·
During the event, an open dialogue table
was held in which the general director of Autonomous Work, Social Economy and
CSR of the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy, Maravillas Espín; the president
of the Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES), Juan
Antonio Pedreño; the General Secretary of Support for Employment, Autonomous
Work and Social Economy of the Xunta de Galicia, Covadonga Toca; and the
president of the Forum of the Galician Social Economy (FOROESGAL), Celso
Gándara
·
The inauguration was in charge of the
mayor of Santiago de Compostela, Xosé Sánchez Bugallo, and the Minister of the
Promotion of Employment and Equality of the Xunta de Galicia, Maria Jesús
Lorenzana, who provided data on the weight of this model in the región
·
The social economy represents 7% of the
regional GDP in Galicia and around 10% of the national GDP
·
Spain is the only European country that
has a National Strategic Plan for the Social Economy, a specific PERTE for the
sector and an Operational Programme for Social Inclusion and Social Economy
co-financed by the ESF (POISES)
·
The president of CEPES insisted on the
need to "improve the visibility of the social economy so that it is known and
recognized", for which he demanded the participation of this business
model in social dialogue
Santiago
de Compostela, June 6, 2022.- The
second vice president and Minister of Labor and Social Economy, Yolanda Díaz,
presented on Monday the Manifesto of the Social Economy in Santiago de
Compostela, within the framework of the Spanish capital of social economy 2022,
which holds the Galician city collecting the witness of Toledo and Teruel.
This
manifesto commemorates the 10th anniversary of the approval of Law 5/2011, of
March 29, on Social Economy, "a collective work, with a singularity, and
that is that each of the principles that define the social economy were drafted
by different entities of social economy, based on their experience, demonstrating
they can and should go hand in hand",
explained the vice president. This law was a pioneer in Europe and in
the world and served as an example for other European countries that
subsequently approved their own laws and to develop regional strategies.
Díaz
stressed that Spain is at the forefront of the social economy at the
international level and recalled the regulatory wealth that our country has to
regulate this business model, with the Social Economy Law, the Insertion
Companies Law and the Cooperatives Law, which the Executive has already
mentioned on different occasions that it will modify and modernize.
The
vice president addressed the two challenges that, according to her words, this
business model faces: "seek its internationalization and incorporate
digitalization in all processes" and assured that the Ministry will
continue working to improve the competitiveness of social economy companies and
the maintenance of employment.
In
addition, he stressed that "cooperation is in the DNA of this model, a
participatory, democratic, horizontal and egalitarian model" and that
Santiago takes this witness "with a spirit that will permeate our response
to economic and social challenges."
During
the event, in which it was pointed out that the business model of social
economy represents 7% of the regional GDP in Galicia, the president of the
Spanish Business Confederation of the Social Economy (CEPES), Juan Antonio
Pedreño, also intervened, specifically within an open dialogue table, in which
he stressed that "the sector has the fundamental challenge of growing to
change scale, to influence public
policies, to avoid legislative discrimination and to work on youth
entrepreneurship" and insisted on the need to "improve the visibility
of the social economy so that it is known and recognized", for which he
called for the participation of this business model in social dialogue.
He
also pointed out that "we want to do all this from a different,
sustainable business model, which wants to be a leader in the digital and green
transformation, for which we have the support of the Ministry of Labor and
Social Economy, which gives us visibility" and recalled that Spain is the
only European country that has a National Strategic Plan for Social Economy, a sector-specific PERTE and an Operational
Programme for Social Inclusion and Social Economy co-financed by the ESF
(POISES).
The
PERTE of Social Economy and Care was approved on May 31 in the Council of
Ministers, with an investment of 808 million euros between 2022 and 2026 and
with the participation of 13 ministries.
The
general director of Autonomous Work, Social Economy and CSR of the Ministry of
Labor and Social Economy, Maravillas Espín, also stressed that one of the
challenges for the social economy is the visibility of its potential "to
improve society as a whole."
He
also highlighted the work that the Ministry is doing through the presence in
international forums; promoting the image and presence of the social economy;
as well as in different events at the national level; facilitating access to
resources by the social economy, such as with PERTE; as well as with the second
Strategic Plan for the Social Economy, on which the Ministry is working.
THE
WEIGHT OF THE SOCIAL ECONOMY IN GALICIA
The
inauguration of the event was in charge of the mayor of Santiago de Compostela,
Xosé Sánchez Bugallo, and the Minister of the Promotion of Employment and
Equality of the Xunta de Galicia, Maria Jesús Lorenzana.
During
his speech, the mayor stressed that the social economy has a specific and
relevant weight in Galicia with respect to Spain and pointed out the
"quality" and "competitiveness" of its companies. He also
declared that the Spanish capital of social economy "is a bet to promote
entrepreneurial initiatives and enhance social economy companies".
For his part, Lorenzana pointed out that the
manifesto presented "lays the foundations to consolidate this business
model." "It is a model of tradition, success and at the same time,
innovative," he said. He also stressed that it is a model "especially
committed to the territory and, therefore, a guarantee of the future. It is
committed to establishing territory in rural areas, generates stable
employment, is resistant to crises and, in addition, inclusive. It acts against
inequalities because it favors the distribution of resources and wealth."
In
addition, he recalled that the 2019-2021 budget that the region has had for the
social economy has been almost 90 million euros and that the impact of the
social economy in Galicia has been 851.2 million euros.
"It
is necessary that we start from that need to innovate, that we know how to take
advantage of the possibilities offered by the social economy in relation to
other business models and more after the crisis from which we come," he
said and that from the Xunta they are already working with accelerators of
social economy entrepreneurship.
The open dialogue table that took place during
the event also had Galician representativeness through the interventions of the
general secretary of support for Employment, Autonomous Work and Social Economy
of the Xunta de Galicia, Covadonga Toca; and the president of the Forum of the
Galician Social Economy (FOROESGAL), Celso Gándara.
Toca
highlighted the Xunta´s commitment to innovation for job creation and spoke of
the support for the acceleration of projects that contribute to the creation
and consolidation of this type of companies.
For his part, Gándara pointed out three
challenges of this business model: growth, social innovation and a gender
perspective. Thus, he insisted on the need to increase the weight of the social
economy in GDP, both regional and state, for which he said, both the PERTE
approved by the Government and the Galician strategy of social economy will help.
He
also highlighted the intersectorality of this business model as "one of
the keys to growing the social economy", and recalled the variety of
sectors that the model encompasses: agriculture, livestock, culture,
environment, energy communities, etc. Finally, he advocated effective
management to make it a reality and public-private collaboration.
TRIBUTE
TO TWO FIGURES OF THE GALICIAN SOCIAL ECONOMY
During
the event, tribute was paid to two figures of relevance to the Galician social
economy: the president of the Galician Association of Agri-food Cooperatives
(AGACA) during the period 2013-2021, José Montes and former vice president of
CEPES
and
the president of the Galician Business Association of Special Non-Profit
Employment Centers (CEGASAL), José Antonio Vázquez.
Montes
stressed the importance of continuing to advance in cooperation and referred to
the document ´Companies
and entities of the Social Economy as allies in the face of the demographic
challenge and emptied Spain´, which CEPES presented to the Ministry for the
Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge at the beginning of this
year and which contains more than 140 measures to face the demographic
challenge "of which 70 of them have a lot to do with it". with social
economy".
Vázquez
highlighted the capacity of the social economy to generate "employment,
stability and dignity" and highlighted the role of women in this business
model.
