51 Amendments of Francis ZAMMIT DIMECH related to 2017/0102(COD)
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) The European Union is built on solidarity, among its citizens and among its Member States. This common value guides its actions and provides the necessary unity to cope with current and future societal challenges, which young Europeans are willing to help address by expressing their solidarity in practice. The principle of solidarity is enshrined in Article 2 Treaty on European Union and in the preamble of the Charter on Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3 a (new)
Recital 3 a (new)
(3a) Solidarity means a sense of responsibility on the part of everyone with regard to everyone to commit oneself to the common good, which is expressed in concrete actions without consideration of return service.
Amendment 167 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) The European Voluntary and Solidarity CorpsService would provide a single entry point for solidarity activities throughout the Union. Consistency and complementarity of that framework should be ensured with other relevant Union policies and programmes. The European Solidarity Corps should build on the strengths and synergies of existing programmes, notably the European Voluntary Service. It should also complement the efforts made by Member States to support young people and ease their school-to-work transition under the Youth Guarantee19 by providing them with additional opportunities to make a start on the labour market in the form of traineeships or jobs in the solidarity-related areas sector within their respective Member State or across borders. Complementarity with existing Union level networks pertinent to the activities under the European Solidarity Corps, such as the European Network of Public Employment Services, EURES and the Eurodesk network, the European Youth Forum (YFJ), the European Volunteer Centre (CEV) and other relevant civil society organisations including networks representing employers and trade unions should also be ensured. Furthermore, complementarity between existing related schemes, in particular national solidarity schemes and mobility schemes for young people, and the European Solidarity Corps should be ensured, building on good practices where appropriate. __________________ 19 Council Recommendation of 22 April 2013 on establishing a Youth Guarantee (2013/C 120/01).
Amendment 180 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9
Recital 9
(9) Voluntary activities constitute a rich experience in a non-formal and informal learning context which enhances young people's personal, socio-educational and professional development, active citizenship and employability. Voluntary activitieseering placements should be mainly carried out by public authorities, non-profit organisations, foundations and social enterprises and they should not have an adverse effect on potential or existing paid employment, nor should they be seen as a substitute for it. In order to ensure continuity with respect to the volunteering activities that are supported at Union level, the volunteering activities under the European Voluntary Service that fall within the geographical scope of the European Solidarity Corps should be supported by the latter in the form of cross- border volunteering placements. The other volunteering activities under the European Voluntary Service that do not fall under the geographical scope of the European Solidarity Corps should continue to be supported under the Programme established by Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing 'Erasmus+': the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport20 . With respect to the interpretation of related legislation at Union level, both the cross-border volunteering placements under the European Solidarity Corps and the volunteering activities that continue to be supported under Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 should be considered equivalent to those carried out under the European Voluntary Service. __________________ 20 Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 establishing 'Erasmus+': the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport and repealing Decisions No 1719/2006/EC, No 1720/2006/EC and No 1298/2008/EC, OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 50.
Amendment 193 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Young people’s spirit of initiative is an important asset for society and for the labour market. The European Solidarity Corps should contribute to fostering this aspect by offering young people the opportunity to devise and implement their own projects aimed at addressing specific challenges to the benefit of their local communities. Those projects should be an opportunity to try out ideas and support young people to be themselves drivers of solidarity actions. They could also serve as a springboard for further engagement in solidarity activities and could be a first step towards encouraging European Solidarity Corps participants to engage in self-employment or setting up associations, NGOeither as volunteers or as employees in associations, NGOs, youth organisations or other bodies active in the solidarity, non-profit and youth sectors and set up their own associations.
Amendment 203 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) Particular attention should be paid to ensuring the quality of the placements and other opportunities offered under the European Solidarity Corps, in particular by offering online and offline training, language support, insurance, administrative and post- placement support to participants as well as the validation of the knowledge, skills and competences acquired through their European Solidarity Corps experience. This support should be created and provided in collaboration with youth organisations and other civil society organisations in order to tap into their expertise on the field. Post-placement support should also prioritise the continuous civic engagement of the participants in their community, guiding them towards local organisations or projects to engage with after the placement.
Amendment 215 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14 a (new)
Recital 14 a (new)
(14a) The European Voluntary Service has set European-wide high quality standards for cross-border voluntary services. To avoid different quality standards, the European Solidarity Corps Charter should be identical to that of the Erasmus+ programme while the common system for both needs to be implemented.
Amendment 227 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) A European Solidarity Corps Portal should continuously be developed in order to ensure easy access to the European Solidarity Corps and to provide a one-stop shop for both interested individuals and organiszations as regards, inter alia, registration, identification and matching of profiles and opportunities, networking and virtual exchanges, online training, language and pre and post-placement support, and direct feedback and evaluation mechanisms as well as other useful functionalities, which may arise in the future. The European Solidarity Corps Portal and its use should be explained in detail in the programme guide.
Amendment 235 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) This Regulation lays down a financial envelope for the period 2018- 2020 which is to constitute the prime reference amount, within the meaning of Point 17 of the Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management23, for the European Parliament and the Council during the annual budgetary procedure. The prime reference amount includes redeployments from the Erasmus+ programme (EUR 197.7 million) and from the Employment and Social Innovation programme (EUR 10 million) for the financial years 2018, 2019 and 2020, and it is complemented by contributions from several Union programmes under different headings, such as the European Social Fund, the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, the LIFE programme and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Developmentshould be complemented by unallocated margins and using fresh resources in future financial years. __________________ 23 Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1.
Amendment 240 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18 a (new)
Recital 18 a (new)
(18a) Investing in the European Solidarity Corps must not come at the expense of other EU programmes already offering very valuable opportunities to young people, particularly the Erasmus+ programme and the Youth Employment Initiative. Investment in the European Solidarity Corps should be accompanied by increased investment in other complementary EU programmes and, in the case of Erasmus+ Programmes.
Amendment 247 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21 a (new)
Recital 21 a (new)
(21a) As a general rule, the grant request will be submitted to the National Agency of the country where the organisation is based. Grant requests for placements organised by Europe-wide or international organisations, will be submitted to the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission.
Amendment 253 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) IAs in EVS, in addition to the Member States, the European Solidarity Corps should also be open to Erasmus+ Programme Countries, withe participation of other countries on the basis of bilateral agreementular attention to countries neighbouring the EU, from its start as from January 2018 in order to promote equality of opportunities between young people from EU and non-EU countries. This participation should be based, where relevant, on additional appropriations to be made available in accordance with the procedures to be agreed with the concerned countries.
Amendment 272 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) An entity willing to apply for funding to offer placements under the European Solidarity Corps should have first received a quality label as a precondition. This requirement should not apply to natural persons seeking financial support on behalf of an informal group of European Solidarity Corps participants for their solidarity projects and should be accompanied by simplified application procedures.
Amendment 288 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 35
Recital 35
(35) In compliance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the European Union26, the Commission should adopt work programmes and inform the European Parliament and the Council thereof. The work programme should set out the measures needed for their implementation in line with the general and specific objectives of the European Solidarity Corps, the selection and award criteria for grants, as well as all other elements required. Work programmes and any amendments to them should be adopted by implementing acts in accordance with the examination procedure and on the basis of the needs and demands of beneficiaries. __________________ 26 Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002, OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.
Amendment 294 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 37
Recital 37
(37) For reasons of efficiency and effectiveness, the committee established under Regulation (EU) No 1288/2013 should also assist the Commission in the implementation of this Regulation. With respect to the European Solidarity Corps, that committee should convene in a specific configuration and its mandate should be aligned in order to fulfil this new role. It should be for the participating countries to appoint the relevant representatives for those meetings, taking into account the volunteering and occupational dimensions of the European Solidarity Corps. The European Youth Forum, the European Volunteer Centre (CEV) and other relevant civil society organisations including networks representing employers and trade unions should be included as permanent observers without voting rights in the Programme Committee and their presence laid out in the rules of procedures of the relevant Committee.
Amendment 304 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 40
Recital 40
(40) The financial envelope of the European Solidarity Corps under Heading 1a of the Multiannual Financial Framework should additionally be supplemented by financial contributions from other programmes and headings, which require the amendment of Regulations (EU) No 1293/201327, (EU) No 1303/201328, (EU) No 1305/201329, (EU) No 1306/201330 as well as of Decision No 1313/2013/EU31 of the European Parliament and of the Council. __________________ 27Regulation (EU) No 1293/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the establishment of a Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) and repealing Regulation (EC) No 614/2007 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 185). 28Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p.320). 29Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on support for rural development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 1698/2005 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 487). 30 Regulation (EU) No 1306/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on the financing, management and monitoring of the common agricultural policy and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 352/78, (EC) No 165/94, (EC) No 2799/98, (EC) No 814/2000, (EC) No 1290/2005 and (EC) No 485/2008 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 549). 31Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism, (OJ L347 20.12.2013, p. 924)increased by unallocated margins and using fresh resources in future financial years.
Amendment 320 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1
(1) “solidarity activity” means an activity aimed at addressing unmet societal needs to the benefit of a community and the society as a whole while also fostering the individual’s personal, educational, social, civic and professional development, which may take the form of placements, projects or networking activities, developed in relation to different areas, such asformal and non-formal education and training, employment, gender equality, entrepreneurship, in particular and informal learning, youth work, employment, gender equality, social entrepreneurship, citizenship and democratic participation, intercultural dialogue, social inclusion, environment and nature protection, climate action, disaster prevention, preparedness and recovery, agriculture and rural development, provision of food and non-food items, health and wellbeing, creativity and culture, physical education and sport, social assistance and welfare, and reception and integration of third-country nationals, territorial cooperation and cohesion particularly asylum seekers and refugees;
Amendment 338 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4
(4) “participatreceiving organisation” means any public or private entity that has been attributed the European Solidarity Corps quality label, which offers a placement to a participant in the European Solidarity Corps or implements other activities in the framework of the European Solidarity Corps;
Amendment 343 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 4 a (new)
(4a) "sending organisation" means an entity that plays a fundamental role in encouraging, promoting and facilitating accessibility to and partnerships in the volunteering sector such as trade unions, youth organisations, Churches and religious associations or communities, NGOs or other actors from civil society;
Amendment 373 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 10
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 10
(10) “solidarity project” means a local initiative for a period from two to twelve months, which is set up and carried out by groups of at least five European Solidarity Corps participants, with a view to addressing key challenges within their local community while linking them to a broader European perspective and with existing local solidarity initiatives;
Amendment 382 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 11
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 11
(11) “quality label” means the certification attributed to a public or private entity or an internationalny sending or receiving organisation willing to provide placements under the European Solidarity Corps following a procedure aimed at ensuring compliance with the principles and requirements of the European Solidarity Corps Charter;
Amendment 404 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 1
Article 3 – paragraph 1
The objective of the European Solidarity Corps is to enhancepromote and enhance European solidarity and volunteering as a virtue; it shall strengthen the engagement of young people and organisations in accessible and high quality solidarity and voluntary activities as a means to contribute to strengthening cohesion and solidarity in Europe, promoting active citizenship of young people and supporting communities and responding to societal challenges.
Amendment 416 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) to provide young people, with the support of participating organisations, with easily accessible opportunities for engagement in solidarity and voluntary activities while improving their skills and competences for personal, educational, social, civic and professional development, as well as their employability and facilitating transition into the labour market, including by supporting the mobility of young volunteers, trainees and workers;
Amendment 425 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) to ensure that the solidarity and voluntary activities that are offered to the European Solidarity Corps participants contribute to addressing concrete, unmet societal needs and strengthening communities, are of high quality and properly validated.
Amendment 427 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) to support the development, support and maintenance of an EU Agenda for Volunteering aimed at guaranteeing the recognition and respect of the rights of volunteers and volunteer- involving organisations and the reduction of administrative and legal barriers to volunteering and volunteer-involving organisations across Europe, in addition to fostering, promoting and supporting a wider culture of Solidarity and Volunteering in Europe.
Amendment 437 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 3 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. The Commission and Member States should cooperate to achieve convergence and complementarity regarding volunteering policies between national legislation via the open method of coordination.
Amendment 455 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 7 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) solidarity placements in the form of full-time, part-time and free-time volunteering, traineeships or jobs, including individual cross-border and in- country placements as well as volunteering teams’ placements;
Amendment 474 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) measures aimed at ensuring the quality and accessibility of solidarity placements, including offline and online training, language support, financial and administrative support for participants and participatsending and receiving organisations, insurance, pre and post-placement support as well as the development of a certificate that identifies and documents the knowledge,learning outcomes as regards skills and competences acquired during the placement;
Amendment 482 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
(aa) activities and measures performed by sending and receiving organisations that support young people in accessing and developing solidarity placements and projects;
Amendment 501 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – introductory part
2. The amount referred to in paragraph 1 includes a financial envelope of EUR 294 200 00033 in current prices supplemented by contributions from:increased by unallocated margins and using fresh resources in future financial years. __________________ 33 This financial envelope constitutes the prime reference amount within the meaning of point 17 of the Interinstitutional Agreement (2013/C 373/01) between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management.
Amendment 504 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point a
Amendment 509 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point b
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point b
Amendment 511 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point c
Amendment 514 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point d
Article 9 – paragraph 2 – point d
Amendment 530 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 2
Article 11 – paragraph 2
2. The European Solidarity Corps shall include all partner countries of the European Voluntary Service by 2020. The European Solidarity Corps shall be open for the participation of other countries on the basis of bilateral agreements. Cooperation shall be based, where relevant, on additional appropriations to be made available in accordance with the procedures to be agreed with those countries.
Amendment 544 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 2
Article 12 – paragraph 2
2. When implementing this Regulation, the Commission and the participating countries shall ensure that particular efforts are made to promote social inclusion, in particular for the participation of disadvantaged young people and necessary support mechanisms and specific funding rules for inclusion shall be put in place.
Amendment 554 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 1
Article 13 – paragraph 1
1. The European Solidarity Corps shall be open to the participation of public or private entities, or international organisations in the capacity of receiving and sending organisations, provided that they have received a European Solidarity Corps quality label.
Amendment 559 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 13 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. The receiving organisation shall ensure safe and decent living conditions for the volunteer throughout the entire activity related period. It shall provide adequate personal, linguistic and task- related support, including the identification of a mentor for each volunteer.
Amendment 562 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Article 13 – paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. The sending organisation is in charge of the preparation and support of the volunteer before, during and after the solidarity placement.
Amendment 570 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 13 – paragraph 4
Article 13 – paragraph 4
4. Any entity which has received the European Solidarity Corps quality label shall be given access to the European Solidarity Corps Portal and shall be allowed to make offers for solidarity activities to registered individuals. The Commission shall establish separate accreditation procedures for entities intending to provide volunteering placements and entities intending to provide job and traineeship placements with different evaluation criteria and limiting the access to the programme to the parts they are accredited for.
Amendment 577 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Any public or private entity established in a participating country as well as international organisations carrying out solidarity activities in the participating countries may apply for funding under the European Solidarity Corps. Grant requests for placements organised by Europe-wide or international organisations should be submitted to and managed by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency of the European Commission. In the case of the activities referred to in point (a) of Article 7(1), a quality label shall be obtained by the participating organisation as a pre- condition for receiving funding under the European Solidarity Corps. In the case of the solidarity projects referred to in point (b) of Article 7(1), natural persons may also apply for funding on behalf of informal groups of European Solidarity Corps participants.
Amendment 588 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 1
Article 15 – paragraph 1
1. The Commission, in cooperation with the participating countries, the implementing agencies, sending and receiving organisations shall regularly monitor the performance of the European Solidarity Corps towards achieving its objectives.
Amendment 597 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a a (new)
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point a a (new)
(aa) rate of achievement of project objectives in terms of identified community needs;
Amendment 614 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point e a (new)
Article 15 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point e a (new)
(ea) overall satisfaction rate of the European Solidarity Corps placements;
Amendment 633 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Article 16 – paragraph 1
1. The Commission, in cooperation with the participating countries and union- level networks pertinent to the activity of the European Solidarity Corps, shall ensure the dissemination of information, publicity and follow-up with regard to all actions supported in the framework of the European Solidarity Corps.
Amendment 637 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 2
Article 16 – paragraph 2
2. The national agencies referred to in Article 20 shall develop a consistent policy with regard to effective outreach which should also target remote areas as well as dissemination and exploitation of results of activities supported under the actions they manage, shall assist the Commission in the general task of disseminating information concerning the European Solidarity Corps, including information in respect of actions managed at national and Union level, and their results, and shall inform relevant target groups about the initiatives undertaken in their country.
Amendment 645 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 17 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Article 17 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
(aa) the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency - EACEA at Union level;
Amendment 651 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 19 a (new)
Article 19 a (new)
Article 19a Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency 1. At Union level, the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency - EACEA shall be responsible for managing all stages of the grant for project actions of the European Solidarity Corps listed in Article 7 of this Regulation submitted by Europe-wide or international organisations. 2. The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency - EACEA shall also be responsible for the accreditation and monitoring of Europe-wide or international organisations.
Amendment 663 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 21 – paragraph 7
Article 21 – paragraph 7
7. The Commission shall organise regular meetings with the network of national agencies in order to ensure coherent implementation of the European Solidarity Corps across all participating countries. The Commission shall invite existing Union level networks pertinent to the activities under the European Solidarity Corps, such as the European Network of Public Employment Services, EURES and the Eurodesk network, European Volunteer Centre (CEV) and The European Youth Forum (YFJ) and other relevant civil society organisations including networks representing employers and trade unions to attend these meetings.
Amendment 670 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 22 – paragraph 3
Article 22 – paragraph 3
3. National agencies and the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency - EACEA shall be responsible for the primary controls of grant beneficiaries for the actions of the European Solidarity Corps which are entrusted to them. Those controls shall give reasonable assurance that the grants awarded are used as intended and in compliance with the applicable Union rules.
Amendment 680 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 25 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 25 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. As part of the committee referred in point 1 of this article, The European Youth Forum, the European Volunteer Centre (CEV) and other relevant civil society organisations including networks representing employers and trade unions shall be included as permanent observers without voting rights in the Programme Committee and their presence laid out in the rules of procedures of the relevant Committee.