European Network of Social Integration Enterprises
ENSIE
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises represents work integration social enterprises to promote proper practices and participate in defining European policy against social exclusion.
Lobbying Activity
ENSIE urges social economy focus in new competitiveness budget
12 Nov 2025
Topic — The consultation addresses EU funding priorities for competitiveness in the next long-term budget.
Message — The network requests the systematic inclusion of social economy organisations across all provisions of the European Competitiveness Fund. They call for dedicated funding streams for skills development and social innovation targeting social economy actors. Additionally, they seek formal representation within the fund's governance and monitoring structures.123
Why — These changes would improve access to finance and reduce administrative barriers for social enterprises.4
Impact — Global corporations and export-only businesses may face reduced dominance as funding shifts toward local economies.5
ENSIE Calls for Social Economy Inclusion in Future EU Budget
3 Nov 2025
Topic — This consultation seeks feedback on the EU's post-2027 long-term budget and funding programmes.
Message — ENSIE demands explicit inclusion of the social economy within the specific objectives of national plans. They propose a 14% minimum budget target for social goals across the entire framework. They also seek to strengthen the partnership role of local authorities and social enterprises.123
Why — Explicitly identifying funding streams would ensure financial stability and long-term resilience for social enterprises.4
ENSIE urges central role for social enterprises in anti-poverty strategy
22 Oct 2025
Topic — The European Commission's initiative to establish a comprehensive strategy for reducing poverty.
Message — The network requests that the strategy recognizes social enterprises as primary anti-poverty tools. They demand earmarked funding and mandatory public procurement reservations for these organizations.12
Impact — Commercial firms lose access to public contracts due to mandatory social enterprise reservations.5
ENSIE urges expanded State aid for social integration enterprises
6 Oct 2025
Message — ENSIE wants to broaden the definition of disadvantaged workers to include refugees. They also request higher funding and longer wage subsidies for vulnerable employees.123
Why — Social enterprises would receive more public funding for longer periods with less administrative burden.45
Impact — Traditional companies might face competition from social enterprises receiving higher subsidies.6
Response to European Innovation Act
3 Oct 2025
ENSIE welcomes the European Commissions initiative to improve the framework conditions for startups and scaleups through the forthcoming European Innovation Act. To be truly inclusive and impactful, the Act must also recognise the role of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) and social economy enterprises as innovators in social and inclusive employment solutions. Their contribution has already been acknowledged in the Council Recommendation of 27 November 2023 on developing social economy framework conditions, and in the Start-up and Scale-up Strategy, which refers to the forthcoming revision of the Social Economy Action Plan in 2026 as a key moment to enhance support for social innovation. The scope and definitions of the Act should therefore explicitly include WISEs and social enterprises, ensuring that social innovation is treated on equal footing with technological and deep-tech innovation. In particular, public procurement must be leveraged as a driver of sustainable and inclusive innovation. The Most Economically Advantageous Tender should be the default standard, prioritising social and environmental value rather than price alone. A mandatory minimum percentage of annual procurement budgets should be allocated to reserved contracts under Article 20 of Directive 2014/24/EU, and the evaluation of contracts should integrate social impact indicators such as the preservation and creation of jobs for disadvantaged workers. In addition, nurturing a flourishing social economy and proximity industrial ecosystem is key to foster both resilience and innovation. WISEs face challenges in accessing disruptive innovation needed to scale-up and keep the pace with the green and digital transitions, despite their crucial contribution to local and short value chains, as demonstrated by the Transition Pathway for Proximity and Social Economy . To untap their innovative potential, regulatory sandboxes need to be designed inclusively, enabling WISEs to test new models for labour-market integration, circular economy business models and digital or social innovations. Their results should be mutually recognised across Member States to allow successful approaches to scale up. The Act should also foster business-to-business partnerships by incentivising companies to work with WISEs through tax benefits, labels, and awareness raising. EU-funded platforms, such as the European Cluster Collaboration Platform, further support structured matchmaking, certification guidance and joint procurement opportunities, expanding WISEs market access and helping businesses strengthen their sustainability performance. At the same time, WISEs must be guaranteed fair access to research and technology infrastructures, with simple contractual arrangements, transparent pricing and dedicated quotas or vouchers to ensure participation. Financial barriers must also be addressed. State aid rules under the GBER should be expanded to better support employment and training schemes within WISEs, while the InvestEU guarantee scheme should be simplified for ethical banks and microfinance providers, with dedicated quotas for WISEs. The European funding allocated to social objectives should continue to provide long-term support for employment integration and training projects driven by WISEs. Finally, as WISEs play a vital role in the green and digital transitions, the Innovation Act should provide targeted support for green job creation in areas such as recycling, reuse, repair and sustainable agri-food, while also investing in digital inclusion through upskilling programmes for disadvantaged workers. By embedding WISEs and social economy enterprises within the European Innovation Act, the EU will ensure that innovation policy contributes not only to competitiveness and growth, but also to inclusive employment, sustainability and social cohesion.
Read full responseResponse to Pact for the eastern border regions
18 Sept 2025
ENSIE, the European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, represents the interests of 33 national and regional networks of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) across 21 EU countries and neighbouring states striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. A WISE can be defined as an institutional mechanism of supported employment that favours workers discriminated by conventional enterprises and provides them with appropriate on-the-job training . ENSIE welcomes the European Commissions initiative to develop a Pact for the Eastern Border Regions which are experiencing economic disruption, depopulation, refugee inflows, and heightened security concerns. WISEs, enterprises whose mission is to combine economic activity with a strong social purpose, are uniquely positioned to address social issues by providing inclusive employment pathways, fostering skills development, and strengthening the resilience of local communities. They create quality jobs for disadvantaged groups, including persons with disabilities, the long-term unemployed, migrants, and young people not in employment, education or training, while ensuring wraparound support such as job coaching and training. By doing so, they directly tackle labour shortages, contribute to the green and digital transitions, and prevent vulnerable people from falling into poverty and exclusion. WISEs have already demonstrated their capacity to act in times of crisis during the war in Ukraine by providing to displaced persons language training, upskilling programmes and access to secure, quality jobs . For the Pact to deliver sustainable and inclusive solutions, ENSIE calls for the explicit recognition of WISEs and their integration into the policy framework, in line with the Social Economy Action Plan and the European Pillar of Social Rights. This means ensuring dedicated and accessible funding streams through ESF, ERDF, NDICI and InvestEU, with specific earmarking for WISEs, alongside simplified access to EU instruments and technical support for local actors. Socially responsible public procurement should be promoted across border regions, making wider use of reserved contracts and social clauses to support inclusive enterprises. Harmonisation of legal frameworks and capacity-building measures for WISEs should also be encouraged to enhance their role as drivers of inclusive local development. Moreover, the Pact should place social cohesion and wellbeing at its core, recognising the contribution of WISEs in rebuilding trust, supporting mental health, and creating stable and meaningful employment opportunities in regions where peoples sense of security and prospects for the future have been deeply affected. In addition, ENSIE underlines that civil society organisations particularly those rooted in local communities must be systematically involved in the governance of the Pact. Structured civil dialogue and partnerships with social economy actors, municipalities, SMEs and NGOs are essential to ensure tailored, effective, and people-centred solutions. By reinforcing the role of civil society and WISEs, the Pact can foster trust, democratic participation, and long-term social resilience in border regions. Finally, WISEs proven dual role as economic actors and social innovators makes them indispensable partners in addressing depopulation, revitalising local economies, and restoring business confidence. They can help turn vulnerabilities into opportunities, contributing to the EUs strategic objectives of resilience and sustainable growth. ENSIE strongly urges the Commission, Member States and regional authorities to fully harness the potential of WISEs in the Pact for the Eastern Border Regions, ensuring a comprehensive, people-centred approach that strengthens cohesion and guarantees that no one is left behind.
Read full responseENSIE demands social enterprise focus in EU social rights plan
10 Sept 2025
Message — ENSIE demands that work integration social enterprises be recognized as central policy partners. They seek dedicated funding and tax breaks for organizations supporting marginalized workers.12
Why — This proposal would lower financial burdens and secure more funding for their members.3
Impact — Standard commercial enterprises could lose access to specific public procurement contracts.4
Social enterprise network ENSIE demands binding EU civil society rules
3 Sept 2025
Message — ENSIE requests a binding instrument ensuring civil society is systematically consulted during policymaking. They demand recognition for social enterprises and structured dialogue at all levels.12
Why — This would grant social enterprises greater influence over policy and secure sustainable funding.34
Impact — Traditional social partners like trade unions may see their exclusive consultative role diluted.5
Response to Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030
1 Aug 2025
ENSIE, the European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, representing 33 national and regional networks across 26 European countries, welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commissions consultation on the forthcoming 20262030 Gender Equality Strategy. Building upon its extensive experience in promoting inclusive employment, particularly for women at risk of exclusion, ENSIE advocates for the recognition and integration of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) as key actors in achieving the Strategy's objectives. A WISE can be defined as an institutional mechanism of supported employment that favours workers discriminated by conventional enterprises and provides them with appropriate on-the-job training . Indeed, WISEs have consistently demonstrated their effectiveness facilitating access to employment by providing tailored work and upskilling pathways for women facing multiple barriers, including long-term unemployment, single parenthood, and minority status. These enterprises are also promoters of inclusive work environments with gender-responsive workplace practices that support work-life balance and address gender-specific challenges such as discrimination and caregiving responsibilities. Moreover, WISEs align with EU policy objectives such as the Gender Equality strategy 2020-2025 by addressing the gender gaps in the labour market and promoting equal participation across different sectors through upskilling/reskilling opportunities, the European Pillar of Social Rights through the provision of inclusive employment and support for vulnerable groups and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Finally, to enhance the impact of the upcoming Gender Equality Strategy, ENSIE recommends to: 1. Recognise and integrate WISEs and other social economy actors into all relevant EU gender equality strategies, funding programmes, and policymaking processes. WISEs must be explicitly recognised in the 20262030 Gender Equality Strategy as key actors in fostering inclusive labour market participation for women. Their person-centred, grassroots approach offers tailored support to women experiencing social and professional exclusion, promoting sustainable empowerment through employment. 2. Ensure policy integration and financial support. The next Gender Equality Strategy should incorporate the role of WISEs into core EU policies and funding instruments. This includes in use mechanisms such as the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), Horizon Europe, and the Social Economy Action Plan. These tools must prioritise inclusive employment, enabling WISEs to extend their reach and impact. To support systemic change, the Commission should facilitate the scaling-up of successful WISE models across Member States, encouraging replication and innovation through transnational collaboration and structured knowledge exchange. 3. Improve monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. WISEs frequently deliver high social impact yet remain invisible in traditional macroeconomic tracking. To better monitor gender-inclusive employment progress, the Commission should include specific indicators on WISEs /social economy entities in Gender Equality Strategys performance metrics or/and broader policy coordination tools. 4. Promote and fund national and transnational awareness campaigns led by civil society organization, social economy organisations included. Cultural norms and gender stereotypes remain significant obstacles to womens full participation in the workforce. WISEs play a key role in challenging these through inclusive workplace practices, education, and mentoring. 5. Ensure representation of the social economy in governance structures. To ensure impact, the Strategy must involve social economy actors like WISEs in its design and follow-up through structured dialogue and participation in consultations and key meetings.
Read full responseResponse to Quality Jobs Roadmap
29 Jul 2025
As the EU prepares its Quality Jobs Roadmap for 20242029, it must respond to pressing challenges including persistent labour and skills shortages, rising in-work poverty affecting 10.9% of workers and growing job insecurity. In this context, Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) provide structured, socially embedded, and economically viable employment pathways for individuals furthest from the labour market, especially Workers with Support Needs (WSNs). WISEs operate with a threefold mission: to promote the social and professional integration of disadvantaged individuals, to function at the heart of the economic system rather than at its margins, and to deliver a strong pedagogical model focused on on-the-job learning. They target diverse groups, including people with disabilities, or with criminal record, long-term unemployed, NEETs, migrants, offering real employment supported by a tripartite structure consisting of enablers (managers), supporters (job coaches, social workers), and the WSNs themselves as employees. Across the EU, WISEs contribute to job quality as defined by the Eurofound framework, encompassing seven dimensions. In terms of skills and discretion, WISEs deliver continuous, person-centred trainingboth formal and informalthat develops technical, soft and life skills, gradually increasing autonomy and task discretion. Some WSNs also participate in governance processes depending on the model and legal structure of the enterprise. The social environment within WISEs is inclusive and mission-driven, putting people before profit, and offering a collective experience crucial for individuals often affected by social isolation. This culture promotes belonging, well-being and social cohesion. Regarding job prospects, WISEs operate through three integration models following their national legislationtransitional (preparing WSNs for mainstream employment), permanent (providing long-term secure employment), and mixed (adapting to evolving worker needs). These models ensure tailored, stable, and empowering trajectories into or within the labour market. In terms of earnings, all WISEs provide regular employment contracts. They serve as a pathway out of poverty and complement minimum income schemes by enabling WSNs to gradually reduce benefit dependency. The working environment in WISEs is deliberately adapted to individual needs, with task assignments and physical conditions tailored to each persons capacity. Some WISEs emerged from or are connected to the transformation of sheltered workshops, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, and align with Article 27 of the UNCRPD by offering inclusive employment within the open labour market. This inclusive ethos is particularly impactful for persons with disabilities, who benefit from flexible working time and additional psychosocial support. WISEs also serve as a labour market solution. Operating in sectors characterised by chronic labour shortages such as cleaning, construction and agriculture, they create opportunities for low-qualified individuals and offer first-entry job experiences in partnership with Vocational Education Training providers, public employment services, and employers. Their track record in enabling professional transitions and promoting social inclusion makes them effective and underutilised labour market actors. To support their role, ENSIE proposes ten key policy recommendations: define quality jobs for WSNs with tailored indicators, recognise WISEs as labour market actors, Embed in the EPSR and implement the Council Recommendation on the Social Economy, harmonise legal environment of WISEs across the EU, include WISEs in VET and lifelong learning strategies, adapt state aid rules to reflect integration costs, mainstream socially responsible public procurement, support B2B collaboration with mainstream enterprises, create an EU observatory on WISEs, and tailor EU funding instruments to prioritise job quality outcomes. Position paper enclosed.
Read full responseResponse to Proposal for an amendment to the InvestEU Regulation.
18 Jul 2025
ENSIE supports the ambition of enhancing the financial capacity of InvestEU in the remainder of the current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and reducing the administrative burden on key stakeholders, as stated and endorsed in the Financing social economy in Europe - The need for a stronger InvestEU programme paper produced by Social Economy Europe . This need was confirmed by the interim evaluation of the InvestEU Programme, published in September 2024. In order to ensure an allocation of funding proportionate to the need of the social economy ecosystem, ENSIE is aligned with the proposition of distribution of the EU guarantee between the four policy windows to be increased proportionately, as proposed in the staff working document, to ensure sufficient allocation to the Social Investment and Skills window. ENSIE acknowledges that the increased InvestEU capacity will be mainly used to finance higher risk activities in support of priority Union policies, such as the ones outlined in the Competitiveness Compass covering tech sectors that will matter in tomorrows economy such as digital frontier technologies and the Clean Industrial Deal, as well as any potential new initiatives in priority areas such as defence industrial policy, dual-use activities or military mobility. Despite this EC decision, ENSIE calls for a strengthened focus on the Social Economy and its relevance to the EU's robustness, resilience and preparedness. Its ecosystem is significantcomparable in scale to the automotive sectorwith over four million enterprises and organisations directly employing more than eleven million people. ENSIE calls on the European Commission to integrate recommendations from the Social Economy Europe paper , namely: Increased transparency: adding more information on operations approved and beneficiaries to the InvestEU portal, notably operations targeting work integration social enterprises, WISEs, as final recipients. Harmonised requirements and process between - standardised decision process and reporting mechanism and unify state aid requirements. Simplified application and granting process of InvestEU Guarantees and top-up the InvestEU Fund to reach 2027: simplify the procedure and increase the funding available for financial intermediaries. In particular for social finance providers belonging to the social economy, such as ethical banks and microfinance providers, delivering specific products and services adapted to WISEs needs. Facilitated access to other windows for financial intermediaries - standardise the framework for product eligibility criteria, especially for the smallest social finance providers. Diversified financial instruments granted under InvestEU - to accurately reflect the demands for the expansion of social investments and encourage greater collaboration between the social economy sector and other sectors, such as technology, innovation, and sustainability. These measures should be complemented with clear means provided to member states to implement the recommendations from the council, in particular article 14 , to create an enabling environment for social finance at national, regional and local levels. This summary is completed with a specific note for policymakers in the attached document.
Read full responseResponse to Mid-Term Review: Social Economy Action Plan
16 Jul 2025
Silta-Valmennusyhdistys ry welcomes the opportunity to give feedback on the mid-term review of the Social Economy Action Plan. Silta-Valmennusyhdistys is a Finnish Work Integration Social Enterprise who also coordinates the national Centre of Expertise for Social Enterprises. Because of the Social Economy Action Plan, general awareness and understanding of the role and possibilities of the social economy have improved. Moreover, social economy is increasingly recognised by international institutions such as the OECD, ILO, and United Nations. There also seems to have been a boost in defining and developing national strategies for social economy or social enterprises. At the same time, it seems that understanding of the rather significant differences between societies - as well as very different responses to the action plan has been improved. This could potentially bring cohesion to the development of social economy across the EU. Having an EU-wide plan, together with the council recommendation, has meant there has been a renewed interest in learning about the social economy ecosystems and their targets and challenges in different member states. Furthermore, an increase has occurred in interest to and engagement in social procurement. A greater interest and commitment to triple transition also seems to be taking place. There are several sectors where social economy business models could play a significant role in the future. Circular economy, starting from re-use but going much deeper and wider, is a self-evident one already today. However, many social and health services, like care for the elderly, social housing and child protection, as well as, hotel & catering sector, agriculture, tourism etc. provide a lot of growth potential for social economy. There are several measures that should be prioritised in the period of 2026-2030. The complete implementation of the Council Recommendation should be a high priority. Sustainable solutions should be found to the recent negative development (DG GROW giving up on its role in social economy) in order to get back on track with transition pathway. The role of social enterprises in providing learning and upskilling opportunities should be clearly recognised and supported. Strong connection to EU Pact for Skills can be recommended here. Social innovation should be recognised at all levels of innovation policies and strategies. The role of social enterprises and social economy in general in creating and developing social innovations should supported. The initiative for national social innovation competence centres should be regarded with this in mid. Social enterprises provide a significant potential for boosting employment for persons who have partial work abilities, disabilities, and other vulnerabilities. Work integration, together with the use of multiple funding channels (public procurement, state aid, and taxation) should be strongly supported and invested in. Social procurement in general should be promoted strongly. Local and regional development, with social economys role in creating resilience, as well as the contribution social economy can make to security issues should be recognised and properly funded. The Centre of Expertise for Social Enterprises in Finland is an example of the cooperation between the social economy ecosystem and the governmental and other public bodies. Furthermore, the decision, and consequent process to update the national strategy for social enterprises to incorporate the EU Council recommendation on the action plan is a logical and efficient way to create coherence in the national cooperation and mutual planning.
Read full responseResponse to EU strategic approach to the Black Sea
5 May 2025
ENSIE stresses the need to consider furthermore the role of social economy enterprises and particularly of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) in promoting inclusive economic recovery, social resilience, and democratic stability across the region. Building on our work with 30 local, regional and national networks from 21 countries within the EU, as well as in countries such as Azerbaijan, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine, this document provides key insights and policy recommendations on: 1. The role of social economy enterprises and WISEs in crises, particularly in Ukraine. 2. Fostering cooperation to support WISEs and the wider social economy in the region. The Role of Social Economy Enterprises and especially WISEs in Crises Social economy enterprises, especially WISEs, have proven to be sturdy, responsive actors during crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The work done by ENSIE in the context of Russias war of aggression against Ukraine has demonstrated that WISEs have actively supported the integration of displaced Ukrainians into the EU labour market in countries such as France and Latvia, providing inclusive employment opportunities, job coaching, and language support. They also offer tailored upskilling programmes and on-the-job training models, which are necessary for an integration where language or education gaps exist. Therefore, ENSIE recommends ensuring that EU funds are allocated effectively to support Work Integration Social Enterprises initiatives in the Black Sea region. ENSIE advocate cross-border cooperation and data-sharing platforms on WISE best practices in crisis response. ENSIE recommends continuing the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) until its end on the 6th March 2026 and harmonising its implementation across Member States. It also advocates for the implementation of a coordinated and collective solution that would offer a more durable status and pathway to long-term residence . Fostering Cooperation for Social Economy Enterprises and WISEs in the Black Sea Region Despite progress in some areas, the development of the social economy and WISEs across the Black Sea region remains uneven. ENSIE's work with local partners highlights disparities in legal frameworks, financing, visibility, and cross-border collaboration. ENSIE recommends supporting the adoption and harmonisation of clear legal statuses for WISEs and social enterprises across all Black Sea countries, ensuring alignment with EU principles and regulatory coherence. ENSIE also encourages cross-border cooperation and mutual learning between WISEs in neighbouring and EU countries. In the context of the new EU strategic approach, ENSIE advocates for better access to existing EU funds to support the activities of WISEs and social economy enterprises. Finally, ENSIE advocates for national and local support to improve the visibility of social economy networks and promote digitalisation and innovation as drivers of inclusive growth in the region. Romania has had a Social Economy Law in place since 2015. Recently, the National Commission for Social Economy was established, and a national strategy for the development of the sector is currently being drafted. In the meantime, four legislative proposals have been introduced by the Romanian network RISE RO, a member of ENSIE, aiming to strengthen Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs). These proposals include reforms to the Unemployment Law, the Public Procurement Law, the Corporate Tax Code, and the Administrative Code, reflecting concrete steps toward building a supportive legislative framework for the social economy. In Moldova, a legal framework for social entrepreneurship has been in place since 2015.However, the sector still faces challenges in awareness, visibility, and access to finance. Social procurement measures remain underused, and public actors need further capacity-building to unlock their potential.
Read full responseResponse to EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy
17 Mar 2025
ENSIE welcomes the European Commissions initiative to improve the framework conditions for startups and scaleups but stresses the urgent need to integrate Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) and social economy enterprises generally. As stated in the Council Recommendation of 27 November 2023 on developing social economy framework conditions WISEs play a crucial role in inclusive labour market integration, sustainability, and social cohesion. Unfortunately, they yet face barriers in public procurement, state aid, B2B partnerships, access to finance, and the green and digital transitions. The EU must recognise WISEs as key economic players, ensuring they scale and compete effectively while maximising their social impact. Public procurement must be leveraged to support WISEs. The Most Economically Advantageous Tender should be the default standard, prioritising social and environmental value over cost. In its contribution to the Call for evidence concerning the Public procurement directive revision (Directive 2014/24/EU) ENSIE suggests to introduce a mandatory requirement for public authorities to allocate at least a percentage of their annual procurement budget to reserved contracts (for WISEs) defined in art.20 and to incorporate social impact indicators to assess the preservation of jobs for individuals from disadvantaged groups and the creation of new employment opportunities as a direct outcome of the awarded procurement contracts. State aid rules remain inadequate for WISEs, limiting their ability to scale. The EU should expand state aid exemptions of the GBER, improve the tailored aid schemes for the employment of disadvantaged workers and for training and provide tax incentives for businesses partnering with WISEs. A long-term financial framework must be in place, particularly in times of economic uncertainty. WISEs enhance corporate social performance, offering mainstream businesses a way to strengthen their ESG impact, supply chain resilience, and local economic development. B2B partnerships with WISEs generate shared value by integrating ethical sourcing, inclusive employment, and sustainability into business operations. The EU should introduce tax incentives, social return obligations, and public recognition schemes to encourage these partnerships. EU-funded platforms should support structured matchmaking, advisory services, certification guidance, and joint public procurement opportunities. Strengthening these collaborations will expand WISEs' market access while helping businesses meet sustainability targets. WISEs face significant barriers in accessing finance, requiring stronger public and private funding. The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) must remain a key funding source, with earmarked support for employment integration, training, and social innovation . The Invest EU Social Investment and Skills Window should include dedicated quotas for WISEs, ensuring social finance providers prioritise their needs. The Invest EU guarantee scheme must be simplified so that ethical banks and microfinance institutions can better channel funds to WISEs. While WISEs play a critical role in the green and digital transitions, they risk being left behind in a two-speed economy. WISEs create green jobs, provide skills training, and support climate-vulnerable workers through recycling, reuse, repair, and sustainable agri-food activities. Despite facing barriers to digital transition, WISEs bridge digital literacy gaps for disadvantaged workers. Their unique added value must be strengthened in the strategy through targeted training, financial and non-financial support, capacity-building, and clustering opportunities. ENSIE calls for an EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy that explicitly integrates social economy enterprises, notably WISEs, ensuring they have the tools to grow, innovate, and compete.
Read full responseENSIE demands mandatory quotas for social enterprise public contracts
7 Mar 2025
Message — ENSIE proposes mandatory quotas for social contracts and ending time limits on service agreements. They also want these contracts restricted to non-profit and social economy organizations.123
Why — Guaranteed market shares and longer contracts would provide stability for social integration enterprises.4
Impact — Private for-profit companies would be excluded from bidding for specific reserved public contracts.5
ENSIE urges social enterprise inclusion in Single Market Strategy
29 Jan 2025
Topic — The Commission is developing a strategy to enhance the single market's global competitiveness.
Message — The network calls for a harmonised EU framework to provide legal recognition for social enterprises. They also demand standardised public procurement rules and adjusted state aid for wage subsidies.123
Why — These changes would grant social enterprises easier access to public contracts and funding.4
Impact — Private firms may face reduced opportunities due to mandatory social criteria and reserved contracts.5
Meeting with Dan Barna (Member of the European Parliament) and Social Economy Europe
13 Nov 2024 · The social economy sector
Meeting with Jana Toom (Member of the European Parliament) and EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION and
3 Oct 2024 · Social and Inclusive Growth
Response to Proposal for a Directive on cross-border activities of associations
2 Apr 2024
ENSIE has been following with great interest the process of the establishment of a European Cross-Border Association directive, as an important step for the creation of the Single Market for the Public Good. In particular, ENSIE is supporting the broad coalition of civil society and non-profit organisations contributing to the legislative process of the approval of the ECBA Directive with the contribution titled EC Proposal for a Directive on European Cross-Border Associations (COM(2023) 516 final), Brussels, 05.09.23. First and foremost, ENSIE is fully supporting to see the recognition for the first time at the EU level of non-profit organisations and acknowledges the fundamental feature of their non-profit purpose (asset lock), as set out in Article 2 (c). This non-profit purpose definition could be a setting stone of a crucial need of harmonization of legal statuses for Work Integration Social Enterprises. Indeed, many WISEs are blocked from accessing to public opportunities because of a lack of legal recognition of the specific non-profit purpose nature of their activity. Another positive feature of the legislative proposal is that it promotes the statute of non-profit associations, covering core aspects such as governance, membership, funding, etc. Hence, the Directive recognises that in non-profit associations and organisations, profits must be reinvested in line with their objectives as a means for reinforcing the aim of public benefit and cannot be redistributed for private interests or to managers or shareholders. This would align with the 3 social economy principles defined within the Council Recommendation on enabling social economy framework conditions: i) the primacy of people as well as social or environmental purpose over profit; ii) the reinvestment of all or most of the profits and surpluses to further pursue their social or environmental purposes and carry out activities in the interest of their members/users (collective interest) or society at large (general interest); and iii) democratic or participatory governance. In coherence with this legislation, the definition of non-profit feature could also be strengthened by specifying that non-profit associations provide services of general economic and non-economic interests, in addition to the public benefit. Moreover, the recognition of a non-profit purpose should be recognized for Social Economy and Work Integration Social Enterprises.
Read full responseResponse to ESF+ mid-term evaluation
13 Feb 2024
ENSIE is part of the Helpdesk project, aiming at reinforcing the capacity of social services and managing authorities in using EU Funds, and fully endorses the transversal reaction provided by the consortium partners. By this reaction, ENSIE wishes to feed the commissions knowledge with ground-based content focusing on Work Integration Social Enterprises. The B-WISE Report on current situation of skills gaps, especially in digital area, in WISEs sector and anticipating future needs shows that the ESF+ is one of the largest sources of funding for WISEs, being the most important instrument of European cohesion policies. The ESF+ is participating strongly in structuring the Work Integration Social Enterprises ecosystem in the EU. This positive effect could be multiplied in countries where the sector is still at an early stage of development. Thus, ESF+ can be considered as one of the most influential mechanisms to foster the development of the work integration sector. The euro area seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was at 6.4% in Novembre 2023, 2,6% of the jobs in the EU were vacant. At the moment the EU labour market is struggling with skills mismatches. The 2023 strategic foresight report stated that the EU is facing a growing demand for adequate skills for a sustainable future and is facing difficulties finding these skill sets. The Social Economy Action Plan stresses that Social Economy entities are not sufficiently understood and recognised, they face difficulties developing and scaling up their activities limiting their social impact. For the Helpdesk, ENSIE has gathered inputs on actors' capacity to access and manage EU funds, notably ESF+, through workshops and surveys, and 3 challenges have particularly emerged: 1) ESF+ are not accessible enough for small WISEs. EU projects often mean taking financial risks for which there are no counter measures. They suffer from a lack of cash flow blocking them to implement the project about to be financed afterwards. Small WISEs have an increasing need for existing tailor-made solutions such as: - Pre-financing systems (existing in Erasmus+ programmes or Creative Europe Program), or small scale initiatives such as The Micro-project (existing in Interreg, 100% co-financing rate, easier management needs, project up to 50k implemented in a shorter period of time). - Access to debt financing through a better promotion of EU funds financial liability to access guarantees for small organisations. - Decreased administrative requirements for small WISEs, facing a lack of human resources allocated to project management. Auditing requirements are often too heavy for small organisations, holding them back from applying. - Capacity building activities in project management through training, workshops, mentoring and access to networks. Notably, initiatives should be carried out to foster public-private partnerships with WISEs 2) Social economy networks are not involved enough with the ESF+ monitoring committees where actors testify a ticking the box type of involvement. They are key to adapt ESF+ programmes to the specific needs of the local level. These findings have been presented to the 5th CPR partners meeting and are available online. - Networks participation in the committees should be more supported. - Local administrations need to be awarded as intermediate bodies to make the best use of their knowledge of local needs. 3) ESF+ knowledge is not used enough to improve WISEs capacity. - Content provided by actors could be used as a pilot to replicate good practices or to develop tools to increase the sector's capacity, easing replicability and sustainability of projects. Pre-conceived exemplary projects are promising practices to simplify project design for applicants through models available online. Furthermore, the knowledge collected during the audit phase and reporting phase does not serve knowledge-sharing among the actors.
Read full responseResponse to 2014-2020 Ex post evaluation of ESF and YEI
23 Jan 2024
ENSIE is the European Network of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs), which gathers 33 local, regional and national networks from 23 countries from the EU (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden) as well as Azerbaijan, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine. ENSIE represents the interests of national and regional networks of WISEs, striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying pillars: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, they are at the core of the economic system and present a strong pedagogical dimension. During the 2014-2020 funding period, the European Social Fund (ESF) appeared as a quite structuring instrument for ENSIE members, broadening the scope of measures accessible for Member States to support the development of WISEs, striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. In the past (and in some countries still now) social enterprises were facing a relatively scarce public support. Some important funding for WISEs (and social entrepreneurship in general) came from various EU schemes, but the most consequent one was the European Social Fund. However, ENSIE has 4 main remarks with regards to the 2014-2020 ESF programme: ESF did not supported provisions of careers counselling / vocational guidance, improving recognition of informal or non-formal learning, the unemployed and older unemployed to learn new skills to help find work. ESF should have focused even more on the most disadvantaged people such as young people in poverty or at risk of socio-economic exclusion or marginalisation, people with no or low qualifications and skills, the unemployed for 12 months or more, Roma and other minorities and individuals with migrant or foreign backgrounds. ESF programmes should have been correlated with investment programmes, which will support general workforce in the fields in which the investment was about to be done. There was a lot of administrative burden and barriers in the case of the ESF which can make reporting very slow, thus, improvement is needed in this area. These barriers were excluding small entities especially needing support. ESF programmes were described as not participatory enough with a misuse of monitoring committees. About the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), ENSIE acknowledges its valuable impact to support WISEs targeting youngsters in need of support. As stated in its 2020 position on Youth Employment Initiative, ENSIE underlined the importance of ensuring continued and increased funding for the Youth Employment Initiative to develop the support networks and the WISEs and contribute to a better inclusion of young people. Indeed, the Social Economy Action Plan underlines that WISEs are a common type of social enterprise across Europe. They specialise in providing work opportunities for disadvantaged people. It also underlines that younger generations are demonstrating a high interest in sustainable development and, as a result, the social economy can be of interest to them. At this stage, Evidence shows that the general public, including young and disadvantaged people, social partners, stakeholders and funders, still have an insufficient awareness of the positive impact of the social economy. In this context, the added funds could have been used to raise awareness among young people on WISEs and their potential for NEETs, foster the cooperation for the young people integration between all actors, to recognize the non-formal learning possibilities of this type of enterprises and to develop the necessary infrastructure and facilitate the access to advanced technologies.
Read full responseResponse to European Labour Market statistics on Business
22 Sept 2023
ENSIE CONTRIBUTION: European Labour Market Statistics on Businesses Call for Evidence ENSIE, the European Network for Social Integration Enterprises, represents the interests of national and regional networks of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. Today ENSIE gathers 32 national, regional and local networks of WISEs from 26 European countries and representing more than 187 000 disadvantaged workers. There are 2 million social economy enterprises in Europe, representing 10% of all businesses and about 6% of the EUs employees. WISEs are an important subset of social economy enterprises namely organisations focused on facilitating the integration of people excluded from the labour market . WISEs do directly and indirectly contribute to the implementation of 15 out of 20 European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) principles and to all of the SDGs however, there is no statistical report on these enterprises yet at the European level. Having this data goes in line with the EU Social Economy action plan which aims at helping to mobilise the full potential of the social economy. It is crucial to have data on social economy enterprises in order to be able to develop them and make full use of the EU action plan and its effective implementation. Moreover, it will raise visibility and encourage Member State to undertake supportive measures towards the development of the social economy and entrepreneurship. Indeed, social entrepreneurship contributes to a sustainable consumption and production behaviours which is also in line with the EU growth strategy (EU Green Deal) and the EU Circular economy action plan. Therefore, ENSIE calls the European Commission to add an indicator on job creation by social economy for groups in vulnerable situations (which is also related to the principle 4 of the EPSR).
Read full responseResponse to EU Citizenship Report 2023
11 Jul 2023
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises (ENSIE) represents the interests of national and regional networks of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. Together with its members, the Network is fully committed to strengthen and promote EU citizenship rights, common values and democratic participation in order to ensure an inclusive and socially, economically and environmentally sustainable Europe. Indeed, WISEs are defined by three identifying pillars: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, they are at the core of the economic system and present a strong pedagogical dimension. Non-discrimination is an essential principle of the inclusiveness of societies and labour markets. WISEs do provide specific vulnerable target groups with employment opportunities regardless of their gender or gender identity, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, sexual orientation, or socio-economic background to upskill and help these people better integrate into the society and the labour market. Alongside discrimination based on gender or gender identity, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age, sexual orientation, discrimination based on socio-economic background also deserves specific attention. ENSIE calls the EU to recognise more widely this type of discrimination. Moreover, WISEs, and more generally enterprises from the social economy sector can participate to the reinforcement of the democracy in Europe, through the upskilling and education of the most disadvantaged people. ENSIE participated to the Rights to Grow project which showed that social enterprises are at the forefront of the development of the social dialogue and democratic practices in enterprises, which reinforce the knowledge, the implication and the belief of citizens in the democratic system. This role should be considered and supported by policies and funds at the EU and the local levels. This could be done by promoting the work integration social enterprises model and their participative and democratic principles as alternative forms of business governance but also by creating support ecosystems for social enterprises, by orienting funds towards the long-term benefits of social enterprises success and not immediate financial returns or by developing the cooperation between social enterprises, traditional businesses, NGOs and local authorities,
Read full responseResponse to 2022 European Year of Youth – achievements and way forward
11 Apr 2023
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises (ENSIE) represents the interests of national and regional networks of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level for, among others, young people and NEETs. ENSIE had the opportunity to be part of the 2022 EYY stakeholders group and was glad to see opportunities offered to young people to voice their concerns, needs and challenges but also to involve them in policy discussions. In addition, having a well-prepared communication package, with an online portal where all activities related to young people across Europe and beyond, made the organisation and implementation of the year more efficient and activities more visible and shareable across various stakeholders. However, there is a need for more visibility and interlinkages between new and already existing initiatives related to young people as the Reinforced youth guarantee and the opportunities provided by the European Solidarity Corps. Indeed, those tools provide concrete opportunities to young people to travel, gain new skills or improve existing ones and to have work experience abroad. Unfortunately, during the EYY, there was not enough attention put on existing opportunities for young people. As this consultation will further feed the Communication that will contribute to the reflection and analysis of the ongoing interim evaluation of the 2019-2027 EU youth strategy, it is relevant to mention that there is a need to raise the awareness among young people on the social economy (SE) actors and in particular work integration social enterprises (WISEs) and their potential for NEETs and young people in general. The Social Economy Action Plan underlines that younger generations are demonstrating a high interest in sustainable development and, as a result, the social economy can be of interest to them. At this stage, Evidence shows that the general public, including young and disadvantaged people, social partners, stakeholders and funders, still have an insufficient awareness of the positive impact of the social economy. Indeed, WISEs do offer young people opportunities to find a quality job but also contribute to the provision of the upskilling and reskilling opportunities for them. This business model has an individual approach to each person and makes education and training accessible for all. Finally, it is important to ensure that programmes for young people are often designed according to the real needs of young people and the reality of the labour market. Indeed, usually programmes are designed according to the infrastructure and logistics of public authorities and are not building on real young people needs. In order to match better the needs on the ground, civil society organisations as WISEs representatives play a crucial role as they have the capacity to inform and train young people and other stakeholders on how to access the opportunities offered by national programmes, at the same time they can monitor and report periodically on how the program's provisions are applied. To conclude, ENSIE is happy to be part of the recently launched Youth Entrepreneurship Policy Academy and in this framework, will be engaged in promoting work integration social enterprises and their added value for a better inclusion of young people across European policies and tools. For more information, please contact Azizam Yussupova, ENSIE Senior Policy Officer azizam.yussupova@ensie.org
Read full responseENSIE urges social objectives in EU circular economy policies
13 Mar 2023
Message — ENSIE requests social goals in circular economy policies and better funding access. They advocate for monitoring social clauses and reserved contracts in public procurement.12
Why — These measures would increase funding eligibility and market opportunities for social enterprises.34
Impact — Traditional companies lose the ability to compete for specifically reserved public contracts.5
Response to Key performance indicators for the Digital Decade policy programme 2030
13 Mar 2023
ENSIE welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to propose key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor progress of the EU against the digital targets set out in Article 4 of the Decision (EU) 2022/2481 establishing the Digital Decade Policy Programme 2030, but calls on the European institutions to ensure inclusive digital transition, by committing to improve accessibility and digital inclusion towards disadvantaged groups in all areas of public and private life, with a specific focus on work integration. Accordingly, specific indicators for disadvantaged groups and work integration social enterprises (WISEs) should be foreseen in order to be able to measure progress of digital targets to ensure a smooth and inclusive transition towards a digital economy and society by avoiding leaving anyone behind. These indicators should take into account the vulnerabilities of such people as well as the obstacles they face when approaching the labour market. ENSIE appreciates that among the proposed KPIs, the gigabit connectivity is listed, provided that several disadvantaged people, suffering of risk of exclusion and of the digital divide, cannot count on the ordinary provision of internet connection, yet. ENSIE wishes to encourage again the EU institutions to consult WISEs representatives when establishing stakeholder forums and/or similar initiatives to ensure that the necessary measures are undertaken for inclusive and equal access to digitalisation to all actors o the labour market, also the ones operating within social economy and, especially, work integration of vulnerable people.
Read full responseResponse to State aid – revision of rules on exemptions for small compensations to services of general economic interest
9 Jan 2023
ENSIE welcomes the European Commissions call for evidence on the SGEI de minimis regulation 360/2012. ENSIE and its members support to increase the amount of the SGEI de minimis ceiling. ENSIE wishes to repeat its demand to increase the threshold further to EUR 800.000 over any period of three fiscal years, taking into account the past, current and future challenges as SGEI are not supplied by market forces alone but are often at the frontline to answer to health, economic and social crises. This higher threshold would give Member States more maneuver to tackle these challenges. The need to increase the threshold was already mentioned by several stakeholders and seems appropriate after 10 years of entry into force of the regulation. In any case, the exempted amounts should be revised in light of inflation 2013 - 2030 as has been done in the Approval of the content of a draft for a Commission Regulation on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to de minimis aid. ENSIE also proposes raising up the de minimis ceiling to EUR 1 million over a period of three fiscal years for those undertakings which are obliged, according to their statutes and by law, to reinvest their results in accordance with the social purpose they pursue, as is the case of social economy enterprises. In the adopted Social Economy Action Plan the European Commission states that social economy enterprises must reinvest "most of the profits and surpluses to carry out activities in the interest of members/users (collective interest) or society at large (general interest) ". When looking at the aforementioned draft, alignment of certain concepts is indeed needed. ENSIE supports the possible inclusion of a mandatory register for stakeholders and Member States, as proposed in the general de minimis Regulation. This would strengthen transparency and would introduce a uniform system of monitoring. At the same time ENSIE insists, as stated in its contribution to the European Action plan for the Social Economy (March 2021) , to underline the complexity and the difficulties faced by local and regional public authorities to fully use this de minimis ceiling rule and the whole SGEI package. For this reason, ENSIE considers necessary to launch accompanying and advisory measures to support public authorities in applying the de minimis ceiling of state aid for SGEI to WISEs and social economy. Generally speaking, ENSIE supports Social Economy Europes demand to the EU institutions to develop a fiscal framework for the social economy that would address the unfair competition linked with the fact that social economy actors mainly rely on their own funds to grow. ENSIE is the European Network of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs), which gathers 31 local, regional and national networks from 22 countries from the EU (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Spain) as well as Azerbaijan, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine. Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) strive for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying pillars: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are at the core of the economic system; they present a strong pedagogical dimension.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of the 2012 Directive on waste from electrical and electronic equipment
3 Nov 2022
ENSIE welcomes the current evaluation of the WEEE Directive, indeed, e-waste is as pointed out by the European Commission, one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world and it is a challenge to deal with the increasing volumes of waste that are accumulated every day. ENSIE, the European network of social integration enterprises represents the interests of national and regional networks of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying pillars: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, they are at the core of the economic system and present a strong pedagogical dimension. All over Europe, some social enterprises and WISEs are dealing with WEEE all the while ensuring social and professional integration of disadvantaged people by supporting them develop new skills on the job.a job. For example, Educlick, in Romania, is collecting WEEE, refurbishing part of it and then donating it to NGOs and schools. In other parts of Europe similar organizations are doing the same job. In other cases, once the ICT are refurbished, they are sold. Their double output (social and environmental) is crucial, and their role should be acknowledged, as it is already the case in the circular economy action plan and in the waste framework directive. Indeed, they ensure a path towards not only a green but also a just transition. Apart for putting forward the role of social enterprises in the WEEE treatment ENSIE agrees with the international network representing social enterprises active in re-use, repair and recycling - RREUSE - on the following needs to reinforce the WEEE directive : Setting up a quantitative target for preparation for re-use, separate from recycling Improving separate collection with a view of facilitating preparation for re-use by using standard EN50625 as a baseline to integrate relevant provisions in EU legislation Ensuring that the implementation of EPR schemes is conducive to the directives aims by guaranteeing the involvement of all stakeholders and aligning economic incentives with the waste hierarchy Granting access to the waste stream for accredited reuse operators and supporting the establishment of national reuse networks, which should include social enterprises and social economy organisations. Considering waste prevention aspects by strengthening the durability and reparability of EEEs in other relevant EU legislation Establishing clear guidelines to determine the end-of-waste status of WEEEs that have been prepared for re-use, this could be inspired by the work done by social enterprises such as RESSOURCES electroREV label which certifies that second-hand domestic appliances have undergone a series of safety and functionality tests carried out by operators from the social economy.
Read full responseResponse to Interim evaluation of EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027
19 Oct 2022
ENSIE, the European Network of Social Integration Enterprises represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs). ENSIE work around young people is focused on two main axes which are the promotion/development of social entrepreneurship among young people and the inclusion of disadvantaged young people through a WISE that helps them to acquire skills and experience and easily be integrated in the society and the labour market.
Generally, ENSIE is glad to see that the EU policies and tools towards young people support are gaining more importance and visibility and that the EU encourages Member States to invest in youth support.
However, there are still several challenges that need specific attention such as the eligibility criteria that exclude WISEs/NGOs from financing provided for youth support (e.g.: Romania). In most cases, financing is accessible mostly for public institutions and national employment agencies.
Additionally, the programmes for young people are often designed according to the infrastructure and logistics of public authorities and may overlook real needs of young people and the reality of the labour market. Considering civil society organisations as WISEs is crucial as they have the capacity to inform and train young people on how to access the opportunities offered by national programmes but also monitor and report periodically on how the program's provisions are applied.
Another challenge at national level is the access to information, in some Eastern Member States only few public events are organised to explain EU programmes dedicated to young people and the national specificities with regards to the implementation of these programmes. Young people from vulnerable categories and from rural areas usually do not have access to the information and measures of those programmes.
In this context, considering the objectives of the current EU Youth Strategy and recommendations of the European Commission to Member States and in order to ensure diversity and inclusiveness, while paying special attention to social and economic barriers faced by young people, ENSIE calls the EU to:
• Consider and raise awareness among young people on the social economy (SE) actors and in particular WISEs and their potential for:
- NEETs and disadvantaged people
- young people in general
The Social Economy Action Plan underlined that “younger generations are demonstrating a high interest in sustainable development and, as a result, the social economy can be of interest to them”. At this stage, “Evidence shows that the general public, including young and disadvantaged people, (…), still have an insufficient awareness of the positive impact of the social economy”. Indeed, social economy offers, among others, employment opportunities but it is also providing inspiration to young generations to run more socially and environmentally responsible businesses.
• Ensure the participation of WISEs and NGOs providing social services to young people at risk of poverty in the process of implementation and policy development. This would make it possible to avoid poor mapping of the challenges & to develop appropriate intervention services aimed at young people.
• Monitor, through the European Semester process, Member States’ drafting of national action plans that include targeted actions to translate EU priorities into national context specifically tackling ambitious solutions for young people’s challenges and needs.
• Reconsider the scope of actions of the European Solidarity Corps. Indeed, it was a pity to see the withdrawal of the “Traineeship and Jobs” action of the EU Solidarity Corps. Solidarity actions & volunteering foreseen in the current EU Solidarity corps are good means to reach young people socio-professional inclusion but cannot fully replace a real working experience and skills acquisition that have a positive impact on future working opportunities of young people.
Read full responseResponse to Strengthening social dialogue
19 Oct 2022
ENSIE, the European Network for Social Integration Enterprises, represents the interests of national and regional networks of "Work Integration Social Enterprises" (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying pillars: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, they are at the core of the economic system and present a strong pedagogical dimension. In addition, they do contribute to almost all European Pillar of Social Rights principles implementation through their daily activities and functioning.
ENSIE welcomes the European Commission’s (EC) initiative to support and reinforce the social dialogue at the EU and national levels as well as the EC’s recommendation to public authorities to reinforce social dialogue and consult social partners when designing relevant policies and legislation. However, the social dialogue could be more inclusive if it involves social economy actors, work integration social enterprises representatives included.
First of all, it is important to recognise their role as employers organisations.
Secondly, social economy and WISEs representatives’ involvement would help to reach the goal of “a more Social Europe”. In specific, WISEs are key actors to guarantee the achievement of the promotion of fair and equal access to labour market and social inclusion priority. For this reason, it is important to strengthen their presence and role in the social dialogue within EU Member States.
Finally, information regarding upcoming consultations with social partners and social economy/WISEs representatives should be widely available at Member States level. An efficient and transparent organisation mechanism should be put in place in every Member State to ensure regular dialogues with social partners. The establishment of such organisation should be closely monitored and supported by the European Commission.
Read full responseResponse to Developing social economy framework conditions
30 Sept 2022
ENSIE recommends the following elements to be included:
A) A proposal containing common features of WISEs as they are a specific type of social enterprises and a subset of the social economy (SE).
WISEs are organisations who’s main objective is the professional integration of groups with support needs (people with disabilities or or disadvantaged persons). Via the creation of stable jobs (permanent model) and/or transitional work experiences aimed at the integration of those persons in the open labour market via training and job coaching (springboard/transitional model). WISEs are a specific type of independent businesses combining a market orientation and a social mission and are economic operators with at least 30 % of the employees being disabled or disadvantaged workers. They promote educational and training programmes based on the existing individual capabilities and potential and provide workers in need with regular employment contracts. WISES profits are mainly reinvested in their main activity aiming to achieve their social objective.
B) Recognise WISEs as key actors for social and professional integration. This should be linked with:
-Financial support, through aid for the recruitment of the disadvantaged or severely disadvantaged workers and support for training in the General Block Exemption Regulation, which needs to be revised.
-Support services and /or fiscal (exemption from social security, taxes on wages of workers in integration).
These benefits should apply to all types of target groups and WISEs as organisations and as specific group of employers. Crisis measures should apply to WISEs and SE enterprises and their key role in re- and upskilling should be recognised.
C) WISEs networks should be considered as civil society & employer organisations and be included in civil and social dialogue. Their operations should be supported with core funding/grants for projects.
D) National social economy strategies are advisable for the smooth operation and development of SE and WISEs. Although not an obligation in the SEAP, the Recommendation should stress their importance.
E) Support the partnerships between for profit enterprises and WISEs, via sub-contracting in social procurement as well as inclusive employment policies offered by traditional companies with WISEs as disadvantaged workers support service providers.
F) Structural funds are not mentioned in the SEAP. In relation to ESF+, it should be clarified to Member States (MS) that the funding can also support SE (and WISEs) networks. These are important as they support the sector itself. The Commission should provide guidance to MS in the Recommendation related to structural funds and the SE. The real involvement of WISEs national/regional representatives in the monitoring committees of the ESIF is necessary but they are now often excluded.
G) Expand, promote and enhance the practice of socially responsible public procurement, in particular a systematic implementation of work integration social clauses in public procurement next to green clauses. Both at MS and EU institutions level. Social and green criteria should be increasingly made mandatory. ENSIE demands a better implementation by MS of Directive 2014/24/EU and more support measures for local and regional authorities.
ENSIE asks the Commission:
H) Current exceptions concerning state aid should also be increased and new exceptions regarding SE enterprises and WISEs are welcomed. The revision of the GBER is foreseen after December 2023 and modifications aimed to improve conditions for the social economy and WISEs were envisaged in the SEAP. This revision is key for the sector and should be realised.
I) ENSIE asks the Commission to improve access to funding for WISEs. WISEs should not be left behind when trying to access EU funding because of their different legal status. ENSIE calls for earmarking 10% of relevant EU funds to WISEs and other SE actors in upcoming programming periods.
Read full responseResponse to Improving the provision of digital skills in education and training
15 Sept 2022
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are enterprises at the core of the economic system; and they develop a strong pedagogical dimension.
ENSIE welcomes the initiative of the European Commission addressing the promotion of digital skills at all stages of education and training. Still, provided the focus of ENSIE is on WISEs, which are providing disadvantaged groups with adult learning opportunities through on-the-job training, the network points out that training for digital skills with a focus on informatics should target not only school education and VET, but also non-formal and informal education and training providers, such as WISEs.
In addition, among the challenges related to digital skills, the need to reach out to disadvantaged groups is not mentioned in the call for evidence, while vulnerable people are often the ones in most need of such skills and competences, given the discrimination they already face in the labour market.
The support of best practises for the provision of digital skills, including development and sharing of related content, shall envisage practises coming from the WISE sector as well, given the high relevance of these non-formal and informal education providers towards vulnerable groups. Indeed, some WISEs are already acting as excellence in their regional or local context, such as Rezo Social et Lulu dans ma rue, providing their engagement in work integration of disadvantaged people through digital work. Also, the Blueprint project B-WISE, led by ENSIE and EASPD and implemented by a total of 30 partners across Europe, is providing very good examples of WISEs active in the field of technology and digital skills. The project would also benefit from fostered digital skills assessment, certification and mutual recognition, as highlighted in the call for evidence, given that currently non-formal and informal education is still struggling to get recognised.
The strengthening of synergies between the formal education and training sector with the private sector and the civil society is key in this sense, as involvement of and exchange between different actors at stake can have a positive impact on WISEs as well as on disadvantaged groups to avoid leaving anyone behind and aim at a fair and inclusive digital transition.
Read full responseResponse to Erasmus+ 2021-2027 interim evaluation and Erasmus+ 2014-2020 final evaluation
12 Sept 2022
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are enterprises at the core of the economic system; and they develop a strong pedagogical dimension.
ENSIE, together with it network members based in different EU countries across Europe, has been participating in several Erasmus+ projects and has noticed several improvements all long the years of implementation.
First, themes and priorities addressed are taking into account the changes of the education and training needs of the civil society, which are also trying to match with the evolution of the labour market. The stress on skills, in particular upskilling and reskilling, as well as on the green and digital transition is key to encourage organisations working with local communities on the ground to take up analysis and findings and transfer them at national and local level. The role of WISEs, in this sense, is crucial, provided that they are implementing both non-formal and informal training through on-the-job tailored adult learning programmes.
Second, ENSIE noted that more attention is now paid to the social and professional inclusion, especially when it comes to disadvantaged groups, often discriminated on the labour market. ENSIE and its members are, in fact, advocating for more opportunities towards vulnerable groups, who are not able to access the same chances as other groups of the society. Erasmus+, especially in the new programming period 2021-27, has clearly outlined the importance of addressing inclusion of people with support needs in several calls for proposals.
Moreover, Key Action 2 projects focusing on cooperation among organisations and institutions are supporting small organisations, not always used to deal with Erasmus+ projects, to foster networking, exchange of good practises, as well as research and analysis to better acknowledge the needs of the ongoing contexts and boost partnerships at transnational level.
Simplification in financial management requirements when implementing Erasmus+ projects has been very much appreciated, given that non-profit organisations often struggle in complying with high bureaucracy and administrative levels of management, esteemed as time-consuming and hard, especially when the organisation’s staff is not composed of a lot of members.
In addition, ENSIE very much appreciates the possibility to apply to European level towards EACEA for cooperation partnerships (Key Action 2) besides the one for applications at national level towards the national agencies. In particular, this gives the opportunity for ENSIE, whose geographical scope is at European level, to take up coordination within consortia and to be able to involve new stakeholder organisations in Erasmus+ projects.
Also, the possibility to involve organisations based in third countries (not part of the EU) as partners is a clear added value of the new programming period. ENSIE is trying indeed to better involve its members not based in EU Member States to spread out adult learning opportunities for disadvantaged groups.
For more information, please contact Martina Paterniti, Project Officer, martina.paterniti@ensie.org
Read full responseResponse to Review of the de minimis aid Regulation
25 Jul 2022
The European Network for Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests
of national and regional networks of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) striving
for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are
defined by three identifying pillars: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social
and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are at the core of the economic
system; they present a strong pedagogical dimension.
ENSIE welcomes the European Commission’s initiative to give feedback and comments
for the up-coming review of the de-minimis regulation and wants, together with its
members, restate some suggestions to improve the current regulation further, when
reviewed for 2023.
First of all, ENSIE and its members agree on the need of a revised threshold, which takes
into account inflation for 2014-2030 and reflects economic developments. Added to this it
is crucial that if the de minimis threshold is raised under Regulation 1407/2013, the
threshold for services of general interest (SGEI) set in Regulation 360/2012 must be
raised as well.
Following the EU Action Plan for the Social Economy, which was approved last December
2021, it would be crucial to add another exception in Article 1 of the de minimis Regulation:
“aid granted to work integration social enterprises (sheltered workshops and economic
operators whose main aim is the social and professional integration of disabled or
disadvantaged persons or may provide for such contracts to be performed in the context
of sheltered employment programmes, provided that at least 30 % of the employees of
those workshops, economic operators or programmes are disabled or disadvantaged
workers according to the articles 2 and 20 of the Directive 2014/24/EU). In this framework, the total amount of de minimis aid granted by a Member State must be proportional to the
size of the enterprise: a percentage in relation to the number of workers in the enterprise
with an established minimum threshold and an established maximum threshold over a
period of three fiscal years.”
With this amendment, ENSIE wants to support job creation within social economy, in
particular in WISEs (this sector has been recognised within the Blueprint for sectoral
cooperation on skills): the more jobs are created by the enterprises, the higher the amount
of de minimis aid that should be allowed to increase their social and environmental impact
(for more info on environmental impact see also RREUSE network’s call for evidence).
ENSIE believes that the use of the same threshold scheme as the one applicable to
mainstream businesses is a discouraging approach that does not take into consideration
the nature of limited profitability of the non-profit entities and the distribution of the created
surplus towards actors other than shareholders characterising the scope of economic
activity of work integration social enterprises. In addition, the current threshold scheme
does not consider the local/national dimension of WISEs’ economic activities, which does
not provide the same risks of distorting the functioning of the internal market. In other
words, knowing that their economic activities remain at national or local level, the potential
competitive advantage caused by the suggested new de minimis aid scheme would not
have a significant impact at the EU level and on other businesses operating a similar
economic activity: the EU must not penalise the medium and large work integration social
enterprises having inclusive and fair objectives, by creating green jobs for vulnerable
categories of people for the sake of an inclusive circular transition. Such a different and
proportional approach proposed by ENSIE is, thus, better adapted to the enterprises’
reality.
Concerning the transparency, ENSIE and its members agree and suggest a special
section within the single register. Finally, ENSIE asks for a proper public consultation on the draft review...
Read full responseSocial Integration Network Urges Job Metrics for Circular Economy
3 Jun 2022
Message — The organization proposes a new indicator measuring job creation for vulnerable groups within the circular economy. They advocate for integrating social considerations into environmental legislation to support social economy actors.12
Why — Formalizing their social contribution helps social enterprises maintain their market position against commercial competitors.34
Impact — Commercial companies might face disadvantage if they cannot match the social impact of specialized enterprises.5
Response to Promoting sustainability in consumer after-sales
5 Apr 2022
The European Network for Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying pillars: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, they are at the core of the economic system and present a strong pedagogical dimension.
ENSIE and its members welcome the Commission announcement of a proposal for amendments of the Sale of Goods Directive and the possibility of a new legislative proposal on the right to repair. Indeed, the Social Economy and Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) in particular are often active in the re-use and repair sector. This was confirmed by the European Commission in the Circular Economy Action Plan, in which it acknowledged the “potential of the social economy, which is a pioneer in job creation linked to the circular economy…”
Therefore, ENSIE and its members are strongly in favour of “Option 3 High Intervention”. They, however, want to underline that repairing should be made easy for everyone and not only for producers and sellers. For this, interoperability between products from the same category should be encouraged, the products should be easily repairable and spare material should be accessible to everyone. The European Commission should ensure that repairing is not only for producers or primary sellers but it is accessible to everyone. The sub-option that ENSIE and its members prefer will depend on the possibility they offer to ensure those criteria.
Social economy organisations and WISEs are often active in the reuse and repair sector, providing jobs to the most disadvantaged, helping them to develop new skills that enable them to integrate the labour market on the longer term. For examples WISEs are working to refurbish discard ICT material and then sell it to NGOs or schools. They should be able to keep this part of their work and to be encouraged to develop it. This work is crucial and should be encouraged through legal and financial incentives, starting form the acknowledgement of the work of the sector, as the Commission is doing within the Social Economy Action Plan, but could also be done through VAT exemptions or reductions.
Finally, ENSIE calls the Commission to organise, at the EU level, raising awareness campaigns to promote second-hand, repair and reuse. They should especially underline the role played by social economy organisations and WISEs in particular in the reuse and repair sector as they combine social and ecological impact. Those campaign can target both the general public but also companies and public authorities which can have use procurement and public procurement to support those organisations. This was showcased by ENSIE during its #BuyResponsible campaign.
Read full responseResponse to Recommendation on minimum income
1 Apr 2022
ENSIE and its members have the following recommendations regarding the minimum income:
- Avoid the financial trap : allow workers to combine part-time employment revenues with (part) of the minimum income.
- Better and more personalised support by:
* ensuring that minimum income beneficiaries are supported to be integrated into the labour market.
* supporting beneficiaries through active labour market policies should be developed with better coordination at the local level between the different actors. Those support actions should be personalised, depending on the beneficiaries’ profile, starting with an evaluation of the situation, the needs and the establishment of personalised plan (with trainings, internships, …) and afterwards individual case management. The beneficiaries should be monitored and supported throughout their pathways.
* The personalised plans should be established quickly and accompanied by adequate other support measures such as childcare or facilitated access to transport.
- WISEs and minimum beneficiaries
* Recognise minimum income beneficiaries as a target group for WISEs.
* Encourage a better coordination between minimum income providers, social services and WISEs.
* Relying on WISEs to host minimum income beneficiaries as interns is not always a good idea as they can’t really support the integration on the labour market with such a short time.
- Better accessibility :
* develop one stop shops for minimum income beneficiaries.
* minimum income schemes should not be only online procedure and government should ensure that there is still a possibility to apply to social benefit in person.
For more details about ENSIE position and good examples, please consult the attached document.
Read full responseResponse to 2022 Strategic Foresight Report
16 Mar 2022
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are enterprises at the core of the economic system; and they develop a strong pedagogical dimension.
First of all, ENSIE wishes to underline that the twin transition, green and digital, will be a success only if it is also a just transition. It is crucial that the transition benefit to everyone and that no one is left behind. This means that dedicated measures must be taken to support the most disadvantaged in the transition and that monitoring indicators, whenever possible, should include a specific category for people with support needs disadvantaged people. The categorization will depend on the type of indicator.
Here are a few areas where a just and social aspect of the twin transition should be considered. E-waste is going to be a huge issue for the twin transition and measures should be taken to encourage reuse and repair ICT. Nowadays, a lot of social enterprises and WISEs in particular, are already active in this area, combining reuse and repair activities with the upskilling and reskilling of disadvantaged workers. This has a triple benefit of reducing e-waste, providing ICT material at a lower cost and helping people develop new digital skills. This type of initiatives should be encouraged and supported, this could be done, for example, through dedicated tax exemptions.
Another issue is the risk of automation of some processes in waste management, or the development of driverless vehicles. Today, numerous WISEs are working in the waste management sector, providing various jobs to the most vulnerable, from collecting to sorting or driving. Some of those tasks could be put at risk with automation. Indeed, some other actors could be able to propose the same service at a lower cost, preventing WISEs to stay on the market and continue the integration trough work of people in need. To avoid this situation, several steps actions could be taken, such as ensuring that in public procurement procedures concerning waste management social clauses or reserved markets are included, tax exemptions in this area could also be implemented. Finally, there should be a strategy to ensure that the skills needed for the transition in the concerned WISEs are identified and dedicated upskilling and reskilling programmes are put in place for all WISEs workers.
ENSIE also underlines that all technologies developed in the next years to face the twin transition should be accessible for everyone, in order to spread the benefits of the transition to all.
Skills is the most important non-technological factor for the twin transition, this is why everyone should be able to access to upskilling and reskilling to be ready for the transition. Targeted actions, towards the most disadvantaged should be prepared in order to leave no one behind.
Strategic foresight on the twin transition is important, but it must take into account the social and fair aspect of the transition to ensure it is just and includes everyone.. There are already some actions at the EU level that aims for a just transition, but it should be kept in mind and mainstreamed in all EU policies regarding the twin transition.
Read full responseResponse to European Year of Youth (2022)
15 Dec 2021
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises (ENSIE) represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at the European level for, among others, young people and NEETs.
ENSIE welcomes the EU initiative of the European Year of Youth 2022, it is important to voice young people across Europe, tackle their needs and challenges but also to involve them in the policy-making processes and their implementation, especially in the current context of the recovery from the crisis and the twin transitions.
Nevertheless, ENSIE calls the EU to also consider and raise the awareness among young people on the social economy (SE) actors and in particular work integration social enterprises (WISEs) and their potential for NEETs and young people in general. The recently published Social Economy Action Plan underlines that “WISEs are a common type of social enterprise across Europe. They specialise in providing work opportunities for disadvantaged people”. It also underlines that “younger generations are demonstrating a high interest in sustainable development and, as a result, the social economy can be of interest to them”. At this stage, “Evidence shows that the general public, including young and disadvantaged people, social partners, stakeholders and funders, still have an insufficient awareness of the positive impact of the social economy”.
Indeed, the SE actors/WISEs do offer young people opportunities to find a quality job but also contribute to the provision of upskilling and reskilling opportunities for them. This business model has an individual approach to each person and makes education and training accessible for all.
Furthermore, the EU mentions the importance of young people to participate in the democratic life of Europe and ENSIE fully supports that as dialogue, participation and inclusion are key to successful policies for youth. Once again, the SE enterprises reinforce the participative and democratic governance in enterprises. Indeed, young workers in WISEs are full members of the WISE management and participate in the governance of the enterprise. This governance model is a proven instrument to ensure successful and inclusive measures, as showcased in the Rights to Grow project.
To conclude, ENSIE has high expectations from the European Year of Youth and hopes that 2022 will tackle challenges as the acquisition of necessary skills and administrative burden for instance and have a concrete positive impact on young people’s employability, empowerment and education.
Finally, there is a need to raise awareness at national levels on Youth policies and engage dialogues with the target group itself and their representatives. The participation of interested stakeholders as civil society organisations in the shaping of national and European policies is crucial and should be promoted as it reinforces the feeling of justice, citizenship but also empowerment of citizens. National coordinators should play a key role in this context.
Read full responseResponse to Policy Program - Digital Decade Compass
13 Dec 2021
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are enterprises at the core of the economic system; and they develop a strong pedagogical dimension. WISEs are represented by different economic actors striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment, Sheltered Workshops, Social Cooperatives, organisations offering counselling and training in order to make this type of social enterprises more visible.
ENSIE welcomes the initiative of the European Commission aimed at establishing a robust framework to deliver on the vision set by the Communication on Europe’s Digital Decade but calls on the European Parliament and the Council to ensure inclusive digital transition, by committing to improve accessibility and digital inclusion disadvantaged groups in all areas of public and private life, with a specific focus on work integration.
Making sure everyone has the same rights in terms of digital accessibility entails particular initiatives to address to those who do not have digital skills required for accessing the labour market. To this purpose, to empower and offer choice of products and services to citizens and businesses, as well as to address any strategic weaknesses, vulnerabilities and high-risk dependencies, it is fundamental to ensure a capillary intervention towards vulnerable groups far away from the digital sector. Some WISEs are already acting as excellence in their regional or local context, such as Rezo Social et Lulu dans ma rue, providing their engagement in work integration of disadvantaged people through digital work. This kind of WISEs also needs to be supported through the “Path to the Digital Decade” proposal. According to the proposal, by 2030 at least 75% of European enterprises should have taken up cloud computing services, big data and Artificial Intelligence and more than 90% of European SMEs should have reached at least a basic level of digital intensity. Accordingly, specific targets for WISEs, which are mainly SMEs and at the same time social cooperatives, associations, foundations, sheltered workshops etc., should be set up.
Furthermore, as already stated in ENSIE feedback on Digital Compass Policy Programme (July 2021), the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) should foresee some specific indicators for disadvantaged groups in order to ensure a smooth and inclusive transition towards a digital economy and society by avoiding to leave anyone behind. These indicators should take into account the vulnerabilities of such people as well as the obstacles they face when approaching the labour market.
Accordingly, ENSIE flags the need to involve WISEs representatives into the stakeholder consultations foreseen in Article 11 aimed at collecting information and develop recommended policies, measures and actions for implementing this decision. The involvement of WISEs is fundamental to ensure that the necessary measures are undertaken for an inclusive and equal access to digitalisation to all actors of the labour market, also the ones operating within the social economy and the work integration of disadvantaged people.
Read full responseResponse to Social and labour aspects of the climate transition
19 Nov 2021
ENSIE is glad to answer this call for evidence, this is an opportunity for ENSIE to underline the points made a few weeks ago during the Stakeholder dialogue to which the organisation participated.
The European Network for Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying pillars: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, that are at the core of the economic system and which presents a strong pedagogical dimension.
Here are the points ENSIE wishes to highlight:
- The transition will lead to the creation of new (quality) jobs: this job creation must have a special focus on the low skilled workers.
- the EU should have a more holistic approach in policy making for the transition and especially link the social and the green aspects of the transitions through common policies.
- Active labour market measures should be an important part of the policies supporting the transition from a labour market point of view.
- It is important to mainstream the recommandation, by refering to all the existing related policies (EPSR, Agenda 2030,...) and to ensure the future related policies will take into account the recommandation
- Ensure there is a coherence between all the texts currently under discussion: Council Recommendation, Pact for Skills in socila and proximity economy, Social economy action plan.
- A focus should be made on the role of the social economy sector to adress at the same time social and climate related issues.
- The focus on reskilling and upskilling as well as on life-long learning should include dedicated programmes for the most disadvantaged people.
- ENSIE underlines the importance to ensure that all civil society organisations are consulted and taken into account in the process.
- There should be a dedicated funding for social enterprises.
- Encourage best practices exchanges.
Read full responseMeeting with Santina Bertulessi (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)
26 Oct 2021 · Webinar on ENSIE’s work on the European Semester
Response to Policy Program - Digital Decade Compass
22 Jul 2021
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are enterprises at the core of the economic system; and they develop a strong pedagogical dimension. WISEs are represented by different economic actors striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment, Sheltered Workshops, Social Cooperatives, organisations offering counselling and training in order to make this type of social enterprises more visible.
ENSIE welcomes the initiative of the European Commission aimed at establishing a robust framework to deliver on the vision set by the Communication on Europe’s Digital Decade, but calls on the European institutions to ensure inclusive digital transition, by committing to improve accessibility and digital inclusion disadvantaged groups in all areas of public and private life, with a specific focus on work integration.
Making sure everyone has the same rights in terms of digital accessibility entails particular initiatives to address to those who do not have digital skills required for accessing the labour market. To this purpose, to empower and offer choice of products and services to citizens and businesses, as well as to address any strategic weaknesses, vulnerabilities and high-risk dependencies, it is fundamental to ensure a capillary intervention towards vulnerable groups far away from the digital sector. Some WISEs are already acting as excellence in their regional or local context, such as Rezo Social et Lulu dans ma rue, providing their engagement in work integration of disadvantaged people through digital work. This kind of WISEs also needs to be supported through the initiative of the Digital Compass Policy Programme and related public funding.
Furthermore, the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) should foresee some specific indicators for disadvantaged groups in order to ensure a smooth and inclusive transition towards a digital economy and society by avoiding to leave anyone behind. These indicators should take into account the vulnerabilities of such people as well as the obstacles they face when approaching the labour market.
Accordingly, ENSIE flags the need to involve WISEs representatives into the stakeholder forum to be established in line with the Communication and composed of private and public actors, to ensure that the necessary measures are undertaken for an inclusive and equal access to digitalisation to all actors of the labour market, also the ones operating within the social economy and the work integration of disadvantaged people.
Read full responseResponse to Declaration of Digital Principles
7 Jun 2021
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are enterprises at the core of the economic system; and they develop a strong pedagogical dimension. WISEs are represented by different economic actors striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment, Sheltered Workshops, Social Cooperatives, organisations offering counselling and training in order to make this type of social enterprises more visible.
ENSIE welcomes the initiative of the European Commission aimed at a set of principles that guide the European way for the digital society, but calls to add a specific principle addressing disadvantaged groups by complying with the fundamental principle of non-discrimination.
Amongst the principles mentioned, ENSIE highlights the “universal access to internet services” and the “universal digital education and skills for people to take an active part in society and in democratic processes”. Even though the access to internet and digital education and skills needs to be universal, special attention should be paid to disadvantaged groups. In order to achieve an equal society allowing equal access to digital opportunities despite the starting conditions, specific provisions should address vulnerable groups, by taking into account existing barriers. NEETs, the elderly, ex-prisoners, migrants, people with mental disabilities are examples of disadvantaged groups having difficulties in accessing digital services, such as internet connection, and who should receive support to avoid any discrimination when achieving a European digital society.
Read full responseResponse to Education for environmental sustainability
11 May 2021
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are enterprises at the core of the economic system, and they developed a strong pedagogical dimension.
ENSIE welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to improve education and awareness about environmental sustainability and the SDGs. However, ENSIE asks the Commission to consider WISEs has tools to improve the education about environmental sustainability in a life-long learning approach.
WISEs have a fundamental role in the development and acquisition of skills for disadvantaged workers, given that the work environment is the ideal framework to train and build capacities for job development. As precised in the Roadmap,”Environmental sustainability cannot be addressed as a separate subject or topic but needs to be integrated across the entire curriculum”. WISEs have a natural role to play in raising awareness on this topic, and this role should be acknowledge in the tools developed through the future Council Recommendation.
This is even more the case as WISEs are often working in economic sectors active on environmental issues such as recycling and re-using, the circular economy in general, agriculture, social farming, … Their employees are therefore naturally aware of the necessity to protect the environment and how their enterprise is working in this direction.
Read full responseResponse to Social Economy Action Plan
26 Apr 2021
The European Network for Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying pillars: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, that are at the core of the economic system and which presents a strong pedagogical dimension.
In this contribution, ENSIE together with its members has tried to put together all the main concerns and requests for supporting the development and maintenance of the Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) in the EU and the countries of the European neighbourhood.
WISEs are indeed crucial actors and contributors to a sustainable, inclusive and fair society which is needed for an adequate recovery from the current crisis. The results of the latest ENSIE’s annual “Impact WISEs study” demonstrated that WISEs do have a positive social impact on disadvantaged people. An emblematic example is that, in 2019, among the 395 WISEs and 10 136 disadvantaged workers that took part in the study, 82% of disadvantaged workers found a job in the same WISE or another one or on the traditional labour market, became self-employed or started an education programme.
ENSIE points concerns WISEs and legislative challenges (Social economy enterprises & WISEs definition, GBER, de minimis, de minimis & COVID-19, SGEI, SME definition, VAT) WISEs and access to market (sustainable public procurement and CSR), WISEs and access to finance (ESIF, active labour market measures, measuring social and economic impact), WISEs mainstreamed in the European Semester & RRF, WISEs mainstreamed in EU other policies (European Pillar of Social Rights, Youth Guarantee, Circular Economy, Skills and digitalisation) and WISEs and external dimension (key actions needed: WISEs target groups common definition, good practices exchange and general recommandations).
You will find more details about the proposals in the attached file, which contains also two annexes.
Read full responseResponse to Individual Learning Accounts – A possibility to empower individuals to undertake training
20 Apr 2021
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level (more detail on the attached document).
ENSIE welcomes the initiative of impact assessment on Individual Learning Schemes (ILS), given the high sensitivity of the topic. Notably, within the proposed framework, ENSIE suggests taking into account a series of elements, which are key for the assessment.
Even though universality is a key principle that needs to be respected in order to ensure equal access to all people, within and outside the work environment, specific provision should address who needs to train the most, i.e. low-skilled adults, unemployed, workers with jobs at high risk of automation. ENSIE calls the European Commission at addressing inclusiveness through specific provisions for people with support needs, as it is currently the case in France within the framework of ILAs (“Compte Professionnel de Formation”) – ENSIE’s member, Chantier Ecole, provides details on this issue. Targeting in particular disadvantaged groups shall be done through guidance and skills assessment and more specifically through:
-Allocation of adequate funding, meaning more financial support to life-long learning (LLL), by taking into account that training hours should go along with training leaves with income;
-Appropriate information and communication campaign by collaborating with key actors, such as WISEs, that are directly in contact with people with support needs and that can convey way of functioning of ILS through their respective target groups at local, regional and national level;
-Guidance to counselling sessions, which is essential to support people’s choice on Continuing Vocational Education and Training (CVET) as well as on career paths – WISEs are already active in this sense;
-Skills assessment and validation, by ensuring, on the one hand, alignment between labour market and upskilling and reskilling initiatives, and on the other, recognition of entitlements as well as their portability, so as to make rights portable across jobs and countries and combinable over the years;
-Access to training to unemployed people, in order to avoid further inequalities between who is already in the labour market and who cannot currently access it–one of the weaknesses of the “Compte Professionnel de Formation” in France is that no funding is allocated during the unemployment period.
Overall, ENSIE highlights the importance of incentives, quality of training, awareness raising and financial sustainability about ILS. Hence, the option 2 listed within the Roadmap, training voucher schemes, is not a choice ENSIE would support for two leading reasons. First, asking individuals, especially the ones belonging to disadvantaged groups, for a co-financing to the trainings is not appropriate considering the high barriers to CVET already existing. Indeed, among these last ones, the main are money, time and family. Second, training vouchers do not allow for any accumulation of rights or resources over time, which would accordingly lead to a further fragmentation of the needed skills within the labour market.
Furthermore, the link between employer and the provided training strongly needs to be taken into account, otherwise ILAs risk removing the responsibility for training away from employers, by leaving the burden on the workers, which is not acceptable, especially when it comes to disadvantaged groups, who are the most affected by the innovation the labour market is facing nowadays.
ENSIE, also, underlines that all training should not come through ILAs or, in general, ILS, given that the LLL is composed of several initiatives, which improve access to those who need to train the most, who are often out of the labour market and, accordingly, need proper upskilling and reskilling in order to access it.
Read full responseResponse to Micro-credentials
19 Mar 2021
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are enterprises at the core of the economic system; and they develop a strong pedagogical dimension. WISEs are represented by different economic actors striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment, Sheltered Workshops, Social Cooperatives, organisations offering counselling and training in order to make this type of social enterprises more visible.
ENSIE welcomes the initiative aiming at harmonising the micro-credentials provision across Europe by encouraging EU level providers of micro-credentials, including European Universities and Centres of Vocational excellence. However, ENSIE regrets that WISEs have not been included as entities able to provide such recognition yet. WISEs have a fundamental role in the development and acquisition of skills for disadvantaged workers, given that the work environment is the ideal framework to train and build capacities for job development. The Network is indeed concerned that the European Commission has been developed this topic without involving key actors, such as social enterprises, and WISEs in particular, on identifying the necessary tools for such a Recommendation. Given that the European Commission wishes to “build on existing tools”, ENSIE strongly suggests the recognition of WISEs as adapted entities to provide upskilling and reskilling, especially when trainings and capacity-building activities are provided.
ENSIE currently is allying forces with other 29 partners to implement the B-WISE project, whose aim is to build a Blueprint for sectoral cooperation on skills in WISEs. The involvement of WISEs in the definition of the European approach to micro-credentials for lifelong learning and employability is also key in order to achieve better results in the framework of the B-WISE project and it would foster employability chances for disadvantaged workers as a whole.
ENSIE agrees that a more flexible approach is needed to recognise and valorise the knowledge and the skills of workers, by adapting to the social, economic and pedagogical innovation we are currently facing. Micro-credentials, in fact, can improve disadvantaged workers’ possibilities to access flexible lifelong learning and can complement upskilling and reskilling. Nevertheless, ENSIE invites the European institutions to tackle the lack of access to micro-credentials for disadvantaged workers, who are facing many difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative should boost the access to opportunities for people with more support needs in the labour market.
It is crucial that common European standards will be developed with all relevant stakeholders, quality assurance and recognition authorities and Member States by aiming at inclusion of key actors and avoiding fragmentation. In particular, WISEs play a fundamental role by promoting and using the work-based learning methodology in CVET, addressing mainly people in disadvantaged situations and social exclusion, so as to improve their employability by providing the necessary skills.
For more information please contact Martina Paterniti, Project Officer – martina.paterniti@ensie.org, www.ensie.org
Read full responseResponse to Europe’s digital decade: 2030 digital targets
8 Mar 2021
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they are enterprises at the core of the economic system; and they develop a strong pedagogical dimension.
ENSIE appreciates that the Communication will aim at putting in place the new necessary tools to put people at the centre of the digital transition and to accelerate collaboration for enhanced technological sovereignty. Citizens, and workers, should indeed be the core of any digital transformation that our society is facing and disadvantaged groups are often the first suffering of exclusion due to lack of training and skills.
ENSIE welcomes the relevance given to building capacities, in particular digital education and skills ensuring that Europe trains enough of and offers best opportunities for digital engineers and specialists to deliver on EU’s digital ambition. However, ENSIE invites the European Institutions to take into account the need of training and education towards all the workers and, in particular, disadvantaged groups, which are facing increasing critical times especially since the pandemic has started. Some parts of the population are particularly exposed to the digital divide, such as the elderly, the low-skilled and migrants. In the INNO-WISEs project, to which ENSIE participated, studied the skills gaps in WISEs and proposed solutions to overcome them. Briefly, digital exclusion needs to be tacked and the network will work harder together with EASPD and the other 30 (?) partners within the Blueprint for Cooperation on Work Integration Social Enterprises for producing a strategy setting out concrete actions and priorities to address skills, especially digital, gaps.
ENSIE also agrees with the focus on digital transformation of business, in particular SMEs, given that WISEs are often SMEs with a focus on the insertion of the most disadvantaged. This should be taken into account in this Communication as they have a focus on helping disadvantaged groups with concrete tools, such as training, technologies, ICT, platforms, etc. European WISEs should get access to technologies and digital skills that are globally competitive in terms of performance and cost . Hence, strong partnerships between education and training providers and the private sector are key to achieving digital transformation, and reducing the digital skills gap by combining training activities with workplace experience.
The proposed framework to foster scaling up European capacities, develop and deploy critical technologies including through Multi Country Project is very appreciated. There is indeed a need for harmonisation across countries on the conditions for participation and support that should be tackled, given the huge disparities still existing between European countries. Common projects allowing exchange of best practices as well as fostering collaborations between different stakeholders in different countries is a means to boost harmonisation.
For more information please contact Martina Paterniti, Project Officer – martina.paterniti@ensie.org, www.ensie.org
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of the Council Recommendation on Upskilling Pathways
9 Feb 2021
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and
regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated
forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are
enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people; they
are enterprises at the core of the economic system; and they develop a strong pedagogical dimension.
WISEs promote and use the work-based learning methodologies in Continuing Vocational Education and
Training (CVET), addressing mainly people in disadvantaged situations and social exclusion, improving their
employability by providing the necessary basic, soft and transversal skills, thanks to work placement
accompanied by job coaching, mentoring, balance of skills, identification of an individual career path, job
shadowing. WISEs are at the core of work-based learning, characterised by non-formal learning methods,
and should be recognised as such.
ENSIE welcomes the initiative on promoting the access to basic skills for low-skilled adults and wish to
emphasise that WISEs would also be the ideal environment for the competence improvement for adults
belonging to disadvantaged groups, also when it comes to long-term training of employees. Upskilling
should be accessible for people both in the working environment and out of the working environment. The
workplace, which is the place where social interaction is present, is an environment conducive to the
development of the needed work and key professional and social skills. Hence, working environment, on
one hand, gives the opportunity to develop some key skills, and on the other, can be exploited as a didactic
environment to respond to pedagogical objectives. WISEs, in other words, can provide a series of daily
situations to concretely face and put in practice what they are learning.
There is a need to have a more methodical plan on how to reach vulnerable people and include marginalised
groups, e.g. migrants, women and young adults, who are heavily affected by the ongoing crisis due to the
pandemic. As the Austrian ENSIE’s member, Arbeit+, highlights, the newly established national training
programme “Corona Job Offensive” aims at providing further education and vocational training in priority
fields such as care work, IT/digitisation, metal work and ecology for 100.000 people. It will be crucial to
monitor that the programme will be accessible to those who need it most, in order to create opportunities
for excluded and marginalised people.
ENSIE appreciates the close cooperation, which needs to be put in place, between Member States authorities
and social partners and education and training providers. Nevertheless, the Network thinks that local and
regional authorities should also be involved in the Upskilling Pathways in order to achieve a bigger impact
within the EU Member States as well as to involve WISEs working on a regional/local dimension.ENSIE also regrets, together with its Slovenian member ASSE, that currently there is no mechanism in place
for the application of counselling for socially disadvantaged employees to address fundamental issues such
as their financial literacy, executions, and domestic violence, property settlement of illegally used land and
real estate, and usury.
Read full responseMeeting with Christoph Nerlich (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit), Santina Bertulessi (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit) and
17 Dec 2020 · Next Generation EU and RRF/European action plan of social economy/The social consequence of the Covid crisis
Response to Action plan for the development of EU organic production
22 Oct 2020
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, they are enterprises at the core of the economic system and they developed a strong pedagogical dimension.
More and more WISEs are active in the agricultural sector, those organisations have therefore two positive impacts. First, as they work towards the integration of the most disadvantaged people, they are having, by definition, a strong social impact. Second, they are often organic farms working at a small scale, trying to respect the cycle of plants, to not use chemicals, to work with local varieties and to distribute their production directly to consumer, they have a positive impact on the preservation of the biodiversity and on the environment.
ENSIE supports the European Commission 25% target for organic agricultural land by 2030, however, we regret that the social economy sector is not taken into consideration in the Roadmap, nor in the Farm to Fork or the Biodiversity strategies. Whereas, work integration social enterprises and other social enterprises are doing a good job in developing organic farms all over the EU, most often on tight budget, employing the most disadvantaged and giving them a job and new skills. The issue is not only the acknowledgment of their work, it is also their funding. Indeed, if some budget is allocated to social farming (measures 6.2 and 6.4 in the 2014-2020 CAP and measure 19 in LEADER), according to our members and the feedbacks we had from the ground, those funding are often not accessible to them because of various administrative constraints (problem of ‘social farming’ definition, non-profit organisations excluded…).
Therefore, we call for the acknowledgment of the social economy sector and WISEs in developing organic farming that takes into account the local constraints with social added value. We also call for a dedicated funding for social farms that are developing organic production at the EU level in the next CAP programme 2021-2027. But, most of all, we call to make those funding mandatory so every Member State has to dedicate part of this money for those who are the most in need.
Read full responseResponse to Sustainable corporate governance
16 Sept 2020
The European Network for Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying pillars: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, that are at the core of the economic system and which presents a strong pedagogical dimension. Following this third pillar, WISEs, as fully anchored in the social economy, introduced democracy in their functioning.
Following the reading of the roadmap and the Commission proposal, our first idea is that the functioning of social economy enterprises, WISEs included, should be used as an example for regular enterprises; indeed, they developed democratic practices and a deeper and more inclusive social dialogue. This is notably the case, according to a Eurofound report with employee participation, which is a factor in the efficiency and success of the enterprises where they work. Employee participation is also an opportunity for the enterprises as it allows them to profit fully from workers capabilities and their knowledge of production processes. Good examples from the Social Economy sector and WISEs regarding workers participation could be find in the Rights to Grow project. Those examples and the practices they cover should be put in place also in mainstream enterprises to make their governance more sustainable.
Another good practice from the Social Economy that should be mainstream in corporate governance is the Social impact measurement. As explained in the roadmap, sustainability encompass “social and human impact for the long term”. It is indeed, of the utmost importance to take into account the social impact of an enterprise in addition to its environmental impact. Once more WISEs and other social enterprises are ahead in this field as Social impact measurement has been developed in those enterprises in the last decade. Their experience can be used as a reference to develop the same type of evaluation in regular enterprises. The OECD is working on it and its work can be used as a reference in this area.
One last proof of the pertinence of taking Social Economy enterprises and WISEs as good examples relies on the current crisis. Indeed, those enterprises have shown a resilience, often superior to regular enterprises, furthermore, in the Roadmap, it is noted that “companies with better social and environmental performance are more resilient in the crisis”. Therefore, mainstreaming Social Economy principles in the corporate governance can only be beneficial overall, for the enterprises and their employees.
Read full responseResponse to European Democracy Action Plan
24 Aug 2020
The European Network for Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, they are enterprises that are at the core of the economic system and which presents a strong pedagogical dimension. Following this third pillar, WISEs aim to help their employees to appropriate their citizenship rights, through information and training.
WISEs, and more generally enterprises from the Social Economy sector can participate to the reinforcement of the democracy in Europe, through the upskilling and education of the most disadvantaged people. ENSIE participated to the Rights to Grow project which showed that social enterprises are at the forefront of the development of the social dialogue and democratic practices in enterprises, which reinforce the knowledge, the implication and the belief of citizens in the democratic system. This role should be considered and supported by policies and funds at the EU and the local levels. This could be done by creating support ecosystems for social enterprises, by orienting funds towards the long-term benefits of social enterprises success and not immediate financial returns or by developing the cooperation between social enterprises, NGOs and local authorities,…
The European Democracy Action Plan should acknowledge the contribution and proven results from WISEs and social enterprises in pushing towards citizens’ engagement and reinforcing the democracy.
Read full responseResponse to Achieving the European Education Area
24 Aug 2020
The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, ENSIE, represents the interests of national and regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment at European level. WISEs are defined by three identifying principles: they are enterprises whose main objective is the social and professional integration of disadvantaged people, they are enterprises at the core of the economic system with a strong pedagogical dimension.
WISEs promote and use the work-based learning methodology in Continuing vocational education and training (CVET), addressing mainly people in disadvantaged situations and social exclusion, improving their employability by providing the necessary basic, soft or transversal skills, thanks to work placement accompanied by job coaching, mentoring, balance of skills, identification of an individual career path, job shadowing, on the job training, up to inclusion in classical companies of the labour market.
One of the challenges the Communication on the European Education Area, is the move to sustainable and digital societies as “two in five European adults do not have basic digital skills”. ENSIE agrees that this will be one of the main issues in the next years. In this transition period, the most disadvantaged and low-skilled adults are the one with the lowest digital skills and should be at the centre of every policy that aims to overcome this skill gap. Therefore, we call for a reinforcement of digital learning opportunities through life-long learning programmes, or micro-credentials. The first proposals and indicators proposed in the European Commission “Updated Skills agenda for Europe” Communication are promising, but they need to be implemented and funding must be available and accessible this proposal.
Another underlined challenge is the importance of “a real culture of lifelong learning”. ENSIE thus supports and underlines the importance of up and reskilling. In this line, WISEs can be a very important tool to reach this goal and ensure no one is left behind. This is in line with the Council Conclusions on Inclusive Labour Market. We call that the “Pact for Skills” announced in the “Updated Skills agenda for Europe” includes the Social Economy sector, proposing specific measures for this special sector, taking into account its specificities.
Read full responseResponse to Common Provisions Regulation – technical amendment (YEI increase - 2020 EU budget)
20 Jul 2020
ENSIE represents national, regional and local Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) networks striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment. WISEs, a subset of social economy, have already proven their relevance in the social and professional inclusion of disadvantaged young people (NEETs in particular) and were recognised by the European Commission as efficient tools that offer unique opportunities to help the most vulnerable to return into the labour market through their innovative forms of work and entrepreneurship.
The expertise and the role played by social enterprises are crucial to better understand and tackle young people’s challenges and respond to their needs. The support networks of these enterprises have the capacity to inform and train young people and other stakeholders how to access the opportunities offered by the Youth Guarantee. At the same time, they can monitor and report periodically on how the program's provisions are applied.
Therefore, it is important to ensure continued and increased funding for the Youth Employment Initiative to develop the support networks and the WISEs and contribute to a better inclusion of young people. In particular, the added funds can be used to improve and foster the cooperation for the young people integration between public authorities and social enterprises, employment agencies and NGOs working with young people, to recognize the non-formal learning possibilities of this type of enterprises and to develop the necessary infrastructure and facilitate the access to advanced technologies. This will ensure a fair, sustainable and inclusive society for young people.
Read full response14 Jul 2020
ENSIE agrees with the extension of the prolongation of the Regulation on de minimis State aid to undertakings providing services of general economic interest until 2023. This is needed because the expiry of the SGEI de minimis Regulation while the rest of the SGEI package remains in force, would increase legal uncertainty to essential social services implemented under this directive and administrative burden to public administrations. This is also needed because the final evaluation of the consultation about the SGEI rules applicable to health and social services and the SGEI de minimis Regulation is not still finished.
ENSIE (European Network of Social Integration Enterprises), asbl, brings together national and regional networks of work integration social enterprises (WISEs) and promotes their interests at European level. The main identifying principle of the WISEs is the social and professional integration of vulnerable people who, due to their exclusion and their relegation to a marginal role in society, have fallen victim to increasing social and professional handicaps.
WISEs nature is complicated, WISEs are real enterprises but they are also providing a social service for the whole community: allowing access to and reintegration into the labour market of vulnerable groups. It is normal that WISEs received public financial support for the essential service they are providing. It's anyway sometimes difficult for WISEs which are considered social inclusion tool to be recognised as provider of a
SGEI, the legislation is not always clear (also at MS level). Added to this the limit between compensation for the service provided and overcompensation of commercial activities is very fragile within WISEs.
Read full responseResponse to New Strategy for the Implementation of the Charter of Fundamental Rights
16 Apr 2020
Key rights of people living in the EU are enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights (the “Charter”) of the European Union. According to the Commissions’ Charter report from 2019, the Charter is not used to its potential in the Member States. More precisely, the public awareness of the Charter is low and therefore more should be done in terms of improving awareness and effective use of the Charter in the EU so that it has a chance to become a reality for all.
ENSIE as the European Network representing Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) from 19 European countries, together with its members and other civil society organisations, plays a key role in raising awareness of the Charter rights and ensuring its effective implementation on the ground when it comes to labour inclusion of disadvantaged groups (migrants, Roma, women, …) and non-discrimination. In this regard, ENSIE monitors in particular the implementation of Article 15 Freedom to choose an occupation and right to engage in work, Article 21 Non-discrimination, Article 23 Equality between men and women, Article 27 Worker’s right to information and consultation within the undertaking and Article 31 Fair and just working conditions.
As WISEs are acting as rights defenders on the ground, they should have access to sufficient financial means to help make fundamental rights a reality in people’s lives. ENSIE in this regard supports the strategy’s aim which will ensure the Charter delivers for all rights and puts the focus on awareness raising, training and guidance that can be provided by the EU under the EU programmes for the post 2020 period and not only for the justice area, but also in other sectors directly and indirectly dealing with the Charter. The strategy will enable WISEs organisations to foster mutual learning through best practices and give a new impetus to ensure an effective application of the Charter on the ground.
With all the exposed arguments, the implementation of the Charter should be measurable in a given time frame and have adequate budget. Moreover, a monitoring system should be envisaged as well as result and outcome indicators which will include the role of civil society organisations and WISEs.
The EU should therefore support such organisation and enterprises in order to ensure the effectiveness of fundamental rights by funding activities on participation in the democratic life of the EU, equality and non-discrimination, and preventing and combating discrimination and social/labour exclusion.
Read full responseResponse to Ex post evaluation of the EU-Georgia and the EU-Moldova DCFTA Agreements
2 Apr 2020
European Network of Social Integration Enterprises (ENSIE) takes for its objective the representation, maintenance and development of networks and federations for work integration social enterprises (WISEs), which are economic actors striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment. One of the main objectives of ENSIE is to reinforce the power of WISEs through the interchange between member organisations (Moldova included), to contribute to the labour market and the social integration of disadvantaged risk-groups by improving their employment opportunities and productivity.
To help Moldavian SMEs, in particular WISEs, to scale up, sustainable growth is required: linking and networking them with European actors will unlock their potential to scale up and provide the means necessary to compete with other (social) business ecosystems. The social impacts in this regard, mainly relate to employment and labour markets, which are one of the core topics of the DCFTA. In other words, the economic sustainability of WISEs and the integration and reinforcement of their role in the general economic landscape is crucial.
In July 2015, Moldovan Parliament adopted a new law on public procurement as a commitment under DCFTA. For the first time in Moldavian law, the following principles have been included: "ensuring environmental protection and supporting social programs in the process of contract execution" (art. 72), "Procurement of social services and other specific services" (art. 59) as well as "The right to participate in the procedures of public procurement contracts can be reserved by the Government to protected workshops and social integration enterprises if the majority of the employees involved are persons with disabilities who, by the nature or seriousness of their deficiencies, cannot carry out a professional activity under normal conditions" (art.6 §2). These provisions are the only ones that are regulating the sustainable public procurement in Republic of Moldova. There are no specific and detailed rules (regulations) regarding the practical application of these legal provisions. Moreover, no public authority applied these regulations due to the fact that they are too general and unclear (Ministry of Finance is the responsible body to develop specific regulations in this field). Furthermore, WISEs are not mentioned in none of the following initiatives/documents: Policy support documents for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and the Action Plan on the Strategy for the Development of the Small and Medium Enterprises Sector. Despite these obstacles, Moldavian WISEs remain to be active and impactful but urge for more chnages.
On the other hand, since November 2017, Moldova voted specific regulations on social enterprises and work integration social enterprises (roles and concept, definition, support measures). At this stage, the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure is in the process of creating a National Action Plan for the Development of Social Entrepreneurship 2020-2025.
In conclusion, there are several regulations in the field of WISEs, but all of them are general and cannot be properly applied in practice. There is a need for more public support programs to align with the ambitions of business, particularly as WISEs see access to national market as one of the biggest barriers to scaling up their business. EU intervention also needs to encourage stronger integration and harmonization, reduce fragmentation and inefficiencies, and encourage and stimulate all actors to jointly support WISEs/SME cross-border collaboration. In general For SMEs to grow and scale up to take advantage of the single market, an orchestrated approach is needed by all partners.
Read full responseResponse to EU Action Plan of Gender equality and women’s empowerment in external relations for 2021-2025
2 Apr 2020
Women make up a vital part of the economic and social fabric that hold their communities together, yet that work is rarely valued at the same level as is men’s work. Women are disproportionately likely to be poor, under-educated, employed in low-wage or unpaid work, and subject to dismissal for getting married or having children. In many industries, female workers are systematically denied their rights to regular pay and regular working hours; equal pay for equal work; permanent contracts; safe and non-hazardous work environments; and freedom of association.
Increasing female labour market participation and the equal economic independence of women and men towards a gender equal Europe is one of the core principle of the European Union. Thriving in a gender-equal economy, addresses actions to close the gender pay, pension and care gaps in the labour market and achieving gender equal participation across different sectors of the economy.
However, in order to ensure women to enjoy their full social and economic rights, legislative measures are important because they include entitlements to facilitating working-time arrangements to reconcile work and family life and improved protection of part-time workers for instance. However, sometimes they appear to be insufficient to achieve gender equality in the world of work. Proactive measures in the new EU Action Plan of Gender equality and women’s empowerment in external relations for 2021-2025 are therefore required to address causes of gender discrimination and inequalities. For instance, they may include but not be limited to, plans and strategies, awareness raising and public information campaigns, gender audits, gender responsive budgeting, gender response public procurement, gender equality in collective bargaining, gender equality bodies and gender equality codes, tools and guides.
Hence, ENSIE – The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises which totals today 27 national and regional networks, representing 19 countries of the European Union as well as Moldova and Serbia – and its members have been implementing projects aligned with upcoming strategy’s goals including with the support of the European Union.
The Social Economy sector, and in particular its subset of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs), have been working for many years on the work integration of the most disadvantaged groups in our society including attention to women’s needs and bridging the gender gap. By offering a practical person-cantered approach adapted to local constraints, the general WISE model of work integration provides an alternative pathway and real opportunity for women to be socially and professionally integrated, and therefore to move into work sustainably. Indeed, beyond professional integration the WISE model allows for a real accompaniment tailored to the woman’s needs, addressing increasingly demanded skills like digital and green skills but also providing spaces for awareness raising on discrimination and gender stereotypes for instance. Ultimately, the sector actively contributes to the fight against poverty as described in the Social Pillars and the Sustainable Development Goals, also for women at risk of social and professional exclusion
ENSIE recommends the Commission to consider the Social Economy sector and in particular WISEs in its upcoming Action Plan on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in External Relations (GAP III 2021-2025), and stands ready to contribute in achieving its objective with its members.
Read full responseResponse to Fast-track interservice consultation on the 'SEIP including a JTM and the JTF"
12 Mar 2020
The transition to a climate-neutral and circular economy constitutes one of the most important policy objectives for the Union. This transition to leave no one behind requires significant level of investment in education, life-long learning and skills.
In regards to the regulation proposal of the European Parliament and the Council, ENSIE, representing the interests of national/regional networks of ‘Work Integration Social Enterprises’ (WISEs) striving for more inclusive and integrated forms of employment, affirms that the Just Transition Fund (JTF) should directly contribute to alleviate the impact of the transition by financing the diversification and modernisation of the local economy - to which social enterprises integrating disadvantaged groups (WISEs) contribute - and by mitigating the negative repercussions on employment. In the regulation proposal, under Art.3., it is stated that “The JTF shall support the investment for jobs and growth goal in all Member States.” As well as - further on- that the JTF shall exclusively support inter alia active inclusion of jobseekers. Therefore, the JTF should for instance not only cover the up-skilling and reskilling of the affected workers to help them to adapt to new employment opportunities, but ensure the same opportunities for jobseekers from disadvantaged groups in order to foster their active inclusion into the labor market. In the different Member States the WISEs are available to support this action.
Moreover, ENSIE also supports the structural changes that are to be addressed through a holistic approach encompassing the economic, industrial, technological and social dimensions of the transformation process, with the involvement of, and in close partnership with, social economy actors, WISEs included, civil society organisations, local actors, social partners and all concerned stakeholders. The partnership principle must fully apply: when the Just Transition Fund (JTF) is inserted within the Common Provisions Regulation.
In ENSIE’s opinion another crucial point is the budget. Firstly it is extremely important that the multiannual financial framework negotiations are closed, as soon as possible, limiting further delays in the implementation of the 2021-2027 programs. Secondly the cohesion policy budget must remain at least on the level of the current period. In this regard, this Just Transition Fund must be complementary (in terms of amounts and scope) to the funding available for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Cohesion Fund, as well as for the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) to truly add value.
Read full responseResponse to Gender equality in the EU
13 Feb 2020
The Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019 had five priorities, amongst which, increasing female labor market participation and the equal economic independence of women and men. In this regard, legislative measures are important because they include entitlements to facilitating working-time arrangements to reconcile work and family life and improved protection of part-time workers for instance. However, sometimes they appear to be insufficient to achieve gender equality in the world of work. Proactive measures in the new Gender equality strategy 2020/24 are therefore required to address causes of gender discrimination and inequalities. For instance, they may include but not be limited to plans and strategies, awareness raising and public information campaigns, gender audits, gender responsive budgeting, gender response public procurement, gender equality in collective bargaining, gender equality bodies and gender equality codes, tools and guides.
The Social Economy sector, and in particular its subset of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs), have been working for many years on the work integration of the most disadvantaged groups in our society including attention to women’s needs and bridging the gender gap.
By offering a practical person-centered approach adapted to local constraints, the general WISE model of work integration provides an alternative pathway and real opportunity for women to be socially and professionally integrated, and therefore to move into work sustainably. Indeed, beyond professional integration the WISE model allows for a real accompaniment tailored to the woman’s needs, addressing increasingly demanded skills like digital and green skills but also providing spaces for awareness raising on discrimination and gender stereotypes for instance. Ultimately, the sector actively contributes to the fight against poverty as described in the Social Pillars and the Sustainable Development Goals, also for women at risk of social and professional exclusion
Hence, ENSIE – The European Network of Social Integration Enterprises which totals today 27 national and regional networks, representing 19 countries of the European Union as well as Moldova and Serbia – and its members have been implementing projects aligned the strategy’s goals including with the support of the European Union, for instance, the PRESS Erasmus + project focusing on the integration of woman in situation or at risk of social exclusion, particularly woman of the Roma minority (2016-2018).
ENSIE recommends the Commission to consider the Social Economy sector and in particular WISEs in its upcoming Gender Strategy, and stands ready to contribute in achieving its objective with its members.
Read full responseResponse to European Partnership for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises
27 Aug 2019
SMEs in Central Europe currently face shortages of skilled labor force mainly in relation to the requirements posed by technological progress and economic innovation. This is particularly true for Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) as social SMEs working for the integration of disadvantaged groups. Even though, SME represent significant economic actors in Europe (engaging over 14.5 million paid employees), WISEs are in fact disadvantaged compared to traditional SMEs since they often suffer from technological gaps due to low investment levels and lack of necessary skills.
European Network of Social Integration Enterprises (ENSIE) takes for its objective the representation, maintenance and development within the European Union of networks and federations for work integration social enterprises. One of the main objectives is to reinforce the power of the actors in economic social integration enterprises through the interchange between the member organizations, and to contribute to the labor market and the social integration of disadvantaged risk-groups by improving their employment opportunities and productivity. Moreover, ENSIE continues to support/encourage fast-growing and innovative WISEs/SMEs in developing new products, processes and services that help to improve people’s daily lives and boost at the same time EU’s competitiveness.
In the field of entrepreneurship, shifts in terms of technology and innovation have not only affected the technological aspects but also the managerial models and everyday practices regarding production and services. They imply change in leadership, different thinking, the encouragement of innovation and new business models. The organisations following for instance the trends of digitalisation achieve better results in terms of market performance, generating innovative products and services, attracting new customers, partners and stakeholders, collaborating with different suppliers, and nevertheless, improving the experience of the employees.
To help European SMEs, in particular WISEs, to scale up, sustainable growth is required: linking and networking them at European level will unlock their potential to scale up and provide the means necessary to compete with other (social) business ecosystems around the European Union and beyond. The social impacts in this regard, mainly relate to employment and labor markets which are the core topic of ENSIE. In other words, the economic viability of WISEs and the integration and reinforcement of their role in the general economic landscape is crucial.
However, there is a need for more public support programs to align with the ambitions of business, particularly as WISEs see access to national market as one of the biggest barriers to scaling up their business. EU intervention also needs to encourage stronger integration and harmonization, reduce fragmentation and inefficiencies, and allow for Member States to jointly support WISEs/SME cross-border collaboration. For SMEs to grow and scale up to take advantage of the single market, an orchestrated approach is needed by all partners EU-wide.
Read full responseResponse to European Partnership for Key Digital Technologies
27 Aug 2019
A cooperation framework is needed for the development and application of Key Digital Technologies for a sustainable, technological, sovereign and competitive social Europe. To this extend, the inclusion of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) should be taken in consideration since they endow the sector with, among others, concrete tools (trainings, technologies, information and communication technology -ICT platforms, etc.) reducing technological and skills gaps of WISEs hence stimulating a greater territorial response in terms of social innovation (i.e. new ideas, products, services and models). In addition, they endow relevant public authorities with key knowledge to improve decision-making in the area and contribute to the overall program goal by elaborating smart solutions (adapted technologies, strategies and tools for skills building etc.) answering regional/national challenges in the field of innovation, stimulating social innovation and reducing technological and skills gaps for a key and growing economic actors in the European Union. With these actions they are improving the innovation capacity and identification of new opportunities in the field of for instance ICT. In other words, they aim to support a change in the skills that training curriculum tend to target by shifting the focus from (for example) purely social services management to innovative business approaches and technology utilization supporting a technological business-oriented approach.
To reach this ambitious objective of European Partnership for Key Digital Technologies, WISEs aim to have a strong and highly qualified transnational/European dimension, involving, as partners, WISEs from around the European Union and wider, and the European Network of Social Integration Enterprises located in Belgium (ENSIE), which will be a key factor in the successful implementation of the partnership since it will determine the high applicability and transferability of the process. WISEs represent a ground-breaking factor for the economy sector since they bring together u number of SME, adapt and make enterprises able to use technologies and skills which are currently out of their reach and which will represent a turning point for their development.
The current INNO-WISEs project might be taken as an example. It tackles weaknesses by improving the capacity of WISEs to offer qualified jobs to disadvantaged groups, hence contributing to greater social cohesion. Through the implementation of an integrated approach (tackling all development needs of the sector from technology gaps to skills shortages), and through the production of specific outputs for the WISE sector (including a knowledge management framework, a flexible ICT platform, training programs etc.), the project is expected to significantly change the entrepreneurial mind-set, skills and attitude of the sector by building and promoting a stronger culture of entrepreneurship and greater social innovation capacities. To achieve this ambitious objective, the project involves partners such as key research and technological entities, WISEs from Italy, Poland, Croatia and more.
In other words, ENSIE plays a significant role in facilitating European partnership among WISEs and works on to enlarge their cooperation so as to ensure that European WISEs obtain access to technologies and components that are globally competitive in terms of performance and cost. Strategic and operational improvements could also be achieved in a number of areas; these relate mostly to the need to simplify operations to ensure that the partnership remains efficient and attractive to stakeholders. There is also a need for greater harmonization across countries on the conditions for participation and support that should be tackled.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of European Social Fund support to education
18 Jan 2019
ENSIE, European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, representing social enterprises working for the social and professional integration of disadvantaged groups, thanks the thanks the DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and the Unit ‘G.4 Evaluation and Impact Assessment Unit’ for the feedback opportunity.
The work integration social enterprise organises a socio-pedagogical path and it is a springboard towards stable and quality employment for people with very low qualification, disadvantaged persons and people suffering from social handicaps and with difficulties in getting a job on the labour market. It creates a learning environment specially adapted for these target groups. The educational programmes are designed and tailor-made to reveal the potential of each person. ENSIE really believes that no formal training and informal training for disadvantaged groups are crucial in order to reintegrate them.
During the current programming period 2014-2020 ESF has been a real tool and support to promoting education.
The effectiveness of the European Social Fund is thus obvious; however, it is not felt in the same way in the different Member States. In countries such as France for example, work integration social enterprises make good use of the ESF because they are well informed. The visibility and dissemination of information on European funding is essential for success. In the countries of Eastern Europe (in Romania for example), these practices are less developed and the future consultation should take this aspect into consideration.
In addition, even if the funds are available and accessible, sometimes this does not mean that the work integration social enterprises benefit from it for several reasons which have to be investigated in the future consultation: first, the conditions of accessibility to these funds are too high and it is impossible for social enterprises to benefit from it and secondly, these funds may be accessible but the enterprises are worried because of the rigidity of the controls after the grant. These practices discourage work integration social enterprises from contracting European funds. The consultation should also analyze the visibility of the positive effects of the European Social Fund.
Finally, it is important to check if the different managing authorities enabled civil society organizations, in general, to be full partner in all stages of the EU funding process, in order to shape EU decisions and policies on the basis of the ground experiences.
ENSIE, its members and work integration social enterprises (WISEs) are at EC disposal in order to support the EC in its evaluation of the ESF, in particular when it comes to how the European Social Fund (ESF) promotes training and life-long learning for disadvantaged people.
Read full response17 Jan 2019
ENSIE, European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, regroupant réseaux et fédérations nationales et régionales d’entreprises sociales qui emploient des personnes défavorisées, remercie la Commission pour l’opportunité de ‘feedback’. Certes la pratique du vote à l’unanimité souligne la souveraineté d’un Etat membre néanmoins, cette pratique empêche la prise de décisions efficace et surtout rapide des politiques européennes. La confiance ainsi que la solidarité entre les Etats membres doivent continuer à croitre afin de contribuer aux objectifs commun sur lesquels les Etats ont décidé de collaborer. L’interdépendance des institutions européennes est garante de la solidarité et du respect des intérêts de chaque partie prenante (l’Etat, le citoyen ainsi que l’UE). Certaines matières nécessitent de plus d’ouverture de la part des Etats membres afin qu’un progrès puisse se faire dans l’implémentation des politiques européennes au niveaux nationaux. Les affaires sociales relèvent de la compétence des Etats membres mais le discours actuel souligne de plus en plus la nécessité de déléguer partiellement la compétence à l’UE (le principe de subsidiarité doit être appliqué afin de permettre d’implémenter les décisions qui ont été prises et approuvées ensemble). Ceci permettrait une meilleure rentabilité en matière du temps de travail mais également des résultats qu’on souhaite acquérir à savoir une meilleure implémentation des politiques sociales de manière homogène au sein des pays de l’UE et donc une meilleure contribution aux objectifs de la stratégie Europe 2020 avec l’implémentation des principes du Socle Européen des droits sociaux.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of the support to social inclusion by the European Social Fund
16 Jan 2019
ENSIE, European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, representing social enterprises working for the social and professional integration of disadvantaged groups, thanks the DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and the Unit ‘G.4 Evaluation and Impact Assessment Unit’ for the feedback opportunity.
ENSIE really thinks that during the current programming period 2014-2020 ESF has been a real tool and support to promoting social inclusion, combating poverty and any discrimination.
The effectiveness of the European Social Fund is thus obvious; however, it is not felt in the same way in the different Member States. In countries such as France for example, work integration social enterprises make good use of the ESF because they are well informed. The visibility and dissemination of information on European funding is essential for success. In the countries of Eastern Europe (in Romania for example),
these practices are less developed and the future consultation should take this aspect into consideration.
In addition, even if the funds are available and accessible, sometimes this does not mean that the work integration social enterprises benefit from it for several reasons which have to be investigated: first, the conditions of accessibility to these funds are too high and it is impossible for social enterprises to benefit from it and secondly, these funds may be accessible but the enterprises are worried because of the rigidity of the controls after the grant. These practices discourage work integration social
enterprises from contracting European funds. The consultation should also analyze the visibility of the positive effects of the European Social Fund.
Finally, it is important to check if the different managing authorities enabled civil society organizations, in general, to be full partner in all stages of the EU funding process, in order to shape EU decisions and policies on the basis of the ground experiences.
ENSIE, its members and the work integration social enterprises (WISEs) are at EC disposal in order to support the EC and the external evaluators in their assessment of the ESF, in particular when it comes to how the European Social Fund (ESF)
promotes social inclusion, integrating disadvantaged people into society and ensuring fairer life opportunities for all and combats poverty/discrimination through WISEs.
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of the long-term unemployed recommendation
26 Jul 2017
This ENSIE’s feedback about the roadmap concerns following points:
- the evaluation of the effectiveness of the partnerships between employers and public employment services. ENSIE thinks that a reference to Work Integration Social Enterprises and the social economy in general is needed. Work Integration Social Enterprises can play a prominent role in integrating LTU back into the labour market, giving individuals not only work, but social capital, skills and experience as well. WISEs are therefore well suited to work in partnership with public employment services. However, due to limited understanding of them and failure to recognize their positive contribution WISEs are often overlooked and so their contribution limited. A good demonstration of their effectiveness and efficiency can be found here: http://www.ensie.org/s/Active-labour-market-measures-and-integration-of-disadvantaged-people.pdf
- the evaluation of the effectiveness: it is also important to evaluate the form of access to the labour market that has been provided to the LTU, i.e. apprenticeships, training schemes, part-time jobs, self-employment ect.
- the evaluation of efficiency, in the benefits assessment, must pay attention not just to numbers but also to the qualitative benefits for people.
- the evaluation of coherence: it’s also important to know if the EU funds have not been used, which funds have been used. If no funds have been invested, why?
Any emphasis on involving the different stakeholders working on topics related to LTU seems to be fundamental in the consultation and evaluation phases.
Read full responseMeeting with Baudouin Baudru (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen), Vasiliki Kokkori (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen)
10 Jul 2015 · Priorities of the Commission on social entrepreneurship