Young volunteers – mobility within the European Union

SUMMARY OF:

Recommendation on the mobility of young volunteers across the European Union

WHAT IS THE AIM OF THE RECOMMENDATION?

It aims to boost the inclusiveness, quality, recognition and sustainability dimensions of transnational youth volunteering.
It replaces the 2008 Council of the European Union recommendation to take into account the impact of new developments and the consequences of global crises.

KEY POINTS

Volunteering in the European Union (EU)

Young EU citizens can take part in transnational volunteering through the European Solidarity Corps programme, or as part of national or regional schemes supporting cross-border volunteering activities.
The recommendation is one of the concrete initiatives of the 2022 European Year of Youth and part of the implementation of the 2022–2024 work plan for the 2019-2027 EU youth strategy.

The recommendation addresses both the European Commission and the EU Member States.

Member States

A number of recommendations are made to Member States including:

considering structural measures to ensure the health, safety and security of participants in transnational volunteering activities, such as making sure that:
- all volunteers can benefit from social security coverage in a Member State,
- procedures are set up by supporting organisers to support volunteers in the events of accidents, emergencies or crises;
providing accessible information about volunteers’ rights and improving awareness of this information, such as through a national website and by supporting youth information providers;
supporting the capacity-building endeavours of volunteer organisations to increase the quality of volunteering opportunities;
encouraging organisers of volunteering activities to promote social inclusion, such as by providing reasonable, suitable and accessible accommodation, particularly for those with disabilities;
supporting and promoting community-building activities related to volunteering, including:
- encouraging the operation of networks of volunteers at the national level,
- promoting existing European networks, in particular the European Solidarity Network and EuroPeers, and other resources and platforms accessible via the European Solidarity Corps portal on the European Youth Portal;
creating synergies, complementarities and continuities between existing volunteering schemes and activities at the EU level and at various levels in Member States, such as by exchanging information on existing volunteering schemes and passing such information onto the Commission, where it could be published on the European Youth Portal and the Youth Wiki.

Commission

The recommendation invites the Commission, among other things, to:

facilitate exchange of practices between Member States on how to remove obstacles that may prevent young people from participating in volunteering;
support the Member States in following this recommendation through the cooperation mechanisms and tools of the EU youth strategy, the European youth work agenda and the EU youth programmes, in particular the European Solidarity Corps;
facilitate mutual learning and exchanges among Member States and interested parties at various levels through activities such as peer learning, peer counselling, expert groups, networking and other cooperation structures;
promote and disseminate information about European opportunities for youth volunteering, in particular for young people with fewer opportunities, through the European Youth Portal;
report on the use of this recommendation in the context of the implementation of the EU youth strategy and of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training towards the European education area and beyond.

BACKGROUND

For further information, see:

European Youth Portal (European Union).

MAIN DOCUMENT

Council Recommendation of 5 April 2022 on the mobility of young volunteers across the European Union (OJ C 157, 11.4.2022, pp. 1–9).