Towards a Europe of cooperative territories: social and ecological innovation clusters
The social aspect is regularly cited as one of the weak points of current European integration. However, many initiatives at the European level are trying to remedy this. Timothée Duverger and Christophe Sente, members of the Foundation's Observatory of Local Experimentation and Innovation, analyze "social and ecological innovation clusters" in the European Union.
A Europe of the social economy
While the social economy has often been caricatured since its creation as the Trojan horse of excessive liberalization, the European Commission presented an action plan for the social economy on December 8, 2021. the European Commission presented an action plan for the social economy on December 8, 2021. In its words, "the social economy has the potential to reshape the post-Covid economy through inclusive and inclusive economic models.The social economy has the potential to reshape the post-Covid economy through inclusive and sustainable economic models that lead to a more equitable ecological, economic and social transformation.
This is not a change of course, but a turning point in the conception of an evolving European economic model that does not rely solely on competition law to regulate relations between often multinational companies, but also on the principle of subsidiarity. Subsidiarity, a key concept in the political thinking of Jacques Delors, cannot be reduced to its legal definition in the Maastricht Treaty, which defines it as the way in which competences are distributed between the Union and the Member States. If its origin is undoubtedly in canon law, its trace is also, and above all, present in Proudhon's mutuellist theory and latent in the projects of any "second" left that does not rely on the principle of subsidiarity.It is latent in the projects of any "second" left that does not rely solely on state resources to guarantee the social and solidarity-based character of an economy. Subsidiarity implies that the key to social equilibrium does not lie in the centralization of functions by large actors, but in a distribution of political and economic responsibilities among the different levels and forms of a post-national territorial organization.
While Jacques Delors' project to give mutuals a European statute has stalled, the plan presented by the European Commission in December 2021 is a historic step for the social economy. For the first time, the social economy is considered in a systemic way and the plan is based on two axes that are present in most of the Union's major policies. The first is support for national and local public policies through the establishment of appropriate legal frameworks, a recent step of which was the 2004 reform of the regulations on public procurement, which amended the law on the social economy.One recent step was the 2004 reform of public procurement regulations, which amended the principle of prohibiting state aid by recognizing the validity of environmental, social and ethical clauses in calls for tender. The second is the implementation of financing instruments (InvestEU program, the social component of the European taxonomy, etc.) to support entrepreneurial, political and economic initiatives.
With 13.6 million jobs, i.e. 6.3% of the active population, the social economy is not only considered by the Commission as a lever for integration, but is also recognized as one of the fourteen European industrial ecosystems.
Conceived in the context of the Covid-19 crisis and inspired by the Green Pact for Europe, the plan made public in December 2021 is part of a social turnaround that is also reflected in the measures proposed by the European Commission.This is also reflected in the measures proposed by the EU for platform workers and the progress made towards a European minimum wage.
On the occasion of this turning point, the social economy is invited to contribute to the collective well-being as well as to the ecological and digital transition.
In particular, the European Commission proposes to support enterprises in the sector to promote local economic development and the creation of non relocatable jobs.
In this respect, the strategic function of "social and ecological innovation clusters" has just been the subject of a GECES report which concludes with recommendations to the Commission, national, regional and local authorities and companies.
GECES and the clustering of the social economy
The GECES, which was established at the European Commission as a group of experts specializing in the social economy, has published a report on the theme of "innovation clusters".The GECES has published a report on the theme of "social and ecological innovation clusters", establishing the current state of play and defending their interest and potential. The report, which was drawn up under the responsibility and initiative of its authors, is a contribution to a renewal of the European Union's industrial policies inspired by the logic of economic sovereignty and environmental sustainability adopted by the Union.
Popularized among a French-speaking public by the vocabulary of the first months of the pandemic, the term "cluster" can be translated as "grappe". It is used by the authors of the report to designate a development model similar to that of the network and characterized, in the context of the social economy, by the development of a network of networks.It is used by the authors of the report to designate a development model similar to that of a network and characterized, in the context of the social economy, by the linking of private and public actors, generally local, as well as by a potential contribution to economic and social transition.
Moreover, the model does not belong to the social economy, but to the industrial policy, whose redeployment the European Union supports based on a logic of "clustering" that breaks with the classic sectoral approach. Stimulating "clustering" means inviting companies to come together and cooperate on a local or functional basis so that they can form an ecosystem and not just a competitive market. In other words, while the territory remains the foundation of a social economy cluster, it is not the fantasized place of regional or local reIn other words, if the territory remains the basis of a social economy cluster, it is not the fantasized place of a regional or local regression in the direction of a "new Middle Ages" or an archipelagic society1 . It is the agent of a cooperative economic realization at the service of the greatest number and compatible with respect for the environment.
Silicon Valley is undoubtedly the historical cradle of the industrialization of contemporary industry, but under the impetus of the EU, it has made remarkable progress on European territory.According to the report, it accounts for 61.8 million jobs in Europe, or just under a quarter of the total workforce. Remarkably, clusters are particularly well represented in export-oriented production sectors and therefore cannot be considered typical of the European economy.This is a remarkable feature, as clusters are particularly well represented in export-oriented production sectors and therefore cannot be considered typical of activities in decline and protected by defensive public measures that prioritize job protection. Innovation and clustering go hand in hand, and this equation is confirmed in the field of "green tech" since, as the GECES report points out, no less than 250 clusters dedicated to the development of a "green economy" have been created.The European Union has listed no fewer than 250 clusters dedicated to the development of an eco-friendly economy because it is digitalized.
The "territorial clusters of economic cooperation" (PTCE) are certainly one of the most visible and successful forms of social and ecological innovation clusters in Europe in general, and in France in particular (see below). However, they are not alone and the report, which highlights their importance, also highlights the Scottish experience of promoting inclusive growth based on the connection of small and medium-sized enterprises in the social economy.
However, the purpose and interest of the report does not lie in a simple mapping of experiences, but in the completion of a step in the search for a model of social economy clusters.The purpose and interest of the report, however, lies not in a simple mapping of experiences, but in the achievement of a step in the search for a model of the social economy clusters, capable of orienting the intervention of public authorities while encouraging the self-organization of enterprises in the sector as partners. The challenge is to increase the scope of short circuits and to take the cooperative initiative beyond the limits of a company's social purpose.
In terms of modeling, the authors' obligatory detour through the scientific literature on the subject is of limited interest. Not only is this literature thin, but its content is mainly a reminder of the advantages of economies of scale, of know-how transfers between partners, or of an exit from a siloed organization.
In fact, and this is its main interest, rather than trying to establish a closed definition of a sector in full evolution, the report establishes a list of environments and projects likely to encourage rapprochement and cooperation. At least three of them are worth mentioning here.
The first is, not surprisingly, the food sector. This is not surprising, because the history of the cooperative movement is rich in experiences of linking producers and consumers. Today, the patronage of such initiatives by political or trade union organizations may have disappeared in Europe, but, as the GECES report shows, the now widely-recognized aspiration for quality food is not a new one.In the social economy sector, the widespread desire for quality food is no longer limited to the emergence of local grocery stores that sell "organic" products. It includes, notably in Germany, Belgium and Italy, the development of circuits associating farmers, retailers, local public operators and citizens united by the objective of ecologically responsible consumption, and even that of local economic revitalization.
The second is a reminder. Europe, as the scene of several industrial revolutions that required the construction of vast factories and warehouses, is notably rich in these ruins. Reinvested by entrepreneurs, they can be the place not only for the incubation of startups, housed for a moderate rent, but also for their cooperation in the promotion of innovative projects typical of a circular economy. Without claiming to be exhaustive, the report cites achievements in Strasbourg and Barcelona, whose regeneration of brownfields and the disappearance of urban cankers have not been the least of their accomplishments.
Finally, the third is a demonstration of the possibility of the meeting of a reputedly liberal European policy and the social economy. In several Italian regions, the cluster has meant the constitution of small enterprises into unions or conglomerates to facilitate their members' access to public markets. In this case, the association of small enterprises from the social economy has enabled them to bid for and win large contracts, particularly in the waste management and green space sectors.
A French experience for Europe: the PTCEs
As the GECES report points out, the French PTCE is "one of the most developed and inspiring examples of the social economy.As the GECES report points out, the French territorial economic cooperation cluster (PTCE) "is one of the most developed and inspiring examples of social economy clusters that have achieved a certain degree of institutionalization and recognition.
The PTCEs have indeed undergone an accelerated institutionalization, going from one of the "60 proposals to change course" of the think tank Le Labo de lSSE in 2010 to the adoption of Article 9 of the 2014 SSE law, giving them a legal basis on which to base the three calls for projects launched by the government in 2013, 2015 and 2020. The original definition, included in their charter, presents them as "a grouping, on a given territory, of initiatives, companies and networks of the social and solidarity economy associated with socially responsible SMEs, local authorities, research centers and training organizations, which implements a common and continuous strategy of coordination and mutualization in the service of innovative economic projects for sustainable development. Any figure concerning them should be taken with caution, as the PTCEs are not subject to a label and can self-declare themselves as such. According to a diagnosis dating from 2020, 74 have been created and 56 are still active.
Research on PTCEs has been very dynamic in recent years, involving theses3 and approaching them through institutionalization4 , governance5 or processual analysis6. In accordance with the territorial regimes approach, the PTCEs consolidate dynamics that are often long-standing, based on a historical construction of trust, which they extend by participating in territorial regulation and in the definition of public problems7.
The PTCEs mainly bring together VSEs and SMEs, with cooperative ventures favoring the pooling of resources, the support of joint projects or the contribution to territorial development. Directed by SSE actors, most often associations, but also cooperatives and non-profit organizations, they are organized around the coordination unit or the cluster's supporting structure, which includes all the initiating members and partners. The PTCEs generally operate on a sub-departmental scale.
Focusing on sectors that are either in difficulty or emerging, they are in most cases part of the ecological and social transition of territories: eco-activities (circular economy, renewable energies, etc.), employment and securing career paths.), employment and securing career paths, food and sustainable agriculture, culture and the creative industry, catering, personal services, construction (new materials, eco-construction, insulation, etc.), etc. The PTCEs thus provide services to the local economic fabric or to the population, which explains the absence of the industrial sector and differentiates them from competitiveness clusters.
The social and solidarity economy on the move
The social and solidarity economy did not wait for the European Union, but it can still expect a lot from it.
This expectation is as much legal as it is financial, and these two aspects of a possible strengthening of the EU's action are inseparable.
There can be no specific budgeting without a definition of the object. However, if the objectives of the social and solidarity economy are known and are in line with those currently stated by the EU, this field itself in its generality as well as the more specific field of "social and ecological innovation clusters" is still unclear in terms of the public law criteria that guide funding.
Previously, the social economy was defined by the status of its actors, cooperatives, mutuals, associations and foundations. This restrictive definition has been abandoned in favour of a teleological approach that allows for the inclusion of a wider diversity of operators, at the risk of conceptual dilution. This risk of conceptual dilution is all the greater since the social/solidarity-based economy is today defined above all by its experimentation with processes that enable it to contribute to a peaceful and harmonious social and ecological transition.
It was therefore inevitable that the GECES report should conclude with an invitation to the Commission to " fine-tune" the concepts it uses to mark out its intervention while not remaining trapped in a narrow approach to the social economy. For GECES, it is indeed important that the Commission encourages the development of links, beyond national borders, between social economy clusters and industrial economy clusters.
At the same time, GECES recommends that social economy entrepreneurs ensure the visibility of their initiatives by formalizing the "clusters" they create, i.e., the "clusters" of the social economy. In parallel, GECES recommends that social economy entrepreneurs ensure the visibility of their initiatives by formalizing the "clusters" they create, i.e. by using the appropriate legal forms as encouraged by European legislators.
Source: www.jean-jaures.org/
