Abstract: This paper examines Council Regulation (EC) No. 1435/2003 of 22 July 2003 on the Statute for a European Cooperative Society and Council Directive 2003/72/EC of 22 July 2003, which together provide for establishing a European Co-operative Society (SCE). It begins by outlining the nature of co-operative business structures and of the SCE. The implications of the co-operative business structure and of the structure of the SCE for governance and the representation of stakeholder groups are then considered. Having established that co-operative business structures are fundamentally different from investor-controlled companies of the kind likely to use the European Company (SE) structure, the provisions of the two sets of legislation in respect of employee involvement are briefly compared. Conclusions are then drawn about the role of stakeholders in the two types of organisation and the suitability of the SCE employee involvement provisions in the light of the structural differences between co-operatives and investor-controlled companies.
International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations