and locations.
Here, we should promote collective bargaining and make sure that labour rights are properly enforced.
Traineeships are a good example of where we can do more to improve working conditions, create more job opportunities for young people and reduce labour and skills shortages.
This brings me to today's second set of proposals.
Traineeships should help young people to get work experience, learn new skills and eventually find a good quality job. For employers, they are a chance to attract, train and retain talent.
However, there have been concerns about traineeships for some time. The quality of traineeships, and people's access to them, vary a lot around the EU.
Some may not contain enough learning elements.
Trainees may have to put up with poor working conditions.
They may be unpaid or not covered by social security.
For example, a Eurobarometer survey in 2023 found that just 55% of respondents who had completed a traineeship were paid or financially compensated.
This means that many young people just cannot afford to accept a traineeship offer.
Today's proposed initiatives – a Directive and a revised Council Recommendation – aim to improve this situation.
Nicolas will give you more details, but briefly:
The Directive addresses the enforcement of working conditions.
Trainees should not be treated any differently than other comparable workers, including when it comes to pay – while taking into account the training and learning component.
It also tackles regular employment relationships disguised as traineeships. By this, I mean an employer using long or repeated traineeships to mask what is really a regular job.
The revised Recommendation addresses wider issues of quality and inclusiveness.
It also tackles issues such as fair pay and social protection for all trainees, regardless of their employment status.
Both proposals will work in tandem to improve the quality of traineeships in the EU and make it easier for companies to find and develop the talent that they need.
We are determined to keep on improving the EU's social performance through better employment and social policies.
With this, I hand over to Nicolas. Thank you.
