Renew Europe Webinar – “Philanthropy, non and not-for-profit organisations in Europe – how to unleash the potential of public good”

We invite you to join the PA team at a webinar, hosted by Renew Europe MEPs Nicola Beer and Ilhan Kyuchyuk, on “Philanthropy, non and not-for-profit organisations in Europe – how to unleash the potential of public good”, on Monday 1st February, 14:00-16:00 CET.

Philanthropic organisations (or organisations for the public good) are a crucial part of democratic and pluralistic societies. Philanthropy, alongside the wider civil society, plays a key role in defending and promoting the values enshrined in Article 2 of the EU Treaty.  Institutional philanthropy in Europe includes more than 147,000 philanthropic organisations with an accumulated annual expenditure of nearly 60 billion euros.

This webinar will analyse the legal framework for foundations and call for the adoption of measures to facilitate unleash private resources for public good. Specifically, the webinar will feature two panels, both with direct relevance to our European Philanthropy Manifesto asks. The first panel will explore the legal status of non-profit organisations and foundations, where the need for a common European statute for non-profits and foundations will be discussed in detail. The second panel will centre on a Single Market for Public Good, including discussion of the non-discrimination principle that should allow non-profits and foundations to operate freely across borders.

Among the speakers on the second panel is co-Chair of the Philanthropy Advocacy Legal Affairs Committee (LAC), Ludwig Forrest, who will offer his insights on what exactly a Single Market for Philanthropy should look like and how the foundation sector and policymakers can work together to make it a reality (you can read our recent interview with Ludwig here).

Other speakers include: Commissioner Mairead McGuinness; Renew MEPs Anna Donath and Luis Garicano; Head of Unit for Social Economy at DG GROW, Ulla Engelmann; and representatives from European civil society and the foundation sector, including from VolkswagenStiftung, Anna Lindh Foundation and Civil Society Europe.

You can watch the live stream for free here.