International mobility for apprentices: what the French 'Erasmus for apprenticeship' law allows

Sending an apprentice to spend a semester in a German or Spanish company long amounted to a legal obstacle course: what happened to the French employment contract during the stay? Who was responsible for the apprentice? Law n° 2023-1267 of 27 December 2023, known as the “Erasmus de l’apprentissage” (Erasmus for apprenticeship), lifted several of those locks. Applicable since late December 2023, it covers apprentices as well as employees on a contrat de professionnalisation (professionalisation contract), and it turns international mobility from a tolerated exception into an organised possibility — with an explicit role assigned to the CFA (apprenticeship training centre). Here is what the text actually allows, and how a CFA can structure the scheme without improvising.

What the law of 27 December 2023 changes

The law “aimed at facilitating the international mobility of work-study trainees, for an ‘Erasmus for apprenticeship’” starts from a simple observation: the previous framework made long stays abroad legally acrobatic. Three concrete changes follow from it.

A broader mobility duration

The apprenticeship contract can now be performed partly abroad for up to one year, without this period exceeding half of the total duration of the contract. Above all, the former requirement of a minimum of six months of performance in France has been removed: an apprentice can leave earlier in their programme, without having to “use up” a semester on French soil first.

Secondment with no duration limit

Before the law, mise à disposition (secondment) to a foreign host organisation was limited to mobilities of four weeks maximum; beyond that, suspending the contract was the only route. That limit has been removed: secondment is now possible whatever the duration of the mobility. This is the most structural change for employers, because it makes it possible to keep a French contract running during a long stay.

A single contractual framework: the mobility agreement

Each mobility is governed by a convention de mobilité (mobility agreement) signed by four parties: the apprentice, the French employer, the CFA and the host organisation abroad. This document sets the practical conditions of the stay — duration, legal regime chosen, organisation of training and work.

Mise en veille or mise à disposition: two regimes to choose from

During the mobility, the employer and the parties choose between two legal regimes. The following table sums up the logic of each.

	Mise en veille (contract suspension)	Mise à disposition (secondment)
Fate of the French contract	The contract is put on hold during the stay	The French contract continues to run
Responsibility for working conditions	The host organisation abroad becomes responsible	The French employer stays in the loop, the apprentice being seconded to the host organisation
Possible mobility duration	As set in the mobility agreement, within the legal ceilings (one year maximum, no more than half the contract)	Whatever the duration of the mobility (the former 4-week limit has been removed)
Points to watch	Social protection and insurance during the suspension period	Maintaining pay and coordination with the host organisation
Formalisation	Mobility agreement (apprentice, employer, CFA, host organisation)	Mobility agreement (same signatories)

Neither regime is “better” in the absolute: suspension transfers responsibility to the host organisation, while secondment maintains the French contractual link. The choice depends on the intended duration, the reliability of the host organisation and what the employer is prepared to take on. On the sensitive points — social protection during the suspension, insurance, maintenance of pay depending on the regime chosen — the reflex is to formalise everything in the mobility agreement and to consult the OPCO before departure.

The CFA’s role: a legal mission, not an option

The law does not merely open up possibilities for the apprentice: it assigns obligations to the training centre. Encouraging the national and international mobility of apprentices is among the legal missions of CFAs, which must also designate a référent mobilité (mobility officer) — the identified contact person who puts files together, coordinates the signatories of the agreement and supports the apprentice before, during and after the stay. An organisation still hesitating between statuses will find in our comparison CFA or training organisation a reminder of what these specific missions involve.

In practice, a well-prepared mobility calls on the same reflexes as the standard pedagogical coordination of work-study programmes:

• Fit training and stay together: the period abroad must slot into the pedagogical progression, which follows the same logic as indicator 13 — work-study coordination of the Référentiel National Qualité (national quality framework).
• Inform the apprentice of their rights and duties during the mobility (applicable regime, coverage, contact persons), in the spirit of indicator 15 — apprentices’ rights and duties.
• Prepare the tutoring handover: the maître d’apprentissage (apprenticeship supervisor) on the French side must know how follow-up is organised while the apprentice works at the host organisation.
• Anticipate exit scenarios: if the stay reveals a deep mismatch, better to know the apprenticeship contract termination procedure before you need it.

For a certified CFA, organising mobility this way fits naturally into the logic of indicator 33, dedicated to apprenticeship: documenting who does what, with which evidence, is the best way to turn a legal obligation into an audit asset.

Funding: OPCO and Erasmus+

Mobility has a cost — transport, accommodation, a possible pay differential. Two levers exist: OPCOs can cover part of the costs linked to the mobility, and the Erasmus+ programme can co-fund the stay. Amounts and conditions vary from one situation to another: the starting point is always a conversation with the OPCO upstream, mobility agreement in hand. This mobility funding comes on top of the CFA’s usual channels — the NPEC paid by the OPCO for the training itself and ancillary costs for accommodation or meals — and does not replace them.

Why it’s worth the administrative effort

The investment is not merely symbolic. A study by Matthias Parey and Fabian Waldinger, published in 2011 in The Economic Journal under the title “Studying Abroad and the Effect on International Labour Market Mobility: Evidence from the Introduction of ERASMUS,” shows that a mobility experience during one’s studies significantly increases the probability of working internationally afterwards (see the study on Google Scholar). For a CFA, offering structured mobility is therefore not a nice-to-have: it is a measurable lever for its apprentices’ professional integration — and a recruitment argument for candidates comparing centres.

Where to start, in practice

1. Designate and train your mobility officer, and make their role visible to apprentices and employers.
2. Build a template mobility agreement covering both regimes (mise en veille and mise à disposition), to adapt for each departure.
3. Map the points to watch — social protection, insurance, pay — and the regime under which each is handled.
4. Contact your OPCO to find out which funding can be mobilised, and identify whether an Erasmus+ project can co-fund your flows.
5. Document everything in your quality system, so that mobility becomes audit evidence rather than a blind spot.

Take action

Structuring your apprentices’ international mobility requires a solid documentary base, like the rest of your CFA obligations. The Kit Certif Complet (€297, 14-day guarantee) provides ready-to-use evidence templates for all 32 indicators, including those specific to apprenticeship. Launching your organisation? The ebook “Créer son organisme de formation en 30 jours” (€67) maps out every administrative step, and the Pack complet (€347) bundles both. Continue with our other blog articles on apprenticeship.