PURPOSE: the creation of the European Solidarity Corps.

LEGISLATIVE ACT: Regulation (EU) 2018/1475 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the legal framework applicable to the European Solidarity Corps and amending Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013, Regulation (EU) No 1293/2013 and Decision No 1313/2013/EU.

CONTENT: the Regulation establishes a legal framework for young people and organisations wishing to volunteer or work on useful projects throughout Europe, under the auspices of the European Solidarity Corps , to help strengthen cohesion, solidarity and democracy in Europe .

Aims: the European Solidarity Body will support solidarity activities that have a clear European added value, for example because of: (i) their transnational nature, in particular as regards mobility for learning purposes and cooperation; (ii) their ability to complement other programmes and policies at local, regional and national level, at EU level and at international level; (iii) their European dimension; (iv) their approach to involving young people from different backgrounds; (v) their contribution to the effective use of the EU's transparency and recognition tools.

Participation: the European Solidarity Corps is aimed at young people aged 18 to 30 , from the Member States of the European Union, the accession countries, candidate and potential candidate countries, EFTA Member States that are parties to the EEA Agreement, Switzerland and countries that are covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy. Young people wishing to participate in the European Solidarity Corps should register on the European Solidarity Corps Portal .

Special efforts will be made to promote social inclusion and equal opportunities , in particular with a view to the participation of young people with fewer opportunities, through a series of special measures, such as appropriate formats of solidarity activities and personalised support.

All public and private entities, including international organisations, civil society organisations, youth organisations and social enterprises wishing to participate in the European Solidarity Body must first receive a quality label showing that they meet certain specific conditions.

Actions: a wide range of activities will be offered, including volunteering, internships, jobs and solidarity projects led by young people. Young people will thus have the opportunity to support public or private organisations committed to strengthening cohesion, solidarity and democracy in Europe, for example by working to combat social exclusion or poverty, or in the field of health and environmental protection or the reception and integration of refugees.

The volunteering period will be limited to 12 months . The activity must not replace an internship or employment and must be based on a written voluntary agreement. Internships will be between 2 and 6 months and should under no circumstances replace a job. Jobs must have a minimum employment contract of 3 months . Financial support to participating organisations offering jobs should not exceed 12 months.

Budget: the total budget available for the implementation of the European Solidarity Body is set at EUR 375.6 million for the period 2018-2020 , of which 90% will be allocated to voluntary activities and 10% to internships or jobs, with a maximum of 20% for activities at national level.

In order to ensure the efficient and effective implementation of the regulation, the European Solidarity Corps should make maximum use of the management arrangements already in place in the Erasmus+ programme.

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 5.11.2018.

The European Parliament adopted by 519 votes to 132, with 32 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the legal framework of the European Solidarity Corps and amending Regulations (EU) No 1288/2013, (EU) No 1293/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1305/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013 and Decision No 1313/2013/EU.

The European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure amended the Commission proposal as follows:

Objectives : the European Solidarity Corps shall enhance the engagement of young people and organisations in accessible and high-quality solidarity activities with a view to contributing to strengthening cohesion, solidarity and democracy in Europe, with particular effort to the promotion of social inclusion .

It shall support solidarity activities which:

present a clear European added value , for example by virtue of their transnational character or an approach with regard to involving young people from different backgrounds; contribute to promoting young people's initiative and active citizenship; provide young people with the opportunity to improve their skills and competences for their personal, social, civic and professional development, including an important learning and training dimension and for it to be properly validated.

Participation : young people residing legally in a participating country may register from the age of 17 on the European Solidarity Corps Portal but they should be over 18 (and not over 30) at the beginning of their voluntary or professional activity. The European Solidarity Corps shall be more accessible to young people with fewer opportunities who need additional support because of disadvantages such as disability, health problems, educational difficulties, cultural differences, economic, social or geographical barriers, including young people from marginalised communities or those at risk of discrimination.

Actions : the European Solidarity Corps shall pursue its objectives through the following types of actions: (i) volunteering; (ii) traineeships and jobs; (iii) solidarity projects and (iv) networking activities; and (v) quality and support measures.

The volunteer period would be limited to 12 months. The activity shall not replace a traineeship or employment and shall be based on a written voluntary agreement . It may take place either in a country other than the participant's country of residence (cross-border level) or in the participant's country of residence (national level). Volunteering and solidarity projects shall cover the participants’ expenditure arising from participation in such solidarity activities but should not provide them with salaries or an economic benefit.

Traineeships shall be between 2 and 6 months . They shall: (i) include a learning and training component to help the participant to gain experience in areas such as environmental protection, climate change mitigation or strengthening social inclusion; (ii) be based on a written traineeship agreement concluded at the beginning of the internship and specifying the educational objectives, working conditions, duration of the traineeship, the participant's remuneration and the rights and obligations of the parties. Traineeships shall under no circumstances be a substitute for employment.

As far as jobs are concerned, Parliament has imposed a minimum employment contract of 3 months . Financial support to participating organisations offering jobs may not exceed 12 months.

Budget : the Parliament approved an overall budget of EUR 375.6 million for the period 2018-2020, of which 90% would be allocated to voluntary activities and 10% to traineeships or jobs, with a maximum of 20% for in-country activities.

Quality label : any entity willing to participate in the European Solidarity Corps, whether funded from the European Solidarity Corps budget, by another Union programme or by a different funding source, shall receive a quality label, provided that the specific requirements are fulfilled. The attributed quality label shall be reassessed periodically and it shall be possible to revoke the quality label where the conditions that led to its attribution are no longer fulfilled.

The process for attributing a quality label should be carried out by the implementing bodies of the European Solidarity Corps in an accessible and transparent manner. An application from an entity to become a participating organisation shall be assessed by the competent implementing body of the European Solidarity Corps on the basis of the principles of: (i) equal treatment; (ii) equal opportunities and non-discrimination; (iii) avoidance of job substitution; (iv) provision of high-quality activities with learning dimension focusing on personal, socio-educational and professional development; (v) adequate training, working and volunteering arrangements; (vi) safe and decent environment and conditions; and, (vii) the 'no-profit principle'.

The Committee on Culture and Education adopted the report by Helga TRÜPEL (Greens/EFA, DE) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the legal framework of the European Solidarity Corps and amending Regulations (EU) No 1288/2013, (EU) No 1293/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1305/2013, (EU) No 1306/2013 and Decision No 1313/2013/EU.

The Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, exercising their prerogatives as associated committees under Rule 54 of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament, have also expressed their opinions on this report.

The committee recommended that the position of Parliament adopted in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure, should amend the Commission's proposal as follows:

European Solidarity and Voluntary Service (ESVS): Members proposed changing the name from European Solidarity Corps to European Solidarity and Voluntary Service, keeping the notion of solidarity as an essential part of the programme but deleting “corps”.

The ESVS should support placements in solidarity activities in the form of volunteering, internships or jobs, networking projects. Its aim should be to promote solidarity as a value and volunteerism in Europe and beyond to build an open society, by involving youth and non-profit organizations in accessible and high-quality solidarity activities in Europe with the aim of contributing to strengthening cohesion and citizenship.

It should complement existing actions and structures in organisations that support local communities, especially the most vulnerable, and respond to societal challenges , and contribute to environmental protection, climate change mitigation and the need to strengthen social integration.

The specific objectives are, inter alia:

provide young people, with the support of participating organisations, with easily accessible opportunities for engagement in solidarity and voluntary activities while improving their skills, competences and knowledge , including by supporting the mobility of young volunteers, which can also lead to improved employability, while ensuring that the substitution of paid work for unpaid labour is avoided ; increase the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities in the ESVS by creating adapted formats and promoting special guidance and support measures; strengthen a common European perspective among EU citizens through participation in solidarity activities; ensure that the knowledge, skills and competencies that constitute the learning outcomes are well defined, documented, evaluated and certified . As recognition, the Youthpass certificate should be used to describe and validate non-formal and informal learning outcomes gained through the experience of ESVS.

The Commission should take the initiative to develop an EU programme for volunteering to ensure recognition of and respect for the rights of volunteers and voluntary organisations and to reduce administrative and legal barriers to volunteering and volunteering organisation throughout the Union.

ESVS Charter : Members proposed that participation in solidarity placements shall be governed by an ESVS Charter setting out the rights and obligations of participating organisations and participants and indicating the basis for the “ quality label ” certification process for participating organisations. In developing the ESVS Charter, the Commission shall take into account the Charter of the European Voluntary Service.

Separate quality labels and monitoring frameworks should be put in place for volunteering on the one hand, and for traineeships and jobs on the other

Budget: a financial envelope of EUR 341.5 million will be allocated for the period 2018-2020. The financial envelope should include the amount of EUR 197.7 million that was originally earmarked to finance the intra-Union European Voluntary Service activities under the Erasmus+ programme for the financial years 2018, 2019 and 2020, given that those activities are to be transferred to the ESVS programme.

The financial support to solidarity placements and projects shall indicatively be 95% (rather than 80%) for volunteering placements and solidarity projects and 5% (rather than 20%) for traineeship placements and for job placements.

Participation: young people aged 17 to 30 years shall be able to participate in the ESVS. Young people of 17 years of age willing to participate in the ESVS may register in the ESVS Portal or apply for a solidarity placement via application processes provided by a participating organisation holding the quality label.

The target group of young people should be as broad and inclusive as possible , so that young people with different backgrounds, levels of education, skills, capabilities, knowledge and experience participate in the ESVS.

Members insisted that disadvantaged people , such as people with disabilities, people from isolated or marginalized communities, LGBT people or young people with learning or health difficulties, should have easy access to the programme. Any additional costs incurred by the participation of people with special needs should be covered at a rate of 100%.

Particular attention should be paid to multilingualism , as some of the placements in solidarity activities will be transnational in nature.

PURPOSE: to lay down the legal framework of the European Solidarity Corps.

PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of European Parliament and of the Council.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: the European Parliament decides in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure and on an equal footing with the Council.

BACKGROUND: the European Union is built on solidarity, a shared value which is strongly felt throughout European society and which provides the necessary unity to cope with current and future crises by holding a strong moral ground.

Solidarity provides a clear compass to guide the European youth in their aspirations for a better Union. There are many young people who want to engage in solidarity activities and there is an untapped demand by many organisations for motivated young people to support them in their efforts.

This proposal also responds to the call by the European Council in its Conclusions of 15 December 2016 to take work on the European Solidarity Corps forward, and it is one of the priority initiatives included in the Joint Declaration on the EU's legislative priorities for 2017.

In the absence of measures to bring organisations and young people together around solidarity, there is a risk that an important potential for solidarity activities goes untapped.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT: two options were defined to analyse the impact of the proposal, based on the views of the main stakeholders. The preferred option aims to develop a new self-standing initiative with strengthened focus on solidarity and also aims to:

provide a clear and single access point for organisations and young people and will make solidarity actions more visible. It will embed a more inclusive approach through a dedicated inclusion strategy; provide overall quality of placements and of preparedness of the young participants through a series of specific qualitative processes and criteria (such as quality label for organisations, training, insurance, etc.); bring new synergies between the activities and their recognition as it will put them in one common framework and will help create new networks between people and organisations with common aspirations for solidarity; decrease management costs while reaching greater effect.

Specific objective of the initiative : the European Solidarity Corps will provide young people with easily accessible opportunities to engage in volunteering, traineeships or jobs in solidarity-related sectors , as well as to devise and develop solidarity projects at their own initiative, which shall also contribute to improving their skills and competences for their personal, social and professional development, as well as their employability.

The European Solidarity Corps (ESC) will also support networking activities for European Solidarity Corps participants and organisations, aimed at fostering a European Solidarity Corps spirit and sense of belonging to a wider community committed to solidarity , as well as at encouraging the exchange of useful practices and experience.

The European Solidarity Corps will further aim at ensuring that the solidarity activities offered to the young participants contribute to addressing concrete societal challenges and to strengthening communities.

Continuity between the European Solidarity Corps and the EVS : the proposed initiative will build on the foundations of the former European Voluntary Service (EVS) which is now under the ERASMUS+ programme . EVS has provided volunteering opportunities for young people for 20 years), while proposing new opportunities, wider visibility and greater impact of the actions undertaken.

The European Solidarity Corps will offer a single, easily accessible entry point through its Portal , and will aim at the widest possible outreach to participating organisations and to the young people involved.

In general, everything has been designed to ensure continuity between the European Voluntary Service and the European Solidarity Corps, through a single system of cross-border volunteering placements . At the same time, other EVS activities that do not fall under the geographical scope of the European Solidarity Corps will continue to be supported under ERASMUS+.

Actions of the European Solidarity Corps : the proposal provides a description of the activities envisaged for the achievement of the objectives of the proposed Regulation.

The Union's support measures include:

solidarity placements, projects and networking activities, quality and support measures on the other.

Participation conditions : the proposal specifies criteria for the participating countries, individuals and organisations:

(1) the participating countries are the EU Member States and possibly other countries on the basis of bilateral agreements;

(2) young people aged 17-30 can register in the European Solidarity Corps Portal whereas participation can only start when they are between 18 and 30 years of age ;

(3) a participating organisation that may make offers for solidarity placements or activities to registered individuals is any public or private entity, or an international organisation that carries out solidarity activities in the participating countries , provided that they have received a quality label certifying their adherence to the requirements of the European Solidarity Corps.

Performance, results and dissemination : provisions are included for the Commission and the participating countries to ensure regular monitoring, reporting and evaluation of the performance of the European Solidarity Corps as well as to ensure the dissemination of information, publicity and follow-up with regard to all actions supported by the European Solidarity Corps.

Management and audit system : the proposal foresees the implementing bodies of the European Solidarity Corps. In management terms, the proposed implementation modality is a combination of indirect management (through national agencies at national level) and direct management (through the Commission at Union level, including the use of an executive agency on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis). The combination of management modes is based on the positive experience of the implementation of the Erasmus+ programme and builds on the existing structures of that programme, including for some tasks related to the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency.

Implementation : implementing provisions sets out the necessary provisions for the conferral of certain powers to the Commission to adopt work programmes by way of implementing acts.

This Regulation shall apply from 1 January 2018.

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS: it is proposed to finance three fourths of the European Solidarity Corps budget by redeployments from existing programmes . The remaining amount will be covered by the mobilisation of the Global Margin for Commitments in 2018 and by available unallocated margins in 2019 and 2020 .

The prime reference amount under Heading 1a for the 2018-20 period is EUR 294.2 million , which includes redeployment under the same headings from the Erasmus + programme (EUR 197.7 million) and the Employment and Social Innovation programme (EUR 10 million).

The allocation in Heading 1a will be complemented by contributions from programmes in other headings from an amount of EUR 47.3 million:

the European Social Fund (EUR 35 million), the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (EUR 6 million), the LIFE programme (EUR 4.5 million), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EUR 1.8 million).

Consequently, the acts relating to these different programmes have been modified accordingly.