From theory to practice: no more unpaid internships in MEPs offices!

Good news #foryouthrights!

Last July, the Bureau of the European Parliament agreed on key principles to ban unpaid internships in the European Parliament. Yesterday, these principles were finally turned into new internal rules: from July 2019, unpaid internships in MEPs offices will be banned once and for all!

What does this mean in practice? Interns will not only be hired directly by the European Parliament, but they will be entitled to health insurance, and will be remunerated between €800 and €1313 per month. The duration of their internship will also be limited, as it will only be possible to extend their contract to up to a total of 9 months.

This is a big victory for young people, and we thank the European Parliament’s Youth Intergroup for their strong commitment to youth rights: their #FairInternships campaign played a crucial role in achieving this important result.

While this is another key step towards ensuring quality transitions for young people, the path towards the full recognition and implementation of interns’ rights is still long. We will keep working together with the Youth Intergroup to ensure quality internships for young people in the European institutions and beyond.