The European Commission published the Social Economy Action Plan
The European Commission published the Social Economy Action Plan, comprising a set of measures meant to support entities in the field of the social economy to scale up activities and social impact, to innovate and create new workplaces. Among the actions presented by the Commission is also the launch of new financial instruments to support micro-financing.
The action plan includes support for EU networks ”activating in the field of micro-financing and of financing for social enterprises”, in order to promote EU financing solutions for research and for the capacity building of the members. Even though the specific contents will be known and analyzed during the next weeks or even month, European decision-makers highlighted through the Action Plan the key role of micro-financing in the global fight for financial and social inclusion.
Furthermore, the OECD recently published the report „The Missing Entrepreneurs 2021”, a key document estimating that around 9 million people (women, migrants, young people, elderly people) from Europe can’t access the field of entrepreneurship. OECD sees micro-financing as an “important instrument for supporting inclusive entrepreneurship” and demands European countries to support the field of micro-financing.
Study in the EU on social economy
The Action Plan aims at increasing the visibility of the field of social economy and to improve the recognition of the activity and its potential. The commission will develop communication activities meant to highlight the role and specificity of social economy. Among its numerous actions, the Commission will launch a study to collect qualitative and quantitative data with the goal of better understanding social economy throughout the Union, will organize trainings for the public administration on different topics of interest from the perspective of social economy and will promote social economy at regional and local level through encouraging cross-border exchanges.
13,6 employees in the field of social economy
Social economy organisations are entities which put social and environmental purposes first, reinvesting most of their profit back into the organisation. There are 2.8 million social economy entities in Europe that employ 13.6 million people and which offer solutions to key challenges in our societies. They span a diverse range of sectors and forms, from care services to recycling; from cooperatives to social enterprises. Enhanced support to the social economy not only creates jobs, but also allows organisations to increase their social impact across the EU.
” The social economy creates jobs and growth close to the needs of citizens and of their immediate surroundings. The COVID-19 crisis has also demonstrated the resilience and ingenuity of social economy business models. To continue developing their potential and their contribution to the green and digital transformations, we are launching a transition pathway for the “Proximity and Social Economy” ecosystem. We will work with all stakeholders for a more inclusive and sustainable economy.”,,said Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market.
The social economy includes a variety of businesses, organisations and legal entities, such as social enterprises, cooperatives, mutual benefit societies (a specific type of collective insurance), non-profit associations and foundations. They put people and the environment at the centre of their mission and reinvest most of their profit back into the organisation or a specific social cause. They are governed in a participatory, bottom-up way.