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The aim of this study is to present the possibilities offered by Directive 2014/24/EU on public procurement for the achievement of social goals and to analyse how these possibilities have been transposed into national law and implemented by contracting authorities across the EU. Another aim is to identify obstacles to the use of existing provisions and make recommendations with regards to possible future EU action.

The concept of the "social economy" has gained attention and momentum in recent years although the degree of recognition varies largely from one Member State to another.Spain is an example where the social economy benefits from wide recognition. It is the first European country to enact a law on the social economy concept in 2011. In view of the EMPL delegation visit to Madrid, this briefing elaborates first on the concept applied in the SEAP - presented by the Commission on 9 December 2021 - and ...

This Briefing forms part of an EPRS series which offers a synthesis of the pre-legislative state-of-play and advance consultation on a range of key European Commission priorities during the latter's five-year term in office. It seeks to summarise the state of affairs in the relevant policy field, examine how existing policy is working on the ground, and identify best practice and ideas for the future on the part of governmental organisations at all levels of European system of multilevel governance ...

After carrying out a comparative analysis of the main laws on non-profit organizations in force in some selected European countries, the Study discusses a potential legislative initiative of the European Union on the subject, presenting the different options available and concluding that the European Union should introduce a European status not limited to non-profit organizations but aimed, more generally, at including related organizations such as those of the third sector and the social economy ...

Traditionally the social economy is considered to be an ever-growing set of private, formally organised enterprises and networks that build on multiple types of resources and cooperation, with local anchorage and democratic and participatory decision-making processes. Its primary aim is not to make profit but to meet the needs of its members and that of the wider society. The social economy is active in an increasing number of sectors, and while some of its actors are small non-profit organisations ...

Cooperatives are autonomous associations of people aspiring to achieve their objectives through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise. International organisations, such as the United Nations and the European Union (EU), value the role cooperatives play for society, the economy and (international) development. There are 3 million cooperatives worldwide; together, they provide employment for 280 million people, equating to 10 % of the world's employed population. The 300 largest ...

Social enterprises combine entrepreneurial activity with a positive social, environmental or community impact. However, they also struggle with regulatory obstacles, access to funding and visibility. No consensus exists on a definition of 'social enterprise', which makes their regulation and funding problematic across various systems. The European Parliament is expected to vote in July 2018 on an own-initiative report, which calls on the European Commission to improve the regulatory framework by ...

This STOA study investigates the potential employment effects of new information and communication technologies, by examining the relationship between innovation, new technologies, employment and inequality. It reviews the existing literature and experiences of previous technological revolutions, and argues that the race between job creation through new products, and job destruction from process innovation, has been won in the past by the job-creating effects of innovation. It concludes that there ...

Social enterprises combine societal goals with entrepreneurial spirit. These organisations focus on achieving wider social, environmental or community objectives. There is currently no specific European legal framework to help social enterprises to benefit from the internal market. Against this background, this European added value assessment identifies the challenges in the existing national legal frameworks regarding social enterprises. It argues that action at EU level would generate economic ...

Whereas economic governance is now undertaken in the EU through a regulated, 'hard' framework, there is no equivalent framework for social governance. At present, social governance in the EU functions mainly within the 'soft', unregulated realms, although it is also marked by some 'hard' governance mechanisms. This paper aims to give an overview of the social aspects of EU governance. It looks at existing EU social governance mechanisms and tools, including their current state of play, the debates ...