Brussels, 20/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 18 September, MEPs from the employment and social affairs committee at the European Parliament (EMPL) expressed a number of reservations about the idea of creating a new specific label for private social companies. In the draft initiative report, they say that the European Commission should first of all consider the “feasibility and desirability of developing a 'European social label' to be awarded to social enterprises”.
In October and December 2011 (see EUROPE 10511), the Commission presented new measures for stimulating social entrepreneurship and funding social enterprises by promoting their “positive impact at a social level”. The Commission said that these enterprises “have a positive social impact and address social objectives as their corporate aim rather than only maximising profit”. In an effort to facilitate a clear definition of this category of enterprise and to facilitate their procurement, the Commission proposed the creation of a recognised EU label for social enterprise funding.
The report of Heinz Becker (EPP, Austria) initially wanted to go further than the Commission by including the possibility of requesting the creation of a new label, similar to that for these funds but this time for companies. Nonetheless, among the amendments voted for in the parliamentary committee on Tuesday 18 September, was the complete replacement of paragraph 27, which referred to the European label. Instead of requesting the Commission to create a label for social enterprises, MEPs chose to call on the Commission to examine the compatibility of the label with rules in force on competition. They are advocating a cautious approach in this field, insofar as one of the main objectives of the label would be to give priority to social enterprises that have the label when allocating public procurement contracts. (JK/transl.fl)