• At a meeting held today in Madrid by the CEPES Board of Directors with Pedro Sánchez, Magdalena Valerio, Yolanda Valdeolivas, María Antonia Pérez León and Toni Ferrer.
• The president of CEPES highlighted how the Social Economy responds to social, economic and environmental challenges; and demanded a stable government that leads the Social Economy policies in the European Union.
• “Social Economy is essential because it humanizes globalization and also introduces ecological and social criteria in value chains,” said Pedreño.
Madrid, August 8, 2019.- The Board of Directors of the Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES) met today with the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez , and presented the need for this business sector, which represents 10% of GDP and 12% of employment, have a greater institutional presence in state policies.
The president of CEPES, Juan Antonio Pedreño , explained that “the meeting has been very positive and in it we have closed important commitments that may materialize in the next Government, such as strengthening the Spanish Social Economy Strategy, providing it with greater and necessary resources, and to approve in this new stage an Institutional Participation Law that allows the Social Economy to occupy a preferential place in public policies ”.
Pedreño also stressed that the President of the Government in office, with the objective of strengthening the institutional presence of the Social Economy, has committed to analyze and study the creation of an Interministerial Commission, given the representativeness and presence of the Social Economy in large activity sectors (employment, health, housing, agriculture, transport, industry, services ...).
“Our society and our economy need the values proclaimed by the Social Economy. Until now there has been only economic value and it has failed. We must expand the list of values. The Social Economy adds these values and generates social and economic capital gains, ”said the president of CEPES.
“We need radical changes,” Pedreño said, “because of the climatic challenges, the transformations of the world of work and the need to improve welfare and protection systems. In short, we have to reinvent our economy, and in this sense the Social Economy is essential because it humanizes globalization and also introduces ecological and social criteria in the value chains. ”
“We have transmitted to the President of the Government that we want to share with him the passion and interest to re-enchant our societies. The Social Economy has developed even without knowing many of the stakeholders that were part of it, but it has grown a lot, ”said Pedreño, who recalled that Spain was a pioneer in adopting the world's first Social Economy Law (Law 5/2011) and CEPES became an international reference as it was the first representative entity of this business model that was created in a state.
SPAIN, LEADER OF SOCIAL ECONOMY POLICIES
The president of CEPES also explained to Pedro Sánchez how the Social Economy is an actor that responds to social, economic and environmental challenges and challenges, as well as the need for the Government of Spain to lead Social Economy policies in the European Union . In this regard, our country will next year assume the presidency of the Council of 16 Governments ofthe European Union for the Social Economy.
The President of the Government in office was favorable to the Social Economy occupying a preferential place in relations with Europe, America and the Mediterranean Region, as well as having greater representation in the Ibero-American General Secretariat (SEGIB).
In addition, Pedro Sánchez and Pedreño agreed on the work carried out by the Social Economy in favor of creating stable and quality employment. "In our business model," added Pedreño, "more than 75% of employment is undefined and 80% full-time, in addition to guaranteeing parity (50% of jobs and 35% of management positions are held by women) and access to the youth labor market (40% are under 40 years old) or groups with special employability difficulties, such as people with disabilities ”.
Also present at the meeting were the Minister of Labor, Migration and Social Security, Magdalena Valerio ; the acting Secretary of State for Employment, Yolanda Valdeolivas ; the acting general director of Autonomous, Social Economy and CSR of the Ministry of Labor, María Antonia Pérez León, and the secretary of Employment and Labor Relations of the PSOE, Toni Ferrer ; as well as the president and members of the Board of Directors of CEPES.
The president of CEPES also explained the need for a solid government and institutions. Pedreño said that “we share the need to provide Spain as soon as possible with a government that gives maximum political and institutional stability to the country, with a work program that consolidates the path of growth and addresses the new challenges facing society and the Spanish economy ”.
The process of forming a stable government offers at the same time the opportunity to build consensus around policies on which to support the growth, competitiveness and social cohesion of Spain and Europe.
