European initiative for the long-term mobility of apprentices

At the invitation of French MEPs Laurence Farreng and Ilana Cicurel, the Euro App Mobility association brought together 150 players involved in apprentice mobility at the European Parliament in Brussels on 30 November. The European Commissioner for Employment, Nicolas Schmit, and the French Minister for Vocational Education and Training, Carole Grandjean, were also present. As a prelude to the European Year of Skills, announced by Ursula von der Leyen, these European meetings on the long-term mobility of apprentices gave rise to the proclamation of a European appeal by members of the Parliamentary Alliance for Vocational Education and Training (VET Alliance) for mobility in apprenticeships. Relayed on the EAM website, this declaration echoes the manifesto for a Europe of apprentices adopted at the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (Cnam) on 17 September 2021.

In particular, the aim was to raise awareness of the MONA project and to launch a two-pronged appeal beyond national borders:

– To set up a network of vocational training operators ready to commit to the internationalisation of training, and ready to establish partnerships for long-term student mobility exchanges in a concrete and operational manner.

– Identify, in the various countries of the European Union, the organisations involved in promoting and developing long-term mobility for apprentices, in convergence with the actions carried out by the EAM.

For Jean Arthuis, “the principle of internationalising vocational training is now widely accepted. It aims to develop young people’s skills and improve their employability through several months’ mobility outside their country of origin”. Supported by the Erasmus+ programme, mobility has been widely practised by higher education students for the past 35 years, but the founding president of EAM deplores the fact that “apprentices and many pupils and students in vocational education and training have to make do with stays of less than a month when their desire for international openness is just as strong”. Along with Commissioner Schmit and Minister Grandjean, who both took the floor on 30 November to support the joint initiative of EAM and the VET Alliance, the former minister believes that “the time has now come to put an end to this injustice by taking concrete action to remove the obstacles”.

“Now that the obstacles have been identified and assessed, it is important to take measures with tangible effects for young people, their employers and training organisations”. In this respect, Jean Arthuis welcomes the bill tabled at the French Parlement by MPs Aurore Berger and Sylvain Maillard. This text provides a legal solution to allow long periods of mobility without suspending the apprentice’s employment contract. Keen to see it adopted, Jean Arthuis points out that this parliamentary initiative is part of the continuity of the 2020 États généraux de la mobilité des apprentis, which gave rise in France to the MONA (Mon apprentissage en Europe) project. The aim of this project is to make the mobility referent, created by the 2018 law, the pivotal point for long-term mobility within training centres. “MONA can be used throughout Europe, and is the first step towards the European apprenticeship area that the 150 participants at the European Meetings on Long-Term Mobility for Apprentices unanimously called for. The advent of this area, supported by many public authorities, is in the hands of the players involved. With the European Year of Skills just around the corner, this commitment is essential if we are to set in motion an irreversible movement towards the enrichment of professional knowledge and the deployment of softskills in Europe”, concludes the former Chairman of the European commission on budget.