Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Communication on the follow-up to the White Paper on a New Impetus for European Youth. Proposed common objectives for voluntary activities among young people in response to the Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 regarding the framework of European cooperation in the youth field
Date: 2004-09-30
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU policy, social participation, voluntary work, youth policy

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Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the Communication on the follow-up to the White
Paper on a New Impetus for European Youth. Proposed common objectives for voluntary activities
among young people in response to the Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 regarding the frame-
work of European cooperation in the youth field Communication on the follow-up to the White
Paper on a New Impetus for European Youth. Proposed common objectives for a greater under-
standing and knowledge of youth in response to the Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 regarding
the framework of European cooperation in the youth field

(2005/C 43/11)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

Having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council – Follow-up to the White
Paper on a New Impetus for European Youth. Proposed common objectives for a greater understanding
and knowledge of youth, in response to the Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 regarding the framework
of European cooperation in the field of youth (COM(2004) 336 final);

Having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council – Follow-up to the White
Paper on a New Impetus for European Youth. Proposed common objectives for voluntary activities among
young people in response to the Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 regarding the framework of Euro-
pean cooperation in the field of youth (COM (2004) 337 final);

Having regard to the decision of the European Commission of 30 April 2004 to consult it on this
subject, under the first paragraph of Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

Having regard to the decision of its President of 5 April 2004 to instruct its Commission for Culture and
Education to draw up an Opinion on this subject;

Having regard to its opinion on the working document of the European Commission entitled Towards a
European voluntary service for young people (CdR 191/96 fin) (1);

Having regard to its opinion on the Community action programme on European voluntary service for young
people (CdR 86/97 fin) (2);

Having regard to the resolution of the Council and of the representatives of the Governments of the
Member States, meeting within the Council of 27 June 2002 regarding the framework of European coop-
eration in the youth field (3);

Having regard to its opinion on the European Commission White Paper on A new impetus for European
youth (CdR 389/2001 fin) (4);

Having regard to the Communication from the Commission to the Council on the Follow-up to the White
Paper on a New Impetus for European Youth. Proposed common objectives for the participation and information of
young people, in response to the Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 regarding the framework of European coopera-
tion in the youth field (COM(2003) 184 final);

Having regard to the Council resolution of 25 November 2003 on common objectives for participation
by and information for young people (5);

Having regard to the Commission report
the European
Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the Follow-up to the Recommendation
of the European Parliament and the Council of 10 July 2001 on mobility within the Community of students, persons
undergoing training, volunteers and teachers and trainers (COM(2004) 21 final);

the European Parliament,

to the Council,

(1) OJ C 42 of 10.2.1997, p.1
(2) OJ C 244 of 11.8.1997, p.47
(3) OJ C 168 of 13.7.2002.
(4) OJ C 287 of 22.11.2002, p.6
(5) OJ C 295 of 5.12.2003

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Having regard to its opinion on the Commission's Communication to the Council on the Follow-up to the
White Paper on a New Impetus for European Youth. Proposed common objectives for the participation and informa-
tion of young people, in response to the Council Resolution of 27 June 2002 regarding the framework of European
cooperation in the youth field (CdR 309/2003 fin);

Having regard to its Draft Opinion (CdR 192/2004 rev. 1 adopted on 9 July 2004 by its Commission for
Culture and Education, (Rapporteur: Mr Roberto Pella, President of Biella Provincial Council (IT/EPP);

Whereas

1)

2)

3)

local and regional authorities have always welcomed the attention given to youth policies, in the
firm belief that the EU, the Member States and regional and local authorities need to persuade
young citizens of the importance of active citizenship at national level. It is especially important to
give young people the opportunity to contribute significantly to the creation of a democratic
Europe based on solidarity, but also a Europe that is strong and competitive from the economic and
cultural point of view;

in the light of the recent enlargement of the European Union, local and regional authorities view the
Laeken Declaration, appended to the Conclusions of the European Council of 14 and 15 December
2001, as essential and highly topical, since it describes one of the main challenges facing the Euro-
pean Union as ‘how to bring citizens, and primarily the young, closer to the European design and
the European institutions’. However, the challenge should have been couched in terms of bringing
the European project and European institutions closer to the citizen, and to young people in particu-
lar, in order to strengthen relations between the younger generation and existing political structures;

local and regional authorities consider it vital to achieve implementation of the strategic objectives
laid down at the Lisbon and Barcelona European Councils, intended to make Europe ‘the most
competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world’, and are convinced that youth
mobility within Europe is a prerequisite for achieving this objective. A European youth policy
should, however, avoid an over-instrumental approach to the younger generation. Youth policy
should be underpinned by an appreciation of young people as European citizens of equal worth,
with the opportunity and power to forge their own and Europe's future. This will, in the broadest
sense, have repercussions for European competitiveness and economic development;

adopted the following opinion at its 56th plenary session on 29-30 September 2004 (meeting of
30th September).

1. The Committee of the Regions' views

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

agrees with the Commission in emphasising the need to
1.1
apply the open method of cooperation to youth problems and
action for youth, as called for by the Council, in view of the
rapidly changing situation of younger generations in Europe;

1.2 welcomes
marked by wide-ranging consultation of the relevant actors;

the method used by the Commission,

agrees with the Commission's observation that there is
1.4
a worrying loss of interest among young people in politics, but
notes that in contrast they are often involved in other spheres
of social activity such as voluntary work, and that these repre-
sent a form of active citizenship. It therefore believes that poli-
ticians should take the first step and look again at how they
present themselves to young people and adopt an approach
that enables them to enhance their democratic credibility with
the young. This applies – not least – to the Committee of the
Regions, which could take a more proactive approach to
recruiting young members, both male and female, whose youth
and political commitment at local and regional level could help
to improve the Committee's work;

1.3
considers that it must be regularly consulted and kept
briefed on matters concerning the four priority themes put
forward in the Commission's White Paper on A New Impetus
for European Youth, especially given that local and regional
authorities, on account of their official responsibilities, have
always been involved in launching initiatives to encourage
active participation by young people in the communities where
they live;

is convinced, on the basis of the present document,
1.5
and as argued in previous Committee of the Regions opinions
on the subject, that ‘youth policy in Europe should be visible at
all administrative and political levels and in all countries, and
be communicated through the channels and in the language
that young people in Europe use’ (CdR 309/2003 fin). In this
connection, the Committee welcomes the creation of a Euro-
pean youth Internet portal at http://www.europa.eu.int/youth/
index_en.html.

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2. Specific recommendations of the Committee of the
Regions regarding a greater understanding and knowl-
edge of youth

people no longer attending school on account of social disad-
vantage;

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

considers that,

2.1
in order to bring politics closer to
young people, the most appropriate approach must firstly be
identified and that to achieve this, as the Commission accu-
rately points out in explaining the overall goal of its communi-
cation to the Council,
‘for timely, efficient and sustainable
policy making, it is essential to develop a coherent, relevant
and qualitative knowledge area in the youth field in Europe and
anticipate
through exchange, dialogue and
networks’;

future needs,

that

believes

2.6
local and regional authorities could
usefully seek the active cooperation of the many youth advisory
bodies or youth councils established in their areas. These
consultative bodies have already proved themselves as an excel-
lent means of building up solid and, in particular, constantly
updated knowledge on young people at local level while at the
same time fostering active citizenship;

considers that

in certain areas,

2.7
local youth participation and lobby
groups, such as youth councils, should also be given decision-
making powers
together with adequate
resources. This would mean that young people could them-
selves decide on and implement projects that
interest and
concern them.
If youth councils had real decision-making
powers, this would project a positive image of democracy to
young people and foster youth participation;

2.2
agrees with the subsidiary objectives established by the
Commission under the overall objective, and welcomes the
Commission's openness to other priority sectors relevant to
youth, alongside those initially indicated by the Member States
in their replies to the questionnaire submitted to them. This is
an essential feature of a suitable method for studying a sector
experiencing such rapid change as the youth sector;

emphasises that local and regional authorities can play
2.3
a crucial part in locating existing knowledge in youth-related
sectors, and calls upon the Council
to bear this in mind
concerning the lines of action identified at national level; the
need to ‘undertake further studies, collect statistical data and
gather practical knowledge of NGOs, youth organisations and
young people themselves on the identified themes in order to
fill gaps and constantly update knowledge on such identified
themes’
is indicated, but no mention is made of local and
regional authorities. If such knowledge is to be complete and
level, albeit with
up-to-date,
national coordination, in order to achieve the overall goal of a
coherent knowledge area;

it must also be sought at local

considers that the most efficient means of meeting the
2.4
need for such coordination at national
level would be data
collection projects directly involving local and regional authori-
ties, since they can more readily get in touch with young
people in their areas, and that to do so, they should be able to
draw on appropriate European financial resources;

2.5
urges the Commission to take account of the crucial
role of schools when drawing up documents relating to the
four priority themes of the white paper on youth, since they
can provide an ideal channel for young people to fill in ques-
tionnaires on the various areas of research. Local and regional
authorities' social welfare bodies can reach out to those young

2.8
calls upon the Commission to involve the local and
regional authorities of the new Member States in a direct way
and to facilitate the dissemination of best practice among them,
for instance by twinning exercises and cultural exchanges
between youth councils across Europe;

2.9
highlights the importance of seeking a coherent, rele-
vant and qualitative knowledge area in the youth sector in
Europe which reflects ethnic and linguistic minorities;

2.10 welcomes the Commission's willingness to set up a
European Union Network of Youth Knowledge including repre-
sentatives of all actors in the field in order to discuss methods
and future themes as well as to exchange good practice;

2.11
calls for the earliest possible preparation of the prac-
tical steps for setting up the Network of Youth Knowledge, to
which the Commission refers in its discussion of Objective 4 of
the
communication regarding greater understanding and
knowledge of young people, and asks that specific provision be
made for the participation of Committee of the Regions repre-
sentatives;

notes that in their replies to the Commission's ques-
2.12
tionnaire, the Member States do not ask for new structures to
facilitate and promote exchange, dialogue and networks to
ensure visibility of knowledge in the youth field and anticipate
future needs, but wish to build on existing networks and rela-
tionships, using and managing them more efficiently. Local
authority youth contact points should therefore be strength-
ened and could serve as an ideal channel
for information
coming from young people themselves;

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2.13
agrees with the Commission's emphasis on the impor-
tance of mobility in promoting education and training of
researchers and experts – especially the young – working in the
youth field, as well as of any other actors developing knowl-
edge in the youth field, and calls upon the Commission to
draw up strategies at European level which can increase aware-
ness among the bodies to which researchers and experts
belong, and especially schools and universities, since – as the
Commission itself points out in its Report on the follow-up to
the Recommendation of
the European Parliament and the
Council of 10 July 2001 on mobility within the Community of
students, persons undergoing training, volunteers and teachers
and trainers (COM(2001) 21 final) – in spite of the strategies
already implemented, ‘the numbers of persons in education and
training systems participating in mobility are still very limited’;

considers that school teachers should be given a good
2.14
grounding in the skills and knowledge needed to bring up
issues relating to participation and community involvement
both in the classroom and the extra-curricular activities of the
In addition, youth participation and lobby
student body.
groups based in schools should be allowed a say in decisions
on the planning and implementation of school premises and,
for example, extra-curricular facilities.

3. Specific recommendations of the Committee of the
Regions regarding voluntary activities among young
people

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

3.1 welcomes the Commission's detailed analysis of an
issue which has always been of concern to local and regional
authorities on account of the huge importance, primarily at
local
level, of voluntary associations, representing the living,
active heart of every human community;

3.2 welcomes the information that many young people are
engaged in voluntary activities and points out that this contra-
dicts the assumption that young people are not interested in
active citizenship. It considers it more accurate to describe
young people as ‘depoliticised’ rather than uninterested, since
voluntary activities – as the Commission itself states – are a
form of social involvement, an educational experience and a
factor of employability and integration;

3.3
suggests that young people have probably drifted away
from politics because it seems to them to be remote from real
problems. It recalls its recent opinion on the Communication
to the Council on the participation and information of young
people, which noted that local and regional authorities play a
decisive part in European youth policy, being the institutions in
closest contact with the younger generations;

improve existing voluntary activities for young people, and
underlines the special relationship that these authorities can
establish with young people in their areas;

3.5
agrees with the Commission's acknowledgement that
voluntary activities for young people vary significantly from
country to country, and that the situation is far from identical
in the different Member States;

hopes that all the Member States will be alert to the
3.6
need to facilitate voluntary engagement on the part of young
people by removing existing obstacles. More specifically, it is
essential
that each Member State give legal recognition to
volunteer status since treating it as equivalent to employment,
as is the case in several Member States, often entails consider-
able disadvantages;

appreciates the fact that in the communication, the
3.7
Commission again highlights the need to encourage mobility
for volunteers, as it had extensively argued in the Report on
the follow-up to the Recommendation of the European Parlia-
ment and the Council of 10 July 2001 on mobility within the
Community of students, persons undergoing training, volun-
teers and teachers and trainers (6);

emphasises that in order to develop voluntary activities
3.8
among young people, enhance the transparency of existing
possibilities, enlarge their scope and improve their quality, local
and regional authorities have a key role to play. They could, for
example, set up ‘volunteer service centres’ to support local
volunteer associations and ‘volunteer contact points’ to guide
young people towards the form of volunteer activity best
matching their expectations;

level, of a full-scale ‘voluntary organisation register’

3.9
calls upon the Council to prepare a specific line of
action to foster the establishment, at national, regional and
local
in
those countries still without one. Where such registers exist,
they have proved to be a highly valuable tool, providing a
constantly updated picture of voluntary associations within a
given territory. The constant updating of these registers means
that interested young people can always obtain specific infor-
mation regarding their activities in this field;

3.10
remarks, however, that where there is no prior family
awareness, young people all too often only come into contact
with the voluntary movement by chance, and that in conse-
quence lines of action should be promoted to bring relevant
information into schools from the earliest age. This could be
done, for example, by means of meetings, tailored to the age
groups in question, with individuals actively engaged in volun-
tary associations. This would be a shining example of modern
civic education geared to the exercise of active citizenship by
young people. It therefore urges the Commission to recognise
the role of schools and the need to raise awareness among
teachers;

3.4 welcomes the Commission's recognition of the role of
local and regional authorities in implementing the steps to

(6) COM(2004) 21 final.

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shares

emphasis,

the Commission's

3.11
expressed in
Objective 3 (promote voluntary activities with a view to rein-
forcing young people's solidarity and engagement as citizens),
on creating better conditions for less advantaged young people
to participate in voluntary activities, as voluntary work can
facilitate young people's integration into society;

3.12
believes legal and social protection for voluntary work
to be crucial, given that the main feature of voluntary work is
that it is unpaid (with the occasional exception of reimburse-
ment of expenses), entails the investment of considerable
amounts of time and energy and often involves mobility, and
that the substitution of paid work by voluntary work should be
prevented. The primary responsibility for providing such
protection lies at national, regional and local level but, on the
basis of Articles 137 and 140 of the EC Treaty, the Commis-
sion could put forward a European charter of voluntary work
as an instrument for cooperation and coordination;

3.13
is pleased that the Commission has highlighted the
need to ensure recognition of voluntary activities of young
people ‘with a view to acknowledging their personal skills and
their engagement for society’. It hopes that best practice will
rapidly be disseminated at all levels so that such recognition is
forthcoming from public authorities, private business,
the
social partners, civil society and young people themselves, as
correctly argued by the Commission in the lines of action for
Objective 4;

3.14
agrees with the Commission's concern to ensure better
recognition, at European level, of the voluntary experience of
young people in the framework of ongoing processes and by
existing means in other policy fields, especially measures such
as Europass, already implemented in the education sector. The
same forms of incentive for student mobility could also be
applied to facilitate voluntary experience for young people in
Member States other than those of their origin;

calls upon the Commission to draw up proposals
3.15
immediately to extend European Voluntary Service (EVS) to a
broader range of activities, and at the same time to promote
the preparation by the Member States of similar projects at
national level in order to supplement and enrich Community
initiatives;

3.16 welcomes the proposal made in Article III-223(5) of
the draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe to set up
‘a European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (…). European law
shall determine the rules and operation of the Corps’; and considers
that a voluntary corps could provide a framework for a joint
contribution by young Europeans to the European Union's
humanitarian actions;

Brussels, 30 September 2004.

3.17
underlines, as it has also done in recent opinions on
promoting voluntary activity, the need for equal involvement
of young men and women and of groups of young people who
experience particular difficulty in exercising active citizenship
on account of social or ethnic factors or physical or mental
disability.

4. General recommendations of the Committee of the

Regions

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

takes a positive view of the two communications from

4.1
the Commission discussed in the present opinion;

4.2
specifically urges the Commission to keep it regularly
informed on the progress of the action programmes imple-
mented by the Member States, disseminating as much informa-
tion as possible as quickly as possible on good practice. Given
the speed of change in the youth sphere, it must be remem-
bered that appropriate practices are also changing rapidly;

4.3
urges the Member States to consult local and regional
authorities, as has been done in other areas included in the
four priorities in the white paper, when drawing up the
national reports on the progress of implementation of the prio-
rities regarding ‘greater understanding and knowledge of youth’
and ‘voluntary activities among young people’ scheduled for
the end of 2005.

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

4.4
sees the need for greater flexibility in practical politics
and calls upon the Commission to consider the feasibility of
initiatives to alert politicians to the need for them to forge
closer contact with young people, in all their complex diversity,
in order to know them better and mobilise the essential contri-
bution they can make to actively help bring about a strong,
competitive and solidarity-based citizens' Europe; and believes
that
the Regions could help here by
launching a twinning scheme for young elected representatives
from the authorities represented on it;

the Committee of

repeats the Committee's

4.5
strong conviction, already
voiced in its recent opinion on the participation and informa-
tion of young people, that Article III-182 of the draft treaty for
a constitution for Europe should supplement
the Treaties'
current provisions on youth policy in order to emphasise that
the Union aims to encourage young people's participation in
democratic life in Europe.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Peter STRAUB