Social Economy Action Plan Mid-term Review takes stock of achievements and sets new actions

Social Economy Action Plan Mid-term Review takes stock of achievements and sets new actions

On 30 March 2026, the European Commission published the mid-term review of the Social Economy Action Plan (SEAP).

As explained in EPR’s Short Briefing on the Social Economy Action Plan, the SEAP was published in 2021, to amplify the impact of the Social Economy. It included more than 60 actions to improve the framework conditions for the social economy.

Mid-term review report, which was scheduled for 2025, underlines the following key points on what has been achieved so far through the SEAP:

1. The adoption of the 2023 Council recommendation on developing social economy framework conditions, which, in practice, has led to 21 Member States having adopted or being in the process of adopting national or regional strategies for the social economy between 2021 and 2025. However, the report notes untapped potential at regional and municipal levels.
2. Restrictive legal frameworks cause legal uncertainty and raise barriers to further support the social economy. Public authorities often lack technical capacity in areas such as State aid and socially responsible public procurement. For example, the recent evaluation of the Directives on public procurement shows varying levels of maturity in integrating social considerations into public procurement practices across Member States.
3. The Youth Entrepreneurship Policy Academy (YEPA), a joint initiative of the Commission and the OECD, brought together policymakers and networks of young entrepreneurs through a series of policy and capacity-building workshops, aiming to devise better policies for  young entrepreneurs, including social entrepreneurs. Despite the development of initiatives like YEPA, the coverage and recognition of clear training and capacity-building pathways remain uneven across sectors and territories. Links with education and training systems are fragmented, and curricular approaches, shared competence frameworks and robust evidence on social and inclusive entrepreneurship remain the exception.
4. The EU Social Economy Gateway provides up-to-date information on EU policies, funding and initiatives for the social economy. Since its launch in 2023, the website has attracted over 596 000 visitors and offers useful material for social economy practitioners and policymakers.

Looking ahead, the European Commission proposes actions within the following areas:

• Strengthening multilevel governance and implementation on the ground.
• Making rules and frameworks work for the social economy (this includes enhancing EU-level public procurement and state aid legislation). While the SEAP included the adoption of a European Cross-Border Association Directive (which has been stuck in Council negotiations since 2024 as explained in previous news articles here and here), its adoption was not mentioned in upcoming actions. This raises concerns as the European Commission proposed its withdrawal in its 2026 Work Programme.
• Strengthening the social investment ecosystem.
• Scaling up skills, training and entrepreneurship (through social and inclusive business incubation models; and improving the knowledge base on social and inclusive entrepreneurship).
• Building the social economy evidence base and data.

More information on the Social Economy Action Plan mid-term review available here.