Written question – Commission decision to disband the Social Economy Unit within DG GROW, which is responsible for industrial policy – E-001858/2025

Question for written answer  E-001858/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Eero Heinäluoma (S&D)

The Commission’s decision to disband the Social Economy Unit in DG GROW – which is responsible for industrial policy – as of 1 May 2025 is deeply worrying. As a result of this change, in the area of EU economic and industrial policy at the Commission there will no longer be a separate entity to promote the role of social enterprises and the social economy in the internal market.

Excluding the social economy from the EU’s industrial strategy is illogical, because the social economy plays an important role in maintaining a welfare state and creating sustainable well-being.

• 1.How does the Commission justify its short-sighted decision to disband the unit concerned when it has previously recognised the role of the social economy in areas such as the green transition, building local value chains and strengthening democracy?
• 2.In what way does the decision put into practice the Commission’s previous policy on cooperatives?
• 3.Does the Commission intend to appoint a new high-level official with the resources and remit required for the social economy to be taken into account in the EU’s industrial and internal market policies?

Submitted: 8.5.2025