European Commissioner Roxana Mînzatu will take charge of the social economy portfolio at EU level, including the implementation of the Social Economy Action Plan.
Co-operative and social economy actors welcomed the announcement, after the initial letters sent to commissioners had failed to include any references to the social economy.
Mînzatu, who started in her role on 1 December, will serve as the Commission’s executive vice-president of Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness. In a mission letter sent by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Mînzatu’s is also tasked with “the development of the social economy, notably by fully implementing the EU’s Social Economy Action Plan”.
The Spanish Confederation of Social Economy (Cepes), responded to the mission letters.
“The naming of this Commissioner is crucial to ensuring the implementation of the Social Economy Action Plan, which was previously approved by the Commission,” Cepes and Social Economy Europe president Juan Antonio Pedreño, said in a statement.
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“Now is the time to fully implement the Plan’s 60 measures, which will require working with other Commissioners, particularly Stéphane Séjourné, who is responsible for industrial policy in Europe, and with the implication of the Commission’s all General Directorates and member states. In this sense, as president of Social Economy Europe, I will inform vice-president Mînzatu and the College of Commissioners that the European social economy remains committed to working with the Commission for the implementation of the Action Plan.”
Pedreño also called for the renewal of the Social Economy intergroup within the European Parliament, as a strategic forum to discuss the development of a European policy for the social economy, which represents 4.3 million enterprises and employs 11.5 million.
He concluded by highlighting that 19 European ministries with social economy remits have requested that a Social Economy Commissioner be in charge of the sector’s development at EU level.
“We are thankful to our members and supporters from the social economy ecosystem for helping us in reaching this key objective of having a designated commissioner in charge of Social Economy,” Social Economy Europe said in a statement. “We will continue to push for tight collaboration between Ms Mînzatu and other Commissioners, in particular with Mr Stéphane Séjourné as executive vice-president for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy and Ms Teresa Ribera as executive vice-president for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition. We are confident that this cooperation will happen as Commissioner Mînzatu has mentioned her willingness to work in tight collaboration with other commissioners,” it added.
