Commissioner Andor : “The considerable contribution of cooperatives to the work integration of disadvantaged people is one of the most cost-effective ways of meeting the Europe 2020"
29 Nov 2013
Position paper
The European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, László Andor gave a keynote speech at the Conference Cooperatives and Work Integration of Disadvantaged Persons by highlighting that social cooperatives play a key role in Europe, “they bring a fresh vision and approach to the current mainstream economy. Among others they have been capable of enhancing the ability of disadvantaged groups of people to protect their own interests, by guaranteeing self-help outside the family in accessing basic goods and services. Cooperatives hold powerful tools for social innovation”. He mentioned the added value of membership in cooperatives, especially in social cooperatives where also disadvantaged workers are members of the enterprise and decide on its future.
“The considerable contribution of cooperatives to the work integration of disadvantaged people is one of the most cost-effective ways of meeting the Europe 2020 targets for employment, innovation, education and social inclusion”, concluded the Commissioner. You can watch the full speech of the Commissioner here: This conference has been co-organized by the European Confederation of Cooperatives in Industry and Services (CECOP-CICOPA Europe) and Confcooperative-Federsolidarietà, the largest Italian Federation of Social Cooperatives, at the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels.
It has presented positive actions put in place by cooperatives in different European countries in order to provide quality employment and qualifying vocational training to persons with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups. You can watch a video containing the highlights of the conference here:
