On 4 April 2023, Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights visited ADV Romania – one of the largest social enterprises in Romania, with a mission to promote social economy and support vulnerable groups.

During the visit, Commissioner Schmit had the opportunity to meet with the management teams and employees of the three social enterprises and learn about their operations and impact on the local community. Utildeco,
a work-integration social enterprise established by the foundation in 2008. It has established over 100 workplaces in the past 15 years, including for persons with disabilities and other disadvantages groups. 

JobDirect, a recruitment agency for people with disabilities and vulnerable groups. WISE.travel – Europe’s first social impact travel broker (100% of the profit is for the social projects).

“Happy to discover social economy here in Iasi, Romania. Social economy is a dynamic sector that brings innovative new ideas. It is part of the response to the many challenges we face in this period of transformations” – said Mr. Schmit on his Twitter page.

Commissioner learned also about the project through which ADV Romania has recently supported the establishment of 42 social enterprises as a sustainable solution to lower social disparities, combat poverty and create inclusive workplaces for persons from vulnerable groups. Also, the visit was an opportunity to present the work of ADV in developing tools for strengthening the social economy sector and increasing its sustainability. One such tool is AFIN – Romania’s first non-bank financial institution dedicated exclusively to social enterprises. The institution was registered in 2022 and had 170 shareholders – a premiere for Romania. Many of them are social entrepreneurs.

During the official visit, the European Commissioner was accompanied by the Head of the Representation of the European Commission in Romania
Ramona Chiriac, Minister of Labor and Social Solidarity Marius Budăi, and the President of the County Council of Iasi Costel Alexe.

“A year ago, we were together with Mr. Schmit on the stage of the European social economy conference organized in Strasbourg, and this week we were happy to be on the list of institutions visited by the commissioner on the occasion of the launch of Cohesion programmes in Romania. We hope that the discussions held will lead to the consolidation of the social economy sector in Romania and the European Union.” – said Angela Achiței, president of ADV Romania.

About the context of the visit

On 3-4 April 2023 Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, and Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, were in Romania, for the official launch of the of the national Cohesion Policy Programmes for 2021-2027.

On April 3, the Commissioners launched the new programmes in Iași. The second day, in the cities of Iași and Vaslui, Commissioner Schmit and Commissioner Ferreira visited several EU-funded projects related to skills, early education and care, health, labour-market integration of disadvantaged persons, social economy, integration of migrants, and the training of essential workers in essential services. ADV Romania was one of the organisations selected for these visits.