Local and Small Commerce as a bastion of the proximity economy for wellbeing of the municipalities in urban and rural areas

Vitrines d’Europe and Barcelona Comerç are two organizations​ of the European Small Retail. Local trade​ is one of the backbones of the economy of the neighbourhoods and​ Europeans municipalities, of the local economy. With more than 30 million workers and small entrepreneurs working in 5.5 million micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs ) , representing 11.5% of European VAT.

Vitrines d’Europe is a small European association of commerce which is formed by Commerçants de France, Confesercenti Emilia-Romagna (Italy) and ACIB Barcelos in Portugal, in addition to Barcelona Comerç which is responsible for the headquarters and the general secretariat. Barcelona Comerç brings together local and small commerce from 53 of the 73 neighbourhoods of the city of Barcelona, with more than 4,500 businesses associates and 23 axes or local shops associations.​

We are promoters and creators of the European Capital of Small Retail (ECoSR), a project approved and funded for plenary session of Parliament European in 2023 and by the European Commission, which will start with the first edition in 2026. It contemplates the participation of small municipalities between 5,000 and 50,000 inhabitants and large municipalities, with more than 250,000 inhabitants.

Some contributions of small and local commerce to the wellbeing of rural and urban municipalities

We are convinced that local commerce is not only a basic pillar of Proximity Economy, but also a basic part of the social and community fabric of the neighbourhoods and​ municipalities of the Union. Focus public, community and private policies on proximity, for urban and rural wellbeing, requires to integrate commercial revitalisation as part of the revitalisation of wellbeing and municipalities, among others for:

-Taking care of people: as a retail ecosystem we have a role key in emotional ecology.

- Watch over rights social , economic and cultural aspects of citizenship: in the integration of newcomers, in the labour integration of young people , in the promotion of one clean and sustainable mobility. We promote supply chains​ agile and fast, and in the small municipalities we are especially necessary for supplying the population.

- The retail commercial ecosystem within the local economy generates many positive externalities in security , employment, cleanliness, civic duty, interpersonal assistance, social cohesion, community cultural life, fiscal sustainability of the governments, and the lifestyle of residents and municipalities of Europe, among others . Last but not least, the Proximity demonstrates intertwining with forms of social economy, such as associations and foundations, which on the other hand, are the legal forms of retailers when they form their groups.