Activities of Marian HARKIN related to 2016/2237(INL)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the Statute for social and solidarity-based enterprises
Amendments (12)
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas digitalisation, ambitious climate change goals, migration issues and the fight against poverty and social exclusion offer great potential for social entrepreneurship;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas across all Member States, social enterprises should have a common identity while drawing attention to the importance of recognising their diversity;
Amendment 32 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights the vital importance of the hundreds of thousands ofapproximately 2 million social enterprises in Europe1a, which employ around 1more than 14.5 million people1b, and their invaluable contribution to continued economic growth in the EU internal market; and social cohesion in the EU; __________________ 1a https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/social- economy_en 1b http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId= 738&langId=en&pubId=7523, p. 47
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses that, given the constantly rising demand for social services, social enterprises in the EU often bear enormous social responsibility and are becoming increasingly important;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Emphasises the importance of networking among social enterprises, and calls on the Member States to optimise knowledge transfer within Member States and throughout the EU;
Amendment 59 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls for an online European platform for social enterprises, through which they could exchange ideas on setting-up and funding procedures and the legal situationestablishment and information, EU funding opportunities and requirements and possible legal structures;
Amendment 63 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission and Member States to take quantifiable steps to unblock and attract public and private investment needed by social enterprises; notes in this regard that social and solidarity-based economy enterprises still face difficulties in accessing public procurement, such as barriers related to size and financial capability; reiterates the importance of effective implementation of the public procurement reform package by Member States in order to achieve greater participation by these enterprises in tendering procedures for public contracts, by improving the earmarking of contracts for such enterprises, including social clauses and criteria, simplifying procedures and drawing up tenders in a way that makes them accessible to smaller operators;
Amendment 70 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Emphasises the need to introduce at EU level a ‘European social label’ for social enterprises, based on clear criteria in order to increase their visibility, encourage investment and optimise their impact; believes the awarding of such an label should be done following a request by the enterprise and based on the subsequent satisfaction of clear common criteria such as a social objective, an entrepreneurial dimension, participatory decision-making, and the reinvestment of profits;
Amendment 104 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Calls for theEU funds to be used effectively, and stresses that access to EUthese funds needs to be made easier for beneficiaries, not least in order to rule out the emergence of consultancy services provided solely for profitsupport and bolster social enterprises in their primary objective of making a social impact rather than profit maximisation, which ultimately offers a return on investment for society in the long-term.
Amendment 111 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Emphasises the importance of social enterprises providing social services to support people at risk or experiencing poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 115 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Highlights the necessity of offering employment to those most commonly excluded from the labour market, by reintegrating long-term unemployed people and combating unemployment in general.
Amendment 118 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 8 c (new)
Paragraph 8 c (new)
8c. Highlights the importance of only awarding the European Social Label to enterprises that comply with the qualifying criteria; stresses the importance that a substantial percentage of the profits made by the undertaking must be reinvested or otherwise used to achieve the enterprises social purpose;