The Peer Review was hosted by the Slovakian Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family and focused on current practices and experiences in the area of social economy and social entrepreneurship.

Using the newly adopted Slovak approach as a starting point for discussion, the objective of the Peer Review was to explore how the social economy and social entrepreneurship can be supported and used to tackle long-term unemployment, as well as supporting other economic, social and environmental objectives.

Slovakia has recently adopted a "Social Economy and Social Enterprise Act", which creates a new comprehensive legislation of the operation and support of social enterprises. The Act, expands the concept of social entrepreneurship which was previously perceived as an active labour market policy instrument. It recognises three forms of registered social enterprises, namely:

• integration enterprises promoting the employability of unemployed and disadvantaged people;
• social housing enterprises focused on the provision of beneficial renting houses; and
• other registered social enterprises (community-based or public-benefit based) providing other types of socially beneficial services.

The new Slovak regulation offers direct and indirect forms of assistance to social enterprises, which consists of financial instruments, demand-support and the compensatory forms of aid. The demand-support aid allows registered social enterprises to provide a household and garden services or other services to a person in need. The service is delivered in form of vouchers for both beneficiaries and services suppliers. The compensatory aid is provided in the form of repayable and non-repayable assistance and it is addressed to those enterprises that can show reduced productivity due to the employment of disadvantaged or vulnerable people.

During the Peer Review, the following topics were discussed:

• What are the main types of direct or indirect support for social enterprises and other social economy enterprises? How are these measures being implemented across policy areas and levels of government (local, regional and national level)?
• What evidence exists as to their effectiveness in achieving different objectives and/ or meeting the needs of social enterprises and other social economy enterprises?
• What are the main success factors for the implementation of such measures?
• What is the legal and regulatory framework needed to promote social entrepreneurship?
• How can social enterprises create effective and efficient sustainable jobs for instance for the long term unemployed?
• How is the economic, social and environmental impact of social enterprises and other social economy enterprises measured? What are the main challenges in measuring the economic, social and environmental impact of social enterprises and other social economy enterprises and how can these be overcome?