At the end of June the EU institutions reached an agreement of the European Solidarity Corps ESC programme for the period 2018-2020 for a budget of EUR 375.6 million, and the European Commission launched the first Call for Proposals and published the Programme Guide over the summer. In June, before this agreement was reached, the Commission released the proposal for the ESC post 2021.
The new programme features 3 types of activities for people between 18 and 30 years old:
- Volunteering
- Traineeships and Jobs
- Solidarity projects
Participants can be from an EU or a partner country (EFTA, accessing EU, EU neighbouring country).
The most interesting for EFIL and its members, is the Volunteering, which is an evolution of the former European Voluntary Service Programme, and the and Solidarity projects strand which is a new feature.
Volunteering
- Individual Volunteering for 2-12 months (cross-border or in-country)
- Volunteering teams of 10-40 people from at least 2 countries for 2 weeks-2 months (1/4 of the volunteers must come from abroad)
All organisations applying should obtain a Quality label, and organisations which already hold a European Voluntary Service accreditation do not need to apply for the Quality label.
Organisations will be able to apply for such activities through single projects or within the framework of Volunteering partnerships, namely a 3 year agreement with the National agency which allows to conduct a series of volunteering activities every year.
Solidarity projects
- volunteer project at local level for 2-12 months for groups of 5 people or more
The group of people implementing the project applies, or the organisation for which the group will carry on the project. No need for Quality Label.
We are glad the programme is providing more flexible formants than the individual volunteer service, and it is open to countries neighbouring the EU. However we are disappointed to see that the role and potential of European-wide networks is not acknowledged. European-wide networks can apply for the Quality Label for all their members, however they cannot submit project applications at European central level.
For more information: elisa.briga@afs.org