A few countries have sought to do so by mandating it. But this “subbotnik” approach risks turning a social opportunity into a statutory obligation. One way of shaping social behaviour is to catch volunteers when they are young. Once volunteering is a habit, it might last a lifetime. 37 The US has experience of such programmes. 33  Meier and Stuzer (2004). 34  See https://www.gov.uk/government/news/next-steps-in-turning-the-civil-service-into-a-civic-service  35  For further details see http://www.volunteering.org.uk/who-we-can-help/employers. 36  CSV, “Employee Volunteering: Who is benefitting now?” (2013). See http://www.volunteering.org.uk/who-wecan-help/volunteer-involving-organisations/employer-supported-volunteering/the-business-case-for-esv  37  Halpern (2004), Putnam (2000)  BIS central bankers’ speeches  13  Their Peace Corps have a larger, but less well-known, domestic counterpart – AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps provides members with full or part time positions in non-profit community organisations and public agencies. Not only do volunteers learn valuable life skills, such as teamwork and leadership, but the scheme also makes contributions to the costs of their education. Since its introduction in 1993, AmeriCorps has had 900,000 volunteers enter its programme, with over 75,000 participating in 2012 alone. Here in the UK, the National Citizen Service (NCS) was introduced in 2011. It recently passed the milestone of 100,000 young people having taken part. This scheme runs outside term time for 15–17 year olds and combines opportunities to take part in adventure activities with social action projects. The evidence so far suggests this scheme, as well as being enjoyable, increases the chances of participants subsequently volunteering. 38 It is possible to imagine ways of building on that success.

In 2005, EU Heads of Government re-launched the Lisbon strategy with an enhanced focus on jobs and growth and a streamlined governance regime. The key elements are the National Reform Programs which cover, for each country, the commitments taken over a 3-years cycle as regards structural reforms. EMU, with a single monetary policy and 12 governments responsible for budgetary policies, requires an institutional fiscal framework. It has to be simple, easy to implement, and able to ensure that fiscal policies are sound and sustainable, to avoid free-riding behaviours as well as neo-ricardian effects. The most widely-discussed surveillance process, because it is the most binding one, is the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). The Pact may be defined as the “users instructions” for the obligation, defined in the Treaty, for EU Member States, to achieve a medium-term budgetary position of close to balance or in surplus, while maintaining the ratio of the annual government deficit to gross domestic product (GDP) at within 3 % and the ratio of gross government debt to GDP at within 60 %. Member States which do not respect these ratios face an “excessive deficit” procedure which may lead the Ecofin Council to take a series of measures which range from simple recommendations to financial sanctions. In 2005, the European Council agreed to reform the SGP. The important role of the SGP in terms of budgetary discipline is confirmed.