The cooperative movement at the service of social medicine
Brussels hosted a high-level meeting on November 20th that placed the Social Economy at the center of the European debate. Under the title “Cooperatives build a better world”, the dialogue organized by Servimedia at the headquarters of the Euractiv newspaper and with the collaboration of the Bidafarma cooperative, brought together institutional representatives, experts, and business leaders at a key moment for community policies. The general director of the Espriu Foundation, Carlos Zarco, actively participated in the event.
The meeting opened with a message from Roxana Mînzatu, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission, who reaffirmed the European commitment to the Social Economy and announced that new initiatives derived from the revision of the Public Procurement Directives and the State Aid Framework will be presented in early 2026. Mînzatu also highlighted the positive impact of the European Social Fund Plus and InvestEU on the sector's growth and emphasized the specific weight of the cooperative model in Spain.
The debate included the participation of the spokesperson for the European People's Party, Dolors Montserrat; Socialist MEP Leire Pajín; the president of Social Economy Europe, Juan Antonio Pedreño; the president of Bidafarma, Antonio Mingorance; and the president of Cooperatives Europe, Giuseppe Guerini. Iratxe García, president of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, also took part.
Throughout the dialogue, the strategic value of the Social Economy was reaffirmed, as it generates 11.5 million jobs across 4.3 million companies and produces 8% of European GDP, while acting as a driver for territorial cohesion and innovation.
In this framework, Dr. Zarco's intervention highlighted the relevance of health cooperatives recalling that, according to the United Nations, they provide access to healthcare services to more than 100 million families worldwide. The director of the Espriu Foundation called for strengthening the presence of the cooperative model in university education and among youth, a key element for its continuity.
The Social Economy enjoys massive and unequivocal support from European citizens, as shown by the results of the latest Special Eurobarometer act as a clear strategic mandate directed at public and business leaders: it is time to place social values at the heart of economic activity.
On November 4, 2025, the World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) in Doha, Qatar, was the venue for the official closing ceremony of the International Year of Cooperatives 2025 (IYC 2025). The event, organized by the UN Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), served to cement the demonstration that “cooperatives build a better world.”