The European Parliament,

–  having regard to Rule 123 of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in Article 214(5), provides that: ‘In order to establish a framework for joint contributions from young Europeans to the humanitarian aid operations of the Union, a European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps shall be set up’,

B.  whereas the Commission issued a Communication on 23 November 2010 on ‘How to express EU citizens’ solidarity through volunteering: First reflections on a European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps (EVHAC)‘,

C.  whereas 2011 is the European Year of Volunteering,

1.  Declares that humanitarian action is a fundamental expression of the European value of solidarity;

2.  Stresses that the long European tradition of volunteering is an indispensable part of our common European identity;

3.  Stresses that the EVHAC will bring added value to European citizens by encouraging their active participation and contributing to a more cohesive society;

4.  Calls on the European Parliament and the Council to determine the rules and procedures for the operation of the Corps in response to disasters and to work on setting up the Corps promptly;

5.  Considers that the key components of the Voluntary Service should be the identification and selection of volunteers and their training and deployment;

6.  Emphasises that the Voluntary Service should be demand-driven and needs-based and that security must be of paramount importance;

7.  Instructs its President to forward this declaration, together with the names of the signatories(1), to the Commission, the Council and the parliaments of the Member States.

(1) The list of signatories is published in Annex 1 to the Minutes of 29 September 2011 (P7_PV(2011)09-29(ANN1)).