The European Commission presents the Recommendation to the Council for the promotion of the Social Economy and the Commission’s new gateway for the Social Economy

Following up to the 2021 Social Economy Action Plan, the Commission has presented a proposal for a Council recommendation for Member States to design and implement social economy strategies, and the social economy gateway, a one-stop shop website to provide social economy organisations with information on EU funding, training opportunities and more.

Fresh impetus to promote the social economy

Despite their contribution to society, social economy organisations often face obstacles in developing and scaling up their activities due to a lack of understanding and recognition of their business models. To overcome these challenges, the proposed Council Recommendation calls on Member States to develop comprehensive strategies for the social economy to promote an enabling environment for the social economy across all relevant areas, by adapting policy and legal frameworks. In doing so, the aim is to promote quality job creation, boost the local economy, and strengthen social and territorial cohesion.

In addition, the Commission also recommends that Member States make optimal use of available EU funding, such as the European Social Fund Plus, the European Regional Development Fund, and InvestEU, to assist Member States in promoting the social economy. The Commission can also provide further support by collecting data and conducting research on the social economy within the EU.

One-stop shop for social economy support

As part of today’s proposals, the Commission is also launching the social economy gateway, a one-stop-shop website that provides social economy entities with information on EU funding, training opportunities, events, country-specific information, and where to go for additional resources, as a tool for capacity-building.

Next steps

Member States will discuss the Commission proposal for a Council Recommendation with a view to its adoption by the Council. Once adopted, the proposal invites Member States to adopt or update their social economy strategies within 18 months. Member States are also recommended to create a one-stop shop support for the social economy, set up local and/or regional contact points acting as ‘social economy ambassadors’, and appoint social economy coordinatorsin national institutions to ensure consistency across policies.

The Commission will monitor the implementation of the strategies through regular consultations with Member States via the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee.

Background

In December 2021, the Commission presented the Social Economy Action Plan to help the social economy thrive and fully tap its potential. The new proposal for a Council recommendation and the Social Economy Gateway were two actions announced in the Plan. Another action was the EU-OECD Youth Entrepreneurship Policy Academy(YEPA) launched in March this year. It aims to address challenges young entrepreneurs face when setting up their business, such as access to funding and skills, as also confirmed by a recent Eurobarometer survey.

Furthermore, as included in the Commission work programme, the Commission will propose later this year a cross-border initiative on associations to enable them to benefit fully from the single market. In addition, today the Commission publishes two Staff Working Documents to improve the understanding of relevant tax rules for social economy entities and cross-border public-benefit donations.

Social economy organisations play a crucial role in tackling societal challenges and promote fair working conditions by involving employees in decision-making and governance. They also create opportunities for underrepresented groups like women and young people and contribute to making the digital and green transitions fair and inclusive.

The social economy helps achieve the objectives of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and the 2030 EU headline targets endorsed by EU Member States of having at least 78% of the people aged 20 to 64 in employment, at least 60% in training, and lifting at least 15 million people out of poverty or social exclusion. The social economy package also contributes to the European Year of Skills by encouraging opportunities for skills development within the social economy sector