Social Enterprises in Romania and the European Union: Structural Constraints, Digitalization and the Role of Emerging Technologies

Digital transformation and the rapid development of emerging technologies increasingly influence social enterprises, requiring them to adapt to a changing economic and social environment. Digitalization has become an important factor for improving organizational efficiency, expanding services, and strengthening social impact. This paper examines the relationship between the development of social enterprises, their structural constraints, and digital transformation at the European Union and Romanian levels. Rather than estimating a causal technological impact, the study assesses how digital tools and emerging technologies may support organizational efficiency and social impact under different institutional, financial, and human-capital conditions. The research adopts an exploratory design based on secondary data analysis. The comparative analysis examines indicators related to digitalization, employment, and the development of social enterprises. The findings show that Romanian social enterprises contribute to the professional integration of vulnerable groups and local community development, but operate in a smaller, less consolidated ecosystem than the European social economy as a whole. Their main constraints concern financial stability, institutional continuity, access to specialized human resources, and market scaling. Digitalization remains an enabling factor rather than a primary development determinant.