Which objective(s) does the Commission pursue?

For the Multi-annual Financial Framework 2021-2027, the Commission proposed a new programme for the European Solidarity Corps beyond 2020, worth €1.009 billion. The new programme would provide young Europeans with an even wider range of opportunities to support communities in need between 2021 and 2027 through solidarity and volunteering across the EU, as well as through volunteering in countries in need of humanitarian aid. The aim was to enhance the engagement of young people and organisations in accessible and high-quality solidarity activities as a means to contribute to strengthening cohesion, solidarity and democracy in the Union and abroad. It does so by addressing societal and humanitarian challenges on the ground, with particular effort to promote social inclusion.

When drafting the proposal for the future European Solidarity Corps, the Commission decided to introduce a new Humanitarian Aid strand, building on the EU Aid Volunteers initiative (2014-2020). The rationale behind this decision was to create a one-stop-shop for solidarity and volunteering opportunities offered by the European Commission. In addition, this would save costs, increase efficiency and improve communications towards young people and organisations.

Compared to the previous generation of the European Solidarity Corps programme (2018-2020), several simplifications were proposed for the 2021-2027 programme. These can be grouped in three broad categories:

• For individuals: extending the scope means that all volunteering and other solidarity-related activities are under one programme. This would greatly simplify the access to opportunities for young people wanting to engage in a solidarity activity;

• For organisations: aligning all rules of the programme, from application for accreditation to reporting requirements at the end of the project, would simplify the work of the participating organisations at all stages of the project cycle.

• At institutional level: integrating activities currently implemented by the EU Aid Volunteers into the European Solidarity Corps would help streamline the work required for each element of the programme. For instance, there are synergies and efficiencies with e.g. seeking one call for tender instead of two for insurance, training and other quality support measures.

Estimated savings and benefits

Under the first phase of the European Solidarity Corps it was difficult to promote and communicate to the public about one Corps with several underlying programmes, as well as to explain the difference between the Corps and the EU Aid Volunteers initiative. The new programme addresses these communications gaps by setting one unique promotion strategy and thus improving the clarity towards young people and organisations. This is meant to lead to more coherence.

The cooperation with national frameworks, initiatives and schemes, such as civic service programmes or privately run initiatives, is also sought to avoid possible overlapping.

The new programme would also bridge the gap between different generations of participants, ensuring that knowledge is shared appropriately with new participants, with the aim of improving their participation in the programme.

The Commission proposed to alleviate procedures governing the programme. This should contribute to attracting more organisations, which will in turn translate into more opportunities offered to young people.

Adapting the Humanitarian Aid strand to the existing processes of the European Solidarity Corps would shorten the time between the moment volunteers sign up and when they are deployed. This should allow organisations to better address the needs they identify in the field.

Efficiencies would also be gained as a result of the European Solidarity Corps being implemented to a large extent by the same bodies in charge of Erasmus+. The new Humanitarian Aid strand would benefit from this gain in efficiency, as the centralised actions of both programmes are being implemented by the same Executive Agency. Therefore, the new programme, including its Humanitarian Aid strand, benefits from increased efficiency.

The increased budget and broader scope of the programme would allow the Commission and other implementing bodies to harness all the cost savings derived from economies of scale and scope.

Outcome of Legislative Procedure

Most of the Commission proposals were taken on board in the adopted Regulation. In order to simplify requirements for beneficiaries, simplified grants in the form of lump sums, flat-rate financing and unit costs should be used to the maximum possible extent. The simplified grants to support the mobility actions under the Programme, as defined by the Commission, should take into account the living and subsistence costs in the host country. The interim evaluation will look into the results of these measures.