(Joint CEV & AVSO Project)

What we mean by a legal status of volunteers:
In order to give a fair chance for every European country to benefit from full-time voluntary service programmes and from the interchange of volunteers, it is necessary to create a basic legal framework. This can be achieved by taking steps at national and European level, including the realisation of a volunteer status.

From AVSO we urge national governments to promote pro-volunteer policies and remove legal and administrative barriers to full-time voluntary service.

Main aspects:

A volunteer's status should take into account its non-economic nature. Volunteers should not be classified as employees.

Clearly there is a need on the European level to distinguish a volunteer from a worker or an employee.

A volunteer is not active in economic life. The amounts in kind or money for the volunteer are not given in reciprocity for his/her work, but in order to provide for basic living.

This status should be elaborated to take account of the following administrative and legal requirements for organisations and volunteers:

Residence permit: In countries where a residence permit is needed there is a lack of clarity about the legal title under which this should be issued. Additionally, in some countries volunteers have to deliver proof of sufficient income (i.e. equivalent to the minimum wage). In the case of projects where the volunteers are provided with accommodation and food "in kind" and only pocket money, the administration may refuse to give a residence permit because of insufficient income.

Voluntary service should be a legal reason itself to issue residence permits.

Work permit: As a general trend, EU Member States still require work permits for volunteers coming from third countries.

Again there is a need to highlight the limits between the concepts of volunteer and worker.

Work permits for volunteers are to be eliminated.

Visas: Voluntary service in not listed in the alien laws a reason for a visa. The accordance of volunteer-visas for longer than three months is still part of the general restrictive visa policy of all EU-Member States for fear of increased migration of third country nationals and of black labour.

Visas should be more easily issued to volunteers coming in the frame of international voluntary service exchange programmes via acknowledged organisations.

Social security: In some countries volunteers are not covered by the national social security.

A minimum of social security for the volunteer during the service is necessary covering illness, accident, third party liability

Tax exemptions/non-deduction of "payroll taxes": Some countries almost render impossible legal running of voluntary service activities. According to some national systems organisations can pay a certain maximum amount of pocket money to their volunteers without paying taxes . Should remuneration exceed this amount, organisations have to declare all payments to the tax authorities and deduct tax and social security payments as in the case of wage payments. In these countries, the result is a small number of hosting projects as an indicator for a difficult implementation.

Volunteers and the organisations in which they are involved are to be exempted from payroll tax deductions. They are not employees. Pocket money is not a salary.

Special allowances and advantages: The lack of recognition means that volunteers have to accept financial disadvantages compared to other low-income groups. Volunteers do not get reduction in prices for public transport, cultural events, etc, because they do not participate in an institutionalised framework as in the case for students, unemployed people or pensioners. In some cases volunteers' families lose their family allowances and tax reduction. This represents an obstacle to encourage participation for families with a low income.

Any financial obstacle which directly or indirectly prevent people from engaging in voluntary action should be eliminated.

Recognition of voluntary service in the educational system: Voluntary service is recognised in some countries in the educational system and volunteers are recompensed with educational credits.

Voluntary service should also be recognised in the educational system, as a means of informal learning.

Download here the country reports: