Activities of Eugen TOMAC 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 (21)
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas, in the European Union, there are currently 2.8 million social economy entities, providing jobs for 13.6 million citizens; whereas differences between member states still remain high in the social economy field, with the percentage of paid jobs in social economy enterprises ranging between 0.6% and 9.9% out of the total; whereas the social economy action plan and all subsequent initiatives of the EU should aim towards reducing such differences, while, at the same time, trying to adapt the necessary actions to the level of development of the social economy in the member state in which they apply;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas social economy organisations 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; whereas the member states that have not yet adopted specific legislation for the facilitation of the social economy should do so, with technical support from the European Commission, in agreement with the objectives of the Action Plan for the Social Economy;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. Whereas there are plenty of successful models already developed in member states with a stronger tradition for social economy and those models could be used as role models totally or partially by other Member States with no such experience; whereas the Commission should facilitate collaboration between member states in the exchange of good practices;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. Whereas the current situation caused by the war in Ukraine has demonstrated the importance of local communities and solidarity in the European Union and in the countries that border Ukraine; whereas generally social economy does not have a high adoption in these countries; whereas a higher presence of social economy enterprises could have been a great advantage in coordinating the support for the Ukrainian refugees;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Urges the Commission and the Member States, as well as regional and local authorities, to mainstreampromote the social economy dimension in relevant policies, programmes and practices;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Notes that it is estimated that at least EUR 2.5 billion have been mobilized from the EU budget to support the social economy in the 2014-2020 programming period; welcomes the Commission’s ambition to increase the financing of social economy for the actual MFF; encourages member states to step up their efforts in absorbing the funds that are made available to them for the social economy field;
Amendment 126 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Acknowledges the great potential that the social economy could have in the employment of young people, who tend to be more attracted to projects that give back to the community than the older generation; notes that youth unemployment is still a pressing issue of the European Union and believes that a higher number of social economy enterprises would lead to a better integration of youth in the labour market; encourages member states to make full use of the funds available under the reinforced Youth Guarantee to achieve these objectives;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Reminds the Member States that the Public Procurement Directive (Directive 2014/24/EU) allows contracting authorities to use public procurement to pursue environmental and social objectives, and, in particular, allows for reserved tender procedures for organisations whose main aim is the integration of persons with disabilities or other disadvantaged groups into the workforce; invites public authorities to consider socially and environmentally responsible public procurement as an investment in the socio-economic fabric with a great potential to combine social and competitive objectives; welcomes the guide and the collection of good practices on socially responsible public procurement recently published by the European Commission and encourages member states to make use of it;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Encourages the Member States to systematically adopt strategies aimed at developing socially responsible public procurement, thus 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 consultations before drawing up tender documents, with a view to better understanding the existing needs and how social economy organisations could meet them; encourages member states to develop systems that take into account not only the price, but also the social benefits of a project or an enterprise when organising public tenders, with a view of developing a stronger ecosystem of socially responsible public procurement;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Encourages the Member States to systematically adopt strategies aimed at developing socially responsible public procurement, aimed at increasing transparency in the process and tackling corruption, thus 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 consultations before drawing up tender documents, with a view to better understanding the existing needs and how social economy organisations could meet them;
Amendment 186 #
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 networks 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; calls for greater cooperation of labour authorities of the member states, both at a local and at a national level, in order to promote larger adoption of social economy and to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and good practices;
Amendment 199 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Highlights the key role that new technologies can play in developing and scaling up social economy projects and the importance of giving social entrepreneurs priority access to training programmes on digital skills and advanced technologies, both at EU and national levelincluding media literacy, participatory leadership, resilience and the green transition, both at EU and national level, in order to support them to enter or remain in the labour market, and calls on the Commission and Member States to explore how mainstream businesses and social economy organisations can cooperate in that regard;
Amendment 202 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Highlights the key role that new technologies and artificial intelligence can play in developing and scaling up social economy projects and the importance of giving social entrepreneurs priority accesequal opportunities 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 219 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Considers it regrettable that social economy organisations do not feature to the same extent as more conventional businessesare not present enough 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; _________________ 14 Eurofound (2019), Labour market change. Cooperatives and social enterprises: work and employment in selected countries.
Amendment 222 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 a (new)
Paragraph 11 a (new)
11a. Believes that higher education institutions can be a great catalyst for the development of the social economy and for the fostering of social innovation; welcomes the newly announced "European Competence Centre for Social Innovation" and asks the Commission to ensure continuous collaboration between this centre and higher education institutions in all member states with the scope of developing joint projects and raising awareness of the possibilities that the social economy offers to future young entrepreneurs;
Amendment 234 #
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 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 organisations; believes that all measures taken in support of the social economy should be taken in a way that improves competitiveness and creates a better environment in which the SMEs can thrive;
Amendment 273 #
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 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 public procurement, employment and social policies, taxation, education, skills and training and the importance of linking the circular economy and the social economy agendas; expects that these recommendations take, to the extent possible, note of the member states’ differences in governance, economy, culture and general adoption of the social economy;
Amendment 278 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Welcomes the development by certain member states of labels and certification systems that can enable beneficial treatment to enterprises that have a social scope and encourages all member states to make use of such tools; invites the Commission to explore the possibility of adopting social economy labels and certification schemes at EU level;
Amendment 288 #
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; 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 social investment strategy where social priorities are clearly identified and which can provide a framework for cooperation between public authorities and social economy organisations; invites the Commission to make the EU Social Economy Gateway operational as soon as possible and believes that member states should also be quick to raise awareness about this unique information access point;
Amendment 316 #
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; calls on the Commission to facilitate communication and knowledge exchange between these local points at an EU level;