EVPA contribution to the EU Consultation on Reinforcing Social Europe
EVPA contributed with policy research and recommendations for the future European Commission Social Economy Action Plan 2021, to ensure just transitions for all.
On 14th January this year, the European Commission presented a roadmap for a Strong Social Europe for Just Transitions. Simultaneously, to support the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights and prepare the ground for the Social Economy Action Plan (to be presented in 2021), the Commission launched a broad discussion with all EU countries and regions and with all their partners.
As one of the partners, EVPA contributed in November with a deep policy research and recommendations for the future Social Economy Action Plan 2021. Together with the European Commission and our members, EVPA is aiming to upgrade Europe’s social market economy to fit the opportunities and challenges of today and tomorrow and ensure just transitions for all.
Many EVPA members (mainly investors for impact) are actively working through their investments to promote social inclusion, to combat poverty and discrimination, and to reduce inequalities in the labour market, within the health system or in access to education. They contribute to the well-being of European citizens and work for the sustainable development of Europe, by channelling their financial and non-financial support to a variety of sectors and investees.
Therefore, EVPA firmly believes that its community had a say in this consultation process and provided the European Commission with information on topics such as: success factors and bottlenecks in interactions between investors for impact and the EU institutions, and policy actions or legal initiatives needed within the social economy ecosystem on different levels (EU, national, regional, local).
The EVPA contribution to the “Reinforcing Social Europe” Consultation followed a bottom-up approach to define the Commission’s active support to investors with the aim to foster the social economy, equal opportunities and access to the labour market, fair working conditions, and social protection and inclusion.
The contribution highlights the market needs and challenges faced by the main stakeholders in different geographies; and investigates why some of these are not or are inadequately met by existing EU, national, or local programmes, policies or regulations. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews conducted by the EVPA Policy Team with key active members of EVPA, as well as data collected through our 2020 Investing for Impact Survey, a rigorous social investor market analysis. It also built on EVPA’s previous work over the past 10+ years, including prior consultations and research.
EVPA also provides concrete recommendations, such as how the experienced market gaps can be addressed by different tools and instruments, as well as channelling the EU institutions’ focus on the most important topics to be addressed in the coming programming period.
If you are curious about the EVPA position regarding this topic and our future policy work, please reach out to our Policy Manager - Bianca Polidoro (bpolidoro@evpa.eu.com) or our Policy Associate - Cătălina Papari (cpapari@evpa.eu.com) to express your thoughts and questions, or to schedule a meeting.