• The Secretary of State for Employment of the Government of Spain, Yolanda Valdeolivas, and the High Commissioner for Social and Solidarity Economy of France, Christophe Itier, sign in Paris a declaration to renew bilateral cooperation in the field of Social Economy.
• The President of CEPES, Juan Antonio Pedreño, attended the signing of this declaration that will consolidate a business network that represents 10% of the GDP of both countries.
• France and Spain thus seal an alliance to lead the development of the social and solidarity economy in Europe and internationally.
Paris, June 2019.- The President of the Spanish Business Confederation of Social Economy (CEPES) and Social Economy Europe, Juan Antonio Pedreño , attended on June 7 to sign a cooperation agreement on Social Economy and Solidarity that comes to expand and update the joint Declaration that the Governments of France and Spain signed in November 2013.
On behalf of Spain, a delegation chaired by the Secretary of State for Employment of the Government of Spain, Yolanda Valdeolivas, who signed the agreement with the High Commissioner for the Social and Solidarity Economy and for Social Innovation, Christophe Itier , attended . who represented France. Along with the Secretary of State, attended by Spain the general director of Autonomous Work, Social Economy and Social Responsibility of the Companies of the Ministry of Labor, Maria Antonia Pérez León, the deputy director of Social Economy, Juan Manuel Sánchez-Terán and Gil Ramos, on behalf of the Embassy of Spain in Paris.
This agreement, which renews and updates the one previously signed in 2013, identifies priority areas where both governments will cooperate to increase the contribution of the social economy to youth employment, gender equality, social integration, territorial development and innovation Social.
Pedreño has valued this agreement in a very positive way because it confirms the Social Economy as a joint work priority between two Member States where this socioeconomic fabric represents 10% of their respective GDP. "France and Spain are establishing an alliance that today is the tandem that is leading the development of the social economy in Europe and internationally," added the President of CEPES and Social Economy Europe.
Bilateral agreements of Spain with France, Morocco and Portugal
The agreement to update the Paris declaration is in addition to the bilateral cooperation agreements that Spain has signed with Portugal last year and with Morocco in 2017, which highlights the key role of Spain in promoting the international dimension of the Social Economy.
In this regard, Pedreño recalled that "this agreement enhances the international dimension of the Social Economy, in accordance with the firm commitment of the European Union, governments and other international organizations to strengthen this business model that represents 8% of the European GDP and 7% worldwide ".
