The Monitoring Committee of the Luxembourg Declaration is a voluntary based initiative that brings together EU Member States committed to strengthening and promoting the social economy within the European Union. Its role is to ensure continuity, coordination, and follow-up of the political commitments made under the Luxembourg Declaration, while fostering cooperation among national authorities responsible for social economy policies.
Background and history
The initiative originates from the Luxembourg Declaration, adopted at the Luxembourg Conference on Social Economy held on 3–4 December 2015. Representatives from France, Italy, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain agreed on the need for a common European understanding of the social economy, one that respects its diversity and historical development across Member States.
The Declaration highlights the importance of integrating the social economy into the modernisation of the Single Market strategy, and it calls for regular high-level exchanges between national authorities responsible for social economy matters .
To ensure that these commitments were implemented and further developed, the Luxembourg Declaration Monitoring Committee was established. Its creation was announced at the European Conference on Social Economy in Bratislava on 1 December 2016, with Spain holding the first presidency. The Committee’s operating rules were formally adopted at its first meeting in Madrid on 15 March 2017 .
The Committee then was in stall until the Spanish Presidency of the EU in 2023. During the social economy event the Presidency organised, it invited Member States to endorse the San Sebastian Declaration, which paved the way to the Liège roadmap endorsed by 21 countries during the Belgian EU Presidency event on the social economy in February 2024. In September 2025, the social economy summit organised in Murcia convened members of the Committee to a meeting to relaunch its dynamism through a Co-Presidency lead by Spain and France, and supported by Belgium. A clear workplan was adopted and several meetings are envisaged each year both at technical and political level.
Members
The Monitoring Committee is composed of senior government representatives responsible for social economy policies in their respective countries. In addition to the original signatories of the Luxembourg Declaration, other Member States have since joined the initiative.
Currently, 21 EU Member States are part of the Monitoring Committee. These countries have formally endorsed the objectives of the Luxembourg Declaration and actively contribute to the Committee’s work.
List of members:
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Objectives
The main objective of the Monitoring Committee is to follow up on and ensure continuity of the commitments established in the Luxembourg Declaration. The Committee supports the development of a broader and more supportive ecosystem for social economy enterprises across the EU, with a focus on job creation and social innovation.
More specifically, the Committee aims to:
- Strengthen cooperation among Member States in the field of social economy
- Encourage policy convergence and mutual learning
- Promote the recognition of social economy enterprises within EU economic and social strategies
Functions and activities
To achieve its objectives, the Luxemburg Declaration Monitoring Committee carries out a range of functions, including:
- Compiling reports, proposals, consultations, and studies related to the social economy
- Identifying and coordinating social economy priorities among signatory Member States
- Promoting the inclusion of the social economy in the modernisation of the Single Market strategy
- Supporting European-level financial instruments, programmes, and funding opportunities for social economy enterprises
- Contributing to the development of a financial ecosystem adapted to the needs of social economy and social innovation
- Promoting the exchange and replication of effective social economy initiatives and good practices across territories and sectors
- Encouraging regular high-level political meetings on social economy in all EU Member States
- Fostering collaboration with key public and private stakeholders in the social economy ecosystem .
To ensure continuity of the Committee beyond government changes, Social Economy Europe holds the Secretariat.