During the EP plenary session (24-27/10) in Strasbourg, MEPs debate on European Voluntary Service. Statements by Silvia COSTA (S&amp;D, IT), Author, Tibor NAVRACSICS, Member of the EC in charge of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Michaela SOJDROVA (EPP, CZ), Krystyna LYBACKA (S&amp;D, PL), and Mar&iacute;a Teresa GIMENEZ BARBAT (ALDE, ES).

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

ŠOJDROVÁ, Michaela (EPP, CZ)

COSTA, Silvia (S&D, IT)

NAVRACSICS, Tibor (HU, EC)

European Voluntary Service (T)

ŁYBACKA, Krystyna (S&D, PL)

GIMÉNEZ BARBAT, María Teresa (ALDE, ES)

European Voluntary Service: extracts from the debate

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Silvia COSTA (S&amp;D, IT), Author,  In our Culture Committee we celebrated 20 years of this initiative and now also Member States have more favourable conditions to allow voluntary service to take root through Europe. It&rsquo;s a fundamental act of freedom and responsibilities of people as individuals or in an associated form. It&rsquo;s also a specific expression of what Europe needs, namely free commitment for others, solidarity and friendship, inter-cultural dialogue, inter-religious dialogue and active citizenship. We know that today in Europe there are millions of volunteers in all areas: humanitarian help, education, environment, culture and sport.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Silvia COSTA (S&amp;D, IT), Author,  We also need a legal frame allowing to balance professional life and voluntary work, and it has to be properly supported by legal and financial framework, so the associations and voluntary services have support.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Silvia COSTA (S&amp;D, IT), Author,  We need an information and awareness raising campaign together for the EVS to give further value to social and civic acts. It&rsquo;s important for everyone to have the opportunity to volunteer, but we would like it to become part of the educational curriculum in schools, and there should be a more of these experiences, that allow students to confront themselves with the national and international reality, bring help to the local level, and help to build a kind of European and World citizenship.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tibor NAVRACSICS, Member of the EC in charge of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport,  We are promoting the EVS to get more and new stake holders on board, notably through our 20th anniversary campaign. In particular, we want to increase the number of volunteering opportunities by creating partnerships between national volunteering bodies, municipalities, enterprises, NGOs and schools.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tibor NAVRACSICS, Member of the EC in charge of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport,  We want to make sure that the skills acquired while volunteering are better recognised. This can play a part in helping young people find jobs.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tibor NAVRACSICS, Member of the EC in charge of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport,  The Commission is encouraging universities to combine academic content with civic engagement by awarding study credits for volunteering. The social Erasmus initiative encourages Erasmus students to engage in social and volunteering activities in their host countries while abroad. The EU Aid Volunteering Initiative that focuses on humanitarian aid in countries outside the EU is currently being prepared.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tibor NAVRACSICS, Member of the EC in charge of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport,  To give young people more opportunities to engage in society, President Jean-Claude Juncker in his State of the Union speech addressed last month, announced the creation of the European Solidarity Corp. This initiative will give young people the opportunity to express their solidarity by helping others. It will enhance our social cohesion and the core values of the EU. The first phase of the European Solidarity Corp will be launched soon, with first deployment in 2017. We want to have one hundred thousand people sign-up to the Corp by 2020.

SOUNDBITE (English), Tibor NAVRACSICS, Member of the EC in charge of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport,  The treaties do not provide the European Union with the competence to harmonise national laws in this area. However a Council recommendation on the field encourages Member States to promote recognition of learning outcomes of voluntary activities.

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Michaela &#352;OJDROV&#193; (EPP, CZ),  The document that we have here calls for voluntary activities to be better recognised, including the granting of European volunteer status as well as a source of skills, which is something that should be recognised as part of mobility and recognition of qualifications.

SOUNDBITE (Czech), Michaela &#352;OJDROV&#193; (EPP, CZ),  Volunteering should continue to be a spontaneous activity. The Commissioner has correctly said it has to be governed at the national level; at the European level we can provide a European framework which should support and motivate, but not create obstacles and restrict it too much.

SOUNDBITE (Polish), Krystyna &#321;YBACKA (S&amp;D, PL),  Voluntary has a great potential for integration. And if it happens on the territory of the EU it helps to create a European identity. But it is the potential of trans-border voluntary service that is not fully used. More than a hundred thousand people were involved in voluntary service, but only 7000 worked in a trans-border voluntary scheme. Why? Because we have legal, social, economic barriers, as well as a lack of information. This untapped potential is estimated at 65 million euros annually.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Mar&#237;a Teresa GIM&#201;NEZ BARBAT (ALDE, ES),  The development of the volunteering at the European level helps directly to strengthen European citizenship. It&rsquo;s very urgent though that we strengthen this concept of citizenship especially in times of crisis. It is a key pillar of the process of integration, and the strengthening of the EU and solidarity in Europe. The EVS is not sufficiently known yet, we need to improve its communication and it needs to be easier for those who want to be involved. We would like to highlight the role of volunteering in social cohesion, personal growth of the individual and even contribution to economic growth: the work of volunteers in Europe, as my colleague said, contributes to 5% of GDP.