Wikipedia
German apprenticeship model is ‘discriminatory’
Germany’s rigorous apprenticeship model is under attack from trading partners, because foreign companies are restricted from moving in to take market share. British critics from the think tank Open Europe say roughly 150 professions, a system—rooted in medieval guilds, are shielded from foreign competition because uncertified practitioners are fined.
Published: October 17, 2016, 3:29 pm
German resistance to the services market, which accounts for more than 70% of the region’s output but only around one-fifth of internal trade, is negatively affecting German worker productivity in business services according to Open Europe. Since 2001 the industry has lagged behind the export-manufacturing sector by about 30 percentage points, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development pointed out.
Beyond manufacuring, Germany adds more regulation on legal activity, accountancy, architecture and telecommunications too, the OECD says. But protected professions make up only about 10% of Germany’s $3.5 trillion economy.
Open Europe is behind the push to “fully liberalize” the German services market as “the most powerful ‘quick win’ [for the region’s economy] would be to complete the single market, especially in services,” European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said in June.
But the German system has defied repeated attempts at such measures.
In Germany, plumbers, bricklayers and workers in 39 other crafts must typically pass a three-year apprenticeship course and then take a vocational degree to become a master of their trade. The process takes five or six years.
While many European countries regulate professional services, a third of German workers require a professional certificate to perform their job, compared with 14% of Danes and 19% of Brits, according to a survey by the European Commission.
The German system is regarded as “discriminatory” because of the stringent rules.
The Commission this year stepped up legal proceedings against Germany for limiting competition in certain professional services, including architects and engineers.
Moreover, a failure to properly integrate the refugee influx could seal Chancellor Merkel’s political fate.
Germany’s traditional approach to job qualifications “may not work well for refugees (or other immigrants), who are often older than typical trainees, may have skills learned informally, and may not be able to afford lengthy schooling periods with low earnings,” the International Monetary Fund said in June.
But Germans argue their system protects service quality as well as middle-class incomes against globalization, unlike the Anglo-Saxon model. The middle classes accounted for about 60% of Germany’s income in 2013, compared with 43% for the US, according to a study by Berlin-based think tank DIW.
For that reason German workers aren’t worried about low-wage competition. Without the Poles the British can’t do skilled or other jobs themselves anyway, they say.
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