European Network of Social Integration Enterprises: ENSIE meets Commissioner Thyssen’s Cabinet
Work Integration Social Enterprises: a solution to labour market policies
On 10 July a European Network of Social Integration Enterprises (ENSIE) delegation composed of Maria Nieves Ramos Rosario, Executive President of the organisation, Salvatore Vetro, Treasurer and Patrizia Bussi, Director, had the chance to meet with representatives of the Cabinet of Marianne Thyssen, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility: Vasiliki Kokkori and Baudoin Baudru, and the Head of Unit of Direction D.2, Europe 2020: Social Policies, Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction, Mr Stefan Olsson.
ENSIE’s key messages were thoroughly exposed during the two hour meeting and were focused on underlying the concrete added value of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) in the job market for disadvantaged groups. The main aim of the meeting was positioning once again ENSIE’s work and good practices from the field in order to influence the labour market policies by stressing the importance of partnerships between WISEs and public services such as social and employment services.
Some examples from the field were taken as facts and figures during the report of ENSIE’s work and a clear, specific position towards public procurement, European Structural and Investment funds (ESIF) and state aids limits in connection with the definition of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) was presented.
A key message was to have political and practical guidelines in order to help member states and public authorities during the transposition phase of the new Public Procurement Directive 2014/24/EU. Mostly thanks to the inclusion of social and environmental considerations and of a provision on reserved contracts at a national level, the Directive offers new important possibilities for WISEs and for the whole social economy sector. In addition, ENSIE’s approach included a reference to the importance of the inclusion of quality criteria in the delivery of social services in opposition to the lowest cost ratio that is usually adopted.
Furthermore, ENSIE stressed the importance of giving open access to ESIF to small and medium size organizations, which normally face problems linked to lack of information, bureaucracy and payment mechanisms.
With regard to the financing of WISEs and following the debates on impact investment, ENSIE called for deeper analysis of the use of private investments in conjunction with public financing.
Concerning the measurement of the social impact of enterprises, ENSIE insisted on the need to not impose on social enterprises the use of costly impact measurement methodologies – both in operational and financial terms. Last but not least, ENSIE stressed the need to establish a specific taxation system for WISEs in order to fulfill the core mission of general interest as stated in their mandate, with the adoption of reduced VAT rates and a compensation system by the state.
