On the 27 November 2009, the EU Council decided that 2011 will be designated the "European Year of Volunteering". The organisation of the Year had been proposed by the European Commission and received a positive opinion by the European Parliament.

The European Commission has been committed to promoting volunteering for a long time. The "European Year of Voluntary Activities Promoting Active Citizenship", in 2011 will be the next step in the Commissions efforts to foster volunteering in Europe and to help civil society, local and regional communities and Member States to achieve the following objectives:

•Work towards an enabling and facilitating environment for volunteering in the EU;
•Empower volunteer organisations and improve the quality of volunteering; •Reward and recognise achievements gained in volunteering activities; and
•Raise awareness of the value and importance of volunteering.

Read more:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1836&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en.