SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

In the field of the so-called "third sector" we can find non-profit associations, to which it is allowed to pursue only profit target (basically identifiable with the economy of the management) but not a subjective profit: the dividend cannot be distributed, that means that there are limitations to the assignments of the benefits, bans distribution of benefits and reserves and different heritage destination in case of cessation of the activity.

Thanks to the socio -economic context of the "third sector" in which non-profit organizaziones operate, and thanks to the increasingly intense contact between international jurisdictions, including in the Italian jurisdiction the original discipline has been deeply modificated; there have been numerous attempts to find solutions aimed to give non-profit associations a legal capacity that can meet the increasingly complex demands emerging from the contemporary civil society; the result is the birth of the social enterprise, introduced by the legislative decree n . 118/2006 and by the following application decree n . 155/2006.

The legislator has regulated the social enterprise and identified a new organizational category (a qualification) that can be acquired by all private organizations, including the institutions of the Fifth Book of the Civil Code, which have a stable economic activity organized with the primary purpose of production or exchange of goods or services of social utility, aimed at achieving public interest objectives, and have the requirements of articles 2.3 and 4 of the Decree.

The discipline of social enterprises doesn’t rule a new category which has to contain all the entities that meet the minimum requirements, let alone it is presented as a separate legal entity implemented by Decree n. 155/2006, but it identifies a "qualification" that can be purchased for all types of private organizations or associations, foundations, ecclesiastical institutions, companies, cooperatives in general and, in particular, social cooperatives. From the first definition, therefore, it is clear the complexity of the issue and the difficulties faced by the legislator.

If you work in the Third Sector, will find in our study professionalism and competence to help you through the maze of a discipline which is often complex and articulated but definitely not exploited in the right way.