Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-04-21-Speech-1-194"
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"Mr President, thank you for the opportunity to say a few words on my report on volunteering and the contribution that volunteering makes to economic and social cohesion.
Another area where the Commission can act is in facilitating a more liberal visa regime, where volunteers from neighbouring countries are involved in EU-sponsored programmes.
Member States can play a significant role by producing regular satellite accounts, so that the value of volunteering and not-for-profit institutions can be measured. The figures for many countries, including the US, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Canada, indicate that not-for-profit institutions account for between 5% and 7% of GDP. Policymakers cannot ignore these figures and must take them into account when formulating policy. Furthermore, for every euro organisations spent on supporting volunteers, they received an average return of between 3% and 8%. Not even the ECB can match that rate of return.
Member States can also support voluntary activity by establishing sustainable volunteering infrastructure to deal with issues such as core funding, insurance cover and VAT exemptions where appropriate.
Finally, one of our tasks in the EU is to make a positive impact on the lives of citizens and to add value at European level. We can do this by supporting volunteers and voluntary activity in a tangible way.
First of all, I would like to thank all my colleagues on the Committee on Regional Development for their excellent cooperation on this report and, in particular, the shadow rapporteurs. I also want to record my thanks to the Commission officials, the ALDE Group staff and Parliament staff on the Committee on Regional Development for their interest and assistance.
Over 100 million Europeans volunteer – that is an incredible figure! According to the Commission, between one third and half of the EU population are involved in some kind of voluntary activity. In my opinion, we as an institution have a responsibility to recognise, to value and to support voluntary activity at every possible opportunity.
Volunteering is a unique activity in many ways: it is open to all and is freely given; it contributes to social cohesion and to economic cohesion; it puts one of the most important European values – that of solidarity – into action. Whether it is an individual delivering meals on wheels to an elderly neighbour, or the thousands who mobilise in the event of a natural disaster, such as floods or forest fires, volunteers can help build communities and reduce alienation.
Volunteering as an activity spans generations. It is a resource, sometimes latent, residing within communities, organisations and networks. It is an energy within each one of us, but it is only activated when we engage with others. It is, in my opinion, a most valuable form of renewable energy.
There is a strong link between volunteering and active citizenship: involvement in voluntary activities is a tangible expression of participatory democracy. In this Parliament, we represent our citizens and we as politicians engage in representative democracy, but sometimes we do not pay enough attention to the other side of the equation: participatory democracy. This is where citizens, through their activities, participate in the democratic process, and volunteering facilitates this important process.
Moving on to my report, it contains a number of practical suggestions as to how we can add value at European level. The Commission has a role to play in ensuring that Member States adhere to the partnership principle enshrined in the Community strategic guidelines on cohesion and to ensure that we do not continue with the illusion of inclusion of NGOs, voluntary groups etc., as is the current situation in many Member States.
I also believe that a system should be put in place across all European funds, whereby voluntary activity is recognised as a contribution to co-financing projects. If we do this, we show by our actions that we support volunteers.
We should expand the opportunities and programmes already in place to facilitate volunteering among young people and put in place similar opportunities and programmes to facilitate volunteering for older people. And we should, at every possible opportunity, promote intergenerational volunteering."@en1
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