The Commission shall ensure that young people have access to quality and inclusive volunteering

To promote transnational character of volunteering of young people European Solidarity Corps or within the framework of other national schemes, as one of the first concrete initiatives relating to 2022. or European Year of Youth On 13 January, the Commission published a proposal Council Recommendation on the voluntary work of young people.

Recognising the essential contribution of volunteering to the development of young people's skills and competences and its importance to the success of the societal challenges, the proposed Recommendation aims to expand the dimension of the inclusion, quality, recognition and sustainability of transnational volunteering of young people. Addressing the remaining obstacles to volunteering mobility, the proposal uses lessons learnt during the Covid-19 pandemic and accumulated In the European Solidarity Corpswho celebrated his fifth anniversary in 2022.

Vice-President of the Commission on our European Living Margaritis Shin: 

Since 2017, tens of thousands of European youth have made real changes through the participation of the European Solidarity Corps in volunteering and solidarity projects. With today's recommendation, we continue to support and promote the voluntary work of young people so that they can bring together more and more solidarity ideas and expectations throughout Europe and beyond.

Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Maria Gabriela: 

Volunteering is becoming increasingly popular among young people who want to be involved in making better and more inclusive Europe. The objective of this new initiative is to improve the quality of volunteering and to remove the remaining obstacles to cross-border mobility. This will help to strengthen the opportunities for youth solidarity in 2022 or the European Year of Youth.

In the Commission's proposal for volunteering of young people, Member States are invited, for example:

• ensure that transnational volunteering is genuinely accessible to all young people, including those with fewer opportunities;
• consider measures to help develop an appropriate and clear regulatory framework and implementation framework for the health and safety of transnational volunteers;
• promote the high quality of volunteering in cooperation with volunteers working in the Member States;
• provide information and raise awareness of voluntary rights;
• raising awareness of the benefits of transnational volunteering through information, guidance and public communication activities;
• promoting cooperation at national and EU level between organisers offering international volunteering opportunities;
• support volunteering which makes a meaningful contribution to addressing climate and environmental challenges;
• identify new volunteering trends, alternatives and formats such as digital and intergenerational volunteering.

The Commission is prepared to support the implementation of the Recommendation through cooperation mechanisms and instruments designed to: EU Youth Strategy and EU youth programmes, such as Erasmus + and In the European Solidarity Corps. Commission by developing best practices for digital and intergenerational volunteering and promoting and publicising volunteering opportunities European Youth Portal, promote mutual learning and exchange between Member States and relevant partners. Further, it will continue to develop and direct existing EU instruments in the validation of non-formal and informal learning outcomes (Europas, Youthpass) and support research and data collection on the long-term impact of volunteering.

Follow-up

The Commission calls on the Member States to adopt today's proposal on the international voluntary work of young people and solidarity measures. It undertakes to report on the use of the recommendation in relation to EU youth strategies implementation and education and training in Europe strategic framework cooperation on the way to the European education area and further.