Recognising and promoting cross-border voluntary activities in the EU

Some 100 million Europeans, almost a quarter of EU citizens, engage in voluntary activities.

Most of them consider volunteering to be a way of contributing to society and see it as an important pillar of democracy.

At the same time, they help to produce around 5% of the EU's GDP.

The Commission and a majority in Parliament advocate better support structures, like a European Skills Passport for volunteers and a European Volunteer Centre Development Fund (EVCDF).

The Greens believe that volunteering contributes significantly to the public good and therefore deserves political support.

Volunteering needs an adequate legal and political framework to strengthen civil society and its links to citizens.

We recommend the German voluntary service year as an example for all to follow, though work by volunteers must never replace professional employment.

The Greens welcome Parliament's due recognition of the benefits of volunteering.

We were happy to see Parliament urge the Member States to set up adequate legal frameworks for volunteers where none such exist, and hope that the Member States will follow Parliament's recommendations in this connection.

Overall, the Greens were satisfied with the result of the negotiations.

Since education and culture are largely national competences and the EU only serves as a facilitator between the Member States, conflict over issues in these domains is rare.