Activities of Marian HARKIN related to 2011/2293(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Cross-border voluntary activities in the EU (short presentation)
Amendments (16)
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that volunteering contributes to fighting poverty while helping to achieve economic and social cohesion and to promote solidarity between generations by encouraging the cooperation among young and senior citizens and having a positive impact on their active participation in the social activities;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
Fa. whereas the economic crisis and political and economic factors have an impact on sustainable funding and fundraising for voluntary activities;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F b (new)
Recital F b (new)
Fb. whereas many volunteer led projects and organisations do not have the resources to access and secure funding under existing EU programmes due to excessive red tape and bureaucracy;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses that volunteering should not be an alternative nor a substitute for paid work and, should not, in any case, constitute a reason for superseding the obligations of the social state;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Encourages the Member States to recognise the benefits of participating in cross-border volunteer activities to provide citizens with new skills, contributing to their employability, mobility and strengthening the development of social inclusion and to support cooperation between organisers of voluntary activities in EU countries to promote the mobility of young volunteers across Europe, with the aim of fostering mutual intercultural enrichment;
Amendment 52 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Highlights the need to ensure that high- quality volunteering is developed, both nationally and at cross-border level, through a structured framework of comprehensive information and appropriate training for volunteers which includes current best practice;
Amendment 58 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Asks the Commission and the national, regional and local authorities and the various civil society organisations to improve information networks in order to make everyone aware of volunteering opportunities, to tackle barriers to participation, to enhance access to volunteering best practice and the promotion of cooperation across borders;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Therefore proposes that a centralised EU portal be created, to include a best practice volunteer resources bank, a section on cross-border volunteering, with information abouton the programmes available, their costs and the conditions for participation, allowing for an exchange of information on administrative burdens, the legal and fiscal aspects of volunteering, barriers encountered in accessing programmes and the best ways to tackle them;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the Commission to propose a mechanism allowing Member States wishing to strengthen civil society to generally exempt from VAT all or most of the activities and transactions carried out by voluntary non-profit making organisations; stresses that at least the smaller non-profit-making organisations should be covered by such a mechanism;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to give a high profile to volunteering in sport, particularly at the grassroots level, to acknowledge the important role played by volunteer led sporting organisations in strengthening culture, promoting social inclusion and enhancing communities, and to reduce the barriers to sports volunteering across the EU;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls on the Commission to address in the ‘European Skills Passport’ the need for a cohesive and transferable approach to proper screening and vetting of volunteers who work with children and/or vulnerable members of society;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Urges the Member States to develop mechanisms for validating non-formal and formal learning outcomes, which will improve the value and transferability of the skills acquired outside formal education; and lead to a formalised recognition of the cross-skilling and competences acquired through volunteering;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Proposes that a training and qualifications framework for volunteer coaches and coach education be established and incorporated in the European Qualifications Framework in order to advance the mobility of volunteer coaches and to enhance the transferability of skills and competences developed through volunteering;
Amendment 101 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Calls on the Commission, in particular, to to secure the lasting legacy of the European Year of Volunteering (EYV) 2011 by ensureing that volunteering projects are included in all new funding programmes;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that information on available funding and the relevant programmes is freely available to volunteer led projects and the application procedures are not made inaccessible due to excessive red tape;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Recommends that the Commission maintain the useful contact points set up both with ‘EYV 2011 Alliance’, which includes many civil society volunteering and networking organisations, and with the national coordinating bodies, strategic partners and spokesmen of the national governments in this sector, given the large variety of bodies responsible for volunteering in the EU and encourages these contact points to engage with the proposed centralised EU Portal, as a pan European platform, to facilitate further coordination and increased cross border activity;