Geneviève Fioraso, Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research, welcomed this month’s adoption of the Senate bill that is aimed at developing and improving the status of interns.

The bill, adopted on May 14, strengthens the provisions of the Act of 22 July 2013 on higher education and research. It is one of the campaign promises of President François Hollande and youth as a priority, reaffirmed by the Prime Minister, and will be implemented by the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research together with the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Dialogue.

The Senate reminded that internships should remain a tool for training, and not a substitute for employment. They reaffirmed the triple objective of this bill: the integration of internship in the curricula of training, better mentoring to prevent abuse, and the improvement of the status of interns.

The original text was improved by the Senate, in particular by providing an increase in the minimum remuneration amount for interns (from 436.05 to 523.26 EUR/month) but also by extending the benefit of access to canteens and restaurants to short-term internships (under two months). 

These actions aim to improve the social situation of young people since this bill affects 1.2 million young people annually who step into the world of work each year by means of internships, as noted by Secretary of State.   More about the bill (in French)