Law 381/1991 on Social Cooperatives
The General Interest
Italian Law 381/1991 is perhaps the most successful piece of social economy legislation in Europe. Its power lies in a single, radical definition: it establishes that a cooperative can pursue the 'general interest of the community' rather than just the mutual benefit of its members. This shifted the cooperative from a closed club to an active public participant in the promotion of human dignity.
Type A and Type B
My translation focuses on the structural division that drives this model. The law creates two distinct categories: Type A for the management of social, health, and educational services, and Type B for the work integration of disadvantaged citizens.
For the practitioner, the technical details of Type B are particularly instructive. The law mandates that at least 30% of the workforce must be from disadvantaged groups – including those in psychiatric treatment, recovering addicts, or those in the prison system. In return, the state reduces social security contributions to zero. This creates a functional 'fiscal partnership' where the state subsidises the social utility generated by the cooperative without interfering in its autonomous management.