Public Hearing: How Can Taxation Systems Better Support the Social Economy?

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will be hosting a public hearing entitled "How can taxation systems better support the social economy?" to be held on Tuesday, 7 May 2024, 8.30 am - noon (GMT) in Brussels. The event will also be live-streamed. 

The social economy is a vital part of the European social and economic system. It generates and maintains high-quality jobs, fosters the inclusion of marginalised groups into the labour market, promotes sustainable business practices, and provides employment for millions of people. In this way, it makes the single market more inclusive, our societies more cohesive and fosters employment models that are tailored to local and communal needs.

Taxation policy is a key element in promoting a vibrant, robust social economy in Europe. Well-placed tax incentives can encourage the creation of new social economy entities and bolster up existing ones, by ensuring that social economy entities can afford to operate alongside mainstream businesses. However, designing tax frameworks that are fit for purpose to promote the social economy is a challenging endeavour. In order to feed into the policy debate on the adequate taxation of social economy entities and to bring together the views of stakeholders and experts, the EESC is organising this public hearing.

The EESC envisages that the hearing will contribute to developing policy frameworks for a stronger social economy in Europe. The hearing would also explore how tax policies can synergise with other policies in building an effective enabling framework for the social economy.

The EESC considers it important that the European legislators make continuous efforts to develop a framework that lays the foundation for a dynamic social economy in Europe. The EESC hopes that - in bringing together technical expertise, practitioners' insights, and inspiration from across Member States – it can foster a more nuanced understanding of the challenges ahead and solutions available for strengthening the social economy.

The debate will be accessible via this webstream on 7 May at 8.30 am. No registration is needed.