Apprenticeships A European priority... To combat youth unemployment and to increase the quality and supply of apprenticeships opportunities across Europe, the European Commission launched in July 2013 the "European Alliance for Apprenticeships". The goal is to secure commitment of stakeholders (public authorities, companies, CCIs and social partners) through concrete pledges to achieving the goals of the Alliance and call for others to follow the examples of the early pledgers but also to stimulate public and private financing to promote apprenticeship schemes. ...a national priority. The public authorities firmly believe that work-linked training makes it possible for young people both to learn a trade and to exercise it at the same time. This professional experience is a considerable advantage in a competitive job market. The law on vocational training, employment and social democracy of March 5, 2014 seeks to facilitate the signature of apprenticeship contracts and to encourage European mobility for apprentices. “MOVIL’APP - European mobility and Apprenticeships”: a commitment of the CCIs and their partners Since 2007, the network of CCIs (Chambers of Commerce and Industry) has worked to expand apprenticeships and European mobility by the running of its national project MOVIL’APP (32 local and regional CCIs and 54 apprentice training centres -covering 8 regions). CCIs, their apprentice training centres and partners are fully persuaded that mobility, even if only for short periods, makes the apprenticeship pathway more attractive and ensures that it is just as highly considered as traditional school-based learning. The effectiveness of the project lies in the fact that the parties involved (CCI France, local and regional CCIs, apprentice training centres) have known one another for a long while, exchange know-how, pool best practices and produce valuable tools and resources (communication/management/methods…). This enables the new CCIs/apprentice training centres joining the project to become operational very quickly and to capitalise on the skills and know-how already acquired by the network. The target audiences for the MOVIL’APP initiative are: > Apprentices, undergoing training (levels IV and V). These mobility assignments are of short duration as they take place during training and must therefore be compatible with the rhythm of the apprenticeships organisation and also require the employer’s approval. From a professional viewpoint, the goals of mobility are discovering new working environments and of course gaining self-confidence. From a personal viewpoint, the main impacts are achieving a better understanding of the European area and modifying one's behaviour (improving tolerance, curiosity and adaptability, etc.). > Post-apprentices. These are young people graduated (level V to I qualifications in all business sectors) from the apprentice training centres of the CCI and their partners who have completed their apprenticeship contract or professional training contact during the last 12 months. They are registered at the French unemployment service, registration that qualify them as “trainee undertaking vocational training”. A long-duration mobility placement enables those people to improve their employability by upgrading their skills, particularly linguistic skills, and their adaptability in the international labour market. >The trainers. Usually, when we talk about mobility in vocational training we're first and obviously thinking about apprentices and post-apprentices. But, trainers need to confront their point of view with other European practices. For this reason, the MOVIL’APP project proposes a mobility placement to all professionals involved in apprenticeships. Moreover, being fully convinced of the value of mobility projects, they will be then better able to encourage and promote its development. This stay in Europe enables them to discover new organisational methods, and new ways of practising a trade. From a personal viewpoint, this mobility placement also allows them to get a better understanding of Europe. MOVIL’APP also has an impact on the indirect beneficiaries of the MOVIL’APP initiative. Therefore, for the apprentice training centres, the project is a source of pedagogical innovation … For national and European companies, mobility provides contact with other practices, and helps with the forging of economic partnerships. Summary of the CCI France application for Tender n°1 1219 grants requested: > 755 apprentices (average duration of 2.5 weeks) and 68 for accompanying persons > 342 post-apprentices (average duration of 5.5 months) > 54 trainers (average duration of 4 days) The main training fields concerned are: hotel/restaurant trade, retail trade, personal services, food... The main host countries are: UK, ES, IT, IE, DE