The European Solidarity Corps will benefit from its own budgetary line after 2020, explained to the European Commissioner for the Budget, Gunther Oettinger, on Wednesday 12 April during a forum of political parties.
The European Solidarity Corps will help young people aged between 18 and 30 to take part in a whole range of solidarity activities in voluntary work or in setting up vocational projects that are backed up by a work contract (see EUROPE 11684). This measure was announced by the President of the European Commission in September 2016 and clarified that the end of 2016 in an “Investing in Youth in Europe” package.
Mr Oettinger took advantage of the conference of parties event (which brings together around 700 people in Brussels) to further clarify the way in which this initiative is expected to be put into practice. He indicated that the Commission intended to present a legislative draft in May 2016, as a means of providing the European Solidarity Corps with a legal basis, before the end of the year.
According to the Commissioner, the European Solidarity Corps will depend on the current multiannual financial framework up until 2020, by way of programme transfers. Nonetheless, he did indicate that they would pay attention and not be taking funds out of Erasmus+, “We’re not going to rob Peter to pay Paul” and added that the Commission proposal for the 2018 budget will have already been presented by Jane.
After 2020, the European initiative will benefit from its own budgetary line that guarantees longer term programme stability.
During the conference, Petra Kammerevert (S&D, Germany) highlighted the European Parliament messages contained in a non-legislative resolution adopted at the beginning of April (see EUROPE 11763) and which reiterate the risk of encroaching on other Community programmes and replacing the existing jobs with voluntary work. The chair of the Parliament’s culture and education committee explained, “We are expecting a convincing and sustainable proposal from the Commission, so that the enthusiasm of young people is not transformed into disillusion”.
The President of the Committee of the Regions (CoR), Markku Markkula, underlined three key messages: the CoR can support youth, an integrated approach of partnerships active at all levels is needed and education and training play a key role.
So far, 27,000 young Europeans have submitted candidacies to take part in solidarity projects and 4,200 organisations are officially engaged in finding employees, trainees and potential voluntary workers for their activities, explained Ann Mettler, the head of the European Centre for the European Commission’s political strategy. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)