In its drive toward a “Green Social Deal,” the European Union is seeking to reimagine its social contract—balancing economic competitiveness, sustainability, and social protection. But as valuable as this initiative is, it remains rooted in a competitive, market-first paradigm. Could a closer look at Marinaleda, a small town in Andalusia, point the way toward bolder, more radical systemic change?

1. Origins & Scale: Top-Down vs Bottom-Up

EU Social Contract
Launched at the supranational level, the EU’s plan aims to unify 27 nations through a shared framework—encompassing labor rights, minimum income, environmental standards, and fiscal fairness. It reflects a top-down, consensus-driven impulse, shaped by treaties, expert input, and legislative coherence.

Marinaleda
By contrast, Marinaleda’s transformation began on the ground. In the 1970s, landless farmers organized, occupied empty properties, and demanded the right to work and live with dignity. Under grassroots leadership, they built a vibrant municipal cooperative—democratic, egalitarian, and locally controlled.

2. Economics: Market Silver Linings vs Cooperative Ecosystems

EU Model
Envisions a regulated market adorned with social cushions—green subsidies, carbon regulations, worker protections. Success is largely measured in GDP, competitiveness indices, and energy efficiency.

Marinaleda Model
Operates a fully cooperative economic system: wages are just €47 per day, profits are reinvested into community services, and housing is self-built and non-speculative. This is a non-capitalist, direct-democracy economy that foregrounds purpose over profit.

3. Governance: Representative Consensus vs Direct Democracy

Marinaleda’s assemblies reflect a living democracy—over 80% citizen quorum ensures collective ownership of decisions, from municipal budgets to agricultural planning.

4. Public Goods & Social Services

EU Approach
Promotes systems of social safety and public services, but delivery varies widely across member states due to resource, capacity, or political differences.

Marinaleda’s Reality
Provides universal daycare (€12 per month), healthcare, cultural resources, and housing at €15 monthly—managed collectively and with zero speculation. Municipal services are rooted in communal labor (“Red Sundays”) and driven by transparency, not profit.

5. Lessons for EU-Level System Change

A. Start From People’s Needs

Marinaleda shapes its system around employment, housing, and dignity. The EU could pilot municipal cooperative programs and land trusts, forging economies around human flourishing—not corporate growth.

B. Pilot Deep Democracy

Introduce binding citizens’ assemblies and participatory budgeting in EU regions. Enable local communities to shape implementation of policies like climate transition, social inclusion, and infrastructure.

C. Fund a Parallel Economy

A European Cooperative Bank could channel capital to worker-owned cooperatives, housing collectives, and community-led enterprises—reducing oligarchic control and incentivizing local wealth-building.

D. Enforce Anti-Capture Measures

Corporate lobbying must be constrained through transparency, public funding of civic innovation, conflict-of-interest rules, and citizen veto power on policy drafts.

E. Support Living Experiments

Marinaleda isn’t a one-off; it’s a model. The EU could offer a “Marinaleda Fellowship”, enabling cities to co-design cooperative economies under community leadership, with EU backing, evaluation, and scaling support.

6. A Vision Beyond Incrementalism

The EU social contract is a critical step—but it remains within a system that values market logic over collective liberation. Marinaleda demonstrates a far-reaching alternative: economies built by and for people, where democratic participation is woven into the fabric of daily life.

What if, instead of retrofitting neoliberal structures, Europe dared to:

• Seed an ecosystem of cooperative municipalities,
• Embed binding citizen governance into law,
• And build parallel economies that thrive not in spite of but because of shared purpose?

✨ Final Reflection

System change isn’t an abstract ideal—it begins where people organize around shared necessity and vision. Marinaleda emerged from farmland and assemblies into a living example of cooperative democracy. Its lessons offer glimpses of hope: that real economic transformation can start community by community—and grow until it reshapes broader policy.

The EU’s challenge is to move from aspirational social contracts to applied civic experimentation—supporting towns like Marinaleda to catalyze a continental transformation by showing what’s possible when people design systems that serve them.

Govert van Ginkel

This article is written by Govert van Ginkel. Govert specializes in Nonviolent and Effective Communication and is active in this field as a trainer, speaker, coach, and mediator. More information about Govert can be found here. The current training offer can be found here