On 4 November, SSE France held the inauguration of the 17th edition of the Social and Solidarity Economy Month, Mois de l’ESS, a meeting attended by nearly 200 people, including the main actors in the sector, brought together under the slogan ‘Repairing democracy’. The event highlighted the important role of the SSE as a response to the loss of trust between citizens and entities, an aspect also present in the open letter that the ten main leaders of the French Social Economy addressed to the country’s Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, in which they warned of the negative consequences for the sector of the new Finance Act, as they predict that it could cost thousands of SSE jobs.
The event was attended by eminent figures in the social economy such as Stéphane Junique, President of the VYV Group, Benoît Hamon, President of ESS France, and Marie-Agnès Poussier-Winsback, Minister Delegate for the SSE, Incentives and Participation.
ESS 2024 Awards Ceremony
The event included the presentation of the ESS 2024 Awards, presented by Michel Jézéquel, Vice-President of ESS France and President of the National Jury of the ESS 2024 Awards. In the ‘Social Utility’ category, the social housing company SNL-Prologues (Île-de-France), which brings together social housing associations and socially responsible investors, was awarded for acquiring residential buildings to offer them to the most vulnerable people. Les Fermes Partagées (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), a company distinguished by its agro-ecological activity, was awarded in the ‘Ecological Transition’ category.
On the subject of the awards, Mr Jézéquel said that this year, 565 entries were received from all the participating regions, representing an increase on previous years. He added that ‘this dynamism testifies not only to the enthusiasm, but also to the importance of the SSE Awards on the national scene’.
Speeches defending and encouraging SSE growth
Stéphane Junique, President of the Vyv Group, which hosted the launch event for SSE Month 2024, said in his speech that being an actor in the Social and Solidarity Economy today ‘is an act of courage and an act of reinventing the ideas of social transformation and progress’, adding that it also means ‘fighting the battles necessary for society as a whole: ecological transition, inclusion, the fight against poverty, access to rights, etc.’.
Finally, he reaffirmed his support for Marie-Agnès Poussier-Winsback, Minister for the Social and Solidarity Economy, Incentives and Participation, who was present at the event, to whom he said: ‘You have the best portfolio of all, Minister: we are counting on you. Don’t be in any doubt that actors in difficulty are an asset for you’.
For his part, the President of SSE France, Benoît Hamon, provided two important figures in relation to the event’s slogan, ‘Repairing democracy’: 5.7 billion people around the world live in autocracies, and in the last 33 years France has increased sixfold the risk of falling into an authoritarian regime.
‘The SSE is an incomparable democratic resource that the government and parliament must draw on’, declared Mr Hamon, before calling for the mobilisation of SSE actors in the face of the adoption of the new Finance Act which, he warned, presents “a budget that is not up to the challenges”.
Open letter to the French Prime Minister
Hamon is one of the ten signatories of a letter addressed to the French Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, expressing the dissatisfaction of the country’s social economy sector with the approval of the latest finance law, a law which, as the President of ESS France has testified, jeopardises labour rights and the employment of 186,000 workers in social economy enterprises.
The other nine authors of the letter are Fatima Bellaredj, Secretary General of SSE France; Eric Chenut, President of Mutualité Française; Claire Thoury, President of Mouvement Associatif; Jérôme Saddier, President of Coop FR; Marion Lelouvier, President of the French Centre of Funds and Foundations; Yves Pellicier, representative of the Association des Assureurs Mutualistes; Julia Faure, Co-President of Mouvement Impact France; Pascal Demurger, Co-President of Mouvement Impact France; and Hugues Vidor, President of UDES.
In the letter, they also denounce a ‘weakened public service’, noting that the French ‘feel that they no longer have sufficient access to health, social protection, employment, education or mobility’, making this law a further step in the ‘feeling of abandonment’ which, they say, ‘feeds resentment and anger’.
‘The reduction in public funding for international aid, employment and work, but also for solidarity, sport and culture, will have a considerable impact on our activities’, states the letter, which ends with encouragement for reflection on the part of the French government.
