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SOCIAL ENTERPRISE PROJECT(SECOND PHASE)

ACTIVITY REPORT

October 2014 – September 2015

SECOND PHASE OF THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE PROJECTOCTOBER 2014-SEPTEMBER 2015

1. Context

After the first phase of the project which ended with the presentation of the report and its recommendations to the EESC plenary session of October 2014, the mandate of the project group was extended until September 2015.

2. Objectives of the second phase of the project

Objective 1: Follow-up of the work done and of the project recommendationsObjective 2: Disseminate the report elaborated at the end of the first phase (see recommendations and appendices I to X)Objective 3: Continue communication, cooperation and exchange of best practicesObjective 4: Follow-up EU level work and agendaObjective 5: Work on the policy developmentObjective 6: Bring SE stakeholders closer to EU institutions and provide support to the sector

3. Method

3.1 Activities developed during the second phase

2 project group meetings 29 January 20159 June 2015

Going local: 14 fact finding missions, with a focus on northern Europe as well as central and eastern Europe

From October 2014 to September 2015:Germany, Italy, Spain, Latvia, Bulgaria, France, Lithuania, Croatia, Romania

Contacts with Member States GECES meeting: November 2014Italian Presidency conference: November 2014GECES meeting: September 2015Launch of Luxembourg Presidency: July 2015Upcoming Dutch Presidency, July 2015Luxembourg Presidency conference: December 2015 (still to come)

Contacts with EU institutions Commissioners or Commissioners' Cabinets: Ms Bienkowska: 2 February 2015Mr Juncker: 18 February 2015Mr Dombrovski: 22-23 February 2015Ms Thyssen: 10 June 2015

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Meeting with EC general Directors:Mr Calleja-Crespo: 18 March 2015

EP Intergroup on Social Economy: 13 November 2014, 22 April 2015, 25 June 2015

Social Economy Category: 1st October 2014, 14 November 2014, 26 February 2015, 8 July 2015

Participation of the INT Secretariat in the European Commission SBI steering group meetingsRegular meetings between the INT Secretariat and the EC SBI team

Meeting European and national civil society stakeholders to present the EESC project

Social Economy EuropeSocial PlatformsSocial Services Europe

Swiss civil society: 16 October 2014Sicilian civil society: 17 October 2014Irish civil society: 9 December 2014

1 closing event 10 July 2015

4. Achievements of the project second phase

Objective 1: Follow-up the work done and the project recommendations

Among the 10 recommendations submitted to the European Commission at the end of the first phase of the project, 5 were followed by concrete actions:

Recommendation 1: "Develop and launch a 2nd phase of the Social Business initiative (SBI)": as from 1st June 2015, the new SBI team is in place at the European Commission. It has started to work on the next steps.

Recommendation 3: "Continue with the Social Economy Intergroup": the EP relaunched its Intergroup on Social Economy and it hold a first hearing in the EESC premises on 22 April 2015.

Recommendation 7: "Gather and share the most suitable financial solutions and financial ecosystem for social enterprises": in spring 2015, the EESC received a request from the Luxembourg Presidency asking for an exploratory opinion on the following topic: Building a financial ecosystem for social enterprises. The elaboration of this opinion is ongoing and its adoption is foreseen for the EESC September plenary.

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Recommendation 9: "Promote social entrepreneurship in education at all levels": going local missions took place, in particular in Bulgaria, Croatia and Belgium.

Recommendation 10: "Prioritise further research and reflect social enterprises better in national statistics collection to increase understanding, recognition and visibility": International Labour Organisation (ILO) is working on those topics and there is a 3rd sector impact project in progress.

Objective 2: Disseminate the report elaborated at the end of the first phase (recommendations and appendices I to X)

The following table presents the different events in a chronological order and contains 2 statistics: the total number of recommendations without the appendices, and the total number of the full report (recommendations and appendices) distributed. 860 exemplars of the recommendations alone were distributed and 2089 exemplars of the full report, giving a total number of 2949 copies.

Event Date Recommendations

Language Final report

Northern Ireland delegation 02/10/2014 10EESC plenary, Brussels 15/10/2014 200Swiss delegation 16/10/2014 20Sicilian delegation, Brussels 17/10/2014 6Social Platform, Brussels 31/10/2014 5Solidar, Brussels 06/11/2014 10Intergroup, Brussels 13/11/2014 20GECES + Presidency Conference, Rome

16/11/2014 300 IT 300

Madrid 03/12/2014 20Irish delegation, Brussels 06/12/2014 45Legal experts, Brussels 20/01/2015 20SEN final conference, Brussels 28/01/2015 40Project group meeting 29/01/2015 3Ms Bienkowska's Cabinett 03/02/2015 3A new generation for a new Europe

03/02/2015 40

Europe Tomorrow, Brussels 04/02/2015 3Confrontations Europe 16/02/2015 70 FR 70ETUC 19/02/2015 5LV Parliament, Riga 22/02/2015 40 LV 100Minister Schmit 04/03/2015 2Daniel Calleja Crespo 18/03/2015 2SE first? 25/03/2015 50Riga 25/03/2015 40 LV 40Plovdiv 26/03/2015 10Intergroup 22/04/2015 54

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Capacity building seminar 22/04/2015 25 EN 8Lithuania 24/04/2015 75 LT 70Interview 28/04/2015 1Madrid 29/04/2015 80 SP 50Croatia 06/05/2015 10 HR 10Bulgaria 11/05/2015 70 BG 70Romania 12/05/2015 70 RO 100El Hueco, Spain 14/05/2015 70 SP 100Edinburgh 21/05/2015 80Corsican delegation 28/05/2015 10 FR 10Statistical map, Brussels 01/06/2015 20Translation service 05/06/2015 2Zagreb University 09/06/2015 8Ms Thyssen's Cabinet 10/06/2015 2European Commission trainees 16/06/2015 80Group III conference 23/06/2015 40Intergroup 25/06/2015 100Milan 1-3/07/2015 50Luxembourg Presidency 09/07/2015 60Closing event EESC project 10/07/2015 150

860 2089

Total of reports distributed: 2949

Objective 3: Continuation of communication, cooperation and exchange of best practices

During the second phase of the project, the website was constantly updated and will continue to be active.Latest news can be seen under the following link: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.social-entrepreneurship-make-it-happen

Besides, the Twitter account @EESC_SocEnt, that was created in the beginning of the project, counts now over 1075 followers, i.e. an increase of 400 followers since the end of the project first phase.

Objective 4: Follow-up of the EU level work and agenda

The cooperation with the rotating Presidencies is ongoing and increasing: after having participated in the Presidency conferences in Heraklion and Rome, the EESC was invited to present its work on Social Enterprise during the Latvian Presidency (Latvian government, meeting of the chairpersons of the Committee on Employment and Social affairs). Besides, the EESC is now going to be involved

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http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.social-entrepreneurship-make-it-happen

http://www.eesc.europa.eu/?i=portal.en.social-entrepreneurship-make-it-happen

in the Luxembourg Presidency conference and has already taken contacts with the Dutch government in view of the next Presidency (January-July 2016).

The cooperation with the European Commission has been maintained and is now continuing with the newly established SBI team composed of officials from DG GROW, DG EMPL and DG FISMA. Besides, the private experts of the GECES have been renewed and the group, in which the EESC has the status of an observer, will start its work in September 2015.

The cooperation with the European Parliament has been intensified and the Intergroup on Social Economy reinstalled.

Furthermore, the EESC is cooperating with the OECD on some topics.

Objective 5: work on the policy development

As already mentioned above, the EESC is currently working on an exploratory opinion on the financial ecosystem for social enterprises, upon request of the Luxembourg Presidency.

Objective 6: bring SE stakeholders closer to EU institutions and provide support to the sector

On 10 July 2015, the EESC organised its project closing event. 111 participants representing the EU institutions and the sector registered. After interventions from the EESC, the European Parliament, the Luxembourg Presidency and the European Commission, 2 panels were organised: one on financing social enterprises and the other one on job creation. Key messages of the first panel were the importance of the hybrid financing, the necessity to invest in social economy and the necessity to define what the social enterprises ecosystem should be. Key messages of the second panel were the importance of skills and trainings, the way social impact is measured, the importance of social dialogue and of the attractive character of the sector.

The conclusions of this event were the following:

Need to have concrete proposals Necessity to find solutions to the barriers that hinder the sector's development Need to be fully committed towards the sector Importance of having a political will Importance of an "ownership" at local, regional and national level Importance of a constant promotion of the different forms of social enterprises Need to increase the visibility of the sector Necessity to develop an appropriate financial ecosystem Importance of the governance: how can a common language be found to push the agenda

forward? Importance of concrete actions, with the support of the rotating Presidencies General willingness to continue the work done by the EESC, in a more permanent way.

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5. Next steps

In view of the general call, also expressed by the European institutions during the project closing event, upon a continuation of the EESC's work on the topic of social economy enterprises, a request for setting up a permanent study group has been submitted to the EESC Bureau.

A permanent study group could, among others, follow-up, assess and monitor the policy developments and impact at EU and Member States levels, but also gather and share perspectives of Member States stakeholders.

6. Chronological report and follow-up to the 42 actions undertaken

During all these events, the EESC work on social enterprise was presented and the project report distributed.

Date Place Meeting Objectives and Follow-up 16.10.2014 Brussels,

EESCVisit of a Swiss delegation of social entrepreneurs

Objectives of the visit:- to present the EESC project;- to exchange experiences and best practices.

Follow-up of the visit:- maintain the contacts.

16-17.10.2014

Brussels, EESC plenary

Presentation of the project report (recommendations and appendices I to X)

Objectives of the presentation:- to inform EESC members about the results of the first phase.

Follow-up of the presentation:- legacy speech of Commissioner Barnier (video message)- request for the renewal of the project group's mandate

17.10.2014 Brussels, EESC

Visit of a Sicilian delegation of social entrepreneurs



Beginning of the second phase23-24.10 2014

Kreis-Offenbach, Germany

General Assembly of the ENSA networkMain topic: European instruments for inclusive growth

Objectives of the conference:- to contribute to a better understanding of social innovation and

social investment;- to have a closer look to the role of public-private partnerships

and the role of social entrepreneurship;- to discuss initiatives that are targeting specific groups as fight

against child poverty, creating youth opportunities, work-life balance, social inclusion and active ageing;

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- to see which opportunities the new EU programming period will bring.

Follow-up of the conference:- EESC project was presented; - all the ENSA thematic working groups (childhood, youth and

family, disability, elderly, social inclusion) tried to build a strategy and agenda for the future.

13.11.2014 Brussels, EP

Public hearing on "Social economy in the European Parliament: issues at stake and dialogue with the Italian EU Presidency"

Objective of the hearing:- to discuss the issues for social economy in the light of the EU

Presidency conference "Unlocking the potential of social economy for EU growth".

Follow-up of the hearing:- letters sent to the presidents of the EP political groups asking

them to support the re-establishment of the Intergroup on social economy.


Social Economy Category meeting

Objective of the meeting:- to evaluate the conference on "Social economy and social

innovation as drivers of competitiveness, growth and social well-being";

- to present the latest legislative developments concerning the social economy at national level (Italian third sector law, Romanian law on social economy);

Follow-up of the meeting:- follow-up the European agenda and the evolution in Member

States.17-18.11.2014

Rome, Italy

Unlocking the potential of the social economy for EU growth +Meeting of the GECES

Objective of the conference:- to present, analyse and discuss the role of social economy for

EU growth and the next concrete steps to support it.

Follow-up of the conference:- necessity to have an Intergroup on social economy was raised;- necessity to revise the Commission's mapping study was raised;- a group of legal experts was created and met at the EESC, on

20.01.2015;- meeting with the organisers of the Social Enterprise World

Forum in view of the Milan event on 03-04.07.2015 26.11.2014 Madrid,

SpainIV Encuentro Universidad Cooperativismo

Objectives of the conference:- to tackle the topics of fiscal reform, structural modifications in

cooperatives, among others;- to discuss the role of the social enterprise as stimulator of the

social economy.

Follow-up of the conference:- maintain the contacts.

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04.12.2014 Madrid, Spain

The social economy in the light of the future agenda of the European institutions

Objectives of the conference:- to discuss the link between social economy and innovation and

the role of the sector in the socio-economic environment as well as in job creation.

Follow-up of the meeting:- maintain the contacts.


Visit of a Northern Ireland delegation of social entrepreneurs



28.01.2015 Brussels, CoR

Social Enterprise Network closing conference

Objective of the conference:- to present the social entrepreneurship network;- to see how to support social enterprises in an intelligent way- to give perspectives for future cooperation.

Follow-up of the conference:- EESC project was presented;- the link towards the Social Enterprise Network was placed on

the EESC project website in order to give it some visibility.29.01.2015 Brussels,

EESC1st project group meeting

Objective of the meeting:- to make a state of play on the priorities identified for the second

phase of the project;- to fine-tune the project group working method and strategy

(objectives to reach, activities foreseen etc.).

Follow-up of the meeting:- implement the strategy defined during the meeting.

02.02.2015 Brussels, EC

Meeting with Commissioner Bienkowska's Cabinet

Objective of the meeting:- to present the work done on social enterprise;- to raise awareness on the topic of SE.

Follow-up of the meeting:- Commissioner Bienkowska was invited to the INT section

meeting.3-4.02.2015 Brussels,

EESCNew generation for new Europe

Objective of the meeting:- to see how Europe can improve the situation young people are

facing in terms of employment and business opportunities;- to see what is young's point of view on the future of Europe;- to analyse the role of social enterprises for European growth and

job creation.

Follow-up of the meeting:- participants list sent to all participants in view of networking.

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Europe Tomorrow

Objective of the meeting:- presentation of Europe Tomorrow social and environmental

innovation development programme;- presentation of the EESC project.

Follow-up of the meeting:- meeting with Henri Malosse;- Europe Tomorrow invited to the EESC's end of mandate event


Social impact investing and its role in the future social public/private investments: continuing dialogue

Objective of the meeting:- to see the different social investment approaches in G7

countries;- to see the next steps of the European Commission in the field of

social impact investment.



Meeting with Henri Malosse

Objective of the meeting:- to send a letter to President Juncker asking for the Commission's

support towards social enterprise.

Follow-up of the meeting:- Letter and project report were given by Mr Malosse to Mr

Juncker. 22-23.02.2015

Riga, Latvia

Latvian government – Meeting of the chairpersons of the Committee on Employment and Social affairs

Objective of the meeting:- to discuss the employment issues with emphasis on the inclusion

of the most vulnerable groups into the labour market;- to see social entrepreneurship as a tool to achieve social

objectives;- to discuss social entrepreneurship opportunities and youth

Guarantee initiative implementation.

Follow-up of the meeting:- Project report given to Commissioner Dombrovskis' Cabinet.


Social Economy category meeting

Objective of the meeting:- to discuss the European Foundation Statute;- to discuss the priorities of the Category for 2015.

Follow-up of the meeting:- discuss the possibility for going local events in central and

eastern Europe.04.03.2015 Brussels,

EESCMeeting with Minister Nicolas Schmit and with Nadine Muller

Objective of the meeting:- to launch cooperation with the Luxembourg Presidency;- to explore the possibility of organising an event in cooperation

with the Luxembourg Presidency in July;- to discuss on the conference that Luxembourg Presidency will

organise on 3 and 4 December and invite Ariane Rodert to be a speaker.

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Follow-up of the meeting:- Ariane Rodert was invited to the Luxembourg Presidency

launching event in July;- Luxembourg Presidency expressed the wish of an EESC

exploratory opinion on a topic linked to social economy and invited Ms Rodert to have a joint reflexion on the theme to address (exploratory opinion will be elaborated for the EESC September plenary).


Meeting with Mr Calleja Crespo, Director general, DG Grow

Objective of the meeting:- to tackle the cooperation on 2 events: Social Enterprise World

Forum in Milano, 1-3 July, and the Conference of the Luxembourg presidency, on 3 and 4 December;

- to cooperate with the EESC on the awareness raising actions in the Member States;

- to reflect already now on a strategy for 2016 and 2017.

Follow-up of the meeting:- second meeting envisaged in the second semester of 2015.


Future of Europe: social economy first?

Objective of the meeting:- to reflect on the question of whether redesigning economics is

needed;- to reflect on the question whether social economy can help

Europe flourish again;- to present EESC's work on social enterprise to Muhammad

Yunus.

Follow-up of the meeting:- motivate Member States to act on social economy.


Social Services Europe breakfast session"'Job Creation and Economic Growth in the Health and Social Sector – The Contribution of Non-profit Service Providers"

Objective of the meeting:- to discuss employment opportunities and challenges in the

Social Enterprise sector.

Follow-up of the meeting:- interest of MEPs to discuss the project;- contacts with MEPs.

26-28.03.2015

Bulgaria, Plovdiv

Fourth European Forum of Social Entrepreneurship

Objective of the meeting:- to organise a Europe wide Conference on Social

Entrepreneurship for Growth and Jobs;- to share best practices.

Follow-up of the meeting:

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- contacts taken for going local missions.15.04.2015 Paris,

OECDSeminar on "Social impact bonds: promises and pitfalls"

Objective of the meeting:- to reflect on the role of the social impact bonds as a funding

source for social enterprises;- to see how social impact bonds can promote innovation within

the social enterprise sector;- to see what the "dark side" of these exotic financial products is;- to reflect on what the social impact bonds landscape will be in

social systems in different parts of Europe in ten years' time.

Follow-up of the meeting:- establish new contacts.


Social Economy Intergroup Public Hearing

Objective of the meeting:- to reflect on the question of a European social economy policy:

the point of view of EU institutions;- to reflect on the question of a European social economy policy:

the point of view of social partners and organisations promoting social economy;

- to present EESC's work.

Follow-up of the meeting:- EESC opinions were sent to the co-chairs and vice-presidents of

the EP Intergroup for social economy.

24.04.2015 Lithuania Going local event – "Social enterprises: the situation in Europe and Lithuania"

Objective of the meeting:- to initiate discussion and disseminate information on social

enterprises, social economy and social entrepreneurship;- to encourage the involvement of social partners in Lithuania;- to promote the social economy, as opportunity to promote

community spirit, employment, social inclusion and growth;- 3 meetings organised: social entrepreneurs, trade unions and

participation in the rural parliament meeting.

Follow-up of the meeting:- contacts, links and EESC documents sent to the participants.

29.04.2015 Madrid, Spain

Seminar on third sector and voluntary sector

Objective of the seminar:- to discuss the situation of voluntary sector and third sector in

Spain;- to analyse the project of third sector law;- to analyse modifications to the law concerning the voluntary

sector.

Follow-up of the seminar:- maintain the contacts.

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06.05.2015 Zagreb, Croatia

University of Zagreb

Objective of the meeting:- to discuss with a class of 150 students the value of social

entrepreneurship and what it includes;- to discuss the topic of business with ethics and sustainability;- to present innovation as a way to create projects to solve

societies challenges.

Follow-up of the meeting:- project report was handed out to students and staff, and there

were a few twitter posts;- the University has asked to be kept informed on future EESC

initiatives and would also like to engage more with us;- the project report was also given to the ministry of economy

during a personal meeting, and to the mayor of Kutina;- contacts were taken with MEPS from Croatia, since social

entrepreneurship needs stimulation into Croatia to be an accepted form of entrepreneurship.

11.05.2015 Sofia, Bulgaria

Opportunities for social entrepreneurs for the period 2014-2020

Objective of the meeting:- gathering of students from the University of National and World

Economy who reflected on the theme "Opportunities for development of social entrepreneurship in 2014-2020 – Creating employment for young people";

- tackle the question whether Bulgaria could gain accesses to the European Commission funds and use them in the interest of the society.

Follow-up of the meeting:- EESC project got an award from the Rector of the University of

National and World Economy.12.05.2015 Bucarest,

RomaniaBoosting social economy – European regulations and policy

Objective of the meeting:- meeting with ministers and parliament;- analyse the main data and policy challenges in Romania;- exchange the Romanian and European experience;- give input on the SE law.


14.05.2015 El Hueco, Spain

European social entrepreneurship and social finance spring meeting

Objective of the meeting:- propose new methods and solutions to the problems and

handicaps that the social entrepreneurs in the EU have to face;- analyse and reflect about the present and the future situation of

the social entrepreneurs in the European Union countries from different perspectives: legislation, financing, civil society, good practices, incubation initiatives, social entrepreneurs, etc.;

- spread new financial tools for social entrepreneurs in Europe, especially venture financial funds for social entrepreneurs.

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Follow-up of the meeting:- general willingness to get actively involved in the development

process of public policies on social economy;- send documents and links to the participants.


Putting the third sector on the statistical map of Europe

Objective of the meeting:- discuss the opportunities and challenges to better capture the

social economy enterprises in national statistic reports (second European meeting).

Follow-up of the meeting:- reflection on a definition of social enterprise.


2nd project group meeting

Objective of the meeting:- to make an update on activities;- to discuss the way of presenting the actions undertaken during

the second phase of the project;- to prepare the closing event of 10 July.

Follow-up of the meeting:- Drafting of the report for the second phase of the project.


Meeting with Ms Thyssen's Cabinet

Objective of the meeting:- to present EESC work on Social Enterprise;- to raise awareness on the importance of the subject, especially in

terms of job creation and training;- to discuss the priorities of Commissioner Thyssen.

Follow-up of the meeting:- maintain the contacts;- inform regularly the Cabinet on EESC's work and initiatives in

the field of Social Enterprise.10.06.2015 Brussels,

ECEC Business and Startups stage subcommittee panel discussion "Social Entrepreneurship: pathways towards a sustainable and cohesive Europe"

Objective of the panel discussion:- to promote an informed and balanced cross-sector dialogue on

social entrepreneurship, by involving stakeholders to provide a policy, societal, academic and business perspective on this matter.

Follow-up of the panel discussion:- continue promoting the dialogue;- stay in contact.

25.06.2015 Brussels, EP

Social Economy Intergroup Public Hearing

Objective of the public hearing:- to tackle the question of social impact investment and financing

mechanisms;- to tackle the question of financing social economy enterprises;- to present the EESC exploratory opinion on financial ecosystem.

Follow-up of the public hearing:- Social Economy Intergroup Public Hearing participants were

invited to the EESC Social Enterprise closing event.

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1-3.07.2015 Milan, Italy

Social Enterprise World Forum 2015

Objective of the Forum:- to share knowledge on how social enterprise can be effectively

supported to deliver social and economic impacts;- to raise awareness of the social enterprise potential to support

future social change in urban and rural settings;- to broaden an understanding of where the market opportunities

for social enterprise lie in the medium to long term;- to examine transferrable strategies, systems and models with a

view to directly influencing social enterprise development on a worldwide basis.

Follow-up of the Forum:- encourage and support the organization, development and

coordination of social enterprise;- encourage and support the development of social inclusion for

all;- encourage and support a concern for environmental, cultural and

social issues;- present the EESC work.


Social Economy Category meeting

Objective of the event:- to present the EESC exploratory opinion on the financial

ecosystem of social enterprises (under elaboration);- to give an update on the EESC own-initiative opinion on the

Economy for the Common Good;- to give a state of play on the EESC own-initiative opinion on the

external dimension of social economy;- to give an update on the United taskforce on Social and

Solidarity Economy;- to give an update on the renewal of the private members of the

GECES;- to give an update on the EP Intergroup on Social Economy

activities.

Follow-up of the event:- contacts taken with the new EC SBI team.

09.07.2015 Brussels, Permanent Representation of Luxembourg

Launch of the Luxembourg Presidency

Objective of the event:- to present Luxembourg Presidency priorities;- to tackle several key issues of social enterprises, among which

the financial ecosystem.

Follow-up of the event:- participation of Minister Schmit in the EESC project closing

event on the following day.10.07.2015 Brussels,

EESCProject closing event

Objective of the event:- to present the EESC work on social enterprise done between

February 2014 and July 2015;- to discuss the topic of the financial ecosystem;- to analyse the role of social enterprise in terms of job and

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business creation.

Follow-up of the event:- keep the momentum;- maintain the contacts with the other institutions;- continue the cooperation with Luxembourg presidency

(ongoing);- finalise the exploratory opinion requested by the Luxembourg

presidency (ongoing);- get in touch with the Dutch Presidency (ongoing);- submit a request to the EESC Bureau to set up a permanent

study group (ongoing).

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