(-1)

The Treaty establishes citizenship of the Union, which complements national citizenship of the Member States and is an important element in strengthening and safeguarding the process of European integration.

(-1a)

Encouraging active citizenship is a key element in strengthening cohesion and the development of democracy and Europe's role in the world.

(-1b)

The ‘European Year of Voluntary Activities promoting active citizenship’ will emphasise that volunteering is a key expression of active citizenship and democracy, putting European values such as solidarity and non-discrimination into action and as such contributing to the harmonious development of European societies.

(1)

The Community and the Member States aim to promote the development of human resources with a view to a high level of employment and combating social exclusion.

(1)

The Community and the Member States aim to promote the development of human resources with a view to a high level of employment and combating social exclusion by adopting measures aimed at improving knowledge, developing exchanges of information and of best practices, promoting innovative approaches and evaluating experiences .

(3)

Volunteering constitutes a non-formal learning experience which enables both the development of professional skills and competences as well as a major form of active civic participation. Actions carried out by volunteers of all ages are crucial to the development of democracy, one of the founding principles of the European Union, and contribute to the development of human resources and to the social cohesion .

(3)

Voluntary activities constitute a rich non-formal learning experience which enable the development of professional and social skills and competences , contribute to solidarity and constitute a major form of active civic participation. Volunteering promotes and encourages partnership and active citizenship, which puts European values such as solidarity and non-discrimination into action. Actions carried out by volunteers of all ages are crucial to the development of democracy and in particular participative democracy , one of the founding principles of the European Union, and to the promotion of human rights within and outside the European Union . Voluntary activities have the potential to contribute to the personal growth and well-being of individuals and the harmonious development of European societies in terms of solidarity, social inclusion and prosperity . Volunteering and voluntary activities should not, however, be a substitute for paid work, although the expenses of volunteers should be adequately reimbursed.

(3a)

The term ‘voluntary activities’ refers to all forms of voluntary activity, whether formal, non-formal, informal and vocational training, which are undertaken of a person's own free will, choice and motivation, and are without concern for financial gain. They benefit the individual volunteer, communities and society as a whole. They are also a vehicle for individuals and associations to address human, social or environmental needs and concerns, especially when they are faced with emergency situations that can involve society as a whole. Such activities are often carried out in support of a non-profit organisation or community-based initiative. Voluntary activities do not replace professional, paid employment opportunities, but add value to society by virtue of their social and cultural aims.

(4)

In fast-changing societies there is a need to ensure the effectiveness of volunteer-supporting infrastructure to allow more people to engage in voluntary activities . It is therefore important to support peer-learning and the exchange of good practices at Community level.

(4)

In fast-changing societies there is a need to ensure effective support and to implement measures for voluntary activities to allow more people to engage in them . It is therefore important to support peer-learning and the exchange and development of good practices at Community , national, regional and local level , inter alia by setting up efficient systems of cooperation and networking between volunteer organisations, and especially through the establishment of a web portal .

(5)

The 1997 Intergovernmental Conference adopted Declaration 38 on volunteering, which was attached to the final act of the Treaty of Amsterdam and recognised the important contribution made by voluntary service activities to developing social solidarity.

(5)

The 1997 Intergovernmental Conference adopted Declaration 38 on volunteering, which was attached to the final act of the Treaty of Amsterdam and recognised the important contribution made by voluntary service activities to developing social solidarity and promoting intergenerational volunteering .

(12)

Volunteering is targeted by several community programmes that focus on mobility in volunteering , such as the European Voluntary Service of the Youth in Action programme, the Life Long Learning programme and the Europe for Citizens programme.

(12)

Voluntary activities are targeted by several community programmes and networks that focus on mobility in voluntary activities for people of all ages , such as the European Voluntary Service of the Youth in Action programme, the Life Long Learning programme and the Europe for Citizens programme. Given the horizontal nature of volunteering, it will create synergies between those programmes.

(12a)

Volunteering is an essential element in fostering active citizenship, nurturing civil society and strengthening solidarity.

(13)

There exists a large variety of voluntary activities throughout Europe which should be preserved and developed further.

(13)

There exists a large variety and long tradition of voluntary activities throughout Europe which should be protected and developed further , among other means by the creation of a cross-border network among the volunteering associations in the different Member States to provide a permanent platform for the exchange of experience and best practices .

(13a)

The European Year of Volunteering should offer an opportunity to encourage the Member States to create legal certainty for volunteers as regards their legal status.

(13b)

The EU has a significant role to play in promoting, developing and supporting voluntary activities throughout the Union. However, it is important to recognise and respect the diversity of volunteering within individual Member States.

(14)

Volunteering has the potential to contribute to the harmonious development of European societies. Voluntary activities constitute a rich non-formal learning experience which enhances professional skills and competences, contributes to employability and a sense of solidarity, develops social skills, smoothes integration into society and fosters civic participation.

(14)

Volunteering has the potential to contribute to the harmonious development of European societies, promoting social inclusion, social well-being, combating racism and prejudice and contributing to intercultural and inter-religious dialogue .

(14a)

Every individual should be enabled to volunteer. With a view to furthering individual development and participation, asylum seekers, refugees and legally resident immigrants should be increasingly enabled to play a role in volunteering activities, particularly when they are unable to be employed.

(14b)

Voluntary activities constitute a rich non-formal learning experience which enhances professional skills and competences, contributes to employability by facilitating reintegration into the labour market, develops social skills and contributes to the personal growth and well-being of individuals.

(14c)

Volunteering can contribute to fighting poverty and to achieving social and economic development, through actions carried out within the European Union and in third countries.

(14d)

As part of their strategy for Corporate Social Responsibility, employers could support and encourage volunteering activities.

(15)

Despite this, the potential of volunteering is still not fully realised. A European Year of Volunteering will provide the opportunity to demonstrate in a European context that volunteering increases civic participation. It can help foster a sense of belonging and commitment of citizens to their society at all levels — local, regional, national and European.

(15)

Despite this, the potential of volunteering is still not fully realised. Furthermore, at European level until now the work of those who volunteer in their free time has not been formally acknowledged. A European Year of Volunteering will therefore provide the opportunity to demonstrate in a European context that volunteering increases civic participation. It can help to foster among citizens a sense of belonging and commitment to their society at all levels – local, regional, national and European – and to encourage Member States to combat discrimination, making it possible for foreign residents, including asylum seekers, in every Member State to work as volunteers for not-for-profit organisations or to do unpaid work .

(15a)

Member States should be encouraged to minimise bureaucratic constraints which hinder volunteers in carrying out voluntary activities.

(15b)

The European Year of Volunteering should highlight the key role played by voluntary activities, while at the same time reminding the Member States that it should be used neither as a means of meeting basic needs normally met by social services nor as a substitute for action by public authorities.

(16)

The Year 2011 will be the 10th Anniversary of the 2001 International Year of Volunteers of the United Nations.

(16)

5 December is International Volunteer Day and the Year 2011 will be the 10th Anniversary of the 2001 International Year of Volunteers of the United Nations.

(16a)

Apart from its social role, volunteering has an economic value and makes a significant contribution to the economy.

(16b)

Volunteering plays a major role in environmental and civil protection and its contribution must be recognised and supported in every field, especially within the new democracies of the EU.

(16c)

The recognition of volunteering as an appropriate activity through which to acquire competences and skills, e.g. through YOUTHPASS with a linkage to EUROPASS, will ensure that volunteering is not seen as an alternative to formal training but as a complement to it, and furthermore will facilitate the mobility of volunteers.

(16d)

The recognition of the contribution of volunteer time as matching funding (in-kind contributions) for European and national projects would be a tangible recognition of the value of volunteer effort and would facilitate voluntary organisations in carrying out their activities.

1.

Work towards an enabling environment for volunteering in the EU - To anchor volunteering as part of promoting civic participation and people-to-people activities in an EU context.

1.

Work towards an enabling environment for volunteering in the EU - To anchor volunteering as part of promoting civic participation , partnership and people-to-people activities in an EU context.

2.

Empower volunteer organisations and improve the quality of volunteering - To facilitate volunteering and to encourage networking, mobility, cooperation and synergies between volunteer organisations and other sectors in an EU context.

2.

Empower volunteer organisations with respect to their aims, priorities and autonomy and improve the quality of volunteering - To promote volunteering and volunteer organisations' access to adequate, sustainable funding: by encouraging networking, mobility, cooperation and synergies between volunteer organisations and other not-for-profit sectors in an EU context ; by encouraging initiatives in human and environmental emergency situations, both in terms of preventing and dealing with them and by properly educating volunteers to deal with and effectively face urgent cases; and by making it possible to put voluntary work on a permanent footing . The duty of care that volunteer organisations owe to their volunteers should be laid down in law and should incorporate adequate protection through insurance, health and safety measures and training.

3.

Reward and recognise volunteering activities - To encourage appropriate incentives for individuals, companies and volunteer-development organisations and gain more systematic recognition for volunteering at EU level and in the Member States by policy makers, civil society organisations and employers for skills and competences developed through volunteering.

3.

Reward and recognise volunteering activities - To encourage appropriate incentives for individuals, companies and volunteer-development organisations - including proper health and safety cover for volunteers in the form of accident and personal liability insurance during periods of voluntary work, effective acknowledgement of the skills that volunteers acquire in the form of validation of experience and the recognition of equivalence for the purposes of training and job seeking - and gain more systematic recognition for volunteering at EU level and in the Member States by policy makers, civil society organisations and employers for skills and competences developed through volunteering.

3a.

Encourage international and European solidarity by promoting peace, North-South cooperation and the protection of the environment, as well as recognition of the solidarity-based social economy through volunteering.

4.

Raise awareness of the value and importance of volunteering - To raise general awareness of the importance of volunteering as an expression of civic participation which contributes to issues which are of common concern of all Member States, such as a harmonious societal development and economic cohesion.

4.

Raise awareness of the value and importance of volunteering - To raise general awareness of the importance of volunteering as an expression of civic participation which contributes to issues which are of common concern of all Member States, such as a harmonious societal development and economic and social cohesion, and to promote volunteering activities in order to make them more attractive for citizens, thus enabling them to be involved in civic activities .

4a.

Draw up a White Paper on Volunteering – To foster an enabling environment for volunteering in the EU.

4b.

Foster the recognition of volunteering success both within and between Member States in order to ensure that good practice and successful volunteering strategies can easily be spread throughout the European Union.

—

exchange of experience and good practices;

—

exchange of experience and good practices , in particular by means of efficient systems of cooperation and networking between volunteer organisations ;

—

dissemination of results of related studies and research;

—

conferences, events and initiatives to promote debate and raise awareness of the importance and value of volunteering and to celebrate the efforts of volunteers ;

—

conferences, events and initiatives to promote dialogue, innovative approaches and the evaluation of experience. Raising awareness of the importance and value of volunteering and fostering transnational networks with the purpose of active debate ;

—

information and promotion campaigns to disseminate key messages.

—

information and promotion campaigns to disseminate key messages inter alia through the use of new media and the internet and the creation of a European portal to achieve this;

—

the establishment of a European online database of the actors, organisations and stakeholders involved in a given volunteering area, including both their completed and ongoing projects and also their future initiatives, with a view to better networking and communication between them.

—

the promotion of the use of volunteer time as matching funding for European projects .

1.

Information and promotion campaigns including:

1.

Information and promotion campaigns including:

—

high visibility events and forums for exchanging experience and good practices;

—

high visibility events and forums for exchanging experience and good practices , with priority for twinning and mobility programmes, with the participation of European organisations or bodies active in the field of volunteering, representatives of employers' associations and unions, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Affairs Committee and the Committee of the Regions ;

—

contest with or without prizes;

—

cooperation with the private sector, broadcasters and other media as partners for disseminating information on the European Year of Volunteering ;

—

cooperation with the private sector, broadcasters and other media as partners for disseminating information on voluntary activities and the European Year;

—

the production of material and tools for media available throughout the Community to stimulate public interest;

—

the production of material and tools for media available throughout the Community to stimulate public interest;

—

measures to publicise the results and raise the profile of Community programmes; schemes and initiatives contributing to the objectives of the European Year of Volunteering ;

—

measures to publicise the results and raise the profile of Community programmes; schemes and initiatives contributing to the objectives of the European Year;

—

the establishment of an information website on Europa, including a portal for promoters of projects on volunteering, to guide them through the various Community programmes and initiatives.

—

the establishment of an information website on Europa, including a portal for promoters of projects on volunteering, to guide them through the various Community programmes and initiatives , which shall be a permanent platform for interactive cooperation between different stakeholders;

—

action to make the contribution of voluntary activities to national revenue and its impact on society more visible through the inclusion of volunteering as a specific category in the statistical accounts of Eurostat and the production of ‘satellite accounts’ on not-for-profit organisations, in which unpaid voluntary work would be included, as well as through the celebration on 5 December each year of International Volunteering Day, as recognised by the United Nations since 1985 .

—

surveys and studies at Community level to assess and report on the preparation, effectiveness , impact and long-term monitoring of the European Year of Volunteering .

—

surveys and studies at Community level to assess and report on the preparation, effectiveness and impact of the European Year and to lay the foundations for the long-term monitoring and follow-up thereof .

(a)

Meetings and events connected with the objectives of the European Year, including national events to launch and promote the European Year, create a catalyst effect and provide open space for debate on concrete initiatives.

(a)

Meetings and events connected with the objectives of the European Year, including national events to launch and promote the European Year, create a catalyst effect and provide open space for debate on concrete initiatives.

(b)

Mutual learning seminars at national, regional and local level;

(b)

Conferences and thematic seminars at national, regional and local level allowing for peer-learning and exchange of good practices ;

(c)

Information, educational and promotional campaigns at national, regional and local level , including the organisation of awards and competitions ;

(c)

Information, research activities and related studies, educational and promotional campaigns at national, regional and local level;

(d)

Cooperation with the media.

(d)

Cooperation with the private and non-state sector and the media in disseminating information about the European Year and in undertaking actions aimed at long-term dialogue on issues related to volunteering and to vocational training activities directed at volunteers in order to render sustainable the activities even after the end of the 2011 European Year .