Commission staff working document accompanying the proposal for a recommendation of the Council on mobility of young volunteers across Europe - Impact assessment {COM(2008) 424} {SEC(2008) 2175}
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, 3.7.2007 
SEC(2008) 2174 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  

accompanying the  

Proposal for a 

RECOMMENDATION OF THE COUNCIL 

on mobility of young volunteers across Europe 

IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

{COM(2008) 424} 
{SEC(2008) 2175} 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

1.1. 

1.2. 

1.3. 

1.4. 

1.5. 

1.6. 

1.7. 

1.8. 

Procedural issues.......................................................................................................... 4 

Lead service ................................................................................................................. 4 

Other involved services................................................................................................ 4 

Reference to the Commission Work Programme 2008................................................ 4 

Roadmap ...................................................................................................................... 4 

Impact Assessment Board ............................................................................................ 5 

Legal basis.................................................................................................................... 5 

Inter-service consultation meetings.............................................................................. 6 

Introduction to the Impact Assessment Report ............................................................ 6 

1.8.1.  Purpose......................................................................................................................... 6 

1.8.2.  Background .................................................................................................................. 7 

1.9. 

Purpose of the impact assessment report ..................................................................... 8 

1.10.  Main sources of information and consultations ........................................................... 8 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

problem definition........................................................................................................ 8 

Description of the situation in the Member States ....................................................... 8 

Underlying motives.................................................................................................... 10 

2.3.  Why is it a problem? .................................................................................................. 10 

2.3.1.  Consequences for the European Union ...................................................................... 10 

2.3.2.  Consequences for the Member States ........................................................................ 11 

2.3.3.  Consequences for the target groups ........................................................................... 11 

2.4.  Why the EU should act .............................................................................................. 12 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

4. 

4.1. 

4.2. 

4.3. 

4.4. 

Objectives................................................................................................................... 12 

General objective ....................................................................................................... 12 

Specific objectives ..................................................................................................... 12 

Policy options............................................................................................................. 13 

Option 1: Status quo................................................................................................... 14 

Option 2: Improving the interoperability of existing schemes in the Member States 15 

Option 3: Expansion of the European Voluntary Service.......................................... 17 

Option 4: Harmonisation of national youth volunteering schemes............................ 17 

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5. 

5.1. 

5.2. 

5.3. 

6. 

6.1. 

6.2. 

6.3. 

6.4. 

6.5. 

Comparison of the Different Options and Their Expected Impacts........................... 18 

Likely economic, social and environmental impacts ................................................. 18 

Impacts outside of the EU .......................................................................................... 18 

Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 19 

Stakeholders Consultations and Evidence Material................................................... 19 

Results of stakeholder consultation............................................................................ 19 

Results of Member State consultation........................................................................ 20 

Evaluation of the European Voluntary Service.......................................................... 21 

Eurobarometer............................................................................................................ 21 

Contributions of other European institutions ............................................................. 22 

6.5.1.  European Parliament .................................................................................................. 22 

6.5.2.  European Economic and Social Committee............................................................... 22 

6.5.3.  Committee of the Regions.......................................................................................... 22 

7. 

Monitoring system ..................................................................................................... 23 

7.1. 

Indicators.................................................................................................................... 23 

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1. 

PROCEDURAL ISSUES 

1.1. 

Lead service  

Directorate-General for Education and Culture, Youth Policy Unit (DG EAC.D1). 

1.2. 

Other involved services 

The  other  service  involved  are:  SG;  LS;  BEPA;  EMPL;  JLS;  ESTAT;  JLS;  DEV; 
AIDCO; ECHO; REGIO; TAXUD; COMM. 

1.3. 

Reference to the Commission Work Programme 2008  

The proposed Recommendation on Mobility of Young Volunteers across Europe will 
be part of the EU's "Renewed Social Agenda: Opportunities, Access and Solidarity in 
21st Century Europe".  

1.4. 

Roadmap 

2007 

ROADMAP 

2007 - 2008 

Adoption  of  Commission  Communication 
"Promoting  Young  People's  Full  Participation 
in  Education,  Employment  and  Society" 
announcing  a  new 
initiative  on  youth 
volunteering  

5 September 

Adoption  of  Council  Resolution  on  Voluntary 
Activities of Young People 

19 November 

2008 

Adoption  of  the  opinion  of  the  Committee  of 
the  Regions  (Declan  and  Donnell)  on  the 
contribution  of  volunteering  to  social  and 
economic cohesion  

6 February 

Meeting of EP interest group on volunteering  

13 February 

Stakeholder consultation 

Consultation of Member States 

Meeting  of  Directors-General 
Slovene Presidency, Brdo, Slovenia 

for  Youth, 

25 February 

13 March 

21 April  

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Adoption of MEP Harkin's report on the value 
of volunteering 

23 April  

Adoption by the Commission 

2  July,  as  part  of  the  EU's  "Renewed  Social 
Agenda:  Opportunities,  Access  and  Solidarity 
in 21st Century Europe"  

Seminar  on  youth  volunteering,  French 
Presidency, Lyon, France  

3-5 September 

Seminar  of  Italy  on  international  aspect  of 
youth volunteering 

11-13 September 

Seminar on civic services, AVSO1 and IANYS2  November  

Council of Youth Ministers 

20 November 

2009 

Seminar  on  volunteering  and  non-formal 
learning, Czech Presidency 

March 2009 

1.5. 

Impact Assessment Board 

This impact assessment was sent to the Impact Assessment Board on 30 April 2008. 
On  21  May  2008  representatives  of  DG  EAC  were  invited  to  discuss  it  with  the 
Board. Further to this meeting, the Board submitted its written Opinion on 26 May.  

The Board recognised the clear presentation of results of the stakeholder consultation 
and the good explanation of how the initiative respects the subsidiarity principle. 

Further  to  the  Board's  comments,  definitions  have  been  integrated  and  the  scope, 
content and legalities of the preferred option have been clarified. The ambition and 
its  added  value  in  relation  to  other  initiatives  in  the  field  of  the  proposed  initiative 
have been explained and costs have been estimated for each option. 

The  difference  between  primary  objectives  (mobility  and  interoperability)  and 
secondary effects (education and employability, competitiveness and citizenship) has 
also been accentuated. 

1.6. 

Legal basis 

The legal basis for proposing a new initiative on voluntary activities of young people 
is  Article  149  (4)  of  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Community,  which  also 
provides  the  legal  basis  for  the  Youth  in  Action  Programme  and  its  Action  2,  the 
European Voluntary Service (EVS).  

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2 

Association of Volunteering Organisations 
International Association for National Youth Service 

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1.7. 

Inter-service consultation meetings  

Two  inter-service  consultation  meetings  of  the  established  Interservice  Group  on 
Youth  Issues  with  other  services  of  the  European  Commission  took  place  on  27 
February  and  24  April  2008  with  colleagues  from  various  DGs:  SG;  LS;  BEPA; 
EMPL; JLS; ESTAT; JLS; DEV; AIDCO; ECHO; REGIO; TAXUD; COMM. Their 
comments  have  been  taken  into  account  in  the  proposal  and  in  the  impact 
assessment.  

1.8. 

Introduction to the Impact Assessment Report  

1.8.1.  Purpose 

This initiative is addressed to 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  conducted  abroad  during  a  limited  period  of  time,  typically 
several  months  in  areas  such  as  civil  protection,  social  inclusion,  cultural 
preservation,  regional  development  and  environment.  They  are  described  by  the 
Commission  Communication  of  20043  as  voluntary  engagement  in  another  country 
that is characterised by the following aspects: open to all young people, undertaken 
by  own  free  will,  fixed  period,  with  clear  objectives,  structure  and  framework, 
unpaid  but  pocket  money  and  coverage  of  expenses.  Volunteering  must  be  clearly 
distinguished from employment and is no substitution for work.  

This  proposal  will  be  part  of  the  EU's  "Renewed  Social  Agenda:  Opportunities, 
Access  and  Solidarity  in  21st  century  Europe"  in  contributing  by  opening  up  new 
opportunities for mobility, non-formal education and solidarity.  

The purpose of the proposal is to promote the mobility of young people in Europe by 
inviting the Member States to remove constraints on cross-border volunteering. Such 
mobility  should  contribute  to  the  development  of  quality  education  (volunteering 
being an important form of non-formal learning), and consequently enhance Europe's 
competitiveness.  It  will  increase  solidarity  and  strengthen  a  sense  of  European 
citizenship.  Concretely,  the  initiative  aims  to  enhance  the  interoperability  between 
Member  States  of  existing  youth  volunteering  schemes,  whether  organised  by  civil 
society or public authorities. 

It  must  be  ensured  that  all  young  people  can  take  advantage  of  these  opportunities 
that are mainly - and still to an insufficient degree - taken up by students and workers 
who are often already high-skilled. In this respect the significance and added value of 
volunteering activities needs to be better appreciated.  

Volunteering  plays  an  important  role  in  the  social,  professional  and  economic 
integration  of  young  people  and  also  benefits  the  communities  they  serve.  This  is 
particularly  important  for  young  people  with  fewer  opportunities,  for  whom  this 
engagement  is  often  a  second  chance  to  acquire  new  skills  and  competences  and 
thereby  improve  their  employability.  These  benefits  are  even  greater  in  the  case  of 

3 

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, 
COM(2004) 337 final, Brussels, of 30 May 2004 

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cross-border  volunteering.  Experience  shows  that  voluntary  engagement  in  another 
country  impacts  strongly  on  a  young  person  and  his/her  personal  development  and 
also  has  the  further  added-value  of  making  him/her  a  more  attractive  candidate  for 
jobs  in  the  international  marketplace.  The  cross-border  community  in  which  the 
youth volunteers is also enriched both culturally and economically by the volunteer's 
participation and activity in that particular community. 

The  existing  national  approaches  would  be  reinforced  by  the  promotion  of  a 
European  and  cross-border  dimension  of  volunteering  by  young  people.  National 
schemes  alone  find  it,  however,  difficult  to  meet  this  specific  demand,  which 
underscores the need for better interoperability between them.  

The degree of the ambition of the proposal is not radical change but an evolution of 
already  existing  mechanisms  in  the  field  within  Member  States.  Based  on  existing 
Resolutions  on  youth  volunteering  and  mobility  Recommendations,  the  goal  is  to 
propose  operative  recommendations  for  a  quantum  leap  towards  mobility  of  young 
volunteers in Europe. 

1.8.2.  Background 

Voluntary  activities  of  young  people  have  gained  importance  at  national  and 
European level in recent years. The European Voluntary Service, an integral part of 
the  Union's  youth  programmes  since  1996,  is  constantly  undergoing  development. 
Mobility  Recommendations  of  2001  and  20064  have  already  started  a  process  of 
steadily enhancing the mobility of young volunteers in Europe. 

Following the adoption of the White Paper on Youth in 2001, Member States agreed 
on  the  application  of  the  open  method  of  coordination  and  adopted  common 
objectives in the youth field. Two Council Resolutions specific to volunteering have 
been adopted on this issue in the framework for the open method of cooperation in 
the youth field, setting and confirming common objectives for voluntary activities in 
20045 and 20076. 

In  this  context  the  Commission  carried  out  an  analysis  of  the  reports  of  Member 
States  on  the  implementation  of  the  common  objectives  for  voluntary  activities  of 
young people. In this report7 the Commission concluded that whereas some progress 
has  been  achieved,  a  committed  joint  effort  at  European  level  is  required  to  make 
further significant progress. Based on this analysis, the Commission proposed in its 
in  Education, 
Communication  "Promoting  Young  People's  Full  Potential 
Employment and Society" of 5 September 20078 to launch a consultation and impact 

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Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 10 July 2001 on mobility within the 
Community for students, persons undergoing training, volunteers, teachers and trainers, OJ L 215/30 of 
9.8.2001, and Recommendation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 
on transnational mobility within the Community for education and training purposes: European Quality 
Charter for Mobility, OJ L 394/5 of 30.12.2006 
13996/04 of 15 November 2004 
14427/07 of 19 November 2007 
Commission staff working paper "Analysis of national reports from the Member States of the European 
Union  concerning  the  implementation  of  the  common  objectives  for  voluntary  activities  of  young 
people", SEC1084(2007) of 5 September 2007 
COM(2007)498 of 5 September 2007 

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assessment  on  a  new  initiative  at  EU  level  to  promote  and  recognise  voluntary 
activities of young people. This is the purpose of the current proposal. 

In  April  2007  the  Bureau  of  European  Policy  Advisers  (BEPA)  presented  the 
reflection  paper  "Investing  in  Youth  –  An  Empowerment  Strategy"  which  outlines 
the importance of citizenship and participation as factors to increase social capital. In 
this context reference is made to volunteering as one form of youth engagement.9 

1.9. 

Purpose of the impact assessment report 

This impact assessment report aims to support a policy action at EU level to improve 
the cross-border mobility of volunteering by young people.  

The report defines the problem at stake as well as the rationale for a policy action at 
EU  level  and  addresses  the  aims  of  the  initiative  in  terms  of  general  and  specific 
objectives.  Finally  it  presents  a  range  of  different  policy  options  to  achieve  such 
objectives and an analysis and comparison of their possible impact.  

The  results  of  the  stakeholder  consultations,  as  well  as  evidence  material,  are 
presented,  and  ways  to  monitor  and  evaluate  the  implementation  of  the  proposed 
initiative are addressed. 

1.10.  Main sources of information and consultations 

The  main  sources  of  information  are  the  Member  States'  reports  on  the 
implementation  of  the  common  objectives  for  voluntary  activities  of  young  people 
and  the  Commission's  subsequent  analysis  report  as  well  as  two  consultation 
meetings with Member States. 

Findings  concerning  volunteering  in  the  Eurobarometer  survey  2007  on  youth  are 
also taken into account, as well as the evaluation of the European Voluntary Service 
(EVS).  The  outcomes  of  two  inter-service consultations of Commission services as 
well  as  the  reports  and  opinions  of  the  European  Parliament,  the  Economic  and 
Social  Committee,  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  have  also  been  taken  into 
account. 

The results of consultations of civil society as well as stakeholder documents on the 
issue  have  also  been  taken  on  board.  For  detailed  information  about  the  above 
mentioned evidence please see chapter 6 below. 

2. 

PROBLEM DEFINITION 

2.1. 

Description of the situation in the Member States 

The main responsibility for developing volunteering schemes for young people is at 
the national, regional and local level, and these activities are often managed by civil 
society.  They  are  also  characterised  by  a  diversity  of  approaches  and  players.  In 
some  Member  States,  civic  services  play  a  prominent  role.  In  other  countries 

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volunteering  is  almost  completely  implemented  by  civil  society  organisations  with 
the state being involved only in the context of the EVS. 

The current importance of volunteering at European level is underscored from recent 
developments  in  Member  States.  For  example,  Germany,  France  and  Italy  -  all  of 
which already have a civic service in place - support and develop the volunteering of 
young people for reasons  that  are also important to the European Union; that is, to 
offer youth a concrete experience of active citizenship and non-formal learning. The 
Member  States  have  expressed  interest  in  adding  a  European  dimension  via  an 
exchange of experiences supported and coordinated by the Union. 

Other  Member  States  show  interesting  developments  as  well.  The  UK  has  set  up  a 
central  coordination  body  for  voluntary  activities  of  young  people,  which  had 
otherwise been organised in a decentralised way. The Czech Republic is considering 
improving  the  legal  situation  of  young  volunteers  and  their  social  protection  in 
particular. Denmark is striving for a higher quality of voluntary activities of young 
people through a Quality Reform Programme. Luxembourg developed a new service 
called  "Service  volontaire  d'orientation"  in  the  framework  of  a  new  law  supporting 
youth volunteering. In Spain a National Volunteering Plan (2005-2009) was adopted 
that strengthens NGOs. New volunteering plans have also been adopted at regional 
level.  Lithuania  inscribed  volunteering  in  the  framework  of  the  achievement  of  the 
Lisbon  Agenda.  It  adopted  a  National  Social  Inclusion  Action  Plan  (2006-2008), 
which seeks to make volunteering more popular, motivate and train volunteers, and 
create  a  volunteering  database  and  webportal.  Ireland  created  support  opportunities 
for  volunteering,  as  shows  the  example  of  Foróige,  a  national  volunteering 
organisation, which enjoys a large variety of support from different sources. 

Given  the  national  developments  above,  the  situation  in  the  Member  States  could 
thus be described as promising but fragmented in the sense that they lack an adequate 
European cross-border dimension that could satisfy the increase in demand. 

A 2007 Eurobarometer10 survey of youth in the Member States found that while only 
16% of the interviewed young people participate in a voluntary activity, 74% would 
be  interested  in  a  volunteering  experience  if  there  were  more  programmes 
encouraging it. 

Furthermore, a 2008 survey by the Association of Voluntary Organisations (AVSO) 
of  138  volunteer  organisations  estimates  that  the  number  of  their  volunteers  has 
grown by 57% from 2007 to 200811. 

The  European  Voluntary  Service  financed  approximately  4 000 cross-border  volunteers  in 
2007, meeting three quarters of the number of requests. In that particular year it was necessary 
to  raise  the  EVS  budget  by  5%  to  the  detriment  of  other  Actions  in  the  Youth  in  Action 
Programme. EVS requests have further increased by 17% so far this year. 

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"Looking Behind the Figures: The main results of the Eurobarometer 2007 survey on youth", Office of 
Official  Publications  of  the  European  Communities,  Luxemburg,  2007,  ISBN  978-92-79-05540-9; 
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm 
Survey  of  AVSO  and  Youthnetworks;  NoBorders  Foundation,  Netherlands,  28  February  2008; 
http://www.avso.org/ 

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There are currently 96 million young people between the age of 15 and 29 in the European 
Union12.  Under  the  assumption  that  volunteering  would  reach  the  level  of  15%13  already 
attained in certain countries and that one third of these volunteers would wish to participate in 
a  transnational  volunteering  project,  this  represents  per  year  a  potential  of  320 00014  young 
people.  Even  if  only  1%  of  all  young  people  in  the  age  group  wished  to  participate  in  a 
transnational volunteering project, this would still represent 64 00015 young volunteers abroad 
per year. 

2.2. 

Underlying motives 

Currently  the  number  of  cross-border  volunteering  opportunities  is  low.  There  is  a 
lack  of  opportunities  for  trans-European  volunteering.  Where  such  opportunities 
exist,  there  is  often  a  lack  of  organisation  in  information  dissemination,  with  the 
consequence  that  young  people  who  wish  to  volunteer  abroad  in  Europe  have 
difficulties accessing the existing possibilities.  

Former  initiatives  of  the  European  Union  to  strengthen  mobility  were  the  Mobility 
Recommendations within the Mobility Charter. But these focus primarily on students 
and teachers and to a much lesser extent on volunteers. They deal with general issues 
such  as  recognition,  obstacles  and  the  conditions  of  mobility,  but  lack  tailored 
proposals  that  adequately  address  the  particular  needs  of  young  volunteers.  While 
helpful, these past initiatives should not be seen as an obstacle to further progress in 
promoting mobility for youth volunteers.  

While EVS is well accepted by young people, its budget is limited and it has yet to 
achieve wide brand recognition as, for example, the ERASMUS programme.  

The  European  Parliament  recognised  the  problem  of  lack  of  interoperability  of 
national schemes for volunteering of young people at European level, and proposed 
some preparatory measures in the 2008 budget for improving the situation through a 
project called Amicus (see chapter 6.5.1).  

2.3.  Why is it a problem? 

2.3.1.  Consequences for the European Union 

As a leading form of non-formal learning, cross-border volunteering experience can 
lead  to  enhanced  skills  and  competences  which  increase  youth  employability.  The 
lack  of  mobility  in  the  context  of  youth  volunteering  is  an  unnecessary  loss  of  EU 
competitiveness.  With  high  youth  unemployment  in  many  parts  of  the  EU16  and 
market demand for young workers particularly high in some sectors, volunteering is 
a  means  to  bridge  the  gap  between  school  education  and  employment.  Today's 
globalising  marketplace  puts  a  premium  on  people  who  are  multilingual  and 

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EUROSTAT  "Population  by  sex  and  age  on  1  January  of  each  year",  latest  update  25  April  2008, 
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu 
15.1% of young Italians are already involved in civic service. Source: "Youth Civic Service in Europe, 
Policies and Programmes: France, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland and at European level", 
edited by the Association of Voluntary Organisations (AVSO), Pisa: Plus-Pisa university press, c2005  
96.000.000 multiplied with 15% multiplied with 1/3 divided by 15 years  
96.000.000 multiplied with 1% divided by 15 years  
14,6% of young people in the EU; source: EUROSTAT, Euro-Indicators 44/2008 of 1 April 2008 

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multicultural. For creativity  and innovation to flourish, the EU's youth should have 
the  widest  of  opportunities  to  broaden  their  horizons  and  realise  their  human 
potential.  Opening  up  more  cross-border  volunteering  opportunities  for  all  youth 
across  Europe  would  be  a  means  to  implement  the  European  Youth  Pact  and  help 
achieve the Lisbon goals.  

In the context of the final evaluation of the Youth Programme (2000-2006),17 young 
volunteers  having  participated  in  the  EVS  expressed,  among  others,  the  following 
opinions:  76%  of  them  considered  that  the  experience  had  changed  or  influenced 
their jobs and future plans and 90% of them considered that their command of one or 
more  languages  spoken  in  the  host  country  improved  as  a  consequence  of  their 
participation in a cross-border volunteering experience.  

Equally important, cross-border volunteering would contribute to the development of 
a greater sense of EU citizenship by increasing the knowledge and understanding of 
one's  neighbours.  Young  volunteers  are  a  considerable  resource  which  can  help  to 
strengthen social solidarity in Europe and their activities could be put to assist other 
EU policy goals such as civil protection, social inclusion, regional development and 
the environment seeing young people do "good works" would also help to turn what 
is  often  a  negative  image  of  youth  in  some  national  media.  The  EU  also  needs  to 
raise awareness of its value to young Europeans for the EU project to move forward.  

In the context of the evaluation of the Youth in Action Programme mentioned above, 
80%  of  young  volunteers  having  participated  in  the  EVS  considered  that  their 
participation  in  general  made  them  more  active  in  youth,  societal  or  political 
organisations and 77% considered that, after having carried out their project, they felt 
more responsible for helping people in other countries. 

2.3.2.  Consequences for the Member States 

Welcoming more youth volunteers from other Member States, in turn, contributes to 
the development and cultural richness of the local communities they serve. Member 
States  lose  out  on  a  valuable  opportunity  to  develop  the  skills  and  sense  of 
citizenship of their youth, a demographic group which in most Member States is in 
decline. Member States simply cannot afford not to make the most of a diminishing 
human asset if they wish to sustain their social model and way of life. 

2.3.3.  Consequences for the target groups 

As the latest Eurobarometer on youth shows, young people appreciate mobility and 
wish to make more out of it. Youth seek to be actively engaged in the world around 
them  during the "youthful" period of  their  lives and often wish to do so in another 
country  or culture. In  doing  so, they do not only acquire  important competences to 
enter  the  labour  market,  such  as  language  skills,  but  they  also  win  self-esteem 
through  acts  of  solidarity.  But  current  opportunities  are  still  limited  and  far  from 
achieving their great potential. 

Youth workers try to promote volunteering not without a certain success. But when 
they  wish  to  launch  cross-border  voluntary  activities,  they  face  a  number  of 

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challenges. They lack information about volunteering abroad, they lack training for 
the specific requirements of trans-European volunteering and their mobility needs to 
be  increased  in  order  to  allow  them  to  better  understand  the  situation  in  other 
countries than their own. 

2.4.  Why the EU should act 

Youth volunteering is a domain where the subsidiarity principle applies and Member 
the 
States  have 
internationalisation  of  volunteering  is  a  difficult  task  for  any  national  voluntary 
system.  

to  develop  actions.  Yet 

the  principal 

responsibility 

Individual Member States are less effective to solve alone the problems linked to the 
challenge of trans-European youth volunteering. It is at EU level that an overview of 
the different situations in the Member States exists. Therefore part of the solution can 
best be proposed at EU level, which, given its knowledge of the problem and needs 
common  to  all  Member  States  and  of  the  various  national  youth  volunteering 
situations,  can  propose  some  elements  of  the  solution  that  are  matched  to  the 
Member States' possibilities, thereby respecting the proportionality of the proposal. 

Mobility  is  at  the  very  core  of  European  affairs,  and  experience,  as  in  previous 
examples  of  reinforced  mobility  of  other  groups  of  population  (workers,  students, 
etc.)  shows  that  it  is  clearly  at  the  level  of  the  EU  that  action  is  appropriate  and 
effective. 

3. 

OBJECTIVES  

3.1. 

General objective 

The general objective of the proposed initiative is to promote the mobility of young 
people  so  that  they  have  the  opportunity  to  volunteer  anywhere  in  Europe  if  they 
wish  to  do  so.  Better  education,  employability,  competitiveness  and  citizenship  are 
all side effects of this primary objective.  

3.2. 

Specific objectives  

Specific  objective  1:  To  improve  the  knowledge  of  national  youth  volunteering 
schemes and cross-border opportunities of volunteering for young people 

There is a need to improve the knowledge of the national schemes and cross-border 
opportunities  of  volunteering  for  young  people  and  transfer  this  information  to  the 
European  Commission  for  further  dissemination  in  order  to  achieve  a  global  and 
coherent view of the situation at national and European levels. In addition, exchange 
of information and good practices should be reinforced between Member States. 

Specific objective 2: To increase exchange opportunities for young volunteers  

The number of cross-border exchanges of young volunteers need to be increased. In 
order  to  do  so,  more  opportunities  of  hosting  and  sending  organisations  need  to  be 
created. It would be necessary for the hosting and sending organisations to liaise with 

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their  counterparts  in  other  countries.  Greater  linkages  and  contacts  between  the 
European, regional and local level should be developed.  

Specific objective 3: To assure a reasonable level of quality  

Civil society flags a need for improved quality of youth volunteering. To respond to 
this  demand  regarding  cross-border  volunteering  activities,  some  basic  quality 
requirements should be developed and implemented according to the specificities of 
each Member State: the quality of organisations involved in volunteering; training of 
volunteers  and  staff;  activity  preparation  and  accompaniment;  voluntary  activities 
themselves and their tracking and follow-up. Member States should address also the 
issue of lack of adequate social protection provisions for young volunteers that could 
act as a disincentive to their mobility. 

Specific  objective  4:  To  promote  skills  and  competence  acquired  by  young 
volunteers  

Skills  and  competences  acquired  in  trans-European  volunteering  should  be 
recognised  appropriately  in  order  to  facilitate  school  reintegration  and/or  improve 
employability  of  young  volunteers.  European-wide  recognised  instruments  such  as 
the  European  Qualification  Framework  (EQF),  Europass  for  CVs  and  self-
assessment modules and Youthpass for certificates, should be used more. In this way 
the contribution of trans-European voluntary activities to economic integration would 
be strengthened and made more visible for employers and public institutions. 

Specific  objective  5:  To  target  cross-border  support  for  youth  workers  and  young 
people with fewer opportunities for mobility 

Youth workers  

Training  and  qualification  of  youth  workers  dealing  with  cross-border  volunteers 
should  be  improved  and  linked  to  the  EQF.  Mobility  of  youth  workers  aimed  at  a 
better knowledge of other national schemes should also be encouraged.  

Young people with fewer opportunities for mobility 

Volunteering  constitutes  a  particularly  valuable  possibility  of  mobility  for  those 
young people who benefit less, or not at all, of mobility schemes. It would therefore 
be  an  interesting  instrument  for  young  people  with  fewer  opportunities,  but  these 
young  people  have  specific  needs  that  must  be  taken  into  account.  Young  people 
with fewer opportunities for mobility are understood to be young people, who are not 
enrolled at university and those who are low-skilled.  

4. 

POLICY OPTIONS  

In  the  following  different  options  are  presented.  After  a  short  description  of  the 
option, its impact is evaluated according to its ability to fulfil the general and specific 
objectives and its estimated costs. 

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4.1. 

Option 1: Status quo 

Description 

The  status  quo  is  based  the  open  method  of  coordination,  EVS  and  the  Mobility 
Recommendations.  

The  open  method  of  coordination  (OMC)  focuses  on  the  definition  of  common 
objectives to improve volunteering of young people within Member States. It aims at 
developing,  facilitating  promoting  and  recognising  voluntary  activities  of  young 
people within the Member States.  

EVS offers cross-border volunteering opportunities to a restricted number of young 
people (see option 3 and chapter 6.3).  

The  Mobility  Recommendations  focus  primarily  on  students  and  teachers  and  to  a 
much lesser extent on volunteers. They deal with general issues and do not take the 
specific needs of young volunteers into account.  

Impact 

The  OMC  common  objectives  on  volunteering,  EVS  and 
the  Mobility 
Recommendations,  have  all  brought  about  good  results  but  demonstrate  some 
limitations. 

The definition and follow-up of common objectives helped raise awareness about the 
importance of volunteering of young people in Members States and to develop new 
national  schemes.  Pressing  obstacles  still  persist  and  trans-European  cross-border 
mobility is weakly developed. Apart from a few bilateral agreements EVS has been 
successful  and  the  number  of  applications  already  exceeds  budgetary  and 
organisational  possibilities.  The  current  financial  and  organisational  equipment  of 
EVS falls short of demand. 

The Mobility Recommendations have proven to be useful but insufficient. They also 
lack tailored proposals that would adequately address the particular needs of young 
volunteers.  

Amicus, the pilot project described in chapter 2.2., for which  preparatory  measures 
are  underway,  is  a  one-shot  approach  and  a  demonstration  of  the  existing  need  for 
more  cross-border  volunteering.  It  might  help  achieve  the  objectives,  but  is  not  a 
comprehensive and sustainable solution in itself. 

Costs 

The  current  situation  would  entail  no  additional  cost,  neither  for  the  Union  nor  at 
national level. 

Conclusion 

Concluding  it  can  be  said  that  the  status  quo  might  allow  some  improvements 
concerning the specific objectives regarding knowledge, recognition and quality, but 
it  is  not  appropriate  to  reach  the  general  objectives,  as  it  does  not  permit  to  do  the 

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qualitative and quantum leap which is necessary to increase the cross-border mobility 
of  young  volunteers  in  Europe.  It  would  neither  have  any  additional  effect  on 
competitiveness,  citizenship  and  solidarity.  The  status  quo  could  satisfy  a  limited 
number of Member States not having a much elaborated state national scheme. 

4.2. 

Option  2:  Improving  the  interoperability  of  existing  schemes  in  the  Member 
States 

Description 

This  option  aims  at  improving  the  interoperability  between  the  existing  national 
youth volunteering schemes, whether organised by civil society or public authorities 
in  the  Member  States  through  a  variety  of  measures.  The  aim  is  for  national 
voluntary schemes to open up "slots" for volunteers from other Member States and to 
keep  the  specific  needs  of  such  "visiting  volunteers"  in  mind  when  designing  their 
activities. 

Better  knowledge  of  national  schemes  and  on  civil  society  organisations  could  be 
stored with the European Commission for further dissemination.  

Other  assets  would  be  support  to  the  hosting  organisations  in  the  country, 
information  towards  young  people,  youth  workers  and  youth  leaders  about 
opportunities  abroad,  and  highlight  of  the  value  of  and  promote  much  more  the 
European  youth/mobility  cards,  which  allow  a  variety  of  discounts  on 
accommodation,  travel,  culture,  sport,  etc..  Promotion  of  a  form  of  "quality 
assurance"  to  protect  volunteers  going  cross-border  and  encourage  participation  in 
schemes unfamiliar to youth elsewhere would be another cornerstone of this option. 
Quality  assurance  would  also  comprise  information  about  requirements  to  hosting 
and  sending  organisations  and  would  address  issues  of  social  protection  for 
volunteers going abroad. 

–  Greater importance would be attributed to the adaptation of learning outcomes of 
youth  volunteering  to  national  and  European  qualification  frameworks  or  their 
equivalent, the promotion of the use of Europass for trans-European volunteering 
of  young  people,  the  development  of  a  certificate  based  on  Youthpass  or 
equivalent  and  the  promotion  of  trans-European  volunteering  of  young  people 
towards employers, authorities, institutions, etc. 

A specific focus would be on youth workers and youth leaders, their information and 
training  in  organisations,  local  authorities  and  civic  services  about  trans-European 
volunteering of young people. Trans-European mobility of youth workers and youth 
leaders themselves would be encouraged as well as targeted cross-border support for 
youth with fewer opportunities. 

Under  this  option  the  Commission  would  be  able  to  support  the  Member  States' 
efforts by enhancing access to volunteering opportunities via the further development 
of the European Young Volunteers' Portal as part of the existing Youth Portal. The 
Commission will also have an important role concerning the recognition of voluntary 
activities of young people via EU instruments like EQF, Europass and Youth Pass.  

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In this option, EVS shall continue as a stimulating programme (not mass programme) 
of cross-border volunteering and as a laboratory for testing quality, recognition and 
support improvements.  

This  option  will  complement  existing  Recommendations  on  mobility,  which  lack 
tailored proposals that adequately address the particular needs of young volunteers, 
and  Resolutions  on  youth  volunteering  that  focus  on  voluntary  activities  within  the 
Member States and lack cross-border provisions.  

To  get  the  appropriate  impact,  the  proposed  legal  form  for  this  option  is  a 
Recommendation. A Commission Recommendation, though legally possible, would 
not have more impact than option 1 (status quo), as a Commission Recommendation 
would only engage the Commission and not involve the Member States as much as a 
Council  Recommendation  would  do.  A  Council  Recommendation  would  have  the 
advantage  of  replying  to  both  these  requirements  and  is  expressly  foreseen  in  the 
legal basis, Article 149 (4) of the Treaty.  

Taking into account that the main effort to increase mobility of young volunteers has 
to  be  made  by  Member  States,  such  a  Council  Recommendation  appears  most 
appropriate.  

Impact 

This option would take a qualitative and quantitative leap forward in order to allow 
for  a  significant  development  of  young  people's  mobility  through  volunteering  in 
Europe,  with  numerous  positive  consequences  on  their  education,  employability, 
competitiveness, and citizenship. It would also allow developing solidarity further in 
Europe,  which  is  particularly  important  given  the  social  reality  of  demographic 
development  and  the  growing  intergenerational  gap.  It  respects  subsidiarity  as  it  is 
based on existing national schemes.  

The complexity of the operation is however not to be underestimated. This is why a 
progressive implementation should be envisaged.  

Costs 

The  budgetary  impact  at  national  level  would  be  limited  to  the  costs  linked  to  the  greater 
interaction of national schemes. On the basis of the current experience of EVS, the travel and 
training  costs  related  to  the  linguistic  preparation  of  the  volunteer  can  be  estimated  at 
1 000 EUR  per  volunteer,  with  the  other  costs  being  neutralised  on  the  basis  of  reciprocity. 
On  the  hypothesis  of  64 000 young  cross-border  volunteers  (see  point  2.1),  this  would 
represent a global cost of around 64 MioEURO per year spread across 27 Member States and 
NGOs, depending on their capacity and interest. A part of this budget would also be covered 
by  existing  cross-border  activities.  On  the  side  of  the  EU  budget,  the  cost  for  the  portal  is 
already covered by the Youth in Action Programme. 

Conclusion 

Concluding it can be stated that this option appears to best meet the general objective 
of  mobility  and  the  specific  objectives  of  knowledge,  exchange  opportunities, 
quality, promotion of skills and competences and targeted support for youth workers 
and young people with fewer opportunities. 

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4.3. 

Option 3: Expansion of the European Voluntary Service  

Description 

This  option  would  be  the  expansion  of  EVS  as  a  universal  service,  offering  each 
young  person  who  wishes  it  the  opportunity  to  carry  out  a  trans-border  voluntary 
experience. This would be organised and paid by the European Union. 

Impact 

This  option  would  have  the  advantage  of  offering  a  quality  European  volunteering 
service  to  each  young  European  resident  who  wishes  for  it.  It  would  require  an 
enormous  organisational  and  administrative  body  at  EU  level  and  would  need  a 
significantly higher budget.  

This  option  would  allow  reaching  the  general  objective  of  mobility.  It  would  have 
positive  consequences  in  terms  of  education,  competitiveness,  citizenship  and 
solidarity,  but  it  would  only  lead  to  a  partial  realisation  of  the  specific  objectives, 
namely of quality, recognition and support for youth workers and young people with 
fewer  opportunities,  but  not  the  one  on  knowledge  of  national  situations.  Another 
important  drawback  would  be  the  risk  of  reducing  the  diversity  of  schemes  that 
currently  exist  in  Europe,  which  is  one  of  the  main  characteristics  of  the  voluntary 
sector that should be preserved and valorised. 

Costs 

This  option  would  entail  additional  costs  for  the  budget  of  the  Union.  On  the 
hypothesis  of  64 000 young  volunteers  abroad  per  year  see  point  2.1),  this  would 
represent a cost of around 640 MioEUR18 per year for the budget of the Union, to be 
compared  to  the  current  budget  of  36 MioEUR  for  EVS.  Such  expenses  are 
obviously not compatible with the budgetary framework of the financial perspectives 
for the period 2007-2013.  

Conclusion 

It can be concluded that this option does not appear to be feasible for practical and 
financial reasons. 

4.4. 

Option 4: Harmonisation of national youth volunteering schemes 

Description 

This  option  would  target  a  Regulation  aligning  the  existing  national  youth 
volunteering schemes, with a view to inciting Member States to create civic services. 
A civic service is a voluntary service managed by the State or on behalf of the State.  

Impact 

18 

EVS cost +/- 10 000 EURO per volunteer 

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17 

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If all Member States had civic services in place, the interchange of young volunteers 
would  be  easy.  The  States  would  be  in  charge,  the  structures  would  be  the  same, 
support  as  well  as  information  would  be  centralised.  This  option  would  allow 
reaching  the  fixed  general  and  specific  objectives  in  terms  of  mobility  and 
interoperability  with  positive  consequences  in  terms  of  education,  competitiveness, 
citizenship  and  solidarity,  but  does  not  appear  to  be  feasible  for  reasons  of 
subsidiarity.  The  Treaty  expressly  excludes  harmonisation  measures.  In  addition 
Member  States  object  a  harmonisation  in  this  field  because  they  all  have  different 
and diverse youth voluntary schemes.  

Costs 

Costs have not been estimated  

Conclusion 

This  option  has  been  discarded  for  a  lack  of  EU  competence  and  respect  for 
subsidiarity. 

5. 

COMPARISON OF THE DIFFERENT OPTIONS AND THEIR EXPECTED IMPACTS 

5.1. 

Likely economic, social and environmental impacts 

While  the  option  "status  quo"  would  have  a  limited  economic,  social  and 
environmental  impact,  other  options  would  be  designed  to  have  positive  social 
impacts  not  only  for  the  young  volunteer  in  question,  but  also  for  society.  In  this 
respect, it should be noted that in particular young people with fewer opportunities of 
mobility would benefit and enjoy social (re)integration through such volunteering.  

Options 2, 3 and 4 would also improve the young volunteers' economic integration as 
described  before.  Europe's  Internal  Market  needs  a  more  skilled,  competent, 
multilingual and mobile workforce.  

Apart from economic and social impacts, option 2, 3 and 4 could also trigger positive 
environmental impacts, as one of the domains proposed for the opening up of more 
opportunities for young volunteers is that of the environmental and civil protection. 

The option "Expansion of EVS" would have a negative economic impact for the EU, 
as it would be very expensive to step up the budgetary means for a European-level 
quality youth volunteering service. 

5.2. 

Impacts outside of the EU 

Positive spill-over effects could also be expected in the area of external relations as 
better  interoperability  of  national  schemes  and  more  information  sharing  may 
stimulate  young  Europeans  to  engage  more  in  volunteering  in  third  countries  and 
allow more exchanges with third countries.  

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The  conditions  of  admission  of  third-country  nationals  for  the  purposes  of  studies, 
pupil  exchange,  unremunerated  training  or  voluntary  service  are  set  out  by  in  a 
Council  Directive19,  which  provides  the  possibility  of  granting  special  residence 
permits  to  third-country  volunteers.  While  students,  pupils  and  trainees  obtain  visa 
more easily, Member States are free to decide applying the Directive also to young 
volunteers.  In  this  context  Member  States  should  consider  applying  the  Directive 
also to young volunteers in the same way as to students. 

5.3. 

Conclusions 

Concluding it can be stated that by comparing the different options, option 2 should 
be  considered  as  the  preferred  option  in  order  to  better  achieve  the  full  range  of 
objectives.  

No  negative  economic,  social  and  environmental  effects  are  expected,  on  the 
contrary, there will be a positive economic, social and environmental impact. 

CRITERIA 

OPTION 1  OPTION 2  OPTION 3 

1. Impact on: 

Mobility 

Competitiveness 

Citizenship 

Solidarity 

2. Feasibility 

3. Subsidiarity 

4. Proportionality 

low 

low 

low 

low 

yes 

yes 

no 

high 

high 

high 

high 

yes 

yes 

yes 

high 

high 

high 

high 

no 

no 

no 

Administrative  costs  related  to  the  preferred  option  will  be  limited  to  those  of  the 
reporting exercise (every four years). 

6. 

STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTATIONS AND EVIDENCE MATERIAL 

6.1. 

Results of stakeholder consultation 

In  February  2008,  a  stakeholder  consultation  of  17  European  level  umbrella  youth 
and  volunteering  organisations  and  national  youth  and  volunteering  organisations 
took  place.  At  this  meeting,  it  became  clear  that  civil  society  counts  on  the 
Commission to take action in order to facilitate and improve the situation of young 

19 

2004/114/EC of 13 December 2004  

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volunteers.  They  also  confirmed  the  challenges  identified  by  the  Commission  and 
expect that the most pressing obstacles to volunteering, such as social protection and 
visa difficulties, be solved, that the quality of youth volunteering be improved, and 
that voluntary activities be better recognised. They are ready to assume a more active 
role in implementing the new initiative. To this end they would need more support 
from Member States. 

Following this meeting, some of the organisations present delivered their comments 
in writing to the Commission. Among those were the most important and powerful 
EU  umbrella  volunteering  organisations,  such  as  the  Association  of  Voluntary 
Organisations  (AVSO)  and  the  European  Centre  of  Volunteering  (CEV).  CEV 
underlines  the  need  for  a  closer  cooperation  between  volunteering  at  local  and 
European  level,  while  AVSO  calls  for  new  innovative  volunteering  partnerships  in 
the Member States. AVSO is also in favour of an EU approach with a view to life-
long volunteering. This argument is also supported by CEV. Both NGOs regret the 
lack  of  professional  approach  of  some  volunteering  organisations.  AVSO  points  at 
the  incompatibility  of  volunteering  with  unemployment  benefits  as  great  obstacle. 
The recognition of volunteering through EU instruments was strongly supported by 
both NGOs.  

The  European  Youth  Forum  (EYF)  also  confirmed 
to  have  a 
Recommendation adopted by the EU in order to add European value to the voluntary 
activities of young people. They insisted that the Recommendation should cover all 
kinds  of  national  schemes  and  not  only  national  civic  services.  They  requested  a 
European Framework for the Rights of Volunteers and to base the quality assurance 
on a self-assessment tool. 

the  need 

6.2. 

Results of Member State consultation 

The national reports of Member States on youth volunteering of 2006/2007 show that 
all Member States support voluntary activities of young people. The support can be 
political, legal or financial. France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the UK have made it 
a political priority of the government. Those countries that have a voluntary service 
in place also have a legal basis. All Member States have increased financial support 
for volunteering. The financial support takes the form either of support for voluntary 
organisations  and  their  networks,  for  volunteering  programmes  or  for  specific 
measures  like  training.  Altogether  the  reports  show  that,  while  good  results  were 
reached at national level, the interoperability between the national schemes needs to 
be improved. The objective of the open method of coordination is to improve youth 
volunteering  at  national  level,  but  it  did  not  touch  upon  cross-border  volunteering. 
For this a new instrument is needed. For many Member States, EVS is the main (or 
the only) tool of trans-European youth volunteering. Member States praise EVS but 
recognise  its  limited  outreach  due  to  budgetary  and  organisational  constraints  as 
there are many more young people than volunteering opportunities under EVS. Only 
few Member States have established trans-border volunteering. 

Some  Member  States  have  trans-border  volunteering  limited  to  the  field  of 
development cooperation; as for example Sweden and Denmark. One Member State, 
Austria, is starting to develop a small trans-border volunteering programme. 

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Altogether  it  can  be  concluded  that  there  is  a  wish  and  need  for  more  mobility  in 
youth volunteering but that so far achievements in this direction are very limited. 

In  March  2008  the  Commission  organised  a  consultation  meeting  with  Member 
States.  There  was  a  consensus  on  the  importance  among  the  Member  States  of  the 
mobility and interoperability concept presented by the Commission. Member States' 
concerns were about respect for the diversity of national youth volunteering schemes. 
On  21  April  2008  the  Commission's  ideas  were  discussed  with  the  Member  States' 
Directors-General  for  Youth.  Many  Member  States  expressed  their  support,  and  no 
objections were made to the Commission's proposals. On the contrary Member States 
were  interested  by  the  idea  of  creating  greater  interoperability  of  national  youth 
volunteering  schemes  and  a  better  mobility  for  young  volunteers.  There  was 
confirmation  that  it  would  be  important  to  tackle  social  obstacles  to  youth 
volunteering. 

6.3. 

Evaluation of the European Voluntary Service 

An  evaluation  of  the  EVS  was  part  of  the  final  evaluation  of  the  former  Youth 
Programme (2000-2006)20. In general this programme is considered by the evaluators 
to  have  been  very  successful  in  improving  young  participants’  citizenship 
competencies, especially when it comes to attitudes, communication and social skills. 
The feeling of being a European citizen as indicated by the young people was already 
relatively high among participants prior to the start of the activity, but the percentage 
increased quite considerably after participation (from 70% to 85-90%). The attitude 
towards  Europe  also  became  more  positive  due  to  participation  in  the  programme, 
especially for ex-EVS participants from new Member States. The evaluators consider 
the programme to be effective in these aspects. They also note that the effectiveness 
of the programme on employability has been higher for EVS than for other Actions. 
Ex-EVS participants report a very positive effect on their employability, especially in 
terms  of  job  orientation  (62%  of  the  EVS  participants  state  that  participation 
influenced their professional career, while 56% indicated it has given them better job 
opportunities). 

6.4. 

Eurobarometer 

The Eurobarometer survey on youth of 200721 confirms that for 90% of the consulted 
young  people  the  European  Union  means  freedom  to  travel,  to  study  and  to  work 
elsewhere. The meaning of "being a citizen of the European Union" is for 77% of the 
respondents  the  right  to  move  permanently  to  another  country.  74%  of  those 
interviewed said that they would increase their activity as citizen in society if there 
were more programmes encouraging volunteering. 

20 
21 

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/youth/2007/prog/sum_en.pdf 
"Looking Behind the Figures: The main results of the Eurobarometer 2007 survey on youth" 

EN 

21 

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6.5. 

Contributions of other European institutions 

6.5.1.  European Parliament  

In  April  2008  the  European  Parliament  adopted  the  report  on  the  "Role  of 
Volunteering in Contributing to Economic and Social Cohesion"22, prepared by MEP 
Marian Harkin. In this report the European Parliament encourages the development 
of civil society and of participative democracy by making it easier to bring Europe 
closer to its citizens. To this end it proposes the promotion, support and facilitation 
of voluntary action. The report also outlines the contribution of volunteering to social 
capital  and  to  economic  cohesion  as  well  as  its  support  of  the  Lisbon  objectives 
through the promotion of employability and social inclusion. The economic value of 
volunteering  and  its  contribution  to  social  cohesion,  intergenerational  support, 
integration, intercultural dialogue and cultural development is highlighted as well as 
the role of volunteering in bridging divided societies. In the report the Commission is 
called  upon  to  investigate  the  development  of  a  common  framework  in  which 
national and local tools operate to enhance the mobility of volunteers. 

On  the  other  side,  the  European  Parliament,  as  the  EU's  budgetary  authority,  has 
introduced  a  new  preparatory  measure  in  the  field  of  youth  volunteering  into  the 
2008 budget, named Amicus. This initiative aims at facilitating the interoperability of 
existing  national  volunteering  schemes  in  view  of  promoting  trans-national 
volunteering.  Amicus  will  open  national  volunteering  schemes  to  trans-national 
mobility  by  offering  young  Europeans  the  possibility  to  participate  in  volunteering 
activities,  proposed  by  civil  society  or  civic  service  bodies  in  another  EU  country. 
Amicus  will  also  be  the  occasion  for  Member  States  to  deal  at  EU  level  with  the 
conditions of interoperability, such as quality standards, recognition mechanisms and 
the support of trans-European youth volunteering actions through youth work. 

6.5.2.  European Economic and Social Committee 

In  December  2006  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  adopted  an 
opinion on "Voluntary activity: its role in European society and its impact"23. In its 
opinion  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  recognises  the  need  of 
defining  volunteering.  It  makes  the  link  with  the  Lisbon  strategy  and  refers  to  the 
European  Youth  Pact.  It  calls  for  a  better  recognition  of  volunteering  and 
volunteering organisations. It also dedicates a lot of attention to the socio-economic 
role  of  volunteering  for  society  and  calls  for  the  elimination  of  obstacles  and  in 
particular  in  the  field  of  taxation,  social  security  and  insurance.  The  European 
Economic  and  Social  Committee  also  calls  for  a  closer  cooperation  of  all  actors 
(employers, organisations, public authorities, etc.). 

6.5.3.  Committee of the Regions 

In  February  2008  the  Committee  of  the  Regions  adopted  an  opinion  on  "The 
contribution of volunteering to economic and social cohesion"24. In this opinion the 
Committee of the Regions underlines the importance of volunteering in contributing 

22 
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24 

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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to  the  Lisbon  Agenda,  refers  to  the  lack  of  research  and  statistical  data  on 
volunteering, demands a particular attention on the legal status of volunteers, asks to 
step up the support for volunteering organisations, underlines the role of volunteering 
in  social  cohesion,  and  expressly  requests  that  an  EU  dimension  be  developed  in 
volunteering. 

7. 

MONITORING SYSTEM  

The Commission will monitor the implementation of the Council  Recommendation 
and intends to ensure the political follow-up by: 

-Meeting  regularly  Member  States  for  implementing  the  recommendation  and 
monitoring indicators; 

- Inviting Member States to report regularly on the progress of implementation (this 
could be done in intervals of three years as already agreed by Member States for the 
regular European youth report);  

- Analysing the Member States' reports, evaluating the progress made and, proposing 
how to proceed further in order to better and completely achieve the set objectives; 

- Reporting on the implementation of the Council Recommendation to the other EU 
institutions,  to  the  Council,  the  European  Parliament,  the  Economic  and  Social 
Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions.  The  EC  will  report  to  the  other  EU 
institutions by using, inter alias, the outcomes of the Member States' triennial reports 
as well as the outcomes of an external evaluation on the implementation and impact 
of  the  Council  Recommendation  (planned).  Such  a  reporting  will  also  indicate 
possible proposals order to better and completely achieve the set objectives 

7.1. 

Indicators  

The Commission is in the progress of developing indicators in cooperation with the 
Member  States  and  with  scientific  support  for  the  youth  field  by  the  Centre  of 
Research  on  Lifelong  Learning  (CRELL)25.  The  following  indicators  are  in 
development: 

- State of knowledge on youth volunteering 

- Number of young trans-European volunteers 

- Measures to eliminate obstacles 

- Recognition of skills and competences acquired through volunteering  

- Extent of employment offered to young volunteers 

- Development of hosting capacities (or: number of bi- and multilateral agreements - 
purpose to measure degree of interoperability) 

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http://crell.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ 

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- Number of organisations that fulfil a reasonable level of quality  

- Number of cross-border youth volunteers using Europass 

- Number of youth workers proficient in supporting cross-border volunteering. 

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