THE SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IN THE COOPERATIVE FORM

Resumo

Notwithstanding its historical roots, the cooperative is a legal form of organization increasingly used by legislators to house the phenomenon of the “social enterprise”. Although a universally-recognized concept of social enterprise does
not yet exist, researchers and legislators are converging upon some indicators or legal requirements that identify this particular type of business organization. These indicators or legal requirements are in principle compatible with any legal
form of an entity’s incorporation, including the shareholder company and the cooperative ones. There are, however, several reasons why the cooperative may be considered the legal form more suitable for social enterprises. This article first
illustrates the concept and characteristics of a social enterprise according to the relevant legislation in Europe. It then presents and compares the different models of legislation on social enterprise that may be found in Europe and emphasizes the
primacy of the cooperative legal form for social enterprises. Conclusions concern the consequences of the preceding analysis in terms of cooperative legal theory