European Philanthropy Manifesto calls for single market for philanthropy

Philea has unveiled the 2024 edition of the European Philanthropy Manifesto, which includes recommendations for establishing a single market for philanthropy.

The Manifesto was launched in Brussels in the presence of over 100 policymakers and representatives from the philanthropy and wider civil society and social economy sectors.

On the day of launch (30 November), Angel Font, president of Philea said:

“Today we put out a strong call to policymakers at EU and national levels to ensure that the philanthropy and foundation sector has the recognition and framework conditions it needs and deserves to contribute towards a society that works for people and planet.”

There are four key recommendations:

• Empower philanthropy by creating enabling frameworks in line with the fundamental rights of the freedom of association and movement of capital
• Facilitate cross-border philanthropy by removing barriers that cost the sector €100 million annually and prevent work on pressing societal challenges that do not stop at borders
• Engage with philanthropy by better implementing Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union to create an open, transparent and regular dialogue with civil society including philanthropy as well as creating other strategic engagement opportunities with the philanthropy sector
• Partner with philanthropy for public good by creating more opportunities in strategic programme design, co-granting and in creating incentives for co-investing from endowments – mobilising the untapped potential of billions of euros

Delphine Moralis, CEO, Philea, commented: 

“The Philanthropy Manifesto is a call for the development of a single market without borders for the philanthropy sector and a call for engaging and partnering with our sector to develop the much needed solutions to our green, digital and social transformations.”

At the launch, the European Commission’s Valentina Superti, Director, DG GROW, and Ruth Paserman, Director, DG EMPL recognised the important role that foundations play in solving societal issues. They both highlighted that a lot has already happened towards creating a real momentum for the philanthropy sector in the context of the Social Economy including foundations as one of the social economy families with the Social Economy Action Plan of 2021 and yesterday’s formal adoption of Social Economy Council Recommendations as well as a new legislative proposal on a European Cross-border Association on the table.

Ludwig Forrest, head of philanthropy, King Baudouin Foundation, and co-chair, Philea Legal Affairs Committee said:

“In these extraordinary times, philanthropy has demonstrated more than ever these last years its complementary, agile and innovative role for our society, in addition to actions by government, associations and the private sector. The 2024 European Philanthropy Manifesto proposes clear and concrete ways forward that should be implemented to allow philanthropy to fully play its role to tackle increasing and complexifying societal issues all over Europe.”

Institutional philanthropy in Europe includes more than 186,000 foundations with an accumulated annual expenditure of nearly €64 billion. Besides funding and investments, these organisations boast deep expertise and knowledge, as well as strong stakeholder networks in the areas of their activities, which Philea says can be leveraged significantly with the appropriate framework conditions.

Picture by Markus Spiske on Unsplash