Activities of Margarita DE LA PISA CARRIÓN 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 (33)
Amendment 18 #
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, for-profit and non-profit social enterprises, and other legal forms, all characterised by different operating and organisational principles and features such as the primacy of people as well as social purpose over profit, the reinvestment of most profits/surpluses, and democratic or participatory governance while respecting the free market economy and guaranteeing and promoting the initiatives of commercial companies that have the same purpose of cooperation in the service of people and society itself;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas those who need support, because of age, disability, sickness or other reasons, must always be cared for in our society; whereas public authorities must promote conditions to ensure that public and private initiatives can meet their needs and those of their families;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas the solidarity of the social economy must be extended to all sectors of society such as the care sector and assistance to older people or those at risk of social exclusion, in order to ensure that any entity, whether for-profit or non- profit, may offer these services for the common good and in support of families;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the social economy has played an important rolere are signs that the social economy has been able to play its part in mitigating and in addressing the short- and long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the EU’'s social market, society and economy and 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 the targets and activities of the social economy12; _________________ 12 OECD (2020), Social economy and the COVID-19 crisis: current and future roles.;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas social economy organisations have a longn unequal and heterogeneous 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;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes, cautiously and with reservations, the Commission’s Action Plan for the Social Economy (SEAP), the guiding principles defining the social economy set therein, the political impetus it provides to its development, and the wealth of measures announced therein;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes, however, that preliminary impact studies and analyses still need to be set up to make it possible to assess the concrete measures and follow-up measures for achieving each objective need to be laid out and the interlinkages between measures further detailed; considers it necessary to establish a calendar for all actions included in the SEAP, with a view to guiding the relevant authorities in the implementation;
Amendment 111 #
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, always provided that the special features of the area demonstrate that the effects are clearly beneficial for society;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Reiterates its call for the ‘think small first’ principle to be set as a guiding principle in the drafting of future legislation and the adoption of policies, so as to make the Union’s ecosystem more competitive and supportive of micro, small and medium-sized organisations both within and outside the social economy13; _________________ 13 In, inter alia, its resolution of 16 December 2020 on a new strategy for European SMEs and that of 24 June 2021 on European regulatory fitness and subsidiarity principle., always provided that the European Union acts in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity, national sovereignty and the laws of Member States;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 1
Subheading 1
Creating an enabling environment for theto cover social economyneeds
Amendment 146 #
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, whether they are commercial or non-profit in nature, to ensure a choice of supply to meet the majority of social demand and also to respond to the requisite criteria of excellence and care; 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;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Encourages the Member States to systematically adopt strategieadopt options 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 and to build capacity, while respecting the frelationship between public spending and its contribution to achieving the SDGs, and to build capae market society, 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 themparticipate;
Amendment 161 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Urges, in any event, that the development of the social economy should not be conditional on any ideological interest, as is the case with the SDGs, that could have an impact on their purposes;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Welcomes existing initiatives in Member States to provide workers interested in the buyout process and cooperatives emerging from workers’ buyouts, and any other type of commercial company with social purposes, with legal counselling, financial support, support in the preparation of business plans, data needed for external investors and business support structures; encourages Member States to include this topic in the 2023 Council recommendations in order to further support these initiatives at regional and national level;
Amendment 174 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Welcomes, cautiously and with reservations, 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;
Amendment 182 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Calls on the Commission to ensure that social action is not restricted to certain predetermined tenets, but that it allows plurality of aims;
Amendment 192 #
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, including commercial entities, 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;
Amendment 197 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that social enterprises meet labour obligations towards their employees by offering, as is the case for enterprises of all types, adequate employment contracts, decent working conditions, fair remuneration and the opportunity for career progression;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Highlights the key role that new technologies that are accessible and suitable for all 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 level, and calls on the Commission and Member States to explore how mainstream businesses and social economy organisations can cooperate in that regard;
Amendment 220 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Considers it regrettasonable that social economy organisations, since they are at an early stage of development and are not widespread, do not feature to the same extent as more conventional businesses in the curricula of mainstream school education and higher school education on enterprises and business education; 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 institutions14; _________________ 14 Eurofound (2019), Labour market change. Cooperatives and social enterprises: work and employment in selected countries.;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 2
Subheading 2
Tapping into the full potential of EU instruments for the social economy toso that services to meet social needs may thrive
Amendment 238 #
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; and, in the same way, that SMEs can enjoy the rights and prerogatives of social economy organisations in terms of benefiting from fiscal and financial advantages when social engagement is their purpose;
Amendment 243 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Amendment 244 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Urges the Commission and Member States to ensure that both economic models coexist harmoniously, to ensure that opportunities may be provided for carrying out initiatives of all kinds, and to ensure that there is complementarity through collaboration between the two models;
Amendment 250 #
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, 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; invites it to do so provided that this does not give rise to any form of comparative injury or discrimination against those enterprises that might have a social economy purpose but which, because they do not comply with one of their restrictive principles, are at risk of being excluded;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Calls on the Commission to allocate European funds to mitigate specific and pressing needs in certain areas of society requiring support or capacity-building in order to be able to achieve autonomy and the best possible livelihood;
Amendment 276 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Strongly welcomesWelcomes, cautiously and with reservations, 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, provided that free competition is respected;
Amendment 283 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Considers it regrettable that Parliament’s past calls on the Commissionnecessary for the Commission to explain the reasons why Parliament’s calls to submit proposals allowing mutual societies, associations and foundations to act on a European and cross-border scale did not lead to any legislative changes, thus undermining the European social model and hindering the completion of the single markethave not been heard; suggests, in view of the window of opportunity opened by the SEAP, as well as the activities of the Monitoring Committee of the Luxembourg Declaration, which comprises a majority of Member States, that enhanced cooperation be explored as a tool to overcome the aforementioned decades-long deadlocks;
Amendment 298 #
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 entitieadministrations, 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 of any kind;
Amendment 306 #
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, comparable and reliable data on the scale and impact of the social economy 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 goals; considers that the specification of clear, comparable definitions of the concepts surrounding the social economy and the enterprises and organisations that comprise it will make it possible to properly put into practice these analyses and the ensuring policies;
Amendment 319 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Member States, in the event that the social economy thrives, 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;
Amendment 324 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Calls on the Commission to set up an implementation taskforce, to firstly conduct comprehensive market studies to make sure of the real social benefit of the social economy and its impact on the overall economy, to serve as a basis, if applicable, for the SEAP and to disseminate its composition and timeline for action;