The Commission has published a report of its Action Plan for the Social Economy, reviewing its progress since 2021 and setting out further actions to strengthen the social economy across Europe.
The implementation of the Action Plan is well underway. In the last five years, 21 Member States have adopted or are preparing national or regional social economy strategies and 12 have reformed their social economy laws. Over €1.62 billion in EU funding and €1.2 billion in InvestEU guarantees have been allocated to support the EU social economy in 2021-2027.
Looking ahead, the report identifies priorities to make the social economy more competitive, robust and widely recognised. They include clearer state aid rules, stronger frameworks for private social investment, better data collection across Member States, and a toolkit to support regional and local social economy policies.
A Special Eurobarometer in October 2025 found that half of Europeans had engaged with social economy organisations in the past five years, and that 75% considered the social economy important for society. However, these organisations still face uneven access to support , markets and finance.
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- Publication date
- 30 March 2026
- Author
- Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion