Challenges for the Social Business Initiative in Bulgaria.

Social enterprises play a key role in the social and economic development of the European Union, and in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Following the European Commission's 2011 Social Business Initiative, national legislation on social enterprises has been adopted by almost all European countries. In 2019 the Act on Social and Solidarity-Based Enterprises entered into force in Bulgaria, introducing social enterprises as subjects of the social and solidarity-based economy. Four and a half years after the adoption of the Act, there are only fifty-one officially registered social enterprises in Bulgaria, indicating a major failure of the social business initiative. This paper explores the reasons for this significant backlog through both desk research and primary data analysis of a survey of non-profit organisations, which are supposed to be the main actors of the social economy and therefore the focus of the Act on Social and Solidarity-Based Enterprises. The main findings point to critically low awareness of the new Act and weak motivation to apply for a Social Enterprise statute, poorly designed conditions and ineffective communication. The lessons learnt can be used to prevent similar mistakes in other countries and to improve support for social entrepreneurship initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]