Collective call to grant limited profitability enterprises a legal meaning and ensure a fair competition with private undertakings.

Collective call to grant limited profitability enterprises a legal meaning and ensure a fair competition with private undertakings.

The VYV Group has initiated a collective call for action, and are looking for like-minded organizations willing to join them in their efforts towards the recognition of the notion of “limited profitability”. Here is an excerpt from their letter.

…the specific legal models of companies with limited profitability are not yet recognized by European legislation. This concept is defined in an own-initiative opinion adopted by EESC in 2019 and recognized at international level by the United Nations.

Therefore, our structures are facing an unfair competition with for-profit enterprises caused by the legal oversights on our inner differences: we have a different approach to the distribution of surplus earnings and we have higher constraints on access to capital, which is necessary to grow. The Paint Graphos case law by the CJEU granted a specific regulatory framework to cooperatives regarding those inequalities in EU law and specifically State Aid. It recognized that in view of the constraints to finance their activities, cooperatives are not evolving in a factual and legal situation that is comparable to that for-profit companies

EU and national regulations must more effectively foster the development of limited profitability enterprises by setting a legal and political framework guaranteeing a fair while safeguarding our fundamental values of solidarity, economic resilience, and the absence of the pursuit of profit.

Read the full text HERE, and more about the background of this call in the letter from Thierry Beaudet, president of the VYV Group.

More information about the initiative in their website www.advocatingeurope.eu or directly with:
Dialiha FOFANA for VYV GROUP UMG
Email: dialiha.fofana@groupe-vyv.fr

 

This publication has been prepared within SENBS project No. 2020- 1-EE01-KA204-077999. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

 

Social enterprises and procurement legislation

Social enterprises and procurement legislation

 

Every year, over 250 000 public authorities in the EU spend around 14% of GDP on the purchase of services, works and supplies. In many sectors such as energy, transport, waste management, social protection and the provision of health or education services, public authorities are the principal buyers. (Source) 

How can the social enterprises take their part in public procurements?

The new general, utility, and concession directives on public procurement entered into force in April 2014.  These  should have been implemented into national legislation within the EU until the 18th of April 2016. In Finland at least we’ll be waiting a bit longer for the actual new piece of legislation that goes under the name the ”public procurement law” – hopefully the wait will not be for too long anymore. At least so far we’ve had the initial version of the law to read, but the law itself is estimated to be in force at the end of this year.  However, as the actual time has already passed in implementing the directives into our national legislation, from 18th April onwards the directives have come into force already partly.

What good things is the new legislation bringing if one thinks about it from the social entreprises’ perspective? At least these things:

  • The incrementation of the national public procurement tresholds;
  • The improved opportunities for small enterprises to take part in the biddings (basically it should be easier and cheaper for small and medium-sized enterprises to bid for public contracts);
  • The new rules also allow more usage of social and environmental criteria.