“The social economy consists of economic activities conducted by companies, mainly cooperatives, mutual societies and associations whose ethics is reflected by the following principles: purpose of service to members or the community rather than profit, managerial autonomy, democratic decision, democratic decision-making, more consideration of people and work rather than capital in the income distribution” (source: Conseil Wallon de l’Economie Sociale, 1990).
Thus, the term “social economy” brings together associations (proper Associations Sans But Lucratif – ASBL, de facto associations, and foundations), mutuals and societies (cooperatives societies and social purpose companies or SFS; source: www.ces-ulg.be).
Despite the important economic value and the rising interest in the non-profit sector in Belgium, there is a lack of accurate and complete statistical analysis in this field. There is a federal registry of non-profit organisations; it is estimated that a third of these organisations has professional staff members and the rest relies mostly on volunteers. The largest number of these organisations focuses on health, social activities and education (sources: www.givingineurope.org; www.ces-ulg.be).
The third sector accounts for 4.6% of the GDP in Belgium. Yet, this figure greatly varies depending on the activity sector: non-profit institutions are in fact negligible in some fields, such as agriculture, industry or market services, but their weight is conversely very important in other areas, such as in the health, social work, and rights, interests and beliefs’ area. Also, their weight in the field of culture, sports and recreation is far from negligible (source: www.ces-ulg.be).
The 2007 Report The Social Economy in the European Union edited by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC; 2007; 2002 data) highlights that the French social economy is composed by (see table):
– mutual companies and similar accepted forms
– associations and similar accepted forms
– 267 co-operatives and similar accepted forms
– 665 foundations, of which 400 with the status of public benefit foundations (source: University of Heidelberg and Centre for Social Investment, Feasibility Study on a European Foundation Statute, 2008; 2005 data); for the legislation about foundations in Belgium you can also visit the website of the European Foundation Centre (ECB) at the following link: http://www.efc.be/ftp/public/eu/CountryProfiles/belgium.pdf.
THE SOCIAL ECONOMY IN BELGIUM (*)
|
Co-operatives and other similar accepted forms |
Mutual Companies and other similar accepted forms |
Associations and other similar accepted forms |
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– Co-operatives (2005: 17.047 jobs 1.413.851 members 267 enterprises)(1) – Cooperative banks (2) (2005: 1.000 jobs) – Agricultural Cooperatives (2) (2005: 7.500 jobs) – Consumer & pharmacy coop. (2) (2005: 3.500 jobs) – Insurance Cooperatives (2) (2005: 1.700 jobs) |
– Mutual companies (1998: 12.864 jobs)
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– All Associations and other similar accepted forms (2003: 249.700 jobs)
|
|
17.047 jobs 1.413.851 members 267 enterprises |
12.864 jobs |
249.700 jobs |
(*) Source : J.Defourny (Centre d’Economie Sociale, Univ. Liège)
(1) Source: Cooperatives Europe, 2005. The information refers only to those which are affiliated to Cooperatives Europe.
(2) CIRIEC-Belgium estimations
In line with the results reported above, the Institute des Comptes Nationaux reported that in 2004 non profitable institutions amounted to 16,913 units.
Sources of income
Most non-profit organisations focus on service delivery and receive the bulk of their funding from the state, as confirmed by a recent survey by the University of Liège: around 75% of the financial resources of the non-profit organisations are generated by the support of local, federal or national public administrations.
Only 5% come from private donors, which includes both foundations and individuals. Financial generosity to non-profit organisations is in fact not a firmly established tradition in Belgium.
Contribution to the non-profit sector more often takes the form of volunteer work than of donations of funds (source: www.givingineurope.org).
According to a paper by Defourny and Nyssens (eds., 2008), a fund has been established at a national level in 2001 in order to finance initiatives in the social and sustainable economy.
Moreover, in the Walloon Region, there are consultancy agencies for social economy, which – under public bodies’ incitation – are currently giving advice in particular as long as the market social economy is concerned.
