Free movement of persons: mobility for students, persons undergoing training, young volunteers, teachers, trainers

The Council adopted a resolution on the added value of voluntary activity for young people in the context of the development of Community action on youth. In this context, the Council invites the Member States : - to take the measures they deem appropriate to remove legal and administrative obstacles so as to provide every opportunity for youth voluntary activity in a national and international context; - to prevent voluntary activity for young people from restricting or being used as a substitute for potential or existing paid employment. The Council also invites the Commission and the Member States, within their respective spheres of competence : 1) To take measures to strengthen and to further develop the role of voluntary activity for young people, and in so doing to take as their guide, where appropriate, the strategic objectives formulated by the United Nations in the framework of the International Year of Volunteers. 2) To develop policy on voluntary activity for young people and strengthen European cooperation in this area, using the following elements which result from the strategic objectives of the UN Resolution proclaiming 2001 the International Year of Volunteers: the accessibility and promotion of information provision on voluntary activity, with a view to reinforcing a positive image; recognition and support for voluntary activity, inter alia by authorities at all levels, public opinion, media, commerce, employers and civil society; support for voluntary activity through incentives and the training of volunteers, their mentors and their associations; networking between all parties involved, with special attention to the perspective of young people themselves; quality care with regard to youth voluntary activity, including health and safety aspects; to recognise the importance of experience gained in the context of youth voluntary activity and to collate and exchange good practice with regard to youth voluntary activity; to support all the parties involved in the implementation of voluntary activity for young people; to make voluntary activity more easily accessible to young people and to avoid all forms of social exclusion or discrimination; to promote and support research into voluntary activity for young people via regular monitoring of developments in the field and by appropriate policy decisions; to involve non-governmental organisations, youth organisations and all other organisations active in the area of voluntary activity for young people, as well as young volunteers themselves, in drawing up and implementing policy for supporting youth voluntary activity, in an atmosphere of participation and making use of the experience of volunteers and their associations; to incorporate these policy objectives or measures in the follow-up which may result from the European White Paper on "Youth" (please refer to summary COS/2002/2050). In addition, the Council invites the Commission to develop synergies between the initiatives of the European Community, the Council of Europe and initiatives of other international organisations, at both strategic and operational levels and to take account of the important contribution of young volunteers to the activities of the "Youth" programme. Lastly, the Council expresses the wish that this resolutioncontribute to the development of the policy of cooperation in the youth field, in line with the principle of subsidiarity, particularly through recognition of the added value of voluntary activity with and by young people.�