Activities of Katrin LANGENSIEPEN related to 2021/2179(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
EU action plan for the social economy (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the EU action plan for the social economy
Amendments (65)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 2 a (new)
Citation 2 a (new)
— having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, signed and ratified by the EU and all its Member States, and in particular Article 27 on work and employment;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 3 a (new)
Citation 3 a (new)
— Having regard to the Commission communication of 7 October 2020 entitled ‘A Union of Equality: EU Roma strategic framework for equality, inclusion and participation’ (COM(2020) 620) and the Council Recommendation of 12 March 2021 on Roma equality, inclusion and participation (2021/C 93/01)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
— having regard to the European Skills Agenda for Sustainable Competitiveness, Social Fairness and Resilience of 1 July 2020
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
— Having regard to its resolution of 17 February 2022 with recommendations to the Commission on a statute for European cross-border associations and non-profit organisations,
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 b (new)
Citation 12 b (new)
— having regard to its resolution of 16 September 2021 on fair working conditions, rights and social protection for platform workers – new forms of employment linked to digital development,
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 13 a (new)
Citation 13 a (new)
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 a (new)
Citation 22 a (new)
— having regard to the European Economic and Social Committee’s opinion on "The role of social economy in the creation of jobs and in the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights" of 27 April 2021,
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 22 b (new)
Citation 22 b (new)
— having regard to the European Economic and Social Committee’s opinion of 23 December 2009 on the ‘Diverse forms of enterprise’ (2009/C 318/05)
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the social economy encompasses diverse types of private entities, independent of public authorities, as cooperatives, mutual benefit societies, associations (including charities), foundations, social enterprises, and other legal forms, all characterised by different operating and organisational principles and feature, foundations and other legal forms, depending on each EU Member State; notes that this diversity of enterprises and organisations, which operate in all areas of activity, share a strong identity based on shared values and characteristics such as the primacy of people as well asinclusivity and the social purpose over profit, the reinvestment of most profits/surpluses, and democratic or participatory governancecapital, gender equality, local and regional responsibility, sensitivity for climate and environmental challenges, inclusion and democratic governance and the reinvestment, hence the limited distribution of profits and assets among members or shareholders, of most of the profits to achieve the sustainable development objectives of the enterprise or organisation, or in the collective and general interest;
Amendment 21 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas according to the European Economic and Social Committee the social economy represents 2.8 million businesses and organisations in Europe (EU28), employing 13.6 million workers, or around 6.3% of the EU workforce; whereas the social economy also includes over 232 million members of cooperatives, mutual societies and similar organisations, as well as 82.8 million volunteers; 1a _________________ 1a https://www.eesc.europa.eu/sites/default/fi les/files/qe-04-17-875-en-n.pdf
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. Whereas the social economy was borne out of the need to address pressing social needs that the open labour market and Member State actions have not succeeded in tackling;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the social economy hasand social service providers have played an important role in mitigating and addressing the short- and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the EU’s social market, society and economy andfabric, society and economy and - in particular in the field of not-for-profit social, health and education/vocational training services - has driven and contributed to social and economic resilience thanks to the long- term orientation of the European Pillar business model and the nature of social rights and thegoals of the European Social Pillar and the social targets and activities of the social economy12 ; _________________ 12 OECD (2020), Social economy and the COVID-19 crisis: current and future roles.
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas social economy organisationentities have a long history in the majority of Member States, most of which have adopted specific laws in this field, and have established themselves as crucial market players; actors in the economy and the labour market and make up more than 10% of the business and economic fabric of the EU;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. Whereas social economy organisations are recognised as important partners for public authorities in the provision of social, health and care services, therefore contributing to achieving key principles for social protection and inclusion of the European Pillar of Social Rights by reducing inequality, poverty, unemployment and gaps in service provision;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas social economy organisations operate in all sectors, including key sectors such as health, long-term care, pensions, education, culture and tourism, tech for good, housing, industry, finance, circular economy, renewable energy and waste management, and by virtue of their local anchoring and their social and integrative character, are an intrinsic part of the European social model;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas social economy plays an important role in promoting inclusive green and digital transition;
Amendment 77 #
Cd. whereas social economy organisations can create sustainable jobs, and can help provide decent working conditions, as well as ensure labour market integration of disadvantaged or marginalized workers;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C e (new)
Recital C e (new)
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C f (new)
Recital C f (new)
Cf. whereas the social economy model holds great potential in reaching the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, such as the Roma, significantly improving their access to rights, resources, and services, as well as their professional, social, and civic participation;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C g (new)
Recital C g (new)
Cg. Whereas more than a third of the about 13.8 million paid jobs in the social economy are in the sector of social services
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes, however, that concrete measures and follow-up measures for achieving each objective need to be laid out and the interlinkages between measures and to other EU-level initiatives such as the Action Plan of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European Disability Strategy, the EU Roma Strategic Framework, the European Platform on Combatting Homelessness and the New Pact on Asylum and Migration must be further detailed; considers it necessary to establish a calendar for all actions included in the SEAP and their monitoring and evaluation, with a view to guiding the relevant authorities in the implementation and ensuring cohesion and common purpose;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Urges the Commission and the Member States, as well as regional and local authorities, to mainstream the social economy dimension in relevant policies, programmes and practices, such as those relevant to a green, circular and climate- neutral transition, including financial instruments;
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Believes that to truly develop the potential of the social economy through the measures laid out in the Action Plan and those subsequently developed by Member States, a dedicated budget must be established to implement the Social Economy Action Plan that is directly accessible by both national and regional administrations and by social economy entities;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Calls on the Commission to use the country reports and the country- specific recommendations in the Semester process to monitor the development of the social economy in Europe and calls on the Commission to make its initiatives more ambitious and coherent and where possible propose legal measures;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Calls on the Commission to support the sharing of best practices and existing initiatives among local and regional authorities through a network of local and regional authorities to promote social economy;
Amendment 118 #
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Welcomes the proposal for a Council Recommendation on developing social economy framework conditions in 2023 and while recognising diversity in the social economy sector across the EU as one major wealth of the sector, such a recommendation could be instrumental for the further development and improvement of regulatory and financial framework conditions needed for a healthy and active social economy sector in all Member States; the Recommendation should refer to the social economy's diversity, in terms of types of organisations, enterprises and sectors, and should address all its forms;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Notes that social economy entities face additional obstacles to operating transnationally in the Single Market compared to other SMEs and calls to resolve this fundamental deficiency. These difficulties stem from the lack of comprehensive legal frameworks covering all legal forms within the social economy;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Calls on the European Commission to implement the European Parliament’s resolution on a Statute for social and solidarity-based enterprises, particularly as regards the creation of a certificate or label for social economy entities in order to give more visibility to social economy and foster a coherent legal framework;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Encourages the Member States to systematicalurgently adopt strategies aimed at developing socially responsible public procurement, thus which should guide all procurement of services or goods; Calls on the Commission to explicitly recognise alternatives to public procurement which focus more on partnerships and cooperation and less on buyer-supplier logics in the funding of quality social services, establishing a link across policy areas between the delivery of services and products and the contribution to social objectives; considers that the transposition of the Public Procurement Directive must be coupled with initiatives to increase knowledge about the relationship between public spending and its contribution to achieving the SDGs, and to build capacity among public procurement officers and social economy organisations; encourages public procurement officers to carry out pre- market consultconsultations, including with Social Economy Organisations, before drawing up tender documents, with a view to better understanding the existing needs and how social economy organisations could meet them; calls on public procurement officers not to award contracts based on the lowest price but on respect for social standards, working and employment conditions and respect for collective agreements;
Amendment 158 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Encourages Members States to promote social impact, and request of beneficiaries of public funding to demonstrate their social added value which is anchored to solidarity and supporting the most vulnerable. Specifically, social impact should be aligned to the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and mainstreamed through all stages of the European Semester process, ensuring that the Pillar’s principles are systematically put into practice and monitored. In particular they must be visible in country reports and country-specific recommendations;
Amendment 166 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Encourages the European Commission to help and support social services and other social economy entities, particularly those providing social and health care services, in overcoming many of the employment challenges that they face, including – but not limited to – low wages due to the low value of contracts awarded by public authorities, precarious working conditions and challenges in effective recruitment and retention conditions; support should be provided to enable the employment of those who face barriers in accessing the labour market and the social economy entities themselves to become barrier-free environments and barrier lifters.
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Encourages Members States to support Social Economy actors to develop social innovation programmes to improve social service development and delivery and improving accessibility to services for the most vulnerable, including people with disabilities and the older people;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes the announced report on the possible extension of the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance to social objectives; considers that the EU taxonomy needs to cover social factors, without creating an excessively disproportionate burden on businesses, as it can be a driver for investment in the field of the social economy; calls on the European Commission to ensure that the Social Taxonomy is social-washing proof including through special provisions for adequate and affordable housing;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Recalls the need for structured social dialogue in all sectors of the Social Economy and invites the European Commission to advance related pending initiatives;
Amendment 185 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to set up capacity-building partnerships and formal agreements with social economy networknational, transnational, and interregional level social economy entities and their representative organisations in order to provide social economy organisations with advisory services such as tailor-made mentoring and coaching, financing capacity-building, training and education, incubating services and networking for capacity-building paying particular attention to minority-led social enterprises;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure, by all means possible, that social economy entities uphold their social duty to their employees through offering, as it applies to all types of companies, secure employment contracts, decent working conditions, living wages and equal opportunities, prohibiting all types of discrimination based on disability, age, religion or belief, sex, gender identification or ethnic origin;
Amendment 196 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9b. Calls for the need to ensure that women have prioritised access to funding given the greater difficulties experienced by women in gaining access to resources compared to men;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Highlights the key role that new technologies, when accessible to all, can play in developing and scaling up social economy projectsorganisations to reinforce and strengthen their social aim and the importance of giving social economy entrepreneurs, and employees, with a specific focus on vulnerable workers priority access to training programmes on digital skills and advanced technologies, both at EU and national level, and calls on the Commission and Member States to explore how mainstream businesses and social economy organisations can cooperate in that regard;
Amendment 206 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Reminds the Member States of the importance and potential of worker cooperatives in providing quality employment and bringing democracy to the workplace, better life-work balance, workers empowerment through ownership and governance and life-long learning; encourages all Member States to create favourable legal environments and supportive environments for the establishment and functioning of worker cooperatives;
Amendment 211 #
10b. Regrets that 11.6% of workers in the private sector of the Member States is undeclared and highlights the need for policy measures to fight undeclared work and effectively enforce workers’ rights; highlights the contribution of social economy organisations, and in particular cooperatives, to combatting undeclared work;
Amendment 213 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Considers it regrettablTakes note that social economy organisations do not feature to the same extent as more conventionalother businesses in the curricula of mainstream school education and higher education enterprise and business education14 ; in light of this, invites sector- representative bodies and relevant public authorities, in partnership with the relevant stakeholders, to review and evaluate the curricula and put forward policy recommendations for academic institutions and discuss impulses for research programs for academic institutions while upholding the freedom of scientific research; _________________ 14 Eurofound (2019), Labour market change. Cooperatives and social enterprises: work and employment in selected countries.
Amendment 223 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Highlights the role that the social economy plays in contributing to the green transition; notes that many social economy organisations develop sustainable and green practices and help people adapt to and contribute to a greener economy; supports the Commission’s initiative to boost the capacity of the social economy to adopt and develop greener practices, products and services;
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 b (new)
Paragraph 11 b (new)
11b. Highlights that, through the Pact for Skills, the Commission should support the training and life-long learning access of social economy workers in areas such as digitalisation, including media literacy, participatory leadership, resilience and the green transition, in order to support them to enter or remain in the labour market of social economy enterprises; while paying particular attention to the groups with the greatest difficulties e.g. young people, long-term unemployed persons, persons with disabilities or those living in remote areas with limited access to digital resources; encourages to promote in line with the 2015 Council Conclusions education and training in entrepreneurship through different forms of social economy at all educational levels, from primary to higher education (including both university education and vocational training);
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes the possibilities offered under InvestEU to support the social economy; urges the Commission and the implementing partners to design financial products tailored to the needs of social economy enterprises under the Social Investment and Skills window which include microfinance and the financing of social economy enterprises, and to allocate sufficient resources to these products; notes that sound eligibility criteria should be developed to target financial intermediaries that specifically support the social economy and considers that advisory services should be made available under the InvestEU Advisory Hub in order to maximise the potential of these financial intermediaries to tap into the InvestEU programme; calls on the Commission to ensure that other InvestEU financial products such as those targeting SMEs are made accessible to social economy organisations, most of which are micro, small and medium-sized organisation; considers that advisory and technical assistance should be provided on the priories for the Social Investment and Skills window, in view of developing a pipeline of projects on key topics;
Amendment 239 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Supports the Commission’s initiative to launch a Youth Entrepreneurship Policy Academy in 2022 under the ESF+ to foster youth entrepreneurship; however considers it regrettable that the Action Plan for the Social Economy does not include other targeted initiatives to help underrepresented social entrepreneurs besides youth; reminds the Commission and all social economy stakeholders that there are still challenges for persons with disabilities, migrants, ethnic minorities, elderly and women, among others, to set up their own social economy organisations or projects; calls on the Member States to include targeted support measures for all budding social entrepreneurs in national social economy strategy;
Amendment 247 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Invites the Commission, on the occasion of the next revision of the General Block Exemption Regulation (GBER), to adequately take into account the specific needs of social economy organisations in terms of access to finance and market development, to strengthen the role of State aid in promoting the recruitment of disadvantaged workers, in particular persons with disabilities, especially in the context of the post-COVID-19 recovery, and to explore different evidence-based options, after consulting relevant stakeholders, to support the development of social economy organisations; Encourages the European Commission to adapt the current EU State Aid rules to be more accessible to social economy entities, particularly those providing social and health care services;
Amendment 253 #
13a. Calls on the Commission to revise the Public Procurement Directives to prevent competition at the expense of wages and service quality so that only those who do not undermine existing collective agreements can successfully bid; that respect of fundamental labour rights is a mandatory exclusion criterium; calls on the Member States to ensure compliance, monitoring and enforcement.
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Considers that Member States must promote the access of social economy entities to Next Generation EU funding, through the Recovery and Resilience national plans, regardless of their legal form, in particular for the promotion of employment, socioeconomic inclusion and the adaptation to the digital and green transitions of disadvantaged groups, such as persons with disabilities;
Amendment 265 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 b (new)
Paragraph 14 b (new)
14b. Welcomes the Commission’s plans to assess the launch of dedicated co- investment mechanisms with foundations and philanthropic organisations around target mission areas such as homelessness; Calls on the European Commission to consider establishing a dedicated financial instrument to channel investment into the fight against homelessness;
Amendment 266 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 c (new)
Paragraph 14 c (new)
14c. Welcomes the various tools foreseen by the European Commission, such as the new single EU Social Economy Gateway, in order to give guidance about relevant EU funding, but calls on the European Commission and Member States to ensure the effective consultation of social economy organizations in the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of national and regional operational programmes of the European Structural and Investment Funds;
Amendment 272 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Strongly welcomes the proposal of a Council recommendation on social economy framework conditions to be approved in 2023; believes that taking into account the variety of the situations throughout EU Member States, it should serve as a compass to strengthen the social economy legal and policy frameworks, especially in Member States where the social economy ecosystem is less developed, and should clearly highlight the support instruments made available by the EU and provide guidance in relation to specific policies such as appropriate legal frameworks for different types of enterprises including cooperatives, public procurement, employment, state aid and social policies, taxation, education, skills and training and the importance of linking the circular economy, the green transition and the social economy agendas;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16a. Notes the key role of Cohesion Funds, and in particular the ERDF and ESF, in supporting the development of the social economy and calls on Member States to ensure that not-for-profit social services are able to effectively use funds; Calls on the Commission to make greater use of the Erasmus+ programme to promote the participation of young people in the social economy, particularly in regions facing barriers to mobility;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 b (new)
Paragraph 16 b (new)
16b. Supports the setting up of national competence centres for social innovation aimed at social entrepreneurs and a European competence centre for social innovation; reminds the Commission and Member States however that social innovation is practiced by all social economy organisations, including not-for- profit social service providers, as well as social entrepreneurs;
Amendment 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that the full potential of the social economy sector for addressing socio-economic challenges requires a clear identification of social priorities by public authorities and frontline social service providers; highlights that social economy projects do generally require a close partnership with public entities, and calls therefore on the Commission and Member States to develop, within the macro- economic governance framework provided at EU level, a (new) social investment strategy where social priorities are clearly identifiedthat does not interfere with existing funding instruments and where social priorities are clearly identified, in line with the European Pillar of Social Rights, and which can provide a framework for cooperation between public authorities and social economy organisations;
Amendment 302 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Welcomes the announced launch of a new study to collect qualitative and quantitative information on the social economy across all Member States; notes that detailed, standardised, comparablecalls for this study to cover workers or the composition of the different types of social economy entities, and to include the gender perspective, thus providing sex- disaggregated data including gender indicators; notes that detailed, standardised, comparable disaggregated (by sex, age, ethnic background, disability, gender and other factors) and reliable data on the scale and impact of the social economy including its sustainability impact, need to be generated with a view to facilitating evidence-based policy decisions, future-proofing the development of the social economy and contributing to EU economic and social goalwhich itself has the necessary transformative potential for the European economy as a whole; Calls for an EU platform for exchange of best practice between Member States, local and regional authorities and social economy networks;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Calls on the Commission to create a single online platform to support enterprises, organisations and entrepreneurship using different forms of social economy, which links all European studies and reports on the social economy and the opportunities offered by the EU to these enterprises and organisations; Recommends that this online platform be designed and managed in cooperation with European social economy networks and the expert group on social economy and social enterprises (GECES);
Amendment 310 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Calls on the Commission to strongly enforce the social clause of the existing EU public procurement directive and to revise that directive in order to strengthen social clauses in public contracts, requiring economic operators and subcontractors to fully respect workers’ right to collective bargaining, and to set conditions for the full implementation of the applicable sectorial collective agreements and the working conditions described therein, while at the same time respecting national labour market traditions and models”
Amendment 313 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 c (new)
Paragraph 18 c (new)
18c. Calls on the Member States to review their implementation on the social clause of the public procurement directive in particular to assess the respect of collective agreements in public contracts.
Amendment 315 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Member States to designate social economy coordinators and to set up local social economy contact points with a view to facilitating access to funding, including EU funding; Welcomes the setting up of a Social Services Helpdesk, referred to in the Action Plan and co-funded by ESF+, not least as social service providers and other social economy organisations have the potential to reshape the economy post-COVID through inclusive and sustainable economic models;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the Commission to set up an implementation taskforce for the SEAP and to disseminate its composition andcollaborate with the expert group on social economy and social enterprises (GECES), to set up an implementation taskforce for the SEAP - with regular reporting to the European Parliament, the Council and the relevant representative organisations of the social economy, facilitated by means of a dedicated budget -and to disseminate its timeline for action;
Amendment 325 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 a (new)
Paragraph 20 a (new)
20a. Calls on the Member States to implement the Action Plan for the Social Economy in collaboration and partnership with all social economy stakeholders, and with the long-term goal of making the social economy the new mainstream.;
Amendment 326 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20 b (new)
Paragraph 20 b (new)
20b. Calls on the European Commission to ensure synergies with other important initiatives whereby there is complementarity, such as in the work of the European Platform on combatting Homelessness and the development of the European Care Strategy;