• This has been announced by the High Commissioner for the Social and Solidarity Economy and for Social Innovation of the Government of France during the meeting held in Strasbourg by the Group of EU Governments that have established the Social Economy as a priority.
• The European Social Economy represents 8% of the EU GDP, 13.6 million jobs and almost 3 million companies.
• The president of CEPES and 'Social Economy Europe' stressed that the future of the EU "has to be built with the participation of the Social Economy".
Strasbourg (France), April 4, 2019.- Strasbourg will be the 'European Capital of the Social Economy' during the year 2019, as announced by the High Commissioner for the Social and Solidarity Economy and for Social Innovation of the Government of France, Christophe Itier , during the meeting of the Group of Governments of the EU that establish as a priority the Social Economy. On this occasion, of the 14 countries that make up this Group, representatives of the governments of Bulgaria, Slovenia, Spain, France, Luxembourg, Portugal and Romania attended.
The French city took over from Maribor (Slovenia), designated in 2018, and Madrid, in 2017; at a meeting also attended by the Mayor of the City of Strasbourg, and representatives of members of the European Commission, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Social Economy Europe and the French Chamber of Social Economy and Solidarity '.
The choice of Strasbourg is motivated by the contribution made by the Social Economy of this Alsatian city, where Social Economy represents 10% of employment and the high level of social innovation that this city has.
The president of the Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES) and 'Social Economy Europe' (SEE), Juan Antonio Pedreño , put in value in Strasbourg the European Action Plan of the Social Economy that has been supported by all the Institutions European He also highlighted the potential to make visible this business model that represents 8% of EU GDP in Europe, 13.6 million jobs and almost 3 million companies and the need to keep the Social Economy Intergroup in the European Parliament in the next term. "
In this sense, Pedreño recalled that "the whole of the European Social Economy has agreed on proposals aimed at political formations that attend the European elections with the aim of guaranteeing the future welfare state and empowering this business sector."
In relation to the European Social Economy Plan, Pedreño also stressed "the need to materialize it after the European elections to work on the three main objectives that it includes: recognizing this business model as a transversal actor of the main development policies of the EU, promote the convergence and coordinated actions of the different administrations and institutions, and generate an ecosystem promotion and development of the Social Economy ".
EVENTS OF SOCIAL ECONOMY IN 2019
During the meeting, several government representatives announced the holding of several events at European and world level to be held in 2019. The representative of the Government of France, announced that in July, Paris will host an international conference on Social Economy with representatives of more than 30 countries of the world.
The European Economic and Social Committee announced that the Social Economy Day will be held in Strasbourg on 26th November. This initiativeive of the EESC has been carried out for some years in order to make this business model visible.
Finally, the Government of Spain reported that in October the Academy of Social and Solidarity Economy will be held in Madrid in close collaboration with the ILO and with CEPES, in which representatives of several countries will meet to discuss the Social Economy and the Future from work.
