United Nations promotes the social economy

Te United Nations (UN) approved on April 18 a motion in which it urges governments “to promote and apply strategies, policies and programs to support and enhance the social economy as a model of sustainable economic and social development”.

The resolution agreed in the UN General Assembly is a historic measure, which has been promoted by the Spanish Government and encouraged by the Confederación Empresarial de Economia Social (CEPES), of which the Espriu Foundation is a member.

The UN resolution asks the different states to create their own legal frameworks for social economy companies that take into account the differentiation in national statistical systems. It also calls for governments to design tax incentives and, for public procurement, recognition of their role in educational programs, better access to financing and the participation of social economy agents in the design of public policies.

The scope of the social economy mainly includes cooperative companies, but also labor companies, mutual societies, insertion companies, special employment centers, fishermen’s associations and associations in the disability sector. In Spain it is made up of more than 43,000 companies that generate 2.2 million jobs and represent more than 10% of the country’s GDP.

These figures make the Spanish social economy a world benchmark in the sector, which also has some of the most advanced specific legislation. Recently, the Council of Ministers approved the Draft of the Comprehensive Law for the Promotion of the Social Economy, which modernizes some aspects of the regulation of cooperatives, and the Spanish Strategy of the Social Economy for the period 2023-2027, which aims to position this business model as a key element to improve the recovery capacity of the Spanish economy in the current context of economic and social uncertainty.