Contractualisation modes between regions and SSE actors

Kit RégionalESS N°6

June 2021

Réseau des collectivités Territoriales pour une Economie Solidaire (RTES)

Contractual relations with SSE actors are taking place at all levels of local authorities and the State. Subsidies, multi-year agreements on objectives, calls for projects, collection of initiatives, public contracts, public service delegations, etc., the modes of partnership and contractualisation between SSE actors and local authorities are diverse but are not equivalent. They are part of a complex legal environment (under both French legislation and the European framework) that is important to know.

Subsidy or public order: a choice of public action

See shema below (doc pdf)

Some preconceived ideas about subsidies :

The law on SSE, adopted in July 2014, has enabled the registration of the subsidy at the legislative level and thus to secure this mode of financing. But some preconceived ideas remain about subsidies, which can lead to the abusive generalisation of the use of public contracts.

• Grants are not controllable: FALSE. It is possible to suspend the payment of funds at any time if the association does not respect its contractual obligations.

• Grants are the source of more disputes than public contracts: FALSE. Less than ten disputes involving grants were recorded in 2004, compared to more than 5,000 involving public contracts. Of these, 62% led to a cancellation.

• Public grants are more expensive than public contracts: FALSE. The subsidy includes a share of self-financing (voluntary work, sponsorship, etc.) and thus covers only part of the real cost of the activity, unlike the public contract, the price of which is the economic counter-value of the service provided to the community.

More details can be found in the RTES Points de RepèrESS n°4 on contractualisation methods.

European regulations, de minimis, GBER and SGEIs

European regulations prohibit public aid to economic actors (understood in the broad sense, including associations), while providing for numerous exemptions: amounts of less than 200,000 euros over 3 years (known as « de minimis » regulations), exemption regulations by category of aid (examples: innovation, training, environmental protection, culture, local infrastructure, etc.) or exemption regulations relating to services of general economic interest (SGEI). The organising public authority has broad discretionary powers to qualify an activity as an SGEI, with the judge’s role being limited to checking for manifest errors of assessment.

An SGEI Entrepreneurship in Occitania

Since 2018, the Occitanie Region has created an SGEI as part of its policy of financing support structures for business creation-takeover-transmission. This SIEG aims to facilitate the orientation and the path of creators-takeover-transmitters of businesses in Occitania by improving the legibility and uniformity of the support ecosystem. The main support structures dedicated to SSE entrepreneurship and social innovation (incubators and nurseries) as well as the cooperatives of activities and employment benefit from regional support in this framework.

Possible actions of the regional council :

Encouraging cooperation rather than competition

Local authorities can favour mutualisation and cooperation between actors. In particular, in the context of calls for projects, which can put SSE actors in competition, it may be worthwhile to work on the terms of the call for projects with the actors beforehand and/or to encourage cooperation.

Respect the associative initiative

In the case of the call for projects, the local authority defines a general framework (objectives, themes and identified needs) within which the organisations are invited to present projects that correspond to it. However, the initiative and content of the project belong to the organisation alone. A call for projects that is too formatted makes initiative impossible.

Give preference to Multiannual Agreements on Objectives (MAO)

CPOs generally make it possible to lighten the administrative burden and facilitate the cash flow management of organisations. They also allow them to have more visibility and to establish a long-term partnership.

Ensure that innovation is not hindered by overly precise intervention frameworks

SSE actors have a capacity for innovation, as they are close to the ground in identifying needs and defining projects that meet these needs.

Calls for expressions of interest (AMI), a tool for encouraging initiative

In order to support initiatives led by SSE actors, several regions use calls for expressions of interest (AMI), such as the AMI Territorial Initiatives in Grand Est, which aims to support the structuring and spin-off of innovative and/or unusual collective approaches that develop in the territories, the AMI Social Innovation in Nouvelle Aquitaine, or the AMI Circular Economy in Normandy.

To go further