Implementation at a glance
The progress tracker below provides an overview of the implementation status of each strategic action within this key action area.
For more detailed information on individual measures, including their current status, description, and latest developments, click on the relevant measure further down the page to expand it.
How to read the progress tracker
The concrete actions are classified as follows:
- completed: the main deliverable has been carried out as planned. No further substantial implementation steps are planned for this specific action beyond standard follow-up activities or the use of the output.
- completed and continuing: the main deliverable conceived for the action has been completed, but by nature it involves an ongoing activity that continues beyond the initial output. The ‘one-off’ part has been completed, but the underlying support or coordination will continue.
- ongoing: implementation is still in progress. Either the main deliverable has not yet been fully achieved or the action was conceived as multiannual and is still being implemented.
- upcoming: for actions that have not yet started implementation.
- discontinued: the action will not be pursued further in the form announced in the 2021 action plan. This may be due to a change in the policy context (the original objective being overtaken by other initiatives) or the Commission deciding not to take further action after exploratory work.
Socially responsible procurement
Promote the uptake of socially responsible public and private procurement.
Public procurement framework revision
Status
Upcoming
Description
Explore opportunities to promote the uptake of socially responsible public procurement practices, including the use of the best price-quality ratio and of collective bargaining, in the context of the ongoing revision of the EU public procurement directives.
Evidence on socially responsible public procurement
Status
Completed
Description
Issue a report to enhance the understanding and use of socially responsible public procurement in Member States.
Implementation
A call for tenders launched in 2022 included a specific lot aimed at improving understanding of the methodologies used to measure the impact of SRPP. The resulting report, titled ‘Socially Responsible Public Procurement – an impact-driven framework with indicators and practical examples’, has been published. This report provides useful guidance and tools to improve the understanding and uptake of SRPP by building an analytical framework to measure social impact, highlighting relevant examples and identifying common success factors and challenges.
Capacity-building for public officials and social economy entities
Status
Completed and continuous
Description
Reinforce its efforts to raise awareness, foster the exchange of good practices and train both public procurement officials and social economy entities on how to use public procurements and concessions procedures to achieve social policy objectives.
Implementation
As part of the Single Market Programme, a call for tenders was launched to provide training for public buyers and social economy entities, with the aim of raising awareness of and improving understanding of socially responsible public procurement (SRPP). The training materials are available on the WeBuySocialEU website. An EU-wide communication campaign was also developed and its materials can be found on the EISMEA YouTube channel. The campaign also led to the creation of a network of national SRPP ambassadors.
Buy Social
Status
Completed
Description
Launch a new initiative under the Single Market Programme in 2022 supporting the creation of local and regional partnerships between social economy entities and mainstream businesses, enabling a ‘buy social’ business to business market.
Implementation
The Commission launched a call for proposals to raise awareness among mainstream enterprises to work with social enterprises, with the aim of creating a ‘buy social’ business-to-business market. Between 2023 and 2025, five projects totalling EUR 1.3 million were selected and implemented.
Buy Social 2.0
Status
Upcoming
Description
Promote a more systematic integration of social economy organisations into the value chains of mainstream businesses by inter alia launching a call for proposals to scale up business-to-business partnerships.
Exchange of best practices
Status
Completed
Description
Reinforce the interactions between social economy entities and mainstream businesses by promoting best practices such as in the field of social intrapreneurship.
Implementation
The Commission launched the transition pathway for proximity and social economy in November 2022. The pathway identified 14 action areas and 30 specific actions. One of its objectives was to promote best practices and reinforce relations between social economy organisations and mainstream businesses. A stakeholder platform launched in December 2024 enables members to submit pledges on promoting the pathway in their countries and fields.
Five projects were selected for implementation by the end of 2025 through a call for proposals to support local and regional partnerships between social economy entities and mainstream businesses.
Social clauses in Commission tenders
Status
Ongoing
Description
Enhance the use of social clauses in the Commission’s own tendering procedures whenever possible.
Implementation
The Commission has assessed the current use of social considerations in its tendering procedures. A survey was conducted and an internal report was prepared. The report highlights best practices, identifies potential barriers to their implementation and makes recommendations to promote their uptake.
Guidance and training
Status
Ongoing
Description
Facilitate access to relevant guidance on State aid and cover this theme in the trainings it will organise.
Develop dedicated guidance to assist Member States when designing State aid measures for social support and social investment, as announced in the communication on Delivering on the Clean Industrial Deal I.
Implementation
Relevant guidance on State aid for the social economy was developed by the Commission in the context of the mutual learning workshops for public officials from Member States, which took place in May and June 2023. These materials are publicly available on the EU Social Economy Gateway.
GBER revision
Status
Ongoing
Description
Work on reviewing the General Block Exemption Regulation and clarifying relevant State aid rules to make it simpler and easier for public authorities to finance the social economy beyond de minimis aid.
In the revision of the GBER (General Block Exemption Regulation) that will take place in view of its expiry, consider whether the available evidence justifies easing the rules in relation to aid for social enterprises’ access to finance and as regards aid for hiring disadvantaged or severely disadvantaged workers.
Implementation
In 2023, the Commission has assessed stakeholder positions and expertise collected in this field. This assessment focused on two specific objectives: access to finance for social enterprises and aid for recruiting disadvantaged or severely disadvantaged workers. The Commission also reviewed current State aid rules and their potential to direct aid towards these objectives. Following this initial assessment, the Commission commissioned a study to collect and analyse evidence on both topics. The aim was to determine whether legislative changes would be appropriate. The final report was published in April 2024 and may be used as a basis for the ongoing revision of the GBER.
The SEAP initially indicated that the GBER would expire on 31 December 202. However, the Commission has since extended the GBERʼs regulation validity to 31 December 2026. Consequently, the GBER revision announced in the SEAP will now be carried out on the basis that it will expire at the end of 2026 rather than 2023. A call for evidence and a public consultation were launched and remained open until 6 October 2025.
Taxation
Build knowledge and improve clarity on how taxation can support the growth of the social economy.
Analysis of enabling tax policies
Status
Upcoming
Description
Carry out an in-depth analysis of national tax measures for the social economy together with the OECD, including tax policies that incentivise investments in social economy organisations.
Overview of tax frameworks
Status
Completed
Description
Publish guidance on relevant taxation frameworks for social economy entities, based on available analysis and input provided by Member States’ authorities and social economy stakeholders.
Implementation
The social economy was discussed at a Commission meeting of the Working Party on Direct Taxation with Member States’ experts in October 2022. A Commission staff working document titled ‘Relevant Taxation Frameworks for Social Economy Entities’ was published in June 2023, providing a comparative overview of the tax frameworks applicable to social economy entities and public benefit organisations across the EU Member States.
Cross-border donations
Status
Completed
Description
Publishing guidance clarifying the existing rules on the tax treatment of cross-border public benefit donations affecting foundations and associations and the implementation of the principle of non-discrimination with Member States.
Implementation
A Commission staff working document titled ‘Non-discriminatory taxation of charitable organisations and their donors: principles drawn from EU case-law’ was published in June 2023. It outlines how the principle of non-discrimination, as established by the Court of Justice of the EU, applies to the taxation of charitable organisations and their donors.
Legal barriers
Tackle concrete legal barriers affecting the social economy’s competitiveness and performance in the single market.
Legal frameworks
Status
Upcoming
Description
Continue to promote legal frameworks that support the social economy. This includes:
- promoting worker buy-out schemes through a successful implementation of the Commission recommendation on business transfers.
- assessing the need to improve targeted legal frameworks where appropriate, such as the European Cooperative Society statute.
Promotion of mutualist model
Status
Ongoing
Description
Raise awareness among national authorities of the specificities of the mutualist model and the possibilities for reducing the administrative burden. For instance, the Commission will explain how the administrative burden for mutual insurers may be reduced under the enhanced framework on proportionality proposed within the Solvency II review (COM(2021)581).
Implementation
The Solvency II Directive was amended by Directive 2025/2, which will apply from 30 January 2027. It introduces the concept of small and non-complex undertakings (SNCUs) with automatic access to the proportionality measures provided for in the amended framework. The level 2 review – adopted on 29 October 2025 and submitted to the European Parliament and the Council under the non-objection procedure – complements this framework by specifying some detailed operational requirements for SNCUs to be able to apply these measures in practice. Other insurers that have a simple business model but do not meet the quantitative thresholds of SNCUs can also benefit from simplified rules, but only with prior approval from their supervisor. For these other cases, the level 2 review sets out a clear, limited and exhaustive list of conditions that supervisory authorities must apply when assessing requests for proportionality measures. The Commission explained the framework to the Member States in a transposition workshop on the Solvency II review, which took place on 5 February 2026.
The Commission organised a workshop on 10 December 2025 on the role of mutuals in the EU, in cooperation with the International Organisation of Mutual Benefit Societies (AIM) and the Association of Mutual Insurers and Cooperative Insurers (AMICE). The aim of the workshop was to increase awareness of the mutualist model and improve the understanding of the challenges that mutuals face. The lessons from the workshop will be shared with the Expert Group on Social Economy and Social Enterprises (GECES) and with the wider public through the EU Social Economy Gateway.
Legal regimes for associations
Status
Completed
Description
Launch a study providing a comparative analysis of the legal regimes and landscapes of associations in the EU.
Implementation
The study was published in September 2022. Titled ‘Comparative legal analysis of associations' laws and regimes in the EU’, the report compares the 27 national legal regimes for associations in the EU. It provides a description of the national landscape of associations (i.e. the number of associations, their roles, the activities they cover, the balance between voluntary and paid work and data on cross-border activities), a legal analysis of regulatory frameworks in all 27 Member States, and a summary of major trends.
Impact-driven businesses
Status
Upcoming
Description
Explore though a study whether impact-driven businesses face distinct barriers such as recognition and access to funding, with the aim of informing possible future policy action to facilitate the measurement and communication of societal impact and other responsible business conduct.