PUBLIC REGULATION OF NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS

Abstract

The delimitation of Social Economy has been a defying task for scholars due to its heterogeneity. Paradoxically, in the continental European tradition, its relevant organizations are determined by public regulation, undermining centuries of
informal historical construction.

Therefore, we firstly try to explain the technical meaning of public regulation and if it should prevail vis-à-vis other solutions such as co-regulation and self-regulation. Then, we analyse its importance at the European level and end with the
assessment of the Portuguese legal framework.