A first SCE has been established as a European Social Cooperative
13 Jul 2006
Position paper
On 6 July 2006, a first ever European social cooperative society, Escoop, has been formally established in front of a notary, in Mola di Bari, Italy, between various Italian, Finnish and Spanish organisations involved in social services, the academic world and public administration, having at its centre the Italian social cooperative consortium Elpendu. There are other candidates for membership in France, Germany, Greece, Poland, Slovakia, Estonia, Portugal and Hungary.
Escoop will come into force as a SCE (European Cooperative Society) on 18 August at 0:01h, when the SCE regulation will enter into force on the whole EU territory, as a social cooperative with its headquarters in Italy and under Italian law 381.
Escoop's main activities will be the study and monitoring of the evolution of social enterprises in their diverse legal forms and fields of intervention; the implementation of pilot projects aimed at developing job creation and satisfying emerging social needs; and the promotion of research and training in those fields.
