· During the
opening ceremony of the European Conference ´The
Social Economy, the Future of Europe´, which will be held this Thursday and
Friday in Strasbourg within the framework of the French Presidency of the
Council of the European Union
· The president of CEPES said that
the challenge is to grow and change scale, take advantage of the current moment
to address many of the challenges we have, including the improvement of
dialogue and participation in the Social Dialogue
· The Second Vice-President of the
Government of Spain assured that the Economía Social will be one of the
priorities of the Spanish presidency of the EU in the second half of 2023, and
announced that the Executive is already working to implement the different
sections that contain the European Action Plan of Social Economyl
· The event was attended by
representatives of different European countries
and cities, as well as social economy entities, including Spain, with the
intervention of the president of CEPES, Juan Antonio Pedreño; Commissioner
Nicolas Smitch; or the Secretary of State for Social and Solidarity Economy of
France, Olivia Grégoire
Madrid,
May 06, 2022.- "The Social Economy is a guarantee of sustainable
progress that generates opportunities for all equally". This was stated by
the Second Vice-President and Minister of Labour and Social Economy, Yolanda
Díaz, this Thursday during her speech at the opening of the European
Conference ´The Social Economy, the Future of Europe´, which is being held
this Thursday and Friday in Strasbourg, within the framework of the French
Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
During
her speech, the minister recalled that the social economy is an "established sector with an enormous capacity forinnovation,
which generates stable jobs and qualityd", and pointed out the more than
43,000 companies and the more than 2.3 million
jobs that are part of this business model in Spain.
He
alsoaffirmed that the social economy is one of the
priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2023, and announced that the Executive is already working to implement
the actions contemplated by the Plan of Acción
Europeor Social Economy, which was approved by the European Commission on
December 9.
"To
talk about the social economy is to talk about transformation, stable
employment, solidarity, inclusive voluntariness, to promote green and digital
transitions in a world without gaps or discrimination," Díaz said. Es
activar an engine of innovation that is over andputs to the crisis and that
connects with the Pillar Europeo of Derechis Sociales", he concluded.
On
the other hand, the vice-president explained theactivities carried out by the
Government in recent months - the State Council
for the Promotion of the Social Economy, among others - was reactivated
- as well as
the roadmap that it plans to follow, in which is the approvalin 2022 of
a new Spanish Strategy for the Social Economy " adapted to a common
sense renewedor after the pandemic"; the approval of a PERTE of Social Economy and
Care Economy "always under the prsma
of the samedad de género and of the green and social prism"; and the
updating of regulations such as the Social Economy Law, the Insertion
Companies Law or the Cooperatives Law.
Yolanda
Díaz alsorecognized the need to establish measures to strengthen the sector to make visiblewhat
is inpublic and private organizations through training, digitalization and
access to financing and pointed out that "it is necessary to establish
this model at all educational levels. , as
well as promoting access to financing by
betting on advances inresponsible public procurement".
THE OPINION OF THE AGENTS OF THE SOCIAL ECONOMY
After
the opening ceremony, the round table ´Making the most of the European
Commission´s Social Economy Action Plan: The perspective of Social Economy
agents´ took place, in
which the European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, Nicolas
Schmit; the president of CEPES and Social Economy Europe (SEE),
Juan Antonio Pedreño; the representative of
Coompanion (Sweden), Diana Ghinea; the CEO of ´The
Wheel (Ireland), Deirdre Garvey; and
the president of the ADV Foundation (Romania), Angela Achitei.
The
president of CEPES, Juan Antonio Pedreño, said that "the challenge
is to grow and change scale, take advantage of the current moment to address
many of the challenges we have, including improving dialogue." In this
sense, he recalled the difference in weight that the social economy has in the
different European countries, Spain being an example of advanced social economy
and pointed out the importance that the Social Economy Law has had. Thus, he
claimed the need to establish legal and political frameworks, adequate for the model to grow. "In
Spain, the Social Economy Law has meant a leap in all the policies that the
country has in this regard," he said.
He
also assured that the European Action Plan for the Social Economy contemplates
these possibilities, being a recognition of what the social economy means in
Europe. He also highlighted the work of SEE, from where it is working
above all, "in sensitizing governments to introduce public policies
infavor of the social economy." He also recalled the recent Paris
agreement in which 23 EU governments came together to take joint action in
favour of the social economy.
Pedreño
also recalled the work done in recent years from CEPES and explained that it is
currently preparing a document for the implementation of the European Action
Plan, which details how policies should be carried out and in what periods,
among other aspects. This document contains a recommendation for all
governments to raise public awareness. In addition, CEPES is also working withthe
European Parliament in relation to the opinion it is making on the plan.
Finally,
the president of CEPES called for the need for dialogue, for the social
economy to participate in the Social Dialogue. "The weight of the
social economy is at the level of sectors as important as transport in
Europe," he said.
Other
European political representatives who participated in
the opening ceremony agreed to highlight the challenges facing the Social
Economy and the suitability of the European Social Economy Action Plantoface
them, although it is still necessary to specify the 38 measures it contains.
Commissioner Nicolas Smith said that the Action Plan has not only placed the social
economy on the European political agenda at the highest level of the Commission
and the Community institutions, but that they are also promoting measures in
the territories and states in favour of this business model by the Member
States and local and regional governments. In
relation to the Action Plan, he assured that it is "ours, of
society". He also focused on the social impact achieved by the social
economy.
The
Secretary of State for Social and Solidarity Economy of France, Olivia
Grègoire, pointed out the need to "change many areas, both in politics and
in social or health. To do this, Europe needs to launch the European Social
Economy Action Plan."
For
his part, the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Othmar Karas, referred
to this business model as "key to the future of Europe" especially at
the current time when Europe "must defend its valuesin this time of war
against Ukraine".
The
Executive Vice President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, claimed
the need to increase the visibility of the Social Economy with the aim of
"offering new opportunities, promoting innovation and betting on new
business models".
Also
participating in the opening ceremony were the Mayor of Strasbourg, Jeanne
Barseghian; the president of Eurometropole, Pia Imbs;
the president of the European Collectivity of Alsace, Frédéric Bierry;
and the
President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), Christa
Schweng.
