EDF has participated in the consultation opened by the European Commission on the development of the conditions to develop the Social Economy regulatory framework, following the Action Plan on Social Economy published last year.
This initiative aims to help Member States better adapt their policies and laws to the specific needs of the social economy in all relevant fields, and it will ensure that the sector is developed more evenly across EU Member States and regions.
In our response to the consultation, we have shared that we believe Social economy to be a key sector for the social and labour inclusion of persons with disabilities, assisting in the transition towards the open labour market, as the Social Economy Action Plan identifies.
The proposals from EDF
We believe the framework must cover and promote the role and value of Social Economy enterprises, in particular those generating inclusive employment for persons with disabilities. This promotion must be carried out through many relevant policies, such as State Aid and the General Block Exceptions Regulation (that allows the Member States to support companies when hiring persons with disabilities), public procurement, Structural Funds and Recovery Programmes within Next Generation EU, amongst others.
Also, we think the clarification of the concept of social economy through the framework must recognise this value in providing employment opportunities, addressing the responsibility of social enterprises to focus on training and skilling their employees with disabilities to facilitate career progression and a transition into the open labour market.
It will also be crucial for the framework to address the need for persons with disabilities working for social enterprises to have a guaranteed legal status of “employee”, and to thus be entitled to all the rights attached to this status in their Member State.
Last, we highlight that the framework should also promote quality employment of women with disabilities. Statistically, women with disabilities are significantly less likely to be employed and more likely to be in underpaid, low-quality jobs with poor working conditions. It should also seek to combat harassment, including sexual harassment, faced by women with disabilities working in social enterprises, in line with the discussion paper adopted by UN Women in 2020 and the Joint statement by UN Women, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on ending sexual harassment against women and girls with disabilities.
Read our full feedback on the European Commission’s portal
Contact:
Álvaro Couceiro, Policy Officer