Filippo Addarii, executive director of the Euclid Network, says the civil society sector is at the centre of a European strategy for the first time in its history, and the sector should not miss out on the opportunity.

Addarii was speaking at A European Spring?, a roundtable event held yesterday on European social innovation and its business agenda.

Recently, the European Commission launched the Social Business Initiative, which aims to contribute to the development of more socially responsible businesses in Europe. The Initiative is currently under consultation, and Euclid is seeking views.

Addarii, who runs a network of European civil society organisations, said that for the first time Brussels had realised values were important in an economy, and it wasn’t just about maximising profit.

“Previous economic strategy – the Lisbon strategy – was about making Europe more innovative, and a knowledge-based economy. Now it’s about a European economy which is innovative and sustainable.

“Brussels has realised it is necessary to include social and environment values in an economy. These are the values of our sector, so for the first time we are at the centre of a European strategy and we should not miss the opportunity.”

Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Social Enterprise London, also spoke at the event, and said she had seen a growth in European countries contacting SEL about social enterprise.

She also said as the sector grew in the UK and Europe it was vital to define the nation of social value and said it would be good to have a rating service like Moody’s ranking social value.

“I know now we are in an economic maelstrom. But I’ve been in the sector for ten years and even at the height of investment organisations didn’t collect data.

“No-one stopped to invest in understanding the nature of our interventions, which is vital. We need to understand the difference we make.”

Cliff Prior, chief executive of UnLtd, agreed saying the onus to publish data in a common form should be a condition of receiving funding:

“So funding can start to be about who delivers the best social impact, not who’s the best at bid writing”.