Last week, Labour Party MEP Daniel Attard suggested that the European Union to legislate for the possibility of extra leave days for cultural volunteers, with a particular emphasis - in Malta's case - on volunteers who participate in Carnival and traditional village and town feasts.
Attard, who is leading the European Parliament's work on the forthcoming European Strategy for Sustainable Tourism, put forward proposals to ensure that cultural volunteering receives structured recognition and support at EU level.
"In his report the Labour MEP is also calling for tangible recognition measures for volunteers, including, where feasible and within a balanced framework, the possibility of additional leave at European level as a form of compensation," the PL said in a statement.
Attard noted that thousands of volunteers use their personal leave to work on carnival floats, fireworks, feast decorations and other cultural activities, often at the expense of time with their families.
He added that any such measures must be designed responsibly and with full respect for labour market realities, while adequately reflecting the value that volunteers contribute to both national and European identity.
Attard said that without volunteers there would be no carnival, no village feasts and no living traditions. "Our culture extends far beyond these events, yet they remain a central pillar of what defines us as Maltese," Attard stated.
The recognition of volunteers for the hours they give to the causes close to their heart is always a welcome notion. There is nothing more selfless than volunteering for a cause that one believes in, as one is giving the most important currency of all: time.
Yet one also has to consider that a measure like this - while understanding the initiative behind it - may consequently create something of tier-list of volunteers.
We need to keep in mind that there are tens of thousands of volunteers in Malta spread across a vast and wide range of sectors. Feasts and carnivals are two such sectors - both of which no doubt important for Malta's cultural identity: but there are plenty of other equally important sectors for Malta that are manned, largely, by volunteers.
The sporting sector, for instance, is one example. It is an area where, as the CEO of the Authority for Integrity in Maltese Sport told The Malta Independent on Sunday in an interview earlier this year, some 95% of the people involved in it are volunteers.
Likewise, there are other vastly important causes such as animal welfare and a number of social causes which are largely manned by volunteers.
Ultimately these are also sectors where those volunteers who work within it many times have to use their vacation leave from work in order to keep up with what being in these organisations requires. Introducing special leave for two particular sectors would create something of a discriminatory effect where one volunteering cause is given more value than another.
This point is not being made to look down upon those who volunteer within carnival or village feasts: their work is valuable - but proposals such as these should also keep in mind the work and hours put in by volunteers in causes which are equally impactful and equally important.
When confronted with this notion, Culture Minister Owen Bonnici was quite cautious saying that the government "must weigh the impact of these decisions on other hobbies and traditions in our country."
He did say that is open to the possibility that cultural leave for government workers is extended from what already exists, and that's fair enough.
But any solution should also keep in mind the realities faced by volunteers in other sectors as well.