The social economy to reach its potential

Caritas Europa strongly believes that the social economy has a crucial role to play not only through the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) and its Action Plan, but also in the COVID-19 recovery and in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We, together with other Social Services Europe (SSE) members, are therefore happy that the long-awaited Social Economy Action Plan was finally launched by the European Commission on 9 December 2021.

The Action Plan highlights the wider societal impact of the social economy and its strong potential as a creator of ‘quality jobs’, contributing to ‘social and labour-market inclusion of disadvantaged groups’, and which promotes the ‘active participation of citizens and communities in our societies’. It also mentions the positive impact of the social economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many of SSE’s and Caritas Europa’s social economy organisations ‘assisted people in need’ and provided ‘proximity help in local communities’.

Though the Action Plan raises some additional challenges in the social sector, such as low wages and precarious working conditions, there is regretfully no initiative announced to tackle these issues. There is also no mention of organising and boosting capacity and demand for investment among social economy actors. There is likewise only limited involvement of the end beneficiaries in these actions or proposals. In addition, though we support socially responsible public procurement, there is an inherent failure to recognise and promote alternative models to public procurement alongside socially responsible public procurement in the funding of social services.

To end on a positive note, the reference to the social sector and acknowledgement that social service providers are a crucial part of the social economy as ‘important partners… in the provision of social, health and care services’ is a positive development and vital recognition of the kind of work that Caritas and members of Social Services do on a regular basis.