Considerations for the regulation of a flexible type of co-operative society: co-operative values and principles as limits to the autonomous will of the members
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to argue that, as there is only one type of enterprise for conducting economic and social business under the co-operative model (unlike the various types of corporations available), there is a need for the different legal systems to regulate a co-operative type of company which overcomes the existing models of co-operativism (the classic model, also known as social, and the economic model, also known as functional). An organisational structure needs to be designed that is suitable for developing a co-operative project more in line with either the economic model or with the social model or based on an SME or on a large cooperative, according to the members’ needs and objectives. This involves articulating a flexible model of legal regulation of the co-operative type of society, in which co-operatives themselves can regulate themselves through the provisions approved by their members and included in their articles of association. They must only be constrained by co-operative values and principles. These are sufficiently broad to allow the formation of a cooperative society as a genuinely participatory democratic structure, free from restrictions from the past, open, attractive (from the point of view of its usefulness) and in line with the times, in which its members can see their needs met and their views represented, on the basis of mutual help. In my view, opposition to this approach has no legal or logical basis, but can only serve the interests of those who seek to avoid unwanted competition. Unless this approach is adopted, the co-operative model could be marginalised, to the benefit of truly capitalist options.
Received: 28 October 2023
Accepted: 10 June 2024
Downloads
References
ARNÁEZ ARCE, V. M.ª. 2022. “Socially sustainable public procurement: the cooperative model as an alternative”. International Association of Cooperative Law Journal, no. 60 (July), 47-82. https://doi.org/10.18543/baidc.2389.
CRACOGNA, D. 2022. “Significado del 7.º principio de la Alianza Cooperativa Internacional”. Boletín de la Asociación Internacional de Derecho Cooperativo, n.º 61 (diciembre), 19-33. https://doi.org/10.18543/baidc.2280.
CRACOGNA, D., FICI, A., HENRY. H, (Coord.). 2013. International Handbook of Cooperative Law, Berlín-Heidelbert, Springer.
CANO ORTEGA, C. 2015. “Una perspectiva actual del sexto principio: cooperación entre cooperativas”, CIRIEC, núm. 27, pp. 285-332.
DABORMIDA, R. 1989. “Derecho cooperativo europeo y ordenamiento comunitario: ¿Hacia la armonización o la uniformación de las legislaciones en el seno de la CEE?”, CIRIEC, no. 7, pp. 28 y ss.
DIVAR, J. 1985. La alternativa Cooperativa, CEAC, Barcelona.
DIVAR, J. 1990. La Democracia económica, Bilbao, Universidad de Deusto.
DRIMER, A. and B. 1981. Las Cooperativas. Fundamento, historia y doctrina, Buenos Aires.
FICI, A. 2014. “El Derecho Cooperativo en Europa y el Grupo de Estudio de Derecho Cooperativo Europeo”, in Actas de la XVIII Conferencia Regional de la ACI-Américas, held in October 2013 in Guarujá (Brasil), ACI.
GADEA, E. 2016. “Configuración general de la estructura orgánica de las sociedades cooperativas: referencia a los aspectos del órgano de administración que necesitan una urgente reforma”, RCDI, no. 92, pp. 1283-1314.
HOLYOAKE, J. 1973. Historia de los Pioneros de Rochdale, Zaragoza.
LAMBERT, P. 1970. La Doctrina cooperativa, Buenos Aires, INTERCOOP.
MACÍAS RUANO, A. J. 2022. “La igualdad como valor cooperativo y su proyección en la legislación cooperativa”. REVESCO. Revista de Estudios Cooperativos 141, n.º julio: e82258. https://doi.org/10.5209/reve.82258.
MARTÍNEZ CHARTERINA, A. 2012. “Sobre el principio de cooperación entre cooperativas en la actualidad”. Boletín de la Asociación Internacional de Derecho Cooperativo, n.º 46 (diciembre), 133-46. https://doi.org/10.18543/baidc-46-2012 pp. 133-146.
MARTÍNEZ SEGOVIA, F. J. 2001. “Sobre el concepto jurídico de cooperativa”, en La sociedad cooperativa: Un análisis de sus características societarias y empresariales, Coord. MOYANO FUENTES, Jaén, Universidad de Jaén, pp. 41-76.
MARTÍNEZ SEGOVIA, F. J. 2003. “Primera aproximación al Estatuto de la Sociedad Cooperativas Europea”, REVESCO, no. 80, pp. 61-106.
MIRANDA, J. E. de, y CORRÊA LIMA, A. 2024. “La identidad cooperativa en el contexto de la Ley de cooperativas de Euskadi”. Boletín de la Asociación Internacional de Derecho Cooperativo, n.º 63 (enero), 19-31. https://doi.org/10.18543/baidc.2828.
MONTOLIO, J.M.ª 2000. Legislación cooperativa en la Unión Europea, Madrid, Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales, 2.º ed.
PANIAGUA, M. 2013. “La sociedad-empresa cooperativa en la evolución de los modelos ius cooperativos en España”, RdS, no. 40, pp. 159 y ss.
PAZ CANALEJO, N. 1991. “Armonización del Derecho cooperativo europeo”, REVESCO, no. 59, pp. 59-84.
TRUJILLO DÍEZ, I. 2000. “El valor jurídico de los principios cooperativos. A propósito de la Ley 27/19999, de 16 de julio, de cooperativas”, RCDI, no. 658, pp. 1329-1360.
VARGAS VASSEROT, C. 2022. “El voto plural ponderado y el principio cooperativo de gestión democrática. Análisis de su paulatino reconocimiento en el derecho positivo español”, CIRIEC-España, Revista jurídica de Economía Social y Cooperativa, no. 40, pp. 83-111.
VERRUCOLI, P. 1958. La società cooperativa, Milán, Giuffrè.
VERRUCOLI, P. 1965. “Tendencias sobre Derecho comparado europeo sobre cooperación”, Anales de Moral social y económica, Centro de Estudios de la Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos, Vol. 9.
VICENT CHULIÁ, F. 2003. “La Sociedad Cooperativa Europea”, CIRIEC-Jurídica, núm. 14, pp. 51-82.
VICENT CHULIÁ, F. 2013. “Introducción. Normas y ámbito de aplicación”, Tratado de Derecho de Cooperativas, t. I (Dir. Peinado), Valencia, Tirant lo Blanch, pp. 90 y ss.
Copyright (c) 2024 University of Deusto
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Last update: 29/06/2026
The authors are advised to read their rights carefully. We believe this approach ensures a fair agreement for both parties. These instructions should be read in conjunction with the Ethical Guidelines and the Open Access Policy, Licensing Terms and Copyright of the journal "Boletín de la Asociación Internacional de Derecho Cooperativo (BAIDC)".
1. Authorship and Ethics
By submitting their manuscripts to Boletín de la Asociación Internacional de Derecho Cooperativo (BAIDC), the authors accept and undertake to comply with the conditions of publication without the need to sign an additional transfer agreement with the Publisher (University of Deusto). In doing so, they guarantee that their work is unpublished in any form, original, and does not breach BAIDC’s Ethical Guidelines or the rights of third parties, and that no licences have been or will be granted that are incompatible with the rights granted to the Publisher.
The authors assume full and exclusive responsibility for the content of the study and formally declare that they have no conflicts of interest that affect the integrity of the research.
2. Publisher’s Rights
By submitting the manuscript, the authors agree to its publication under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence. Consequently, they grant the Publisher the exclusive, royalty-free and worldwide right of first publication, editing, layout and exploitation of the article. This grant authorises the Publisher to distribute, sub-license and index the work in any format, medium, database or institutional repository, for the purposes of promotion and scientific dissemination.
3. Copyright
The authors retain the intellectual property rights to their article and retain the right to distribute and use their work for teaching purposes, future research or personal archiving, provided that the original publication in the Journal is cited. They are also permitted to republish in other media, provided that a (foot)note is included with the full reference to BAIDC (including the DOI, where available) and no explicit endorsement of the Journal and/or Publisher is implied.
4. Open access
BAIDC is an open-access journal; this means that it is freely and fully accessible in its entirety immediately upon publication of its content. However, in accordance with the licence mentioned above, the authors of the articles must always be properly cited; and both commercial use and any modification intended for distribution will require the express prior written permission of the rights holder.
More details are available under the section “Open Access Policy, Licensing Terms and Copyright”.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
1.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
