Social Business Initiative Conference



The Deputy Director of the Labour and Employment Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina attended the two-day conference entitled Social Entrepreneurs: Have Your Say! which was organized by the European Commission. The Conference was held on 16 and 17 January 2014 in Strasbourg, France.

It brought together more than 2000 participants, most of them from Europe, from the field of labour market, social entrepreneurs and those engaged in the issues of labour and social protection.     

The objectives of the Conference were to take stock of the Social Business Initiative achievements and implementation and identify the future priorities for action and where the EU could add value and support the scaling-up of social entrepreneurship, engage stakeholders in an innovative and participative environment to shape the European agenda for the next 3–5 years, strengthen stakeholder networks to support the emergence and scaling-up of initiatives and best practises and create more ownership and awareness among institutional actors, notably in the non-EU countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Participants emphasized that great contribution to Europe is made by social enterprises which have been recognized as a vehicle for social and economic cohesion across Europe which provide help in building a pluralistic and resilient social market economy. They create new jobs, provide innovative products and services and promote sustainable economy.

Social enterprises exist across Europe in far more shapes and sizes than is the case in Bosnia and Herzegovina and take different legal forms. 

During this two-day conference, numerous high-level officials from institutions dealing with labour market and social issues from across the world, including colleagues from the neighbouring countries, presented different activities and ideas, worked together in focus groups and exchange opinions both in official and unofficial meetings which is of particular importance both for the Labour and Employment Agency of BiH and the entire BiH system dealing with these issues, especially when considering the fact that neither BiH nor its entities have a law on social entrepreneurship as opposed to more advanced economies.

The following are the conclusions adopted in the Conference:

1. EU must follow through on all actions related to these issues. It should develop further phases of the initiative with broader scope, deeper partnership with Member States, other countries, regional and local authorities, civil society organisations and key actors in the ecosystem.  

2. The European Economic and Social Committee, the next European Commission and the next European Parliament must take the full ownership and deliver on the actions suggested in Strasbourg.   

3. There must be a stronger engagement at EU, national, regional and local levels with the social enterprise community in the joint creation of next policies to support social enterprises, suited to the local context. 

4. The European Commission must ensure that its commitment to create an ecosystem for social enterprises is mainstreamed in its policies. 

5. In partnership with the social entrepreneurship sector, Member States, candidate countries and other countries, regional and local authorities must fully support the growth of social enterprises and help them in capacity building.  For example, through legal frameworks, access to finances, support to business start-up and development, training and education and public procurement.

6. The European institutions and Member States should strengthen the role of social enterprises in structural reforms to exit the crisis, notably in countries in which social economy is less developed.    

7. The Commission, Member States and regions must boost cooperation between social enterprises across borders to share knowledge and practices. Similarly, all public authorities must cooperate and strengthen their capacity to support the growth of social enterprises.

8. Public and private actors must develop a whole range of adequate financial instruments and intermediaries which support social enterprises through their life-cycle.

9. Social enterprises still need further research and statistical collections at national level for a better understanding, recognition and visibility of this sector both among policy makers and in the general public. 

10. All actors in Europe need to look at growth and value creation from a wider perspective, by including social indicators and demonstrating positive social impact when reporting social and economic progress.