Volunteering’s greatest fan

“The European Economic and Social Committee’s members have continuously supported the development and promotion of volunteering in the European Union and beyond”.

Staffan Nilsson’s words are not airy-fairy. Nilsson, 65 years old, has been president of the EESC since October 2010. The EESC represents a bridge between the European Union’s institutions and the citizens’ interests by enabling civil society organizations from the Member States to express their views at European level. The EESC has been the first institution to propose a European year dedicated to volunteering in 2006.

As the voice of organized civil society in Europe, the EESC has always supported volunteers, especially young people, to promote their rights and secure the recognition of their activities among European institutions and Member States. For the European Year of Volunteering 2011, the EESC has set up a coordination group on EYV and got fully involved in the second EU-level thematic conference exploring the theme of corporate citizenship and employee volunteering. EESC will support the II Youth Convention on Volunteering which takes place in Brussels from September 7 to 11.

Vita Europe: President Nilsson, why is volunteering important for you?

Staffan Nilsson: As representative of organized civil society in Europe at the EESC, I believe that the over 100 million volunteers in the EU who devote their leisure time to serving the common good, make a valuable but often unnoticed contribution to our societies: in tangible terms this contribution makes a difference in economic output and public savings. I also think that volunteering intrinsically serves democracy. When we speak about democracy in Europe, I immediately think of European citizenship. Citizenship will always remain voluntary, but it is a right as much as a duty. However it is extremely important to remember that volunteering cannot replace paid jobs and the state’s responsibilities. We are going through a deep economic and social crisis and Trade Unions are afraid that work places might be substituted for volunteering positions. And there is one aspect which is unique about volunteering: emotion.

Emotion is an important part of volunteering and this is what makes it so valuable.

Vita Europe: Have you ever volunteered?

Nilsson: Most of us are doing voluntary work for the Committee as consultative body of the EU institutions, and all of us volunteered at some point in our lives. When I was young I used to volunteer in my village and I was a volunteer during my university years. A few of us would host homeless people in the students’ campus rooms during Christmas holidays and I used to cook for them.

Vita Europe: We are heading towards the end of the European Year of Volunteering. What are your expectations by the end of 2011?

Nilsson: I am sure and positive that we will all have recognized the values of volunteering. As president of the European Economic and Social Committee I have committed to be as practical as possible, and always to try to come up with concrete proposals whenever our expertise is called for. The EESC has adopted three opinions on volunteering during the last 4 years. The risk with such focus on one year is that although you highlight the importance of volunteering and you also showcase the need for society to take volunteering into account, all this might stop at the end of the year and we might not obtain concrete results. I hope that the efforts brought forward during the EYV will continue after 2011, as, we have brought to surface concrete challenges. For example the EESC is supporting the Charter of volunteering so that the rights of volunteers are ensured and recognized across the EU. Now we will see what will happen with this Charter, how this Charter will be endorsed by the European Council. We also need reliable and comparable statistics on the scale, on the importance and socio-economic value of voluntary activity. Existing data is scattered and therefore we are unable to measure progress resulting from our policies or to boost awareness raising activities. EU funding, policies and programs should help improve existing infrastructure supporting voluntary action. The economic situation of voluntary organizations in the Member States is aggravated by the crisis. The EESC recommends introducing a legal basis in Community law so that such organizations could benefit from VAT exemptions in the EU. Finally, we need to make recognition and validation of non-formal education a reality. In various countries, non-formal education is a form of education that has been used as a standard practice and over many generations; one example is my own country, Sweden. Non-formal learning is a very important contribution of volunteering in terms of personal development and employability, but it is also an important tool to get individuals out of poverty. We look forward towards the upcoming proposal of the European Commission on this subject and the Committee is there to advise on this.

Vita Europe: One of the big questions that people from the Volunteering Sector ask is: does the European Council pay attention to social issues and to volunteering or do you have the feeling that the economic and financial issues have the upper hand over the social ones?

Nilsson: I think they are supported very much through declarations and words. To actions it is a longer way. I mean, they can talk about the civil society’s importance, the importance of volunteering etc., but when it comes down to reality of course, I think sometimes social issues, including volunteering, are neglected. We are there to stand up for the citizens’ social rights!

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This interview is part of Vita’s European Volunteering Special Report which can be downloaded above.