Czech presidency defends treatment of Erasmus+ students

Government representative says use of unpaid interns was in line with common EU practices

The Czech government has defended its treatment of Erasmus+ students in the run-up to the country’s presidency of the Council of the EU. The rebuttal follows reports alleging that it was relying on students from the EU academic mobility programme to do the work of experienced diplomats, and that students had lodged complaints about their conditions.

Presidencies coordinate the EU-related work of the bloc’s member state governments in rotating six-month stints, and the Czech Republic’s turn starts in July. This week the European news website Euractiv alleged that the Czech presidency was “to be run by Erasmus-paid trainees…as the state cannot afford to hire experienced diplomats”.