MEPs welcomed the "European Voluntary Service" programme announced by the Commission. The new service is due to run from January 1st, 1998
until December 31st 2002. It aims to "foster a sense of solidarity among young people and give them the opportunity to try out new forms of work benefiting the Community at large".
It builds on the pre-existing "Youth for Europe" programme. However, it is more decentralised, since it gives preference to local partnership and innovative networks. It is also open to bilateral initiatives between the member states which wish to go further than they could with the Community scheme, while still benefiting from its support. A pilot project is already in operation which will help around 2,500 people in the current year.
Nicole Fontaine (F, EPP) called for the volunteers to be granted specific status to enable them to receive tax exemptions on funding received for travel, accommodation and maintenance. She also wanted the budget for 1998 to 1999 to be raised from ECU 60 million to ECU 80 million, and for the aims of both this programme and of "Youth for Europe" to be reassessed after 2002.