Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council. Annual report on the implementation of the EU Aid Volunteers Initiative in 2015

As envisaged by the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Union established the EU Aid Volunteers initiative in 2014. The objective is to contribute to strengthening the Union’s capacity to provide needs-based humanitarian aid and to strengthening the capacity and resilience of vulnerable or disaster-affected communities in third countries, while giving European citizens an opportunity to show solidarity with people in need through taking part in humanitarian action in these countries.

Article 27 of Regulation (EU) No 375/2014 requires the Commission to submit annual reports to the European Parliament and to the Council examining the progress made in implementing the Regulation. This annual report outlines the main activities and achievements in the implementation of the EU Aid Volunteers initiative in 2015 which was a very important year for the initiative to become operational mapping out the next steps in its implementation.