Mid-term review of the action plan for the social economy: main achievements and way forward

Year: 2026
Published in: European Commission
Cited as: European Commission (2026). Mid-term review of the action plan for the social economy: main achievements and way forward. COM(2026) 138 final. Brussels: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.

Mid-term review of the action plan for the social economy: main achievements and way forward

Five years after the launch of the EU’s Social Economy Action Plan, this Commission review takes stock of progress and sets out priorities for the remainder of the decade, including clearer state aid rules for social enterprises, stronger frameworks for private social investment, better cross-country data collection, and a new toolkit for regional and local social economy policymaking. It draws on a 2025 Special Eurobarometer showing that half of Europeans had engaged with social economy organisations in the previous five years and that three-quarters saw the sector as important for society, while noting that access to finance, markets and support remains uneven.