Social Enterprises and Social Cooperatives in the New Italian Legal Framework for Third Sector Organizations

Abstract

The contribution deals with social enterprises and social cooperatives in the new legal framework generated by the Italian Code of the third sector of 2017. Social enterprises are considered a particular type of third sector entities, and social cooperatives, being ex lege social enterprises, are third sector entities as well. In the broader context of third sector organizations, social enterprises and social cooperatives are those types of entities conceived of for carrying out entrepreneurial activities. In virtue of this role, they are recipients of particular rules such as the rule that allows them to partially distribute their profits to shareholders and members. Also for this reason, social enterprises and social cooperatives contribute to the redefinition of the category of public benefit organizations.

A long relationship of esteem and friendship, I hope mutual, unites me to Hagen. With him and other generous colleagues we have contributed, I believe, to revive the fortunes of cooperative law, often neglected even by the cooperative movement itself. The result is that the current situation is no longer that of ten years ago, when Dante Cracogna, Hagen Henrÿ and I conceived the “International Handbook of Cooperative Law”, later published by Springer in 2013. The function that Hagen has continued to perform in recent years as the chairperson of the ICA Cooperative Law Committee, where I also have the honour of sitting, has further strengthened the role of cooperative law. Also for this we have to thank professor Henrÿ. And these notes of mine, which I am happy and honoured to be able to dedicate to him, will certainly not be sufficient for this purpose.