Database of legislation concerning cooperatives and social enterprises

Project status: concluded

This database began to be put together thanks to the participation of Euricse, in its role as leader of a consortium which was awarded a research contract with the European Commission to produce a study on the implementation of the European Cooperative Society (SCE) Regulation in the 30 countries where it was put into effect (27 EU member countries and 3 EEA countries).

Objectives

The database was created with the aim of gathering together the cooperative laws of the 30 European countries involved in the SCE project, along with the laws and measures that assimilate the Council Regulation (EC) No. 1435/2003 on the Statute for a European Cooperative Society (SCE) into the national system.

Main results

The database is made up of an archive of laws on cooperatives, divided into two parts: national legislation on cooperatives (general and sector-based laws, decrees) and laws for the implementation of Regulation 1435/2003 on the SCE. Each of the countries being studied has at least one national law on cooperatives. Where existing, an English version of these laws was also provided (an official translation or a translation of the most important sections by the experts involved in the project). Not all the countries, however, have a law for implementing the Regulation. A translation in English was also provided, where possible, for these laws. Once concluded the project on the SCE, Euricse broadened the database with information coming from researchers from other countries (mainly from North and South America).