An initiative launched to facilitate the European mobility of apprentices

In 2021, the Erasmus+ France Agency funded 18.510 mobility opportunities for learners on the vocational track. "The objective is to allow 15.000 additional young people to leave", according to the press release from the association, which launched the initiative in Paris on Thursday in the presence of ministers Clément Beaune (Europe) and Olivier Dussopt (Labour).

With a total budget of 25 million euros over 4 years, including 17 million financed by the France 2030 programme, the "Mona" project (My learning in Europe) "aims to establish a lasting European policy in the courses of training in the apprenticeship sectors".

Although the Erasmus+ European exchange program is open to work-study students, "the apprentices come up against academic, legal and financial obstacles which keep them away from the benefits of European mobility for several months which university and schools", underlines the Euro App Mobility association chaired by former MEP Jean Arthuis.

Unlike those for students, exchanges of apprentices, who have an employment contract with an employer, come up against very different labor laws from one Member State to another concerning work-study trainees.

In France, the Labor Code, for example, prevents an employer from letting his apprentice leave for more than four weeks, except to suspend his employment contract, an insufficient period to fully benefit from an experience abroad.

To remove these obstacles, the project plans in particular to finance a full-time "mobility referent" position in each of the 43 apprentice training centers (CFA) partners of the project.