The European Commission (DG Communication) organises ‘structured dialogue’ meetings which allow an exchange to take place with civil society organisations on major EU policies and directions. On December 8th, the latest meeting was held from 9.30 - 18h with a full agenda ranging from presentation on the “state of the Union” from the deputy secretary general of the commission, and a discussion on the multi-annual financial framework, to issues such as the outcome of the year of volunteering and the progress so far for a year of citizens (2013).

Deputy Secretary General Christian Danielsson, painted a fairly bleak picture of the current state of the Union, the most positive message was that it it is not only Europe where times are hard because US is in bad way too. He did not go on to draw the link that many commentators have, between the EU and USA’s championing of the neoliberal capitalist model, and the deep recessions which are affecting millions upon millions of citizens today.

 A public hearing on the theme of social economy as a response to the eco-socio-economic crisis in Europe was held in the European Parliament on Thursday the 20th of October 2011, organised by the Greens.

The aim was to show how the development of the social-economy sector in countries of the European South, facing the direct consequences of the debt Euro crisis (i.e. Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy), could contribute to a sustainable strategy to exit the crisis and meet Europe 2020 targets.

MEP Michael Tremopoulos (Greens) opened the meeting by calling attention to the fact that especially in current circumstances, with an economic crisis taking a heavy toll on people’s life, the social economy can provide the necessary responses in the form of services, solidarity, participation and sustainable development. For this reason, the Green group in the European Parliament has been working on two specific initiatives with the purpose to promote a better recognition of the sector:

(photo:graur codrin) 

The EU2020 strategy set the ambitious target of reducing 20 millions of persons living in poverty, but it is hard to find how the actions taken at national level will make it real. On top of that, the austerity measures adopted in several countries against the crisis created side effects further exacerbating the situation of people living in poverty and other vulnerable groups.

The Christian Workers movement in Wallonia, (MOC) and the Flemish sister organisation ACW undertook already in 2010 a broad process of consultation and reflection on the European policies against poverty with organised civil society and 

The Social Platform hosted an in-depth discussion of what is meant by social enterprise, social business and social entrepreneurship during its working group on 4th October. The discussion was led by CEDAG vice president Ariane Rodert who is also rapporteur for an opinion of the EESC on the subject, and by Bruno Roelants, General Secretary of CECOP. (Reminder: CEDAG will develop this theme further in an open meeting taking place on 25th November in Brussels)

The exploratory opinion by the EESC stems from the Single Market Act: social enterprise is one of the 12 levers; it’s also mentioned in the European Platform Against Poverty, one of the flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 strategy. In the opinion the preferred term used is social enterprise, not social entrepreneurship. The thinking behind this is the desire to support all sections of lifecycle - not just the stage of entrepreneurship, is only one part of the whole concept of social entreprise.

 The key criteria linked to the definition of social enterprise are: