Implementation of the European Youth Guarantee and the Right to Work: A Comparative Analysis of Traineeship Programmes Under the EU Active Labour Market Policy

This article analyses the consistency between the implementation of the EU Youth Guarantee and the fundamental right to work. Focusing on the use of traineeships as an implementation instrument, it explores various types of national Active Labour Market Policies (ALMP) for young unemployed people in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland. The case studies show that it remains to be seen whether the traineeships considered in this research comply with the right to work. The authors argue for the need to strengthen the Youth Guarantee to accord with the right to work, so that in addition to the right to a first job, it ensures that work-related instruments include the provision of effective training, as well as the right to equal pay for work of equal value, and decent working conditions. This is particularly important in view of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, that has had an unprecedented economic impact in the EU and is likely to result in another dramatic upsurge in the number of young unemployed. Youth Guarantee, Right to Work, NEETs, Traineeships, Decent Work, Equal Pay, Active Labour Market Policies