On Wednesday 27 June EU ambassadors (Coreper) ratified an inter-institutional compromise reached on the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) for the 2018-2020 period. An informal compromise was reached with the European Parliament last week.
The ESC helps young people between 18 and 30 participate in a wide range of voluntary activities or to implement professional projects underpinned by a work contract.
It was launched in 2016 in the form of a pilot project. In May 2017, the European Commission proposed that the instrument have a legal basis and specific budget up to 2020 (see EUROPE 11684, 11798). Then, as part of a different legislative proposal, it set about tackling the post-2020 period (see EUROPE 12038).
Money is the crux of the matter
The inter-institutional agreement focuses on the 2018-20 period. The financial envelope and breakdown accounted for the main stumbling block in the inter-institutional negotiations. While the Commission proposed €341.5 million, three quarters of which would be taken from existing programs and completed by non-allocated budgetary margins, the Council wanted everything based on existing programmes, whilst Parliament wanted it to be funded entirely from non-allocated margins (as well as the €197.7 million that has already been planned for voluntary activities in the Erasmus + programme).
The co-legislators ultimately decided to increase the financial contribution of the European Solidarity Fund to €376.5 million. 80% of this money will be deployed from existing programmes (mainly from section 1a of the EU budget) and 20% from non-allocated budgetary margins.
The ESC will devote 90% of its resources to volunteering and solidarity projects and 10% for either traineeships and/or jobs.
The agreement stipulates that solidarity activities will be able to be undertaken both on a cross-border basis or in the country of residence of the participants for a period of three to twelve months. The agreement explains, however, that 80% of the financial envelope will have to support action in another member state.
Next steps
After the agreement has been confirmed by Coreper, the draft regulation will be submitted to the European Parliament’s culture committee on Wednesday 11 July, then at the plenary at a later date and then will subsequently go back to the Council for adoption.
The new rules will enter into force following the publication in the EU Official Journal and will apply from 1 October 2018.
Since the launch in December 2016 of the European Solidarity Corps, eight voluntary groups have been deployed EU wide. So far, almost 60,000 young people have signed up to the programme and almost 5,000 of them have begun a placement. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)