The European Union is on track for reaching a target that it set itself a year ago when it launched the European Solidarity Corps. According to the figures published on Thursday 7 December, 42,745 young people from all member states have signed up to take part in this initiative.
It should be recalled that the European Solidarity Corps was set up in December 2016 to offer young people between the ages of 18 and 30 the opportunity to take part in a wide range of solidarity activities across the EU in the voluntary work sector or as part of professional projects with a work contract (see EUROPE 11684). At that time, the aim was to have 100,000 young people taking part in the initiative by the end of 2020.
According to the Commission's own figures, more than 42,000 young people from all member states have signed up to take part in the initiative. The majority of requests to take part in it were made in Italy (7,178), Spain (6,777) and Portugal (3,460). On the other hand, young people from Cyprus (210), Malta (107) and Luxembourg (76) do not appear very interested.
In practice, the Commission explains that 2,166 of those registered have already begun their placements with 1,434 organisations, the majority of them in Italy and Spain. The Commission explained that it intends to attain a figure of 3,600 placements by the end of 2017.
The European Parliament and Council of the EU are currently examining a legislative proposal to provide the Solidarity Corps with its own budget and legislative basis and to expand its activities. The Council reached its position on 20 November (see EUROPE 11908), while Parliament is due to do so on 23 January. The Commission also set the cat among the pigeons on 17 November during the Gothenburg Summit by calling on the heads of state and government to extend the European Solidarity Corps’ objective (and also to double its financial resources).
This idea will be discussed as part of the negotiations on the next multi annual financial framework. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)