OPPORTUNITIES AND PROBLEMS TO SUPPORT SOCIAL ECONOMY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Vanya Banabakova, Maria Ilcheva
Prof. Dr., Mr., National Military University Vasil Levski, BULGARIA, email: v.banabakova@abv.bg
Dr., Mr., National Military University Vasil Levski, BULGARIA, email: mkilcheva@abv.bg

Abstract

The European Commission recommends that Member States encourage the creation of specific support programs for the development of social enterprises and the next generation of social entrepreneurs. Various studies in Europe show some of the recurrent difficulties encountered by social enterprises in terms of competitive development and economic sustainability and, as a consequence, the need for intervention and regulation.

The diversity of resources and the subjects of social economy organizations lead to differences in the dynamics of their behavior and their relations with the surrounding environment. At European level, a number of studies identify four main types of measures to promote social enterprises in the Member States that can contribute to sector-wide development: regulatory action and initiatives, and in particular the fact that the legislation of many EU countries provide for exceptions or special tax measures; financial support instruments, either in the form of subsidies or financial aids, and in the form of a reduction in labor costs in the case of inclusion of categories at risk of inequality in the labor market; tools to support business development, mainly by setting up business incubators, strategic and financial counseling services, and entrepreneurial development training; measures to support cooperation, that is to say, the institutionalization of forms of cooperation both vertically - between social enterprises and public institutions, and horizontally - between individual social enterprises.

Despite the existence of a variety of policies and public measures to support the social economy in the individual Member States of the European Union, there are a number of barriers and obstacles to the development of the social economy.

Regardless of the serious progress and important steps taken for the political recognition of the social economy on the agenda of the European institutions, it remains imperative to develop policies and an institutional framework for their realization in order to create an optimal environment that encourages and supports the social economy in individual member states.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the mechanisms and forms of support for the social economy in the European Union and on this basis to highlight the problems in their application.

Keywords: social economy, social policies, tools to support the social economy