Commission staff working document accompanying the Proposal for a recommendation of the Council on mobility of young volunteers across Europe - Summary of the impact assessment {COM(2008) 424} {SEC(2008) 2174}
Date: 2008-07-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, free movement of persons, student mobility, vocational training

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 3.7.2008 
SEC(2008) 2175 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  

accompanying the  

Proposal for a 

RECOMMENDATION OF THE COUNCIL 

on mobility of young volunteers across Europe 

SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

{COM(2008) 424} 
{SEC(2008) 2174} 

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 

Cross-border mobility of young volunteers in the European Union is low. Young people who 
wish to volunteer abroad in Europe do not have enough opportunities to do so.  

This  is  why  the  proposed  initiative  aims  at  enhancing  the  mobility  of  young  volunteers 
throughout  Europe.  Positive  side  effects  will  be  enhanced  opportunities  for  non-formal 
education and increased employability, competitiveness, social inclusion and citizenship. The 
initiative concerns young people in the European Union under 30 years of age who wish to 
volunteer  in  a  country  other  than  their  own.  Its  scope  covers  voluntary  activities  clearly 
distinguished  from  employment conducted  abroad  during  a  limited  period  of  time,  typically 
several  months,  as  described  by  the  Commission  Communication  "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" of 20041.  

The  situation  of  youth  volunteering  is  fragmented  in  the  Member  States.  It  includes  civic 
services organised by public authorities as well as civil society-organised volunteering. In its 
proposal the Commission strives for a solution that allows all existing volunteering systems to 
interoperate. 

Large  consultation  exercises  with  stakeholders,  volunteering  and  youth  organisations,  and 
Member States preceded the proposed initiative. The results of these consultations have been 
taken on board of the proposal as far as possible. Recently issued opinions of the European 
Parliament2,  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee3  and  the  Committee  of  the 
Regions4 have been taken into account. 

While the primary objective of the proposed initiative is to enhance mobility of young cross-
border  volunteers,  specific  objectives  are  to  improve  the  knowledge  of  cross-border 
opportunities  of  volunteering  for  young  people,  increase  exchange  opportunities  for  young 
volunteers,  assure  a  reasonable  level  of  quality,  promote  skills  and  competence  acquired  by 
young volunteers, target youth workers in their support of young cross-border volunteers and 
encourage young people with fewer opportunities to volunteer abroad. 

The  Commission  analysed  four  options  in  order  to  verify  which  one  would  allow  to  reach 
these objectives best: keeping the status quo, improvement of the interoperability of existing 
systems  in  the  Member  States,  extension  of  the  European  Voluntary  Service  (EVS)  or  the 
harmonisation of national youth volunteering schemes. While clinging to the status quo would 
not  bring  about  any  improvement,  an  extension  of  EVS  would  be  too  expensive,  and 
harmonisation is ruled out by the Treaty. This leaves only one feasible option, improvement 
of the interoperability of existing systems in the Member States, which allows for realising all 
objectives. 

Interoperability  in  this  context  means  that  national  voluntary  systems  open  up  opportunities 
for  volunteers  from  other  Member  States  and  keep  their  specific  needs  in  mind  when 

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COM(2004) 337 final, Brussels, of 30 May 2004 
REGI/6/50546, 2007/2149, of 21 April 2008 
SOC 243, of 13 December 2006  
ECOS-IV-017, of 6-7 February 2008 

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designing  their  activities.  This  could  be  done  through  better  knowledge  of  national  systems 
and  on  civil  society  organisations,  support  to  the  hosting  organisations  in  the  country, 
information  towards  young  people,  youth  workers  and  youth  leaders  about  opportunities 
abroad, and highlighting the value of European youth mobility cards. These efforts would be 
supported  by  a  "quality  assurance"  of  volunteering  opportunities,  adaptation  of  learning 
outcomes  to  national  and  European  qualification  frameworks,  the  use  of  Europass  and 
Youthpass,  and  the  promotion  of  trans-European  youth  volunteering  towards  employers, 
authorities, institutions, etc.. The Commission would support the use of these instruments and 
develop further the European Young Volunteers' Portal as part of the existing Youth Portal.  

To get the appropriate impact, the proposed legal form for this option is a Recommendation. 
A  Council  Recommendation  would  involve  Member  States  to  a  greater  extent  than  a 
Commission Recommendation and is expressly foreseen in the legal basis, Article 149 (4) of 
the Treaty.  

For  the  youth  field  this  would  be  a  quantum  leap  forward,  as  this  will  be  the  first  Council 
Recommendation. The ambition of the proposal is not to bring about radical change but rather 
an  evolution  of  mechanisms  already  existing  within  Member  States.  Based  on  existing 
Resolutions5  on  youth  volunteering  and  mobility  Recommendations6,  the  goal  is  to  propose 
operative  recommendations  towards  improved  mobility  of  young  volunteers  in  Europe.  The 
Recommendation  will  be  part  of  the  EU's  "Renewed  Social  Agenda:  Opportunities,  Access 
and Solidarity in 21st Century Europe".  

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13996/04 of 15 November 2004 and 14427/07 of 19 November 2007  
2001/613/EC of 10 July 2001 and 2006/961/EC of 18 December 2006 

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