Activities of Evelyn REGNER related to 2016/2237(INL)
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (26)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas social entrepreneurship itself is not governed by a clear legal framework at European level, but only at national level in some Member Statethere exists a great variety of regulatory frameworks for social and solidarity-based enterprises at national level across Europe with wide differences in terms of legal forms, business models and public supports; whereas action at European level, respecting subsidiarity and proportionality principles, is justified in order to ensure European added value in economic and social terms;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 12 a (new)
Citation 12 a (new)
– having regard to the report on workers representation on board level in Europe (2015/2222(INI),
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas the impact of social and solidarity-based enterprises, especially during the economic crisis, has been highlighted by academic research in terms of high quality, inclusive and non- exportable job creation, fostering economic growth and strengthening social and regional cohesion;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas social enterprises are especially focused on labour market integration of vulnerable people, personal social services, health and care services, local development of marginalised areas, environmental protection, as well as culture and education; whereas these activities are fully aligned with the social targets pursuit by the Union, including the Europe 2020 Strategy;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
Bc. whereas Regulation (EU) No 1296/2013 defines a social and solidarity- based enterprise as an undertaking, which regardless of its legal form : a) has the achievement of measurable, positive social impacts as a primary objective in accordance with its articles of association, statutes or any other statutory document establishing the business, where the undertaking:– provides services or goods to vulnerable, marginalised, disadvantaged or excluded persons generating social returns, and/or – provides goods or services through a method of production, which embodies its social objective; b) uses its profits first and foremost to achieve its primary objectives instead of distributing profits, and has in place predefined procedures and rules for any circumstances in which profits are distributed to shareholders and owners, which ensure that any such distribution of profits does not undermine its primary objectives; and c) is managed in an accountable and transparent way, in particular by involving workers, customers and/or stakeholders affected by its business activities;
Amendment 31 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights the vital importance of the hundreds of thousands of social enterprises in Europe, which employ around 15 million people, and their invaluable contribution to continued economic growth in the EU internal marketquality job creation, social and regional cohesion and continued economic growth in the EU internal market, especially during the economic meltdown, which contrasts with the lack of social visibility and national awareness, in terms of public policies adapted to this sector, as well as financial comprehension of their activities and benefits for society;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas social dialogue is crucially important both in terms of realising the objective of the social market economy, which is full employment with social progress, and in terms of competitiveness and fairness in the EU single market; whereas social dialogue and consultation with the social partners in EU policy-making represent a major social innovation;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that, although social enterprises and their activities should not replace public social protection and welfare assistance, given the constantly rising demand for social services,; social enterprises in the EU bear enormous social responsibility and are becoming increasingly important; are becoming increasingly important in order to cushioning social impacts amongst those hit hardest by the economic crisis against the background of stricter fiscal rules and regressive structural reforms at national level imposed by the Union, which reduce public expenditure and risk national welfare states;
Amendment 58 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for an online multilingual European platform for social and solidarity-based enterprises, through which they could exchange ideas on setting-up and funding procedures and the legal situation; and receive and share information on access to national and Union programmes and funding;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas social enterprises should conduct a socially useful activity; whereas they may be active in a wide spectrum of activities; whereas social enterprises have typically engaged in the delivery of social services and work integration services for disadvantaged groups; whereas a common trend in national legislation has been to enlarge the range of activities in which social enterprises are entitled to engage, provided that they are of general interest and/or have a social utility, such as the provision of community services, including the educational, cultural and environmental fields; whereas these socially useful activities may be determined by law ex ante in a list or through a general clause;
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises the needCalls on the Commission to put forward a proposal for a regulation to introduce at EU level a ‘European social label’ for social enterprises, based on clear criteriaand solidarity-based enterprises aimed to distinguish the specific characteristics of theses undertakings and their social impact, facilitating access to funding and to the single market for those willing to expand to other Member States, while at the same time respecting different legal forms in the sector;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P a (new)
Recital P a (new)
Pa. whereas, by virtue of their social and integrative character, social enterprises offer employment to those groups of workers most commonly excluded from the labour market, and whereas they contribute significantly to reintegrating long-term unemployed people and to combating unemployment generally, thereby furthering social cohesion and economic growth;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P b (new)
Recital P b (new)
Pb. whereas, in small and medium- sized enterprises in particular, employee financial participation often serves a social purpose, as demonstrated by the 'best practice' example of the successful reintegration of long-term unemployed people in Spain through the 'Sociedad Laboral (SL)' company model, whereby job-seekers can use their unemployment benefit to set up a company, and so create more jobs, with the state providing support and advice on management issues;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Considers that the “European social label” must be available for those social and solidarity-based enterprises satisfying a set of minimum legal requirements and definitions, regardless of their legal form;
Amendment 75 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Calls on the Commission to introduce a European definition for social and solidarity-based enterprises based on Regulation (EU) No 1296/2013, which defines such a business as an undertaking, which regardless of its legal form: (a) has the achievement of measurable, positive social impacts as a primary objective in accordance with its articles of association, statutes or any other statutory document establishing the business, where the undertaking: – provides services or goods to vulnerable, marginalised, disadvantaged or excluded persons generating social returns, and/or – provides goods or services through a method of production, which embodies its social objective; (b) uses its profits first and foremost to achieve its primary objectives instead of distributing profits, and has in place predefined procedures and rules for any circumstances in which profits are distributed to shareholders and owners, which ensure that any such distribution of profits does not undermine its primary objectives; and (c) is managed in an accountable and transparent way, in particular by involving workers, customers and/or stakeholders affected by its business activities;
Amendment 78 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Recognises the positive impact of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) criteria among the European businesses; considers, however, that this notion must be treated separately from the activities and notions involving social economy and social and solidarity-based enterprises;
Amendment 79 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Considers that the minimum criteria and legal requirements for acquiring and maintaining a “European social label” must be a socially useful activity which should be define at European level; points out that this activity should be measurable in terms of social impact in fields like social integration of vulnerable people, labour market integration of those at risk of exclusion in quality and sustainable jobs, reduction of gender inequalities, tackling marginalisation of migrants, improving equal opportunities through health, education, culture, and decent housing, fighting poverty and inequalities; stresses that social and solidarity-based enterprises must comply in their own performance with best practices in terms of working and employment conditions;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. SConsiders that the “European social label” should be optional for the undertakings, but must be recognised by all Member States; social and solidarity- based enterprises awarded with the label must enjoy the same benefits, entitlements, rights and obligations, in a specific Member State regardless of their legal forms; stresses that the cost of and the formalities involved in obtaining the label should be kept to a minimum, to avoid putting social enterprises at any disadvantage;
Amendment 84 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Highlights the need to offfoster financial support to social enterprises at regional, national and EU level, and draws attentoffered by private investors and public entities to social and solidarity-based enterprises at regional, national and EU level; calls on the Commission to strengthen the social dimension tof existing sources of funding, such as the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Programme for Social Change and InnovationUnion funding in the context of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2021-2027, such as the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and other relevant funds as Horizon 2020, COSME and the European Fund for Strategic Investment, in order to promote the social economy and social entrepreneurship;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital V
Recital V
V. whereas the positive impact of social enterprises on the community mayshould justify the adoption of concrete actions in their support, such as the payment of subsidies and the adoption of favourable tax and public procurement measures, and whereas such measures will generate powerful incentives for undertakings to qualify as social enterprises; whereas those measures should in principle be considered as being compatible with the Treaties, since they aim at facilitating the development of economic activities or areas mainly intended to have a positive impact on society, e.g. job creation for disadvantaged groups of people, the provision of services useful to members of such groups or more generally, and activities affecting society and the environment in a positive way;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Calls on the Commission to improve the European Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) and its Microfinance and Social Entrepreneurship axis and to increase awareness in the financial sector about the characteristics and the economic and social benefits of social and solidarity- based enterprises;
Amendment 97 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Calls on the Commission to review in the context of the next MFF 2021-2027 the regulatory framework for social investment funds to facilitate access to the financial market for social and solidarity- based enterprises;
Amendment 100 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Calls on the Member States to implement the recently provided European procurement principles in all tendering and selection procedures, which allows for social clauses and the use of the MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender) instead of the “lower price” criteria; calls on the Member States to adapt calls for public procurement tenders in terms of pre- qualification, size of contracts, specification requirements, demanding long track records or strong financial positions, to the characteristics of SMEs and specifically of social and solidarity- based enterprises;
Amendment 101 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 d (new)
Paragraph 7 d (new)
7d. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to put in place policies aimed at establishing favourable fiscal treatments for those undertakings awarded with the “European social label”;
Amendment 102 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 e (new)
Paragraph 7 e (new)
7e. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to initiate a broad information campaign on social and solidarity-based enterprises as well as their social and economic benefits, including quality job creation and social cohesion;
Amendment 103 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 f (new)
Paragraph 7 f (new)
7f. Calls on the Commission to better incorporate the social economy in Union legislation to establish a level-playing field for social and solidarity-based enterprises on the one hand and other forms of enterprises on the other;