Nearly half of trainees in the EU are unpaid and many are in 'bogus' traineeships where they are used as cheap labour with no access to social protection or other rights. The European Commission's recent proposal to improve the quality of traineeships in the EU, although welcomed as a step in the right direction, has however been criticised for not going far enough. We asked the rapporteur of the opinion Traineeship Directive and a Reinforced Quality Framework for Traineeships, Nicoletta Merlo, to give us the EESC's take on the Commission's proposal and to share with us the EESC's proposals on how to improve the quality of traineeships and make sure they are accessible to all – and not just to young people who can afford it.