Support for social entrepreneurship in Poland under the European Social Fund – changes and challenges

Abstract

he European Commission directs its financial instruments to the broadly understood social economy sector, including the development of social entrepreneurship. In 2011, the European Commission presented the Social Business Initiative (SBI), defining the activities of the European Union to support the development of social enterprises (key stakeholders of the social economy). According to the assumptions of the European Commission, social enterprises are specific organisations that combine social objectives with initiatives promoting entrepreneurial attitudes, focusing on achieving wider social goals or exerting social impact. Financial support is also intended to generate changes in a broader time perspective in the coming years of the EP’s activity. Since Poland’s accession to the European community in 2004, the social economy (including social enterprises) has received financial support in many areas of its activity. The beneficiaries of the funds covered not only social economy entities (PES), but also institutions supporting the development of the social economy, mainly social entrepreneurship, such as Social Economy Support Centers (OWES). It is mainly these key entities of the social economy – social enterprises have become places of new jobs and motivators of civic activity. The aim of the article is to quantify the financial support received from the European Social Fund in the years 2004–2016 for activities aimed at the development of social entrepreneurship (SE).

Fostering social entrepreneurship through public administration support

“…These findings are similar to those reported by Méndez-Picazo et al, ( 2020 ), who highlighted a lack of incentives for private companies to become financially involved in social projects. However, the lack of correlation between high involvement of public authorities in social entrepreneurship and the capacity of public institutions to attract non-reimbursable European funds for this purpose contradicts the findings of Stanescu ( 2013 ), Kruk ( 2022 ), and Tisma et al, ( 2022 ) across the EU. Those authors found that valuable social outcomes were a result of investment through the European Social Fund.…”

“…The employment of vulnerable people in specific areas is mainly enabled by social integration enterprises (Stanescu, 2013 ). In Poland, most funded projects have led to an increase of jobs for people at risk of social exclusion (Kruk, 2022 ). The strategy for the development of social entrepreneurship in Croatia offers a framework for the development of the social entrepreneurship sector (Tisma et al, 2022 ).…”