SOCIAL ECONOMY VERSUS FOR-PROFIT: THE LAW AS A NECESSARY INSTRUMENT FOR THE CONTROL OF LEGALITY AND DEFENSE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Abstract

The purpose of the social economy should be very different from the merely for-profit of typical trading companies. For this reason, it is necessary that they remain faithful in general to the principles and values of the Social Economy and in particular of cooperativism. The practical application of the pillars and the essential foundation of their nature is being avoided, promoting the creation of entities far removed from what the social economy is and in some cases committing legal fraud, by wanting to take advantage of the differentiated and privileged treatment such as the one that these have, through the tax, regulatory and subsidy benefits that are granted to this type of entity for its social purposes, avoiding in its object and purpose that of an economy centered on people, democracy (one member one vote), the search for quality employment and the achievement of social goals and objectives, as advocated by the 2030 Agenda. With this study, we demonstrate how, through the control of legality and the verification and review of the principles and values of the Social Economy in the Public Administrative Registries of cooperatives, forces us to denounce the existence of companies that opt for this legal coating to obtain their own regime, when their true nature is far from the principles and characteristics of these Social Economy entities.