Article by Ensie
ENSIE, the European Network of Social Integration Enterprises has responded, with the help of its members, to the European Commission’s consultation on the EU Action Plan for the Social Economy, which will be adopted by the end of the year.
In this contribution, ENSIE, with the help of its members, wished to gather the main concerns and requests for support regarding the development and maintenance of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) in the EU and in the European Neighbourhood countries. Indeed, WISEs are crucial actors and contribute to the creation of a sustainable, inclusive and just society which is necessary for an upward path out of the current crisis. The results of ENSIE’s latest annual WISEs Impact study have shown that WISEs have a positive social impact on the most disadvantaged people. An emblematic example is that, in 2019, among the 395 WISEs and 10,136 disadvantaged workers who took part in the study, 82% of the disadvantaged workers found a job in the same WISE, in another WISE, in the mainstream labour market, became self-employed or started an education programme.
In this position, ENSIE focuses on five main issues:
1) WISEs and legislative challenges: Definition of social economy and WISEs, GBER, COVID-19, SGEI, definition of small and medium enterprises, VAT.
2) WISEs and market access: sustainable public procurement and corporate social responsibility.
3) WISEs and access to financing: WISEs Funds, active labour market measures, social and economic impact measurement, integration of WISEs in the European Semester and in the Recovery and Resilience Facility.
4) Integration of WISE into other EU policies: European Social Rights Framework, Youth Guarantee, Circular Economy, Skills and Digitalisation.
5) WISEs and the external dimension: key actions needed, common definition of WISEs and their target groups, exchange of good practices and general recommendations.
You can find (in French) the short version of our position here and the long version here
