The voluntary welfare associations in Germany: An overview



the adequate provision of public resources in favor of the needy being legally en-
titled to a service (
person-related support) and/or in the form of payments to the
bodies responsible for social services (
object-related support).

In addition to the framework conditions set by the Federal Republic of Germany the
European influence is growing stronger.8 The
European Union sees itself no longer just
as an economic and monetary union with an internal market, but more and more as a
European social model. Hereby access to social services, securing their quality and
guaranteeing civil dialogue are becoming more important.

Modernizing social services is one important issue on European level: on the one hand,
these services play a vital social cohesion role; on the other, their transformation and
job-creation potential make them an integral part of the
Lisbon Strategy. The conclu-
sions of the European Council in March 2006 confirmed this.

The EU does not have direct competence in the field of social policy. But the European
Social Fund
and other programs support many projects concerned with the quality of
services intended to foster social inclusion and integration. And the
Social Dialogue and
the
Open Method of Coordination are growing to important instruments of European
Policy.

The existing EU framework respects the subsidiarity principle but loosened its rigidity.
Member States are free to define what they mean by services of general economic inter-
est, or in particular by social services of general interest. But the EU requires Member
States to take certain rules into account when they determine the arrangements for ap-
plying the objectives and principles they have established, e.g. the
EU competition
rules.
9

According to these rules state aids distorting competition pursuant to Article 87 ECT
are banned in principle. Larger procurements are subject to public invitations to tender.
As far as voluntary welfare associations are concerned their services can be subject to
these rules. This requires however, that the
activities are of economic nature, e.g. out-
patient home-care.10

The EU Commission delivers periodic reports on this issue and the development of so-
cial services.

One example is the Communication of the EU Commission from April 26 2006:11

“Although social services are organized very differently in the EU-Member States,
certain general aspects of this
modernization process can be seen:

8 See to the European framework conditions: BAGFW 2002: 17-20, and to the comprehension of the role
of the voluntary welfare associations in Europe: BAGFW 2002: 150-153.

9 Dahme/ Wohlfahrt 2000: 13-14; Dahme/Schütter/Wohlfahrt 2008: 90-94.

10 Dahme/Schütter/Wohlfahrt 2008: 93-94.

11 COM (2006) 177 final.



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