European Solidarity Corps

From 2018 to 2020 the European Solidarity Corps helped youngsters between the age of 18-30 to participate in various solidarity activities throughout the EU with a budget of € 341 500 000, thereby contributing to address social challenges.

In 2016, the then-President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker in his speech assessing the state of the Union, said the following: „We often show solidarity most readily when faced with emergencies. When the Portuguese hills were burning, Italian planes doused the flames. When floods cut off the power in Romania, Swedish generators turned the lights back on. When thousands of refugees arrived on Greek shores, Slovakian tents provided shelter. In the same spirit, the Commission is proposing today to set up a European Solidarity Corps.” (September14. 2016, Strasbourg). Accordingly, the European Solidarity Corps was established in 2018 with a budget of € 341 500 000 for the period of 2018-2020. 
The majority of the European Solidarity Corps’ activities were carried out by the Erasmus+ offices in the Member States that are responsible for the youth field of the Erasmus+ program – in Hungary the Tempus Public Foundation – however, it is important to note, that the European Solidarity Corps is not a part of the Erasmus+ program. 




This initiative promotes the personal development and active social participation of young people, as well as it increases employability. Participation in these particular activities does not only benefit young people, but also Member State and local authorities, non-governmental organizations and companies, which have to deal with several challenges and crises in the course of their work. The two most popular categories are volunteering and solidarity projects.


Source: https://europa.eu/youth/sites/default/files/esc_ar_2018-2019_-_op_version.pdf, Gordius edition

In the category of volunteering we can specify individual and group volunteering. In the case of individual volunteering the participant apply alone for the activities, but can work together with other participant at the volunteering place. In the case of group volunteering, young people can only apply in groups of 10-40 members from at least 2 countries. Volunteering can be done both domestically and abroad, but it mostly takes place abroad. The program funds travel, accommodation, meals and pocket money for them, but volunteers do not receive a salary in addition. The task of the participants is to contribute to the day-to-day work of the organization serving the interests of the local community. Depending on the interests of the applicants they can be involved in the regeneration of a settlement affected by natural disaster, or they can be employees of an organization promoting social equality etc.  The program can last from 2 to 12 months.

The Solidarity Projects, on the other hand, are activities without traveling abroad, that participants have to implement in their own community, in which they respond to an issue affecting their own community/city or even country, and achieve positive changes in their close environment.
Projects can only be led by a group of at least 5 people who are the citizens of the same country. The duration of the projects is a minimum of 2 and maximum of 12 months, depending on the team and the project to-be implemented. The group receives € 500 to cover the costs of team management and implementation, disseminating and summarizing the project.  

The purpose of the Corps is to socially sensitize young citizens and to promote such activities. The programs help young people in gaining experience in the field of social participation while developing their own skills and abilities.

Author: Lilla Urbán