What has the EU done for social enterprise?

A question that's been at the back of my mind for some time now. This morning it is a doctor writing about refugees who prompts me to ask it publicly. Federica Zamatto, MSF Medical Coordinator for Migration Programmes, writes: As a doctor I feel outraged.

"Europe has decided to sweep migrants and asylum seekers under the carpet, like so much dust. Like a lazy housekeeper neglecting to do a proper job, the EU is attempting to hide the problem and put it out of sight.  But these are people, not dust. These are men of all ages as well as women and children who took a gamble on an uncertain route in order to leave behind conflict, instability and poverty, as the risks of the journey outweigh the constant threat they lived under in their countries of origin."

He goes on to describe conditions for children that bear a strong resemblance to what we uncovered in Death Camps, For Children 

"The most outrageous thing I saw however was many, many children kept in detention, left in miserable and indecent conditions, without proper food, education or even the chance to play, like children normally do."

Is someone now going to tell us that leaving the EU will sacrifice progress on human rights?

Europe as we all know is about standards. While we struggled to leverage support in our efforts, for example, European funds were allocated to establish a Social Enterprise Mark, a standard for that which had yet to be put into practice.   

The European Citizens Consultation in 2008, gave opportunity to share a 'Marshall Plan' strategy to tackle a crisis on the doorstep of Europe. As we would discover 3 years later the arguments it put forward were regurgitated in the EU social business consultation.

According to Commissioner Michel Barnier, who was made aware of the plagiarism,  these were ideas which had developed within the social enterprise community in recent decades. He was unable to offer any example however. The only place they would be found was within our work.

Such people who dwell in a world of conferences and standards documents have little concern for the lives of others. As it turns out, Barnier's EPP party, of which he is VP have since promoted their own 'Marshall Plan' for Ukraine.  

The dishonesty of the EU and its unelected officials was spelt out very plainly by Tony Benn, speaking to the Oxford Union. 

More recently it was one of Tony Benn's  former colleagues, Lord Mandelson, on the other end of the Labour Party spectrum who has involved himself in proposals for foisting a 300 billion Euro 'Marshall Plan' upon us.  As you may read, it's been seen widely as a whitewash job for oligarch Dmitri Firtash.

This from a former EU Trade Commissioner who as UK business secretary, pledged to help firms who help others. These, not migrants, are the parasites of our economy.
You won't need me to tell you that Ukraine's oligarchs help only themselves, but Kyiv Post will confirm.

if a 'Marshall Plan' is needed anywhere now, it's to deal with the humanitarian crisis which presents itself on the shores of Greek Islands. 

Building community enterprise bottom up is what we argue for people-centered business. As our 'Marshall Plan' put it:

This is a long-term permanently sustainable program, the basis for "people-centered" economic development. Core focus is always on people and their needs, with neediest people having first priority – as contrasted with the eternal chase for financial profit and numbers where people, social benefit, and human well-being are often and routinely overlooked or ignored altogether. This is in keeping with the fundamental objectives of Marshall Plan: policy aimed at hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. This is a bottom-up approach, starting with Ukraine's poorest and most desperate citizens, rather than a "top-down" approach that might not ever benefit them. They cannot wait, particularly children. Impedance by anyone or any group of people constitutes precisely what the original Marshall Plan was dedicated to opposing. Those who suffer most, and those in greatest need, must be helped first -- not secondarily, along the way or by the way. '

As we may observe, the EU has dumped money into this too, funding a conference on people-centred business while at the same time, seemingly deaf to its practitioners. 

The crises today in Syria and Ukraine both stem from civic uprisiings which US President Blill Clinton was warned about 20 years ago.

By leaving people in poverty, at risk of their lives due to lack of basic living essentials, we have stepped across the boundary of civilization. We have conceded that these people do not matter, are not important. Allowing them to starve to death, freeze to death, die from deprivation, or simply shooting them, is in the end exactly the same thing. Inflicting or allowing poverty on a group of people or an entire country is a formula for disaster.

These points were made to the President of the United States near the end of 1996. They were heard, appreciated and acted upon, but unfortunately, were not able to be addressed fully and quickly due primarily to political inertia. By way of September 11, 2001 attacks on the US out of Afghanistan – on which the US and the former Soviet Union both inflicted havoc, destruction, and certainly poverty – I rest my case. The tragedy was proof of all I warned about, but, was no more tragedy than that left behind to a people in an far corner of the world whom we thought did not matter and whom we thought were less important than ourselves.

We were wrong.