The Portuguese Government has announced its intention to withdraw from the historic António Sérgio Cooperative for the Social Economy (CASES) following a Resolution of the Council of Ministers adopted last 28 November, in the context of a broader ministerial reform. The decision has met with the logical opposition of social economy stakeholders in Portugal and across the European Union.
CASES was established in 2010 as a partnership between the State and the representative organisations of the sector, with the aim of supporting cooperatives and the social economy through a series of structural functions. For this reason, leading European social economy organisations warn that this decision would lead to the disappearance of a key actor that promotes and accredits the social economy in Portugal, putting at risk more than 15 years of accumulated experience in cooperative development and social economy policy.
Among the figures who have reacted to this decision is Juan Antonio Pedreño, President of Social Economy Europe (SEE), who has sent a letter to the Portuguese Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Palma Ramalho, requesting a meeting to discuss ways to reverse the situation.
In the letter, he asks to personally convey SEE’s commitment and willingness to preserve and strengthen the role of the António Sérgio Cooperative for the Social Economy as a reference body in Portugal and also at European level.
“As President of Social Economy Europe, and on behalf of all its members, I wish to highlight the essential contribution of CASES in shaping a favourable ecosystem for the Social Economy in Portugal, based on institutional coordination, structured dialogue and the active participation of the Ministry you lead together with the representative organisations of the sector,” Pedreño acknowledges in his letter. “This governance model has established itself as a benchmark experience in the design and implementation of effective and successful public policies for the social economy,” he continues.
Institutional and human capital
Institutional and human capital constitutes a strategic asset of particular relevance in the current European context, marked by the commitment of Member State governments to the measures set out in the 2023 Council Recommendation of the European Union on the development of framework conditions for the social economy, as well as to the European Action Plan for the Social Economy, adopted by the European Commission in 2021.
The role of CASES is recognised as decisive in key milestones such as the adoption of Portugal’s Framework Law on the Social Economy in 2013, one of the first of its kind in Europe and worldwide, or the development of the Social Economy Satellite Account, also among the first in the European Union.
These advances, among many others, have positioned Portugal at the forefront of a more inclusive, sustainable and cohesive model of economic and social development, in which the social economy plays a central role. With the decision of the current Portuguese Government to withdraw from CASES, all these achievements are now at risk.
