COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Solidarity Corps programme and repealing [European Solidarity Corps Regulation] and Regulation (EU) No 375/2014
Date: 2021-04-21
Institutions: Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission
Subjects: EU office or agency, EU programme, education policy, humanitarian aid, vocational training, voluntary organisation, voluntary work, young person, youth employment, youth policy

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 21.4.2021  COM(2021) 210 final 2018/0230 (COD)  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Solidarity Corps programme and repealing [European Solidarity Corps Regulation] and Regulation (EU) No 375/2014 (Text with EEA relevance)  
 
2018/0230 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council establishing the European Solidarity Corps programme and repealing 
[European Solidarity Corps Regulation] and Regulation (EU) No 375/2014 

(Text with EEA relevance) 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council (document COM(2018)0440) 

11 June 2018 

Date the Committee of the Regions adopted its Opinion on the 
proposal 

5 December 2018 

Date  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  adopted  its 
Opinion on the proposal 

17 October 2018 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

12 March 2019 

Date of Council agreement on a general approach 

26 November 2018 

Dates of the trilogues 

Date  Committee  of  Permanent  Representatives  confirmed  the 
compromise agreement 

2 October 2019 

12 November 2019 

11 December 2019 

11 December 2020 

18 December 2020 

Date    the  CULT  Committee  of  the  European  Parliament  voted  to 
endorse the compromise agreement  

11 January 2021 

Date Committee of Permanent Representatives adopted the Position 
of the Council (I/A Item)  

14 April 2021 

Date of adoption of the Council first reading position 

20 April 2021 

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2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

The  European  Solidarity  Corps  is  one  of  the  funding  instruments  under  the  2021-2027 
multiannual financial framework. The Commission proposed an overall budget of EUR  1.26 
billion.  

The  European  Solidarity  Corps  proposal  was  intended  to  create  opportunities  for  young 
people aged 18-30 years to volunteer, do a traineeship or work in solidarity activities, as well 
as  implementing  their  own  solidarity  projects,  for  the  benefit  of  communities  and  people 
around  Europe.  Its  main  proposed  novelty  was  the  integration  of  a  new  humanitarian  aid 
strand into the European Solidarity Corps turning the new Corps into a one-stop-shop for all 
volunteering  opportunities  the  EU  offers  to  young  people  in  Europe  and  beyond.  The 
humanitarian  aid  strand  was  proposed  to  ensure  continuity  of  Treaty  obligations  to  create  a 
European  Voluntary  Humanitarian  Aid  Corps  for  young  Europeans,  implemented  currently 
under the EU Aid Volunteers initiatitve1. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

The  European  Parliament’s  first  reading  position,  adopted  on  12  March  2019,  suggested 
amendments to the Commission proposal, notably: 

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Budget:  percentage  breakdown  between  strands  (volunteering,  jobs/traineeships, 
humanitarian aid) in both constant and current prices; 

Delegated acts for adoption of annual work programmes; 

Humanitarian aid strand: the European Parliament opened the strand up to people of 
all  ages;  wanted  to  keep  the  EU  Aid  Volunteers  Portal  and  selection  procedures; 
added solidarity projects to the strand and the possibility to involve local volunteers 
in third countries; 

In-country  activities:  obligation  to  add  partners  from  other  countries  and  only  for 
people with fewer opportunities; 

Solidarity projects: possibility to add cross-border elements; 

Changes to the monitoring and evaluation framework; 

Addition of new quality and support measures. 

In  the  course  of  the  negotiations,  the  European  Parliament  also  requested  to  delete  the  jobs 
and traineeships strand entailing a budget breakdown between the two remaining strands of 
94% for volunteering and 6% for humanitarian aid, a separate inclusion article, a reference to 
insurance  and  clearance  requirements  as  well  as  revised  indicators.  Additionally,  for  the 
humanitarian  aid  strand, 
to  various 
humanitarian  aid  principles,  cooperation  mechanisms  and  policy  documents  as  well  as  the 
involvement of local communities and additional indicators. 

the  European  Parliament  requested  references 

As  part  of  the  agreement  reached  in  the  trilogues,  the  Commission  accepted  a  budget  of  
€1.009  billion,  the  deletion  of  the  jobs  and  traineeship  strand  and  an  indicative  budget 
breakdown  between  the  two  remaining  strands;  in-country  activities  in  particular  for  young 
people with fewer opportunities; an increased age limit of 35 years for the humanitarian aid 
strand  and  the  possibility  for  experts  of  all  ages  to  support  humanitarian  aid  projects  in  the 
context  of  capacity  building;  additional  indicators  for  the  humanitarian  aid  strand;  various 

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Regulation  (EU)  No  375/2014  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  3  April  2014 
establishing the European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (‘EU Aid Volunteers initiative’) 

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referenes to humanitarian aid prinicples and cooperation mechanisms; a specific reference to 
clearance requirements in accordance with applicable national law; and a reinforced inclusion 
dimension. 

The  Commission  also  agreed  to  issue  the  following  statement  regarding  an  additional 
indicator for the humanitarian aid strand: 

“The European Commission takes note of the proposal of the European Parliament to consider 
“the number of local actors that apply the knowledge, the principles and the approaches learnt 
through the humanitarian activities in which the volunteer and the experts have participated” 
when supplementing the Regulation with provisions on the establishment of a monitoring and 
evaluation framework.” 

Following  the  Council's  adoption  of  its  first  reading  position,  the  European  Parliament  is 
expected to formally endorse the agreement reached in the trilogues. 

4. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The  Council's  position  reflects  the  agreement  reached  in  the  trilogues.  The  most  important 
changes introduced compared to the Commission’s proposal include:  

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The  financial  envelope  for  the  implementation  of  the  Programme  for  the  period 
2021-2027 shall be EUR 1 009 000 000 in current prices. With a maximum of 20% 
for in-country activities, the financial support to the actions referred to in points (a) 
and  (b)  of  Article  4(1)  shall  be  indicatively:    -  94%  for  volunteering  referred  to  in 
Article 7 and solidarity projects, -  6% for volunteering referred to in Article 11; 

The deletion of the jobs and traineeships strand; 

An  upper  age  limit  of  35  years  for  the  humanitarian  aid  strand  and  the  possible 
involvement of experts of all ages within the context of capacity building; 

A reinforced inclusion dimension; 

A reference to insurance coverage of the participants and to clearance requirements 
in accordance with applicable national law; 

In-country  volunteering  should  be  in  particular  for  young  people  with  fewer 
opportunities; 

Within  the  humanitarian  aid  strand,  a  reference  to  the  “do-no-harm”  principle, 
humanitarain need of local communities, risk assessment, involvement of local staff 
and volunteers, and the specific needs of women; 

A  reference  to  the  European  Consensus  on  Humanitarian  Aid,  international 
humanitarian law, the  good humanitarian donorship  principles and the coordinating 
role of UN-OCHA in recitals; 

Revised  indicators  and  additional  indicators  catering  in  particular  for  the  new 
humanitarian aid strand; 

A fixed programme duration aligned with the duration of the Multiannual Financial 
Framework; 

Reference to retroactivity provisions; 

Revised  third  country  provisions  clarifying  participation  rules  for  third  countries 
associated to the programme and legal entities from third countries not associated to 
the programme. 

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In  general,  the  agreement  reached  preserves  the  objectives  of  the  Commission’s  original 
proposal,  with  the exception of the deletion  of the traineeships and jobs  strand, maintaining 
the  level  of  ambition  but  allowing  the  flexibility  required  for  the  implementation  of  the 
programme.  

5. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission accepts the position taken by the Council. 

6. 

DECLARATION FROM THE COMMISSION 

The Commission has made one declaration which can be found in the annex. 

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ANNEX 

Statement by the European Commission on the the number of local actors that apply the 

knowledge, the principles and the approaches learnt through the humanitarian activities 

in which the volunteer and the experts have participated  

The European Commission takes note of the proposal of the European Parliament to consider 
“the number of local actors that apply the knowledge, the principles and the approaches learnt 
through the humanitarian activities in which the volunteer and the experts have participated” 
when supplementing the Regulation with provisions on the establishment of a monitoring and 
evaluation framework. 

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