CELEX: 51998PC0201
Language: en
Date: 1998-03-30
Title: Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision establishing the Community Action Programme "European voluntary service for young people"

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                                       Brussels, 30.03.1998
                                       COM(1998) 201 final
                                       96/0318 (COD)
           OPINION OF THE COMMISSION
    pursuant to Article 189 b (2) (d) of the EC Treaty,
        on the European Parliament's amendments
     to the Council's common position regarding the
                       proposal for a
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION
 establishing the Community action programme
 "European voluntary service for young people"
AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION
      pursuant to Article 189 a (2) of the EC Treaty
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                    EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Article 189b (2d) of the EC Treaty states that the Commission shall deliver an opinion on
amendments proposed by the European Parliament at second reading.
The Commission hereby sets out its opinion on the 10 amendments proposed by the European
Parliament It also attaches, pursuant to Article 189a (2) of the EC Treaty, an amended
proposal incorporating the two EP amendments which it has accepted.
1.       Background
a)       On 23 December 1996, the Commission forwarded to the Council and the European
          Parliament its proposal for a Decision (COM(96) 610 final - COD 96/0318).
b)        On 19 March 1997, the Economic and Social Committee delivered a favourable
          opinion.
c)        On 12 June 1997, the Committee of the Regions delivered a favourable opinion.
d)        On 12 June 1997, the European Parliament adopted, at first reading, a favourable
          resolution containing 40 amendments to the Commission proposal.
e)        On 23 July 1997, the Commission adopted, in accordance with Article 189a (2) of the
          EC Treaty, an amended proposal for a Decision containing in full or in part 18 of the 40
          amendments put forward by the European Parliament (COM(97) 347 final - COD-
          96/0318).
f)        On 16 December 1997, the Council adopted its common position.
 g)       On 12 March 1998, the European Parliament voted at second reading to adopt a
          favourable resolution including 10 amendments to the common position.
 2.       Aim of the proposal for a Decision
 Based on Article 126 of the Treaty, the programme forms part of the framework of objectives
 for a policy of cooperation in the field of youth.
 Its main objective is to help with the integration of young people into active life by means of
 socially useful transnational activities within the Community and in non-member countries.
 European voluntary service (EVS) offers young people residing in the European Community
  (aged 18-25) a recognised formative experience, at transnational level, involving both the
  acquisition of skills and abilities and the demonstration of responsible citizenship.
 ---pagebreak--- OPINION OF THE COMMISSION ON THE AMENDMENTS BY THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT
After examining the amendments proposed by the European Parliament at second reading, the
Commission is able to support those which:
-   are in line with its initial proposal, or
-   provide useful clarification of the text
1.        Amendments accepted by the Commission
The Commission is able to accept amendments Nos 1 and 6, and has incorporated them into
its new amended proposal so that they may be re-examined by the Council.
Amendment No 1 (13th recital) concerns the removal of obstacles to the mobility of young
volunteers. The Commission is able to accept the principles behind this amendment using the
following wording: "Whereas appropriate measures, particularly with regard to social protection
and tax systems adopted by the Member States, would help facilitate access by young people
to national infrastructures within the framework of voluntary service". The aim is to take
account of the competence of the Member States in this matter.
Amendment No 6 (Article 9,(1)) concerns the composition of the Committee. The Commission,
in keeping with the Comitology text is able to accept the amendment by means of the following
alterations to the wording: replacement of "In the execution of this task" by "In the
implementation of this programme" for the purposes of coherence of the text; replacement of
"composed of one representative of each Member State" by "composed of representatives of
the Member States".
2.        Amendments rejected by the Commission
Amendments Nos 2,3,4,5,7,8,9 and 10 are rejected by the Commission.
Amendment No 2 (recital 21) concerns compatibility between European voluntary service and
existing national civilian services. The Commission recognises the importance of this aspect in
the development of EVS, but cannot accept the amendment from the European Parliament
which touches upon questions related to the competence of the Member States.
Amendment No 3 (Article 3 (1)) concerns the budget for the two years of the programme. The
 Commission maintains the budget put forward in its initial proposal (ECU 60 million).
 Amendment No 4 (Article 7 (1)): the first part of the amendment relates to informing and
 raising the awareness of volunteers with regard to their rights and obligations. This concern is
 covered by the text of the common position. The second part relates to compatibility with
 existing national civilian services: see amendment No 2. The text of the common position takes
 on board, in spirit, the European Parliament's amendments on this question.
 ---pagebreak---                                                                                            •?y3:S;9HE?JMR!mvmi!!a8i*M.miiWW « M B £ >. }>wmi^t8fi\T&qt
Amendment No 5 (Article 7 (2)) relates to the removal of obstacles to the mobility of young
volunteers. The amended text of recital No 13 (see amendment No 1) is more appropriate than
the first part of the European Parliaments amendment in so far as the Commission insists on
respecting the competence of the Member States in this matter.
The second part asks the Commission to put forward proposals aimed at introducing a status
for young volunteers and thereby calls into question the Commission's right of initiative.
Amendments Nos 7, 8, 9,10 (Article 9 (2, 3, 3a)) relate to the Programme Committee and
introduce elements of the Modus Vivendi. While respecting commitments made in the context
of the Modus Vivendi, the Commission must keep exactly to the Comitology text
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the Commission considers that the European Parliament's proposed
amendments Nos 1 and 6 to the common position reinforce the text with regard to the removal
of remaining obstacles and with regard to Comitology.
The amended proposal incorporates these amendments.
 ---pagebreak---                   Amended proposal for a
      EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION
 establishing the Community Action Programme
  "European voluntary service for young people"
(presented by the Commission in accordance with
         Article 189a (2) of the EC Treaty
                             4c
 ---pagebreak---   (11) Whereas it is necessary to create new
  opportunities for the transfer and
 application of experience and good practice
 and to promote new partnerships;
 (12) Whereas an independent ex-ante
 evaluation of a multi-annual programme of
 voluntary service has been carried out in
 accordance with the principles put in place
 by the Commission for the second phase of
 its SEM 2000 ("sound and efficient
 management") programme;
 (13) Whereas this Decision establishes a        (IS) Whereas appropriate measures,
 Community framework designed to                particularly with regard to social
 contribute to the development of               protection and tax systems adopted by the
 transnational voluntary service activities;    Member States, would help facilitate
                                                 access by young people to national
                                                 infrastructures within the framework of
                                                 voluntary service:
 (14) Whereas participation by young people
in voluntary service activities constitutes a
form of informal education, the quality of
which will to a large extent be based on
appropriate preparation activities including
those of a linguistic and cultural nature,
contributes to their future development and
to broadening their horizons, promotes the
development of their social skills, active
citizenship and their balanced integration
into society from an economic, social and
cultural point of view and makes it possible
to promote awareness of genuine European
citizenship;
                                             -5-
 ---pagebreak---  2. Each Member State shall endeavour, as
 far as possible, to adopt such measures as it
 deems necessary and desirable to ensure the
proper functioning of the programme, in
particular as far as the mobility of young
volunteers is concerned.
                    Article 8
                  Attestation
A document, drawn up by the Commission
in accordance with the procedure laid down
in Article 9(2) and (3), shall attest to the
participation of young volunteers in
European Voluntary Service and to the
experience and skills that they have
acquired during the relevant period.
                    Article 9
                  Committee
 1. In the implementation of this programme,      1. In the implementation of this
the Commission shall be assisted by a            programme, the Commission shall be
committee         composed        of     two     assisted by a committee composed of
representatives of each Member State and         representatives of the Member States and
chaired by the representative of the             chaired by the representative of the
Commission.                                      Commission.
2. The representative of the Commission
shall submit to the committee a draft of the
measures to be taken in respect of:
- the committee's rules of procedure;
- the implementing provisions;
- the annual plan of work for the
implementation of the measures in the
programme;
- the general balance between the various
sections of the programme;
                                           - * > •
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                                                                     ISSN 0254-1475
                                                             COM(98) 201 final
                                               DOCUMENTS
EN                                                              16 06 04 01
                                    Catalogue number : CB-CO-98-215-EN-C
                                                              ISBN 92-78-32930-4
Office for Official Publications of ths European Communities
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