• At a conference organized by CEPES and the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), with representatives from Belgium, Cyprus, Croatia, Spain, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Poland, United Kingdom , Czech Republic and Sweden.
• The Social Economy has the potential to adapt to changing factors such as the technological revolution, the fight against climate change, demographic changes or migration.
(Madrid, October 20, 2017) .- The European Social Economy has the potential to adapt to new market challenges and to lead economic growth in new emerging sectors of activity, as evidenced by the International Conference ' New demands and market trends: challenges and opportunities for social economy enterprises '.
The event was organized in Madrid by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security and the Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES), with funding from the European Social Fund. Representatives of the European Commission, public administrations from 11 countries and companies and entities of the European Social Economy that analyzed the present and future of this business model, its strength and resilience to future challenges and market trends.
The Conference allowed to know the work that the European Social Fund is doing in Spain and in other States in favor of the social economy. Another objective was to identify new lines of work and proposals to help the European Social Fund to prepare and adapt the Spanish and European social economy to the new challenges of the future of work.
The consultants of Abay Economic and Social Analysts, Maribel Martínez and Elvira González , explained the " transforming factors " to which companies of the Social Economy must adapt and respond, such as the technological revolution , globalization , the fight against climate change , demographic and environmental changes, migration or social change.
They also underlined the fear in the population that these transforming factors and the use of TICs would mean job destruction. However, they responded that the new economic currents affirm that this transformation offers new opportunities that generate new jobs that, in addition, will reduce barriers and promote the integration of the most vulnerable groups in the labor market.
In addition, they set out the main challenges facing the Social Economy. First, they stressed that the Social Economy can not renounce the digital transformation , otherwise it could mean losing the leadership position it currently has in many sectors of activity.
In addition, other challenges that will have the Social Economy will be to approach systems of prospecting and experimentation of new products and solutions, making use of the digitization. Another challenge that has been highlighted is to determine the role of the Social Economy in the modernization of social protection and social inclusion systems , since it can contribute much to the modernization of these systems.
Importance in Europe
The European Commission's Directorate General for Growth, Karel Vanderpoorten , underlined the "importance" of the European Social Economy, highlighting its "capacity for innovation".te; n ". He also stated that "we do not expect that the Social Economy is only the sector that 'fires' during the crisis, but also a powerful sector in the creation and maintenance of employment" and a key player in the construction of Europe.
The Deputy Director General of the Administrative Unit of the European Social Fund (UAFSW) of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, Ángel García Frontelo , explained the actions being carried out by the ESF in Spain in favor of the Social Economy.
In this sense, he affirmed that "CEPES, as an intermediate body of the ESF, has a clear commitment to a greater professionalization of the sector of the Social Economy and the use of innovative tools". He added that "it is very remarkable the impulse that CEPES is giving to the creation of new companies of Social Economy, many of which are of people at risk of social exclusion, which represents an added value".
CEPES director Carmen Comos emphasized the role of the Social Economy, which has always been distinguished by creating opportunities and solutions, especially in the most difficult times, adapting to social and technological changes which have marked its history since its birth more than two centuries ago.
In this sense, he affirmed that "Social Economy bets decisively by a model of innovative company where the person's capital premium, where democratic governance and the reinvestment of profits are some of its signs of identity." "They are present in all economic sectors with companies of all sizes and, therefore, have the challenge of preparing themselves to act from their values, in new innovative and emerging sectors, and to bring their added value, especially in terms of creating employment and to continue to promote solutions to new social challenges. "
Miguel Crespo , representative of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, recalled that Spain is working on the elaboration of " The Social Economy Strategy 2020 , which contains a battery of very important measures to strengthen the Spanish Social Economy and adapt it to the new reality of the socioeconomic system.
At the round table 'Experiences of the ESF in Europe in the adaptation of the Social Economy to the new sectors and tendencies in the market', the practices developed by other European countries such as Scotland or Sweden were exposed. This debate was moderated by the head of CEPES International, Carlos Lozano ; and was attended by the Director-General of Social Firms Scotland, Pauline Graham ; the manager of Development and Networks of Sencot, Kim Wallace ; and the Swedish ESF Council Coordinator Anna-Lena Wettergren Wessman .
Finally, Dorotea Danielle of the European Research and Development Service for the Social Economy (DIESIS) was "impressed" by the "opportunities" that the future offers to the European Social Economy and which were exposed during the conference, at the same time which affirmed the desirability of "working together" between the ESF and this business sector.
