Dear friends, dear interested,
In just over two weeks time more than 300 Social and Solidarity Economy stakeholders and 2500 (and counting) participants will convene (virtually) for the long awaited “European Social Economy Summit” (EUSES) in Mannheim. That will easily be the largest Social Economy Event that Europe has ever seen.
And it comes at a crucial time: When rebuilding our economies in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Social and Solidarity Economy will be crucial to create businesses and jobs that pave the way to a democratic, sustainable and inclusive economy. Focussing on three dimensions – digitalisation of the Social Economy, (social) innovation, cross-country and cross-sectoral collaboration – the programme is geared towards the task of strengthening the Social Economy in Europe. It will culminate in the Mannheim Declaration, by which the stakeholders make their demands for the upcoming EU’s Social Economy Action Plan, to be published by the EU-Commission at the end of 2021. This Action Plan provides a great chance to improve the conditions for all enterprises and initiatives of the Social and Solidarity Economy in Europe. Everyone is invited to contribute to the Mannheim Declaration and vote for measures to support the Social Economy, and I encourage everyone to make their voices heard: https://www.euses2020.eu/mannheim-declaration/
At the summit, top speakers include: Franziska GIFFEY (Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Germany), Peter KURZ (Mayor City of Mannheim), Angel GURRÍA (Secretary-General OECD), Nicolas SCHMIT (EU Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights), Thierry BRETON (EU Commissioner for Internal Market), Maroš ŠEFČOVIČ (European Commission Vice President for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight), Vic Van VUUREN (Director – ILO Enterprises Department & Chair of UN Task Force Social And Solidarity Economy), Jeanne BARSEGHIAN (Mayor City of Strasbourg).
+++ Special invitation: “Mainstreaming the Social Economy in EU policies – A roundtable by the Social Economy Intergroup & SEE” – Wednesday 26 May from 14:15 to 15:00 CET +++
As part of EUSES, our European Parliament’s Social Economy Intergroup, together with Social Economy Europe organises a plenary session on mainstreaming the Social Economy in EU policies, a key measure for strengthening the sector. I will be speaking on this panel with other co-chairs of the intergroup.
Registration is still possible for the whole summit including our own event here:
https://www.euses2020.eu/#tickets
I am very much looking forward to the summit and meeting you all, even though we will not be able to meet for a coffee in Mannheim afterwards for pandemic reasons.
With European wishes,
Your Sven Giegold
—
P.S.: PODCAST on EUSES: For more detailed information about EUSES, please have a listen in the latest Social Economy Europa Podcast, with Mannheim Mayor Peter Kurz, EU Commission’s Dr Ulla Engelmann, Social Economy Europe’s Nicolas Clark and myself here: https://www.socialeconomy.eu.org/podcast/