Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on The contribution of volunteering to Economic and Social Cohesion
Date: 2008-02-07
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU policy, economic and social cohesion, economic consequence, legal status, social participation, statistics, voluntary work

25.4.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 105/11

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘The contribution of volunteering to Economic and
Social Cohesion’

(2008/C 105/03)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

— emphasises the considerable economic contribution that voluntary activity makes to local, regional,
national and the EU economies through (a) the extra human resources that it adds to social and
economic activity and (b) the creation of social capital and a better ‘quality of life’ which can be an
influential factor in investment and job creation.

— emphasises that volunteering should not be seen as a substitute or replacement for employed staff in

any environment;

— encourages the Member States to collect accurate statistical information on volunteer involvement at a
local and regional level also, to support the development of appropriate initiatives at both levels;

— considers that issues regarding the lack of a legal status for volunteering should be given greater
consideration, with particular attention on rights and responsibilities and recommends that where
relevant, volunteering should be granted a clearly defined and compatible legal status across all EU
Member States with regard to cross-border travel for volunteering purposes;

— considers that there is an important EU dimension to volunteering and would therefore like to see a

more coherent and comprehensive policy approach, in particular:

— Better understanding through more research and better quality statistics at the EU level

— Recognition of the economic contribution of volunteering and a wider acceptance of its monetary

equivalent as match funding in EU funded programmes

— A broader focus on volunteering at EU level beyond the citizenship and youth affairs arenas

— An examination of new initiatives to encourage exchange of experience and mobility of volunteers

through a European Voluntary programme for all ages;

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Official Journal of the European Union

25.4.2008

Rapporteur: Cllr Declan MCDONNELL (IE/ALDE), Member Galway City Council and West Regional

Authority

Policy recommendations

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

General remarks

1.
regards volunteering for the purposes of this opinion to
have three defining characteristics i.e. not being undertaken for
financial reward, being undertaken of their own free will, and to
be of benefit to someone other than the volunteer or their
family. These characteristics cover a wide spectrum of volun-
teering activities from the formal to informal, short-term to
long-term, and part-time to full-time e.g. Voluntary Service;

beneficial effects on economic growth, as well as in other
crucial areas such as social control, inclusion, health, govern-
ance, institutions, democratic empowerment’ (3);

the most vulnerable groups of

7.
highlights the benefits of volunteering with regards to the
employability of a person (4) through participation in a volun-
teering and voluntary service scheme. The CoR further considers
that
society (immigrants,
minorities, unemployed, homeless, substance abusers, school
drop-outs) are empowered to transform their lives, get actively
involved in society, through acquired skills and competences, get
access to better paid jobs or find a path back to education.
Through this opportunity, people from all backgrounds contri-
bute together for the common good, and achieve social cohe-
sion, diversity and respect;

2.
recognises that volunteering is a key element of active citi-
zenship and democracy at all levels, in that those engaged in
volunteering are directly or
indirectly working to improve
society for all at a local, regional and national level;

8.
highlights the ‘added value’ that volunteering can bring to
social support activities e.g. befriending projects for people with
disabilities that cannot necessarily be provided by paid support;

Recognises that socially excluded sections of society are
3.
least likely to volunteer and that supporting these groups to
volunteer and feel needed as volunteers is an important goal;

underlines the role of volunteering in providing new and
9.
innovative responses to emerging social issues and acting as a
testbed in delivering new services and job opportunities;

4.
recognises the role that volunteering plays in developing
nations globally, and the considerable role that volunteering
plays through this in reducing global poverty and promoting a
global dialogue;

10.
emphasises however that volunteering should not be
seen as a substitute or replacement for employed staff in any
environment;

5.
recognises the role that volunteering can play at local,
regional, national and global level in addressing climate change
issues, and also in delivering civil protection, social inclusion,
development cooperation, better integration of disabled persons
and immigrants;

Contributing to the Lisbon Agenda — the importance of volunteering

11.
highlights the positive effects of volunteering on the
health of a person, and the potential reduction of costs volun-
teering can be to the health expenditure of local, regional and
national health services. Research has shown that volunteering
can have a particularly positive effect on the health of older
people (5). This health benefit can impact on all ages from youth
to retirement, and can play a preventative role in relation to
physical and mental illness;

emphasises the considerable economic contribution that
6.
voluntary activity makes to local, regional, national and the EU
economies through (a) the extra human resources that it adds to
social and economic activity (1) and (b) the creation of social
capital and a better ‘quality of life’ which can be an influential
factor in investment and job creation. Research shows that
social capital has a direct positive relationship to levels of
growth in European regions (2). Fully accepts that Social Capital
‘mutually reinforcing and producing
can also be seen as

(1) The large voluntary component of the 08 Welcome Programme for

Liverpool's year as European Capital, for example.

(2) Social Capital and Regional Economic Growth (Beugelsdijk and van

Schaik, 2003).

12.
notes the critical role that volunteering can play in rela-
tion to life long learning, in allowing individuals to develop new
skills that contribute to their personal, social and cultural devel-
opment, and increase and adapt their employability in an ever
changing economic environment.
it is strongly
supportive of student volunteering activity in schools, in order
to instil the values that it embodies;

In particular,

(3) The Well-being of Nations; the Role of Human and Social Capital

(OECD 2001).

(4) Time Bank/Reed Executive Survey of 200 of the UK's top businesses

(2000)
(http://timebank.org.uk/mediacentre/press_release_details.php?id=76).
(5) The Health Benefits of Volunteering — A Review of Recent Research

(Corporation for National and Community Service, 2007).

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13.
underlines the role of volunteering in underpinning local
development initiatives and in facilitating the successful imple-
mentation of a number of EU-funded initiatives, such as the
Leader Programme. This activity acts as a counter-balance to the
negative effects of globalisation and in ensuring sustainable local
economic development;

21.
emphasises that, as a general rule, obstacles to volun-
teering such as lack of insurance, or removal of state entitle-
ments such as social security should not occur, and that appro-
priate legal frameworks should be adopted to ensure this;

14.
encourages greater collaboration between public authori-
ties and voluntary organisations in the development of relevant
public policy, to help ensure that such policy better meets the
needs of the voluntary sector;

Supporting volunteer support infrastructure

Lack of research and statistical data on volunteering

15.
highlights the need to immediately address the lack of
complete and accurate EU wide or national statistics on the
economic contribution of volunteering. The Committee of the
French, Czech
Regions
Republic, Italian and Slovakian commitment to implement the
UN Handbook on Non-Profit
Institutions in the System of
National Accounts;

therefore welcomes

the Belgian,

encourages the Member States to collect accurate statis-
16.
tical
information on volunteer involvement at a local and
regional level also, to support the development of appropriate
initiatives at both levels;

recommends that local and regional authorities support
22.
efforts to develop an infrastructure to support and facilitate
volunteering, whilst respecting the autonomy of the voluntary
sector. For example, the existence of
locally based Volunteer
Centres or other appropriate infrastructure can aid in promoting
voluntary work, proving information on volunteering opportu-
nities and ‘professionalising’ volunteer management practices
amongst volunteer involving organisations;

23.
draws attention to the fact that, with a view to recog-
nising volunteering, decentralised certificates of competence
relating to skills, knowledge and experience acquired through
volunteering already exist (6) and notes the potential for linking
these existing systems to the Europass CV scheme, to encourage
EU-wide recognition of relevant volunteering experiences with
regard to employability;

17.
calls on the European Commission to develop more
systematic data collection on volunteers and the services they
provide and supports the inclusion of volunteering as a specific
category in the Statistical Accounts of Eurostat to accurately
assess the economic value of volunteering;

also notes the potential of an EU Awards system for
24.
voluntary and business
to highlight
examples of best practice and excellence in relation to the
promotion and encouragement of volunteering. This could be
held on an annual basis to encourage an EU wide discourse on
issues such as volunteer management and support;

sector organisations

18.
recommends that comparative research on volunteering
be carried out across the EU to obtain data on its development
trends, scope and characteristics at national, regional and local
levels. This would enable a clear indication of cultural similari-
ties and differences in relation to volunteer activity and infra-
structure;

25.
highlights that with regard to volunteer work with chil-
dren and vulnerable adults, the lack of a co-ordinated EU-wide
police clearance process by the Member States means that
migrants are unable to comply with requirements established by
Member States and volunteer involving organisations to protect
children and vulnerable adults from potential abuse;

19.
recommends that research be carried out EU-wide to
identify best practice experiences in promoting and supporting
volunteerism on a local and regional basis. Depending on
research findings, areas with more historical experience of
volunteering could support other
regions and localities to
develop new initiatives;

Legal status of volunteering

20.
considers that issues regarding the lack of a legal status
for volunteering should be given greater consideration, with par-
ticular attention on rights and responsibilities and recommends
that where relevant, volunteering should be granted a clearly
defined and compatible legal status across all EU Member States
with regard to cross-border travel for volunteering purposes;

Support for organisations reliant on volunteering activity

26.
welcomes efforts by some Directorates-General (DG EAC
in particular) to adopt a more understanding approach to use
voluntary activity as a means of match-funding on EU-funded
projects and emphasises that voluntary activity should be better
recognised as equivalent to co-financing in other EU funding
programmes, once this activity can be suitably costed. This
would go some way towards directly recognising the value for
voluntary organisations in involving volunteers;

(6) An example of such schemes is that introduced by the German

federal State of Hessen
http://www.kompetenznachweis.de/.

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Official Journal of the European Union

25.4.2008

27.
recognises the importance of promoting and supporting
Volunteer Management Best Practices amongst volunteer invol-
ving organisations. Research shows that the implementation of
such best practice can lead to increased levels of volunteering
within an organisation and better retention of existing volun-
teers (7);

28.
encourages volunteer involving organisations to utilise
the skills and energies of volunteers in a strategic, policy-based
and planned manner to help boost organisational efficiency and
to create memorable volunteering experiences;

The role of volunteering in social cohesion

29.
notes the key role that voluntary activity can play in an
individual's personal development. It provides a new perspective
on society and can also increase a person's self-esteem and
confidence, enabling them to play a fuller role in wider society;
points out that the efforts of voluntary workers are also of
considerable importance for economic, cultural and social devel-
opment at local and regional level;

30.
recognises the importance that volunteering can play in
the integration of new and historically excluded communities at
a local, regional and national level. Volunteering enables indivi-
duals and groups to meet other people from other walks of life
in a positive and mutually supporting environment;

34.
notes the role that volunteering and specific projects can
play in promoting and encouraging intergenerational dialogue
and understanding in today's rapidly changing society (8);

35.
calls for the establishment of a funding initiative within
the Town Twinning programme to allow for volunteer exchange
projects to enhance local and regional EU networks and active
citizenship;

Involving public and private employers

36.
emphasises that volunteering is a key element in the
promotion a healthy work-life balance for employees across the
EU,
in encouraging activities and networking outside the
working environment;

recommends the promotion of volunteering by public
37.
service agencies at the local and regional
levels, through the
encouragement of local volunteering by their staff, or by the
development of volunteering initiatives and partnerships (9);

sustainable

the development of

and local voluntary organisations

linkages
supports
38.
between businesses
to
promote Corporate Social Responsibility that is human resource
based in addition to generating financial support from busi-
nesses. This could be done in conjunction with locally-estab-
lished SMEs as well as with regional and local business represen-
tative organisations in getting management to promote volun-
teer activity within workforces;

31.
cautions against the European Union over concentrating
its support for volunteering activity on youth and young people
and underlines that volunteering is an activity in which all
sections of society can play a full and rewarding role;

Developing an EU dimension

32.
therefore, encourages the EU, given the aging EU popula-
tion, to specifically encourage older people to engage in volun-
teering, given the (a) life learned skills and experiences of older
people and (b) the proven health benefits of volunteering. An
excellent example of this is the Active Retirement Associations
in Ireland;

33.
recognises that volunteering has a vital role to play in
breaking down social isolation among individuals and groups
through (a) the provision of social supports to vulnerable chil-
dren and adults and (b) the fact that the volunteer him/herself
can develop new networks and reduce their own isolation;

(7) Volunteer Management Practices and Retention of Volunteers (Mark A.

Hager, Jeffrey L. Brudney, June 2004, The Urban Institute).

39.
considers that there is an important EU dimension to
volunteering and would therefore like to see a more coherent
and comprehensive policy approach, in particular:

— Better understanding through more research and better

quality statistics at the EU level

— Recognition of the economic contribution of volunteering
and a wider acceptance of its monetary equivalent as match
funding in EU funded programmes

(8) For example the Living Scenes project in Galway sees 24 Transition
Year Students from the Presentation Secondary School teaming up with
22 adults from the Galway Active Retirement Associations in a
cross-generational programme that is now integrated into the school's
Transition Year curriculum.

(9) Many local and regional authorities in some Member States have devel-
oped or support volunteering programmes with their staff, often
through voluntary contributions from staff salaries to help transfer
skills to charitable organisations, support young indigenous entrepre-
neurs and local development activities.

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— A broader focus on volunteering at EU level beyond the citi-

zenship and youth affairs arenas

— An examination of new initiatives to encourage exchange of
experience and mobility of volunteers through a European
Voluntary programme for all ages;

recommends

40.
that
programmes or actions paving the way for
European projects that involve the entire population of
Union, and not only young people;

the Commission launch practical
transnational
the

41.
recommends that 2012 be declared European Year of
Active Citizenship through Volunteering, to provide a focus for
the promotion of volunteering and the implementation of initia-
tives to address issues as raised in this Opinion;

Brussels, 7 February 2008.

42.
recognises that due to the horizontal nature of volun-
teering in the framework of EU policies and its importance in
relation to EU activities in various sectors, that there is a need
for greater co-ordination of existing policies and activities to
successfully engage with the issues raised in this Opinion;

43.
encourages the European Parliament to be more proac-
tive in dealing with the horizontal nature of volunteering.
Furthermore, a single entry point within the European Commis-
sion may help to develop the potential that volunteering has in
various policy areas, beyond the citizenship and youth affairs
arena;

pledges its support to furthering the recommendations
in this Opinion in partnership with the European

44.
set out
Parliament and the European Commission, where relevant.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Luc VAN DEN BRANDE