• This was one of the main conclusions of the working session of Parliament on a European statute for social enterprises in Brussels.
• Juan Antonio Pedreño, president of CEPES and SOCIAL ECONOMY EUROPE, participated in this meeting in which he requested a European policy for the Social Economy through a Plan of Action.
(Madrid, 28 March 2017). President of CEPES and SOCIAL ECONOMY EUROPE, Juan Antonio Pedreño, intervened on 22 March at the European Parliament in joint working session of the Committees on Legal Affairs and Employment of the European Parliament are currently discussing the development of a European legal status for social enterprises.
The conclusions of this first working session reiterated that social enterprises are social economy and Europe need to be addressed from the development of the whole social economy enterprises.
Pedreño said that "it has become a highlight that 2 million European Social Economy companies and 14.5 million jobs need a European policy to strengthen its role as a key driver of economic and social development in Europe, such and as recognized by the European institutions. "
President of SOCIAL ECONOMY EUROPE recalled in his appearance that Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee have sued the Commission's adoption of a European Action Plan for Social Economy. "The Curators of Employment and Company have already spoken in favor of this plan, which is a key to launch a coherent strategy for the whole sector at Community level political element," said Pedreño.
President of CEPES also revealed in his speech that several Member States have legal frameworks and policies for the Social Economy. "France, Portugal and Spain have passed laws that, in addition to legally define Social Economy companies have served to build a favorable development of this business model environment. Based on the Spanish experience and other Member States it will be much easier to generate an ecosystem of promoting social economy throughout the European Union, not only by their institutions but also in countries ".
Pedreño proposed that "the European Commission to work on developing a legal non-binding instrument, namely a recommendation, established at the European level the characteristics and specificities of the social economy, so that each Member State regulates and promotes, in the scope of its powers, the business model of Social Economy and also at European level to identify business models that match these criteria so they can also act at European level ".
For SOCIAL ECONOMY EUROPE recognition within the European Union is a key to promoting a policy in favor of a model social enterprise "based on the primacy of the individual, participation and reinvested earnings factor for the general interest and benefit to society, values that society demands. "
Parliament's work will continue in the coming months for it involving a group of European experts including the President of SOCIAL ECONOMY EUROPE will be.
