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The mission of the European Solidarity Corps is to bring together young people to build a more inclusive society, supporting vulnerable people and responding to societal challenges offering an inspiring and empowering experience for young people who want to help, learn and develop. However, the registration for the European Solidarity Corps does not guarantee a placement with a project since this depends on the budget, the availability of projects and the specific interest of the candidates. Organisations will have the possibility to choose from candidates whose motivation, interests and skills correspond most closely to their needs. With regard to inclusion, special attention should be given to the participation of young people with disabilities in the European Solidarity Corps and solidarity-related projects.

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In view of the social dimension of Europe and taking into account the initiative's aim to benefit young people's personal development, active involvement in society and employability, consideration should also be given to social security and adequate coverage. In the interests of social work, transparency and fairness, young people must be clear in advance about the general conditions of the measures they are applying to, enabling them to clarify whether statutory health, pension or accident insurance coverage is in place during their engagement.

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Implementation of the occupational strand

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Implementation of the occupational strand

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Is the national agency the appropriate stakeholder for occupational placements? What experience does the national agency have to do so and would not EURES and the public employment service be better suited to implement this strand?

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How can we ensure that funding applications will be flexible enough for volunteering organisations and youth groups? A simplified process would be helpful in ensuring that micro grants (under EUR 5000) could be submitted at any time with no fixed deadlines and with a simplified application form.

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What objective criteria will be used by the Commission to annually adjust the budget available for each specific action? Adjustments based on the level of demand for each activity would help avoid pressure on some activities on the one hand and assist in preventing disengagement of young people and participating organisations on the other;

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Should we mainstream the European Solidarity Corps to other European Programmes? A dimension of local volunteering could also be included in the Erasmus+ student mobility programmes and could be linked to the European Solidarity Corps.

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While the quality for the participants should be ensured, how will we evaluate the quality of solidarity (project outcomes)?

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How can we ensure that young people with fewer opportunities will really be able to access the programme? It is crucial to provide financial support for outreach activities aimed at organisations involved in the programme. The role of supporting organisations would be key to maintaining outreach activities and supporting subsequent engagement. The programme should enhance young people's engagement beyond the timeframe of the ESC's activity.

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How can we guarantee that information about the initiative reaches all young people, all regions and all organisations for newcomers, particularly those in more vulnerable situations? Or will this be a kind of "closed shop" for the lucky few?

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Q 1: Separate programme or under Erasmus?

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Q 1: Separate programme or under Erasmus?

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a)     Should the ESC be fully implemented under Erasmus+, rather than by establishing an entirely new programme, administered by the structures of Erasmus+? This could also help to fully align the conditions for the remaining part of the European Voluntary Service with the ESC. Moreover, it would mean that the programme would not be under threat after 2020.

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7. Accessibility, administrative burden and national agencies

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7. Accessibility, administrative burden and national agencies

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As the EESC pointed out in its information report on the mid-term evaluation of Erasmus+, "applying for and participating in Erasmus+ is still a challenge for volunteer-based organisations that are not fully professionalised. The absolute amount of work involved might not always be excessive, but limited human and financial resources mean either that these organisations do not try or that they look for alternative approaches that are less onerous". It is therefore of utmost importance that the National Agencies change their approach in the most user-friendly way possible in order to attract and support potential ESC applicants and their potential hosting organisations in their efforts. Less formal controls and more informal guidance would help a lot in making the programme a success.

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6. Involvement of youth organisations and social partners in the co-management of the ESC

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6. Involvement of youth organisations and social partners in the co-management of the ESC

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In order for the programme to be a success, key stakeholders must be involved in its design from the very beginning. Currently the proposal does not provide for the involvement of youth organisations and other volunteer organisations, or social partners, in the implementation, co-management and monitoring of the ESC. The proposal gives priority to the E+ national agencies in managing the programme with a structure very similar to that of the EVS programme. The allocation of the budget according to key activities will also be decided by the Commission's annual work programmes following their own set of criteria. The EESC continues to believe that youth organisations and other CSOs should be regularly consulted in the programming, implementation and monitoring of the initiative, through advisory groups and other formal and informal means. Young people should also be involved in the monitoring process, for instance by means of a tool for rating their experience.

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Simply providing online training before a placement is insufficient to guarantee a successful experience. The EESC believes that more support and preparation for young people before their placement should be provided and that youth organisations, with their expertise, are able to act as supporting organisations in all phases of the programme and should receive appropriate incentives to do so.

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4. Online platform as  a genuinely effective tool 

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4. Online platform as  a genuinely effective tool 

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The EESC believes that an online platform may indeed simplify procedures and make the ESC easier to access for more young people. Nevertheless, the overreliance on the online platform for registration, selection of participants and pre-placement support is not enough to ensure the quality and fairness of the selection and follow-up procedures. The passive nature of the selection process (i.e. participants needing to wait to be contacted by accredited organisations) is disempowering, creates an unbalanced relationship between participants and hosting organisations and is a potential source of frustration with the ESC programme.

The EESC therefore suggests significantly changing the platform in such a way as to make it interactive for both sides and enable it to support simplification of administration throughout the lifecycle of the project – from the initial registration of interest, through an active search for hosting organisations, application, selection, preparation, performance and evaluation, and even networking opportunities for alumni. No data should need to be inserted twice.

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The EESC welcomes the announcement of this new investment in young people, but is concerned that it has been achieved largely through the reallocation of the EVS budget from Erasmus+ from 2018 onwards. This leads us to question where the priorities of the Commission lie at a time when success rates in other parts of the current Youth Chapter of Erasmus+ are rapidly decreasing and many quality projects remain unfunded (as was also discovered in the EESC's information report on Erasmus+). The EESC believes that investment in the ESC budget must not come at the expense of programmes already offering invaluable opportunities to young people, particularly Erasmus+ which is already underfunded.

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2. Lack of distinction between volunteering and occupational placements

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2. Lack of distinction between volunteering and occupational placements

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The current proposal does not formally distinguish between volunteering and occupational placements. While the EESC is not against the possibility of jobs and traineeships being offered under the ESC programme, the current document creates unnecessary confusion between two distinct realities i.e. volunteering and work. The same quality criteria being applied to all activities and to all participating organisations also raises questions regarding the quality assurance of offers, since the same criteria will be used to accredit for-profit companies, civil society organisations and other public and private organisations.

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1.Definition of volunteering and solidarity actions 

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1.Definition of volunteering and solidarity actions 

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The definition of volunteering in the current document is restrictive and does not reflect the diversity of volunteering in Europe. It currently defines volunteering as "a full-time [i.e. an activity carried out continuously, five days a week for seven hours a day] unpaid voluntary service for a period of up to twelve months". One way to solve this issue could be to use the word "volunteering" to describe all actions where young people are acting as volunteers (for example volunteering placements, group volunteering, or free-time volunteering initiatives).

The definition of solidarity actions is equally vague and very broad, raising questions about the types of projects that will be hosted under the ESC.