When they meet in the Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council on Monday 20 November, EU ministers with responsibility for youth will agree their position on setting up a European Solidarity Corps, membership of which should, they say, be open to young people from countries outside the EU.
The member states like the European Commission idea of offering young European citizens aged between 18 and 30 the opportunity to take part in a range of solidarity activities, through volunteering, traineeships or jobs (see EUROPE 11798).
The political agreement in principle (“general approach”) which ministers will endorse on Monday ahead of negotiations with the European Parliament at the start of 2018 extends involvement in part of the initiative to young people from third countries. Thus, young people from acceding, candidate and potential candidate countries, EFTA and EEA agreement countries, Switzerland and European Neighbourhood countries will be able to take part in volunteering and networking activities.
According to a Council document, eleven member states (Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia) called in mid-October for the geographic range of the European Solidarity Corps to be extended to cover the same countries as the Erasmus+ and Youth in Action programmes and the European Voluntary Service.
The member states are unlikely to alter the €341.5 million envelope recommended by the Commission for the 2018-2020 period. This envelope is a redeployment of funding from other budget lines, including €35 million from the ESF. It may be used to provide co-financing of up to 80% for voluntary activities, and up to 20% for traineeships and/or jobs.
Ministers will also adopt conclusions on the importance of raising awareness among young people of the risks of the digital age, such as prolonged exposure to screens, cyber-bullying, the spread of false information, hate speech and infringement of privacy.
At a public debate on young people’s expectations in today’s Europe, ministers will innovate by using social media to interact directly with young people.
Education. On Monday afternoon, education ministers will adopt a recommendation encouraging member states to track graduates, gathering information that will help identify the difficulties young people face in finding employment.
Ministers will also discuss the changing role of vocational training in acquiring the skills for the future and how to better link vocational training with businesses and research institutes.
Culture. On Tuesday morning, culture ministers will adopt conclusions on promoting the cultural sector, including how information technology can be used to reach new audiences. In 2018, European Cultural Heritage Year events could be used as a platform for promoting public participation.
The Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU will also update ministers on the inter-institutional negotiations taking place on audio-visual media services ahead of the forthcoming trialogue scheduled for Tuesday 28 November (see EUROPE 11900).
Elsewhere, Germany will raise with the other member states the weakness, as it sees it, of the proposals on the table seeking to prevent the illegal imports of cultural goods (see EUROPE 11829). France will continue its campaign for fair remuneration for authors. Poland will accuse the House of European History in Brussels of distorting the historic truth about the Holocaust and the Communist period. And the Commission will brief ministers on the administrative problems facing European artists wishing to perform in the United States.
Sport. Lastly, EU ministers for sport will consider the main challenges facing the sports sector, as both a leisure activity and an economic sector. A preparatory document drafted by the Estonian Presidency identifies several threats, such as match-fixing, doping and violence, which require intervention by public authorities at international, European and national levels. President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach will take part in the debate. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)