Unpaid internships are a barrier system to keep lower social classes out of academic jobs. Turns out that gatekeeping those jobs was a bad idea in the long run.

Would be nice, I myself did an unpaid internship, and a year later I'm still trying to recoup the costs of it all. Monthly bus & train fair (~180€) + new clothes (because dress code) + food (university cafeteria is way cheaper) did get quite pricy.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Jarc pointed to the European parliament vote last June, in which MEPs overwhelmingly backed the drafting of legislation that would ban most unpaid internships across the bloc.

“What we see today from the European commission is not as clear.” When it came to the directive’s efforts to tackle bogus traineeships, Jarc criticised that the obligation had been left to labour authorities.

“They do not have human or financial resources to detect violations of the labour market.” Given that young people in these situations might hesitate to speak up, she instead called for member states and employers to be made responsible for cracking down on bogus traineeships.

“Only the most privileged of interns, who can rely on parental support, cheap housing and financial security can afford an unpaid internship and even then, we are still talking about exploitation.”

The proposals are part of a drive to reduce labour shortages with the EU identifying 42 occupation deficits including IT, cybersecurity, technical staff in the solar power industry, the battery sector and health and construction where there is perennial pressure.

Under the EU system, the commission drafts the laws but member states on the council of the European Union and MEPs will then pick it apart before arriving at an agreement.

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