Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the 'Proposal for a European Parliament and Council decision establishing the Community action programme - European voluntary service for young people` (97/C 244/10)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament accompanied by a proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing the Community action programme - European voluntary service for young people [COM(96) 610 final - 96/0318 (COD)];

having regard to the decision taken by the European Commission on 13 January 1997, under Article 126 and the first paragraph of Article 198c of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

having regard to its decision of 8 March 1996 to direct Commission 6 for Education and Training to draw up the relevant opinion;

having regard to the draft opinion (CdR 86/97 rev.) adopted by Commission 6 on 4 April 1997 (rapporteur: Mr Leinen);

whereas the European Parliament Resolution of 22 September 1995 commended the development of a European voluntary service for young people and the European Council of Florence in June 1996 noted the contribution it could make towards easing the integration of young people into working life;

whereas the Committee of the Regions, in its Opinion on the White Paper on education and training () and in its Opinion on the Commission's working document on the pilot action for the European voluntary service () supported the Commission's proposals to develop a multi-annual programme on the subject;

whereas the European Commission's ex-ante evaluation report of the programme and its preliminary progress report on the pilot action confirmed that there is general support within the EU for a European voluntary service, among Member States, relevant organizations, local and regional authorities as well as young people themselves,

adopted the following opinion at its 18th plenary session on 11 and 12 June 1997 (meeting of 12 June).

1. Introduction

1.1. The Committee of the Regions welcomes, following the pilot programme, the Commission's proposal for a Community Action Programme: European Voluntary Service for Young People. It would, however, point out that the Youth for Europe programme must not suffer as a result of this proposed programme. Before the end of the third phase of the Youth For Europe programme and before the end of the first phase of the European Voluntary Service programme, the European Commission should make a proposal to the European Parliament and the Council for a coherent European youth policy.

1.2. The Community action programme provides a framework to help young people become more mobile across frontiers, to establish new partnerships in Europe and to strengthen solidarity between Union citizens. A European voluntary service for young people can help strengthen mutual understanding and cohesion in the European Union.

1.3. The COR notes with satisfaction that the Commission has adopted a number of the recommendations made by the Committee in its opinion on the pilot programme. In this way due account can be taken of the practical experience of regional and local authorities with young people's volunteering, education, training, youth policy and practice and community and other projects.

1.4. The COR reaffirms its view that European voluntary service should be decentralized and that regional and local authorities should be involved at all stages of project implementation. It reiterates its call for local and regional authorities to be represented in the Committee set up to run the programme and for them to be consulted on all decisions concerning the programme's management, underlining that the success of the programme depends on its effective implementation at local level. Moreover, the COR calls on the Commission to keep not only the European Parliament and the Council, but also the Committee of the Regions fully and continuously informed of further steps taken in connection with the Community action programme.

2. General comments

2.1. The COR agrees with the Commission that the situation of many young people in the European Community is uncertain. Difficulties in the labour market and the growing fragmentation of society cause many young Europeans to be anxious about the future.

2.2. As well as lack of education and training qualifications, young people's lack of experience is an important obstacle to their integration into society. The COR therefore endorses the view that European voluntary service will be an important formative experience which young people can make use of in their personal, social and vocational development.

2.3. European voluntary service has the following advantages: On a personal level, young people can use their transfrontier experience to develop their independence, ability to communicate and critical faculties, to take on responsibility and to reassess the validity of their decisions. In a social context, commitments made in another country foster understanding between young people and citizens in general across cultural frontiers. This also makes it clear that practical solidarity is possible and necessary at European, as well as local level.

2.4. Cross-border exchange offers young people the opportunity for an inter-cultural learning experience. Young volunteers learn about the richness, but also the limitations of their own traditions and culture. They have to come to terms with different cultural, social and economic realities. The COR is pleased that the Commission endorses its view that European voluntary service will bring concrete benefits in terms of overcoming racism and xenophobia.

2.5. The COR shares the Commission's view that European voluntary service offers added value compared with existing youth exchange programmes. The decentralized approach offers the opportunity to link the local and European levels. Young people are given the opportunity to acquire new abilities and skills outside their familiar environment and to discover the realities of a European society in the process of construction.

2.6. The COR feels that intensive networking and partnership are needed between local, regional, national and European youth exchange projects. The application of experience garnered over many years can prevent disappointments and the repetition of mistakes.

3. Specific comments

3.1. Participation in the European voluntary service

3.1.1. The COR is glad that all young people between the ages of 18 and 25 are to have the opportunity to participate in European voluntary service. The COR notes with satisfaction that the Commission has taken up the Committee's suggestion of involving in the programme young people who for cultural, social, economic or geographical reasons find it particularly difficult to participate in existing action programmes.

3.1.2. The COR points out that all potential participants should be well informed about the programme. Local agencies should be encouraged to engage in publicity campaigns at recruitment stage through the press and media in order to ensure in particular that young people who are not involved in either youth clubs or educational institutions become aware of the scheme.

3.1.3. The Committee underlines the importance of involving the whole range of educational and training institutions in the information campaign for the European Voluntary Service programme, not merely universities, in order to ensure widespread dissemination of the programme projects.

3.2. Areas of activity for the European voluntary service

3.2.1. General scope of activities

3.2.1.1. The COR underlines the importance of involving local and regional authorities in the implementation of the programme in order to ensure that the activities involved contribute effectively towards local development and employment initiatives, which is identified as one of the objectives of the programme by the European Commission.

3.2.1.2. As an educational initiative, European voluntary service is intended to enable young people to expand their geographical, cultural and vocational horizons. The COR feels therefore that the Community programme should be implemented across a broad range of areas. A broad range of activities will ensure that young people participating in European voluntary service do so for a variety of reasons.

3.2.1.3. All projects should be based on the objective of providing an educational experience and experience in activities that are of benefit to the community. In this respect the COR stresses the need to ensure, through effective monitoring at all levels, that the voluntary service does not replace real jobs and is not used as a source of cheap labour.

3.2.1.4. Because of the close ties between the experience offered by European voluntary service for young people and the learning experience provided by European educational and training programmes, it would be useful to set up a shared data bank to provide an overall comparative framework. This would facilitate effective monitoring of the initiatives under way in different sectors and encourage synergies, particularly where there are common objectives.

3.2.2. The social/humanitarian field

3.2.2.1. Voluntary service in hospitals, old people's homes, kindergartens, institutions for the disabled and on drug projects would give young people taking part an opportunity to serve their fellow man and to discover whether their interests and aptitudes suit them for a career in the health or social services field.

3.2.3. Environment and nature protection

3.2.3.1. Voluntary service in environmental bodies, agricultural and forestry organizations, environmental self-help groups and ecological projects will show young people taking part how environmental problems and their solutions are inter-linked and inter-dependent and will highlight the need for trans-national cooperation in protecting the ecological basis of our societies.

3.2.4. Heritage projects

3.2.4.1. Voluntary service in the fields of historical, artistic, ethnological and archaeological heritage, involving working on restoration and development projects, may help young people to become aware of the existence of earlier links between EU Member States and to acquaint themselves with the origins of the common cultural identity.

3.2.5. Culture and sport

3.2.5.1. The COR calls on the Commission to make provision for volunteer work in the field of sports and cultural activities. Sport and cultural activities have always provided an opportunity for people of different nationalities to meet. Young people could work in a wide variety of areas, from cultural and sports associations to theatres and arts bodies.

3.2.6. The economic field

3.2.6.1. The COR welcomes the Commission's intention of giving young people an opportunity to develop vocational and entrepreneurial initiatives via volunteer work. European voluntary service will encourage young people to play an active role in society and will thus not end at the very moment when the activities are beginning to bear fruit. The action programme should encourage active support of young people in their subsequent search for jobs or places on courses, or possibly in establishing businesses.

3.3. Selection of participants for European voluntary service

3.3.1. The COR emphasizes that long experience of existing exchange arrangements has demonstrated the importance of thorough preparation and careful selection of participants. The success of an exchange programme depends to a very great extent on matching the specific abilities of young people with the nature of the project.

3.3.2. Irrespective of considerations such as gender, school qualifications or physical fitness, it is very important that every participant be keen to learn about his/her host country and be willing and enabled to learn its language by being offered language tuition before or during the voluntary service. The COR points out that attention should be given to promote projects in regions and municipalities in which lesser used languages are spoken.

3.3.3. It is the responsibility of the organization sending the volunteers to match the young people's interests with the specific features of the countries and projects in question. In organizing European voluntary service, the COR feels that the emphasis should be on quality rather than quantity.

3.4. Preparation, follow-up and evaluation of European voluntary service

3.4.1. The COR is glad that the Commission shares the view that exchanges across national and cultural frontiers can be successful only if there is careful preparation, follow-up and evaluation of persons and projects. It welcomes in particular the Commission's proposals to support the training of supervisors and administrators running the project which responds to the COR's previous comments.

3.4.2. The aim of every exchange programme must be to ensure that volunteers gain enriching personal experience and that they are subsequently willing to participate in shaping society at national and European level. The COR points out that failed projects, apart from the financial loss involved, are often also psychologically damaging to young people. In this way prejudices about other cultures and nations can actually be reinforced.

3.4.3. Apart from language training, the COR recommends the following kinds of preparation for young people:

- opportunity to visit a relevant project in their own country;

- information on the content and objective of the project in the foreign country;

- opportunity to visit a project in the host country and to evaluate experience;

- information on the host country, its culture and social background.

3.4.4. Experience of exchange programmes accumulated over many years has highlighted the need for evaluation and feedback in relation to the experience gained. The COR therefore recommends that seminars lasting several days be held for participants, at the latest after the first three months. The progress of the project and the situation of the young volunteers should be discussed and evaluated at this time.

3.4.5. To ensure that the young person's period of voluntary service abroad remains a positive experience, the COR asks the Commission to ensure that there is follow-up after the volunteer's return home. The experience gained abroad must be integrated into personal and vocational life-planning.

3.4.6. The COR endorses the setting-up of a network by the Commission to promote professional/social integration of volunteers after completion of the service, involving local and regional actors. Moreover, it also underlines the need for guidance/counselling in order to provide volunteers assistance in employment seeking or to promote their participation in further education and training activities.

3.4.7. The COR feels that the volunteers should be looked after before, during and after their period of service by inter-culturally experienced teams from the home country.

3.4.8. The quality and personal continuity of the back-up provided to young volunteers is very important to ensure that any inter-cultural difficulties and obstacles can be discussed with someone whom the young person trusts.

3.5. Conditions of European voluntary service

3.5.1. Period of service

3.5.1.1. Support should go mainly to long periods of voluntary service. Experience teaches us that a fairly long stay in the foreign country is needed if the volunteer is to come to terms with the new living and working environment. And only in this way does the full benefit accrue to the participant and the project organizer.

3.5.1.2. The COR is pleased to note that the Commission shares the COR's view that shorter periods of service might be more attractive to young people suffering from disadvantages of a social, cultural, economic or geographical nature.

3.5.1.3. The COR stresses that volunteers on short contracts should, as far as possible, not be left to their own devices and should be given suitable back-up. Only in this way can it be ensured that for disadvantaged young people European voluntary service does not turn out to be a waste of effort, with them leaving the country without ever having had the opportunity to learn about its language and culture.

3.5.2. Countries in which European voluntary service could be undertaken

3.5.2.1. The COR notes with satisfaction that its call for third countries to be brought into the framework of the European voluntary service has been taken into account by the Commission. The COR underlines that the objective should be to extend the programme on a basis of mutual exchange.

3.5.2.2. The COR agrees with the Commission that European voluntary service should be undertaken not only in associated countries but in non-EU countries in general. Young people's inter-cultural experience should not be restricted to the European Union, but should also extend to countries outside the Community.

3.5.2.3. In this way non-EU countries can benefit from the knowledge of young Europeans. And the young people will in turn have the opportunity to get to know other societies. European voluntary service can thus act as a bridge to Europe's southern and eastern neighbours.

3.5.2.4. The COR stresses that the assignment of volunteers to developing countries and disaster areas is particularly problematic. It would be wrong to expect too much of these young people. The COR therefore agrees with the Commission's view that the Community programme should be opened up to such projects only gradually and after careful consideration.

3.6. Certification of European voluntary service

3.6.1. The COR agrees with the Commission's suggestion that volunteers be awarded a European certificate. Tangible evidence of their period of service in another country is of considerable importance to many young people. A European certificate could provide a future employer with a valuable insight into a young person's motivation and commitment.

3.7. Financial and legal basis of European voluntary service

3.7.1. The COR reaffirms its view that the creation of a Europe-wide legal status for young volunteers is an important way of removing obstacles which in the past have impeded voluntary work projects in foreign countries. All volunteers from EU countries should enjoy the same advantages.

3.7.2. The COR regrets that the Commission does no more than appeal to the Member States, instead of specifically encouraging them, to take the necessary steps to establish a common status for young people taking part in the European voluntary service. This approach would not in any way infringe the subsidiarity principle. Moreover, the COR notes that the practical nature of these steps is not spelt out. This is unsatisfactory.

3.7.3. The COR maintains that the nature and level of the Community support referred to in paragraph 56 of the Commission communication should be explained, otherwise the extent of national, local and regional financial support cannot be established. For example, the cost of setting up and sustaining the mentors and reference personas who have such a key role to play in the success and the quality of European voluntary service activities (paragraphs 74 to 78 of the Commission communication) could be quite considerable and should ideally be shared.

3.7.4. The COR calls for measures to facilitate the mobility of young non-EU nationals resident in the Member States. There should in particular be common procedures for the granting of visas.

3.7.5. The COR feels that the benefits enjoyed by volunteers (free board and lodging, pocket money, accident and personal liability insurance) should be contractually guaranteed. The Committee stresses that young people should not have to contribute to the financing of projects. This would run counter to the principle that all young people must have access to the programme.

3.8. Organization of European voluntary service

3.8.1. The COR draws the Commission's attention to the fact that some Member States already have voluntary work schemes. These networks which have grown up in different ways should not be hindered by the EU initiative. The EU should strive to ensure that existing initiatives are supported and integrated with European voluntary service.

3.8.2. The COR calls on the Commission to make sure that existing systems are used, rather than establishing costly new bureaucratic superstructures.

3.8.3. The COR points out that a decentralized approach should be adhered to and that local and regional organizations should be involved in the support structures. It underlines that this will allow for greater flexibility and thus promote innovation and experimentation within the programme.

4. Conclusion

4.1. The COR believes that European voluntary service could be enormously enriching for the regional and local authorities.

4.2. As an educational tool outside the formal school and vocational training systems, European voluntary service offers many opportunities for cementing solidarity between the citizens of the European Union.

4.3. At a time when marginalization, racism and social fragmentation are growing at an alarming rate, young people in particular will in this way be given an opportunity to make an active contribution as citizens of the Union.

Brussels, 12 June 1997.

The Chairman of the Committee of the Regions

Pasqual MARAGALL i MIRA

() OJ C 182, 24. 6. 1996, p. 15.

() OJ C 42, 10. 2. 1997, p. 1.