The Millennials' #EUsolidaritycorps
Today the legislative proposal for the European Solidarity Corps was presented. I must admit, the European Commission has done a great job, building a programme from the scratch in just 5 months.
I was at the launch event of this programme and what struck me the most about this project was the call for solidarity. The EU had some difficulties in the past few years with the economic crisis, the increase of youth unemployment, the refugee crisis, the rise of extreme-right parties, as Navracsic mentioned "We have experienced not only the economic crisis but also a Societal crisis". So, in my opinion, we really needed this to develop a sustainable and reinforced union that above consolidates its values.
I feel very honoured to be one of the first EU Solidarity Corps, not only, because I consider myself lucky enough to be able to take advantage of this project in terms of my personal learning and development, but also because I feel like I am giving my 'small contribution' to the ideal European Union I believe in.
To be able to develop your career in something you love and truly believe nowadays is, for many millennials, not a reality, mainly due to the adversities of the labour market. Therefore, I believe the EU solidarity corps not only revives the dream but also plays a fundamental role on the development of the millennial generation.
The new proposal counts with the following types of activities:
- Solidarity Placements
- Volunteering teams
- Solidarity Projects
- Networking activities
This tackles different approaches and several youth target groups, which makes the project even more inclusive to young people from diverse backgrounds and social statuses, which is indeed a very positive outcome.
It is not surprising that the three top countries in terms of registrations are Italy, Spain and Portugal, since these are some of the countries with a higher rate of youth unemployment. While the ESC is envisaged to help tackling youth unemployment, commissioner Oettinger stressed that “We don’t want to compete with the ordinary labour market; we don’t want people to cut ordinary jobs to replace those by volunteers”.
If you believe in more solidarity in Europe, I highly recommend you to pursue your beliefs and values, through a structured and sustainable project.
