Why a mid-term review?
When the European Commission adopted the Social Economy Action Plan in December 2021, it committed to reviewing its implementation halfway through its 2030 time horizon. This mid-term review delivers on that commitment. It assesses what has been achieved under the plan's 63 actions, identifies remaining challenges and sets out a renewed vision and new actions for the years ahead.
The review is based on an independent external evaluation, a public call for evidence and interviews with policymakers and stakeholders at the European, national, regional and local levels across all 27 Member States.
As Europe faces geopolitical challenges, industrial transformation and growing social pressures, the social economy is increasingly becoming a driver of resilience, inclusion and competitiveness. Over 4.3 million social economy organisations in the EU provide 11.5 million jobs while addressing key social and environmental objectives, for example by providing affordable housing and delivering quality care. Our mid-term review shows we are delivering, but more must be done to help the social economy thrive.
What has been achieved so far
The review concludes that the action plan has injected new momentum into the social economy across Europe by providing a coherent EU framework, mobilising instruments and programmes, and raising its profile on national and EU agendas. Most of the actions set out in the 2021 action plan have either been completed or are ongoing.
See the progress tracker for details on each action and read the staff working document accompanying the mid-term review for more information on the action plan's relevance, effectiveness and coherence.
A vision for the social economy to 2030
Building on the progress made so far and overcoming the remaining obstacles, the Commission has set out a clear vision for the next phase, which is organised around three priorities.
Establishing integrated policy, legal and fiscal environments that allow social economy organisations to operate on a level playing field across the single market, covering everything from state aid and public procurement to multilevel governance and cross-border cooperation.
Developing a well-functioning finance ecosystem alongside strong skills, incubation and entrepreneurship pathways to help social economy organisations attract talent, access appropriate capital and grow and innovate in response to urgent social needs.
Building a stronger evidence base with comparable statistics across Member States, enabling data-driven policymaking and improving the public visibility of the social economy.
Five key action areas
The renewed agenda is organised around five key action areas. It builds upon the results of the original 63 actions and incorporates new actions designed during the review process.
Developing practical tools and boosting peer learning between public authorities to ensure that social economy policies work in communities across Europe and beyond.
Strengthening procurement rules, clarifying State aid frameworks, removing legal barriers, and promoting enabling tax conditions to ensure social economy organisations can compete and thrive across the single market.
Improving trust and comparability in the private social investment sector, developing tailored financial instruments and exploring new ways to mobilise private capital to improve the social economy's access to finance.
Investing in skills development, business support and incubation for social economy organisations, while promoting social and inclusive entrepreneurship and its potential to empower underserved communities.
Working to strengthen the evidence base on the social economy, from data collection to benchmarking and impact measurement, and promoting greater awareness and understanding of its role and potential.