Don’t Mistake Social Bureaucrat for Social Innovator!

Dear Patrizia Toia MEP,

You have become the champion of social economy at the European Parliament. Thanks to the report named after you – the Toia report on social economy – a debate on the sector has taken place in the European Institutions. You have been able to involve the Commissioners Taiani and Barnier. You gathered academics from across Europe campaigning for social economy in Brussels to raise the profile of the discussion.

Quite impressive achievements.

The European Parliament intergroup on social economy hosted the launch of your report on Tuesday. Social Economy Europe members were there together with MEPs – Mauro, Tarabella, Vergiat – and guy from Taini Cabinet. Naturally your devoted Pezzini – who reminds me Iago – was in the first line with 2 of his thugs.

However, I still do not understand: why such an effort when you didn’t invite any social innovators – just Brussels-based civil society?

I felt so lonely in Brussels at your event. In contrast, I was surrounded by peers and friends in Paris. Mouves – the French mouvement of social entrepreneurs – held its first Congress. Social innovators from across France gathered to discuss how to change France – and shake-up the old fashion social economy. There were poids lourds such as Hugues Sibille – Credit Coop, and Jean Marc Borello – Groupe SOS – exchanging with young leaders on a peer-to-peer level. We even launched a coalition to make social innovation and enterprise at the core of the EU. That was inspiring!

Even the representative of Commissioner Barnier, who didn’t utter a word on Tuesday, spent half the afternoon with us announcing the inclusion of social enterprise in the upcoming social business act.

Perhaps I’m wrong and you invited the real changemakers of the sector at the other event with Barnier and the academics you organised on Wednesday but I don’t think so. You didn’t invite neither me nor anybody I know so I can’t say. An official from the Commission was so embarrassed by this discovery that he offered to find an invitation for me.

That was not a problem for me. It’s your problem. As a policymaker you won’t be able to make the right choices if you get bad advice and miss the right people.

This is already reflected in the report. It lacks evidence and some figures are wrong. It’s about european social economy but expresses just the reality in France, Italy and Spain. What happened to Germany, Great Britain, the Scandinavian countries and all the new Member States?

The substantial weakness of the report is the lingering contradiction between a social economy claiming to be vital for European society and ready to bid for leadership, versus a sector asking protection as if it was a minority group.

I wouldn’t be surpirsed if you decide to review your report opening up the process to the social innovators who make change happen in the field across Europe, not just the parasites who feast in the Brussels bubble.

Yours,

Filippo