Social entrepreneurship: pathways towards a sustainable and cohesive Europe The Concepts and the EU Policy Agenda Business and Start-Ups Sub-Committee Brussels

 Key EU policy expert  social economy category group, GECES member  Significant expertise and opinion work, such as: Diverse Forms of Enterprise Social Enterprise and Social Entrepreneurship Social Business Initiative European Funds for Social Entrepreneurship Social Impact Measurement Social Impact Investment Financial Eco-System for Social Enterprises  The EESC social enterprise project Bridging social economy stakeholders and policy makers  local to EU & Strasbourg to Luxembourg Project report with reflections and recommendations Networking, communication and dissemination The EESC, social economy and social entrepreneurship

 Aftershocks of an unprecedented crisis  Facing complex societal challenges  globalisation, demographic development, climate change, migration…  New social risks emerging  widening inequality gaps, social exclusion, poverty, unemployment…  Indicating a paradigm shift and need for systemic change  Urgent need to mobilise all resources and stakeholders in society The backdrop - a new societal landscape emerging

 Feature of the European social model  smart, sustainable and inclusive growth  Mission to meet unmet needs or tackle social/societal issues  Often members/users and/or general interest focused  Produce social and economic outcomes  Social cohesion/inclusion and business creation/employment  Play key democracy function  link to civil society creating social capital  Catalyst for social innovation  demand-led, user-centred, flexible, bottom-up  Increase diversity and supply of services  Innovate social (and other) policies  Proven more resilient but still underdeveloped Social enterprise - a solution, historically and now

 Economic and social actors - active across sectors  Primary social mission  Surplus a means to fulfil social mission  reinvesting  Inclusive governance  voluntary and open membership and democratic control  Business and legal models vary due to national contexts  Social economy = associations, mutuals, cooperatives, foundations  But social economy also includes new legal forms based on shared principles  Independence from public authorities  Close link to civil society  key driver of social entrepreneurship  Mixed revenue streams  public and private Diversity, but shared concept and characteristics

COM Social Business Initiative (SBI), 2011:  the social/societal objective primary reason for the commercial activity  profits are mainly reinvested towards the social objective  the method of organisation or ownership system reflects its mission  Thus are enterprises: o providing social services and/or goods and services to vulnerable persons o with a method of production of goods or services with a social objective Further…  Are economic actors producing goods and services  Is not CSR  but connections can exist  Some terms used: social economy, social market economy, social enterprise, social entrepreneurship, civil society enterprise… The European Commission description

 Limited accurate data due to Member State diversity  EU mapping study – a step  Satellite accounts only in 4 MS  Social economy paid employment million 2012 (vs. 11 in 2008)  6.5% of the working population of the EU  In Belgium, Italy, France, Spain and the Netherlands accounts for between 9%-11.5% of working population  75% of social enterprise active in :  Social services, employment and training, environment, education and community development  20/29 (EU + Switzerland) countries have national definitions  21/29 (EU + Switzerland) have no policy framework for development Social economy and social enterprise in Europe Sources: European Commission “Social Europe Guide Vol 4”, EESC/Ciriec Study 2012, COM Mapping Study 2014, Third Sector Impact 2015

 EU2020  Single Market Act  Social Business Initiative 2011  SBI key starting bringing policy areas together and key actions: 1.Funding – structural fund priorities, private financing 2.Visibility – social impact measurement, mapping 3.Legal environment - public procurement provisions  Other interesting initiatives  Strasbourg Declaration  Rome Strategy – letter to Juncker  EP reports ; such as “Draft report on social entrepreneurship and social innovation combating unemployment”  EESC opinions  EESC project findings  There is a genuine interest but concepts needs to be further clarified  Pieces of ecosystem exist must be in a coherent policy framework  Lack of full MS implementation  The EU policy continues to play a central role, despite national diversity EU policy support

 Political will, ownership and keeping the momentum  launch SBI 2.0 and action plan for social economy  Call on MS to implement at MS/regional/local levels  EU to guide, monitor and support  Safeguard the concept and recognise the specificities and need for tailored support  Mainstream in enterprise (and other) policies and connect policies frameworks  Develop a tailored eco-system  Continue building awareness, visibility and recognition  measure social impact, report in statistics, research models and added value, recognise specificities  Improve access to markets  guide to apply favourable conditions in public procurement  Improve access to finance  hybrid capital, full lifecycle  Launch development and capacity building programmes  Support and facilitate contributions to employment  Promote social entrepreneurship in education at all levels To unleash the potential – direction from EESC project

 EESC prioritises and actively engaged  Final project event July 10  Opinion financial eco-system September 17  Continue to disseminate, communicate and support  Bridging local stakeholders to EU policy  European Commission  New team for SBI announced  Awaiting policy direction and leadership  GECES continues, EESC observer  European Parliament  Intergroup for social economy re-launched  EU Presidencies  Italy – Rome Strategy  Latvia – Parliamentary Committee  Luxembourg – Presidency priority, event December 3-4  The Netherlands… The future – renewed commitment and cooperation

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