• Within the framework of the General Assembly of the European Social Economy, a European Social Economy employer representing 2.8 million companies, 13.6 million jobs and 8% of the European GDP.
• The president of CEPES will continue in office for 3 more years, coinciding with a moment of consolidation of the Social Economy as the company of the future and with the great challenge of placing Social Economy Europe at the heart of the European agenda.
• The Government team resulting from this mandate will be headed by Juan Antonio Pedreño as president and he is accompanied in the vice-presidencies by Alain Coheur, from AIM (European Mutualities), Jerome Saddier, from ESSFRANCE (French Social Economy) and Patrizia Bussi, from ENSIE (European Insertion Companies) and Victor Messeguer as Director of the SEE.
Brussels, June 8, 2021.- The president of the Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES), Juan Antonio Pedreño, has been unanimously re-elected for the third time, as president of Social Economy Europe (SEE), the highest representative entity of this business model in Europe.
Pedreño will continue in office for 3 years and his re-election has taken place within the framework of the General Assembly, which SEE held blended in Brussels, with the presence of all its member partners.
Juan Antonio Pedreño begins this mandate at a time of consolidation of the European Social Economy as the company of the future and with the great challenge of placing Social Economy Europe at the heart of the European agenda .
The president of CEPES unanimously acceded to the presidency of SEE in December 2015 and was re-elected to the position in 2018. During his tenures, the entity has promoted the presence and visibility of the Social Economy in the different decision-making bodies of the institutions European. In his current re-election, Pedreño stressed that he will continue to work on the recognition of the Social Economy at the European level and make it a participant in the main European policies. Pedreño stressed that one of the most imminent challenges for SEE is "the approval in 2021 of the European Social Economy Action Plan, which will be a powerful instrument for making this business model more visible and empowering."
In the opening ceremony of the General Assembly of SEE, the general director of Autonomous Work, Social Economy and Social Responsibility of the Companies of the Government of Spain, Maravillas Espín , participated, who highlighted Spain's commitment to the Social Economy and CEPES, as the employer and common voice of this business model.
During his speech, Espín focused on the future prospects of the Social Economy and, specifically, emphasized the relevance of the approval of the European Social Economy Action Plan for the strengthening of the sector, the alignment of this Plan with the National Social Economy Strategies of the member states and the importance of the Social Economy participating in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
Likewise, during the Assembly it was insisted that these instruments will be “key” pieces that will show the importance of the European Agenda and that they coincide in the same time frame. In the case of Spain, in addition, they will occur coinciding with the tenth anniversary of Law 5/2011, of March 29, on the Social Economy.
Pedreño recalled the recently held European Social Economy Summit, which took place in the city of Mannheim (Germany), which mobilized more than 3,000 participants and demonstrated the strength and diversity of the European Social Economy , which represents 2.8 million people. companies , 13.6 million jobs and 8% of the European GDP . “A business model that represents the values of European society and that,as such, it will experience significant growth in the coming years ”, he assured.
The President of SEE and CEPES also reviewed the most important milestones of recent months and stressed the importance of the presence of Social Economy Europe at the EU Social Summit, held in May this year in Porto , where The foundations of the European Pillar of Social Rights were established , in which the Social Economy will play an important role.
Likewise, Pedreño recalled the importance of the debate at the Conference on the Future of Europe launched by the leaders of the EU, where the Social Economy “has a great opportunity to mobilize all its strength and energy and to value its contribution to the main policies Europeans and, above all, to an economic model that leaves no one behind ”.
Juan Antonio Pedreño assumes the presidency and will be accompanied in command by the vice-presidents with Alain Coheur, from AIM (European Mutualities), Jerome Saddier, from ESSFRANCE (French Social Economy) and Patrizia Bussi, from ENSIE (European Insertion Companies) and by the Director of SEE, Victro Messeguer.
Social Economy Europe was born 21 years ago with the vocation of representing the interests of the European Social Economy. The member partners of Social Economy Europe are:
