15 Amendments of Sofia RIBEIRO related to 2014/2236(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Title
Title
on the social economy, social entrepreneurship and social innovation in combating unemployment
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas social economy enterprises are characterised by their democratic governance arrangements, the strong involvement of their members or partners in the management of the enterprise and the high level of transparency in their operations, and respond to the growing public demand for ethical, social and environmentally friendly business behaviour;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the lack of recognition that frequently faces social economy enterprises makes it even more difficult for them to access both public and private financing; whereas social economy enterprises are chiefly SMEs and micro- enterpristhe EU structural funds and programmes should make a positive contribution to financing social economy enterprises, which, while most of them are SMEs, include companies of many different types (cooperatives, mutual organisations, foundations, associations and new forms of social enterprise) and different sizes;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I a (new)
Recital I a (new)
Ia. whereas any improvement in the Member States’ economic and financial situation should be accompanied by intensive support for inclusive and sustainable growth and for the creation of high-quality jobs;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that social economy enterprises are enterprises whose main purpose is to achieve their social objectivegoal, which may be to create jobs for vulnerable groups, provide services for their members, or more generally to create a positive social and environmental impact, over and above maximising profits for their members or partners, and which reinvest their profits in order to achieve those objectives; points out that, despite legal disparities and the different activities carried out by social economy enterprises across the EU, they share a series of common recognisable features;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls on the Commission and Member States to include social economy enterprises in action plans for employmentthe National Reform Programmes and Country-Specific Recommendations drawn up as part of the European Semester, in order to help the EU to achieve the objectives of its Europe 2020 strategy in the areas of employment, poverty reduction and social integrnovation;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Public procurement
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Welcomes the reform of the Public Procurement Directive, which includes social clauses and criteria in order to promote social inclusion and social innovation, inter alia and contracts earmarked to foster the employment of disadvantaged persons and persons with a disability; urges the Member States to include social clauses and criteria, when transposing the directive, to take advantage of the scope it offers to include social criteria, social clauses and reserved contracts in public procurement procedures;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Welcomes the adoption of the regulation on European social entrepreneurship funds, but criticises the relatively small budget made available, given the role played by the social economy in the European economy as a whole and in fostering social cohesion;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Calls for investment in the social economy to be taken into account when assessing European Strategic Investment Fund projecriticises the fact that the regulation establishing the European Fund for Strategic Investments refers to the social economy only in its recitals and, in its Article 5(2), uses the narrower concept of the ‘social sector’ to define the scope of these investments;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Criticises the fact that training and placement enterprises, set up on the basis of partnerships between social economy enterprises, are generally prevented from accessing funds intended for SMEs; calls on the Commission to propose a new exception to the legal definition of ‘SME’, similar to those which already apply to public investment corporations, venture capital firms and non-profit-making universities and research centres, so that a training and placement enterprise can be classified as an autonomous enterprise even if another enterprise holds, alone or jointly with other enterprises, more than 25 % of its capital or of the voting rights on its administrative board;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on Member States to include the entrepreneurial spirit and the principles of the social economy in education and training curricula; social economy enterprises are to be defined by their commitment to upholding the following values: – the primacy of the individual and social goals over the interests of capital; – democratic governance by members; – the conjunction of the interests of its members and users with the general interest; – the safeguarding and application of the principles of solidarity and responsibility; – the reinvestment of surplus funds in long-term development objectives, or in the provision of services of interest to members or services of general interest; – voluntary, open membership; – autonomous management independent of the public authorities.
Amendment 156 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Points out that some social economy enterprises are competitive and are at the forefront of their sector, while others require specialised knowledge in order to launch, develop and manage their enterprises; calls on the Member States to develop training programmes targeted at and specifically tailored to entrepreneurs in the social sector with a view to developing basic business management skills and knowledge;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Calls on the Commission, in keeping with the Rome Strategy adopted by European representatives of the social economy at the conclusion of the conference organised by the Italian Council Presidency on 17 and 18 November 2014: – the setting-up of a specific unit with the task of promoting the social economy, which can draw on resources commensurate with the importance of the social economy in Europe; Deplores, in that connection, the fact that the Commission seems to be moving towards a decision to merge units in the Directorate-General for the Internal Market to form a larger entity entitled ‘Clusters, social business and social entrepreneurship’, which does not cover all social economy enterprises or reflect the true nature of the social economy in Europe, which mainly consists of cooperatives, mutual societies, foundations, associations and new forms of social enterprise; – work closely with representatives of the sector to prepare a new initiative to promote the social economy which acknowledges its importance in Europe and provides even more support for its development, with a view to maximising the contribution the social economy can make to sustainable, fair development and the creation of high-quality jobs in Europe; – grant legal recognition at EU level to all social economy enterprises (mutual societies and public-interest foundations and associations)by putting forward a proposal for a directive which endows them with a specific legal status and enables them to take full advantage of the benefits offered by the internal market; – simplify the status of cooperatives.