• In an event, held this Thursday, in a hybrid way in Madrid, organized by CEPES with the support of the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy and in collaboration with the European Commission, Social Economy Europe and different regional governments.
• For the European Commission, the three pillars on which the measures of the plan are based are: creating a legal framework that allows the development of the business model of the social economy and that adapts to the different Member States; Grow these companies by facilitating access to finance and advice for companies.
• For the Spanish social economy, according to the president of CEPES, Juan Antonio Pedreño, the main challenges to which the European Action Plan should contribute are the promotion of collective entrepreneurship, the development of entrepreneurship and the attraction of young talent from the social economy. With all of them, the main objective is to grow in scale, and increase jobs in the social economy reaching 22% of the EU in 2030.
• The event was followed by almost 250 people, from all over Spain and from several countries such as France, Italy, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States, North Macedonia among others.
Madrid, December 16, 2022.- The Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES) has presented in Spain the European Action Plan on Social Economy. Specifically, he has transferred how the more than 50 measures of this plan, launched by the European institutions, can be transposed forits execution in Spain.
He did so this Thursday at an event, attended by almost 250 people from different countries and held in a hybrid way at the Bertelsmann Space in Madrid, with the support of the Ministry of Labour and Social Economy and in collaboration with the European Commission, Social Economy Europe and different regional governments, under the slogan ´The European Union´s commitment to an economy at the service of people and the planet´.
The president of CEPES, Juan Antonio Pedreño, who opened the event, pointed out the three main objectives of the plan: to create a legislative framework favorable to this business model; to create a definition of social economy at the European level, which contemplates the reality of each country; and to open the way for the social economy to grow, the latter being the latter. For him, the great challenge of the sector.
The European social economy sector has set itself the objective of using this European Social Economy Action Plan to move from the current 6.3% to 10% the representation of employment in Europe, so that by 2030 there would be 22 million people employed in this business model throughout the EU.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION WORK PRIORITIES
On behalf of the European Commission, the Director of Funds: Programming and Implementation of the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, Ruth Paserman, who intervened telematically, explained how the action plan has a double vision: on the one hand, to establish EU support for the social economy with actions until 2030, and, on the other hand, to help Member States take concrete measures to promote this business model.
Throughout the day, it was insisted, both by the European Commission and the Executive and heads of regional governments, that one of the added values of this plan, as well as one of the priorities, is to provide a European definition of social economy. "A definition that provides balance between countries and that is based on the common characteristics of the social economy: priority of social principles, usefulness for society and participatory governance," Paserman said. Intense work is being done to ensure that this definition is approved within the framework of the Spanish Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2022.
The representative of the Commission focused her intervention on the three pillars on which the measures of the plan are based: creating a legal framework that allows the development of the social economy and that adapts to the different states; generating opportunities by facilitating access to finance and networking; and advice for companies. In this sense, one of the programs launched is ´Inclusive Financial Technical Assistance´, managed by the European Investment Bank, which includes training on the specificity of this business model.
APPLICATION IN SPAIN: COLLABORATION WITH GOVERNMENTS AND ORGANIZATIONS
During the debate ´How to make the Action Plan a lever for growth of social economy enterprises in Spain? ´, moderated by Juan Antonio Pedreño, toparticipate Paserman and the Director General of Self-Employment, Social Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility, Ministry of Labour and Social Economy, Maravillas Espín.
According to the president of CEPES, for the Spanish social economy, the main challenges are the promotion of collective entrepreneurship, the development of entrepreneurship and the attraction of young talent. In this sense, Paserman explained that, together with the OECD, an Academy of Entrepreneurship Policies is being created. For young people, a learning network where governments can learn from other countries experiences of this kind to attract young people. This academy includes seminars that will take place in the next three years, starting in 2023.
Another of the measures adopted by the European institutions is that 200 million euros will be allocated between 2021 and 2027 for social innovation, which will allow the creation of a program focused on this area, through a digital transformation center and innovation incubators.
Maravillas Espín highlighted the Spanish Social Economy Strategy 2021-2027, one of the few existing country strategies in Europe, and, in particular, the methodology used, "in which all territorial levels, both state and local, as well as the different families of the social economy have participated. , with the aim of showing it as a benchmark for an efficient business model, based on the well-being of people". He also stressed that in Spain there are social economy plans and strategies in 9 Autonomous Communities, in addition to several local initiatives.
After explaining this dialogue at the national level, he affirmed that the social economy in Spain is advancing following the route of the European Action Plan and, in addition, is aligned with the resolutions on the model made in recent months by the OECD and the ILO, as well as the future resolution that the UN will make in this regard.
In addition to the Spanish Social Economy Strategy, Espín highlighted another of the milestones of the sector that has not occurred in any other European country: the PERTE of Social Economy and Care. Precisely, within the framework of this PERTE the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy published on Wednesday a call for aid endowed with 99.3 million euros.
At the conclusion of this debate, it was clear by the representative of the European Commission that Spain is one of the few countries that has a large social economy ecosystem and therefore is already applying many aspects included in the Action Plan. In addition, it was commented that measures will be implemented aimed at the training of public officials of the countries on the social economy and the management of European funds for these companies in the different countries.
DIFFERENT NETWORKS FOR AN INDUSTRIAL ECOSYSTEM
The Head of Unit for Proximity, Social Economy and Creative Industries of the Directorate-General GROW of the European Commission, Anna Athanasopoulou, explained, in the session ´Initiatives of the European Commission to build an industrial ecosystem of the social economy in Europe and its territories´, the challenges for this business model: the need to strengthen infrastructures of many of these companies, they cannot access all the opportunities offered by digital green transformations.
He then explained the set of measures included in the "I tinerary for the green and digital transitions" with 14 areas of action. Some of these measures for the green transition are collaboration between companies to promote the green and circular value chain; tax and regulatory incentives; as well as certifications. For the digital transition, data management, new business models and public-private technology partnerships.
Another point that aroused interest was the Network of Regions of the social economy, with more than 100 regions that are working together, including several regions of Spain. In this sense, he encouraged the incorporation of new participants to be able to continue working dynamically.
On the other hand, he announced that a Network of entrepreneurs and innovators and the Network of European companies at European level within the social economy will be created, which will promote learning among participants from several countries, as well as an approach of their solutions to the market and also to the authorities.
TERRITORIAL POLICIES IN SPAIN
To end the event, the director of CEPES, Carmen Comos, moderated the round table ´How to transfer to the territorial level the measures of the European Action Plan through the Strategies and regional policies for the social economy, in which representatives of the governments of Murcia, Galicia and the Basque Countryparticipated, autonomous communities with a long tradition in the promotion of this business model . These three Autonomous Communities have consolidated Social Economy Strategies, with a strong associative and business fabric. During the session they explained how through these Strategies some of the challenges of the Action Plan are already being applied.
The general director of Self-employed, Work and Social Economy of the Ministry of Business, Employment, Universities and Spokesperson of the Government of the Region of Murcia, Antonio Pasqual de Riquelme, advanced the next creation, in his region, of a monitoring commission of responsible public procurement, since he recognizes that "there is still a long way to go". In this sense, he said that the training that will be given from the European institutions for public officials will help "considerably". Another important point announced was the commitment of the Government of the Region of Murcia to include the social economy in the RISS4 (smart specialization strategies), which allows to place the social economy as a regional strategy, increasing measures and budget.
The Secretary General of Support for Employment, Self-Employment and Social Economy of the Xunta de Galicia, Covadonga Toca, focused on the importance of education in social economy and the regulatory framework. "It is a work of sowing and evangelizing; We are in a good moment to achieve this, because it is a good time for the social economy". Toca insisted on the 12 Entrepreneurship Poles that will be created throughout the Autonomous Community, in which advice will be provided to undertake in social economy.
For his part, the Director of Social Economy of the Basque Government, Jokin Díaz, spoke of the challenges posed by San Sebastián – Donostia in 2023 as the next Spanish capital of the social economy. One of them is to double the weight of this model, going from 10% today to 20% in 2040. On the other hand, reaching young people through the implementation of a Social Economy Festival and the visibility and dissemination of the model would be the other two challenges. During his speech, he highlighted some innovative initiatives in the Basque Country such as the commitment to Digital Platforms in a cooperative format, energy communitiesand support for social economy companies, since they are a successful model that act in all economic sectors with companies of all sizes.
