The Platform of European Social NGOs
Making sense of Social Investment
Presentation by Michel Mercadié
member of Social Platform’s Management Committee
NET4SOCIETY International Conference on Achieving Impact - Athens, February 26, 2014
Who is Social Platform
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Largest civil society alliance fighting for social justice and participatory
democracy in Europe
 47 pan-European networks of NGOs
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Campaigning to ensure that
 EU policies are developed in partnership with the people they affect,
 respecting fundamental rights,
 promoting solidarity, and
 improving lives
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Our members represent 2851 national organisations
Social Investment Package (SIP)
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February 20, 2013: Framework Communication + additional documents
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EC: social investment to strengthen people’s capacities
 alongside social protection and stabilisation of the economy
 “simple, targeted and conditional social investment”
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Guidance to member states:
 Increasing sustainability and adequacy of social systems
 Activating and enabling policies
 Investment throughout the individual's life
 use of EU Funds and the ESF in particular as source of social investment
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Link to the Europe 2020 social targets and European Semester
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Roadmap for implementation
Social Platform assessment of the SIP
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SI = provision and use of finance to generate social and economic returns
 address emerging social risks + unmet needs for the well-being of
people and socially cohesive societies
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Positive:
 Social spending is not cost BUT investment
 Opportunity: re-balancing social and economic policies
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Concerns:
 Fundamental rights approach
 effectiveness and efficiency
 Conditionality
 Limited Resources EU Funds – national budgets
How to implement the SIP
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Full implementation of social investment
 Role of the State as social investor
 Involvement of relevant stakeholders at all levels, in design,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation
 Translation into concrete policies (CSRs)
 Creation of quality employment
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Follow-up of the implementation
Our contact information
De Meeûssquare d 18
B-1050 Brussels
Belgium
T +32 2 511 37 14
platform@socialplatform.org
www.socialplatform.org
Facebook: facebook.com/socialplatform
Twitter: @social_platform