Twenty-three EU Ministers responsible for the social economy gave their full support to the recent action plan presented by the European Commission to support the social and solidarity economy sector, and defined a series of key principles, at an informal conference in Paris on Thursday 17 February. The objective: to feed into the preparation of a recommendation related to the social economy planned for 2023.
“This is a decisive moment, a historic moment for Europe”, said Olivia Grégoire, the French Secretary of State for the Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy, ahead of the conference, recalling that Member States had not met to discuss this subject for ten years. “The social economy in Europe is booming, not for nothing is it one of the 14 industrial ecosystems on which Europe (...) has decided to base its resilience and the renewal of its economic growth. This is no coincidence!”, she continued. The question discussed was how to ensure that this sector is at the heart of the economies of all Member States.
Referring to the European Commission’s Action Plan presented last December (see EUROPE 12850/15), the ministers stressed the diversity of national traditions in the field of social economy in the context of the preparation of a “common definition”.
Secondly, they discussed the importance of promoting this booming sector (10% of GDP in France, or in Italy for example) at national level. Ministers confirmed their support for specific public policies with the establishment of labels and certifications. In this context, they are willing to help the European Commission to map existing labels and certifications.
The ministers also supported the European Commission’s proposal to create a European social economy portal to identify public policies and funding dedicated to the social economy. They intend to help the institution to identify the different national methodologies for measuring the activity of the social and solidarity economy. One of the underlying objectives is to avoid the phenomenon of “social washing”.
The results of this conference will feed into the discussions of the EU Employment and Social Policy Council (EPSCO), but also those of the European Commission, in order to prepare a recommendation by 2023.
The social and solidarity economy sector is pleased
Social Economy Europe, which represents social economy enterprises in Europe, welcomed the outcome of the informal meeting and urged Member States to move forward as quickly as possible, particularly in the preparation of the recommendation.
The Association of Mutual and Cooperative Insurers in Europe (AMICE) was pleased to see this initial recognition of its sector as an important player in the social economy. The main challenge now remains the implementation of the ambitions and objectives of the European Commission’s Action Plan. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)