• " We are only going to overcome this crisis with the values of the EU: cooperation, democracy, responsibility"
• "The agri-food cooperative has donated more than 100,000 kilos of food
• "Social economy companies take root in the territory, they do not relocate"
• "There is an amendment in the world towards another production model"
Interview with Juan Antonio Pedreño at the Next Education Forum 'The Social Economy to the Rescue of the Crisis'
Murcia-Madrid April 28, 2020.- The president of the Spanish Business Confederation of Social Economy (Cepes), Juan Antonio Pedreño, assures in Foro Next that “we must go towards an alternative model to the current one, based on the importance of people and not only in the capital ”. Speaking to journalist Manuel Campo Vidal, president of Next Education , Pedreño highlighted the importance of the social economy as a whole, based on collective, inclusive and solidarity business projects, which represent 12% of employment in Spain, more than three million companies in Europe that employ almost 14% of workers and more than 900,000 cooperatives that respond to some 8 million people in the Mediterranean countries.
During his speech at the Next Forum entitled 'The social economy to the rescue of the crisis' , Juan Antonio Pedreño pointed out that “in 2021 we will have the European plan for the social economy”. An economy that in Spain brings together construction cooperatives responsible for 41.2% of homes, fishermen's guilds or the 20,000 associated work cooperatives that employ more than 300,000 people. "This business model that places people at the center and has different values is penetrating", he said after attributing his lack of visibility to the fact that this alternative model is not taught in universities, "it puts people in the center of concerns. "
The president of Cepes believes, however, that "there is a pressing need for solidarity and an inclusive and sustainable economic model", convinced that "the economy of the people is going to play a key role in business regeneration."
Social economy to the rescue
In the previous financial crisis of 2008, Spain became "the first European country to transform commercial companies into social economy companies", Juan Antonio Pedreño recalled to ensure that, in all crises, the sector "has come to the rescue of millions of people and hundreds of thousands of companies ”. This business promoter will have an active participation in the Social Economy Table announced by the Minister of Labor and is satisfied with the relationship with Yolanda Díaz and Reyes Maroto, responsible for the Industry portfolio, because both recognize the role they are playing the social economy in the business regeneration of the country and praise the solidarity displayed by hundreds of companies in the sector. "The social company stays all its life in the place where it is born, assumes a commitment to its environment", because "they take root, they do not relocate".
5 examples of Social Economy that have come to the rescue
• Ilunion, from the ONCE Social Group, has put its hotels at the service of health care.
• Mondragon , the world's number one cooperative business group, is manufacturing 60 millionmasks.
• Amiab, Special Employment Center for People with Disabilities, is making 20,000 visors for the Community of Castilla-La Mancha.
• Hundreds of educational cooperatives use their 3D printers to make protective equipment.
• Agri-food cooperativism has donated more than 100,000 kilos of food.
The Social Economy fixes population
The president of Cepes considers that "the agri-food companies and the fishermen's guilds establish a population in the territory" and prevent the abandonment of villages. And it goes further by affirming that agri-food cooperatives are the “only reason” that many people remain in depopulated Spain, where “there are 2,000 towns in a situation of abandonment”. "Many people are returning to this territory to" revive companies that will surely be cooperatives in the future. "
The immediate future of the world economy
Juan Antonio Pedreño believes that we are witnessing "an amendment in the world towards another production model", to "rebuild a business network that fosters collective entrepreneurship and is more resilient to unemployment"
The crisis unleashed by the pandemic Covid19 "is showing that there is a pressing need for solidarity and an inclusive model", he says, "the European Commission - which has announced a billion and a half for reconstruction - has realized that it is necessary this change of model ”.
"Globalization must be humanized, Pedreño assured in the Next Forum, after ruling out a way out of the crisis in 'V', if not" very out of step "and" different "in each European country. "We are in a situation in which a different social and business fabric must be rebuilt, which fosters entrepreneurship and has more resilience to unemployment, as a network to contain unemployment and the destruction of companies," he assured.
See more…
Report on Business Experiences of Social Economy before Covid19:
Press release of the Report : https://www.cepes.es/noticias/613_empresas-economia-social-muestran-solidaridad-ante-covid-19
What do the leaders of the Social Economy say?
