• A first online seminar focused on the different perspectives and regulatory backgrounds on the Social Economy around the world, identified issues of common interest and ways of working together on these.
• This event brought together the representatives of all partners in the international consortium - led by CEPES - involving 25 public national and regional authorities as well as Social Economy organisations and entities from three continents.
• This initiative is part of the OECD Global Action 'Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems' funded by the European Union.
Madrid, 18 June 2021 - The Spanish Confederation of Social Economy Enterprises (CEPES) has organised the first online seminar of the international consortium 'Legal Ecosystems for the Social Economy (PL4SE-PLP)' carried out by CEPES until October in the framework of the OECD Global Action 'Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems', which is funded by the European Union.
This virtual gathering has brought together all 25 partners in the international consortium including government departments and ministries and regional public authorities from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Korea, Italy, Mexico and Spain; Social Economy organisations from Canada, United States and the European Union, as well as the ILO, the International Network of Social and Solidarity Economy, ICA, CIRIEC, AIM or the Global Social Economy Forum.
The exchange among all partners has focused on how to develop favourable regulatory frameworks to the whole social economy enterprises and organizations by identifying ways of working together from different paths and legal perspectives.
The debate was structured around six key issues.
On the one hand, the legal definition of Social Economy in force in different territories was addressed, taking as a point of reference the existing laws of the social economy in Mexico, Portugal or Spain. The experiences of Italy and the Brussels-Capital Region were also presented.
On the other hand, it was discussed the legal frameworks for the Social Economy adopted by regional authorities – “Third Sector” in Tuscany in Italy – and how the Catalan Government is promoting the adoption of a framework law on social and solidarity economy. Cases of laws approved by regional authorities in countries where there is no national act for the whole social economy were also discussed, such as Quebec (Canada), different states in Brazil or the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium). The registration and certification of Social Economy enterprises was another key topic of the meeting.
The different models of organisations representing Social Economy and its dialogue with public authorities were part of the agenda, being CEPES one of the good practices presented. Furthermore, it was discussed how governments have created consultative bodies to address social economy initiatives and issues, as is the case the Spanish Council for the Promotion of the Social Economy, or similar bodies in Italy and Canada.
In addition, the need to elaborate statistics that reflect the weight of the Social Economy was also of great interest. Benchmark initiatives on statistics are being promoted in Korea, Italy, Canada and especially Portugal, which has elaborated "satellite accounts" of the social economy that are a global reference. Finally, the support programmes and strategies adopted by Korean, Mexican, Italian and Spanish Governments were also presented.
"The development of strong legal frameworks is of key importance for social economy. The added value of the international consortium 'Legal Ecosystems for the Social Economy (PL4SE-PLP)' lies in the involvement of a variety of relevant public and private actors at all levels. This is the first time that an initiative addresses the legal issues linked to the social economy at global level" says CEPES President, Mr. Juan Antonio Pedreño.
"This seminar is only the first step of the project. In the following ones, the partners will jointly focus on the specific legal frameworks of the different entities that are part of the social economy and on the policies that foster the development of the social enterprise model, among other issues. All of this will allow us to acquire a common understanding of the current or incipient legal frameworks of the social economy in the different countries and regions covered by the international consortium", says Pedreño.
The first seminar was attended, among others, by the Government of Spain, represented by the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy; representatives of the Brazilian, Italian and Canadian governments and the Korean and Mexican National Agencies in charge of social economy; the “Generalitat de Catalunya”, the government of the Brussels-Capital region, the State of Puebla in Mexico and the French Network of regional and local authorities for Solidarity Economy.
The seminar was organised by CEPES, as the employers' organisation representing the Spanish social economy, and the European Network of Cities & Regions for the Social Economy (REVES). Representatives of the rest of the partners (ILO, the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives, Social Economy Europe; the Canadian CED Network, Social and Solidarity Economy - International Forum, COOPERATIVES EUROPE, Democracy at Work (US), CIRIEC, DIESIS, ICA, AIM, Global Social Economy Forum or ENSIE) took also part in the debates and exchanges.
