Module 4: Start a Business! Regulations and Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs

The term social economy is used to describe enterprises with social objectives, social cooperatives, cooperative enterprises serving the general interest, etc.

The main objective of social enterprises is to serve people or other organisations in the social economy and not to reward capital investors. There are 2 million social economy enterprises in Europe, representing 10% of all enterprises in the EU. Across Europe we can find different legal forms and a wide range of products and services. Many social enterprises operate in the form of social cooperatives, some are registered as private limited companies, others are mutual companies and many are non-profit organisations such as welfare associations, voluntary organisations, charities or foundations.

In this module we will look at the differences in legal aspects between European countries and the procedures available for the integration of the social economy sector.