The Interest in Creating a New Legal Concept : Limited Lucrativity
De l’intérêt de créer un nouveau concept : la lucrativité limitée
Résumé
The notion of non-profit is one of the foundations of the social economy. However,
this reality is never accepted as a structuring criterion in Union law. Based on an
analysis of European Union law rules and the case law of the European Court of
Justice (ECJ), the purpose of this article is first to show that the concept of non-profit-
making is not operational to distinguish profit-making enterprises from social
economy enterprises. On this basis, the second question will be to determine what
can be done to promote a better legal recognition of the social economy and its
particularities in the European system.
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union defines two categories of
organisations: on the one hand, those organisations that do not seek profit and, on
the other hand, civil or commercial law companies, which include cooperative
companies. Under European Union law, certain associations, as well as all mutuals
and cooperatives, are grouped together with profit-making companies. Wheter an
entity is described, under its national law, as a non-profit or for-profit entity never
has any beary on the application of Union’s law. It is therefore difficult to find
examples in positive law where the absence of profit is valued per se and could be
considered in the application of internal market and competition legislation.
However, this reality has an impact on the way economic activity is carried out. Social
economy enterprises therefore do not find their place in the current legal
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frameworks. They are positioned in the same competitive perimeter as for-profit
companies.
How can the singularity of social economy enterprises in terms of limited profit
distribution be reflected in the European Union laws? According to the binary
classification currently used, neither their complete assimilation into the for-profit
category nor their classification as non-profit enterprises reflect what social economy
enterprises are and their needs. The first step of a useful response was taken by the
ECJ in a decision concerning cooperatives. The ongoing work of the European
Commission and the European Parliament to promote the concept of social
enterprise in European Union law also offers interesting avenues for reflection. To go
even further, we propose to introduce into EU law the notion of limited lucrativity,
which would define all organisations (sometimes also called “not-for-profit entities”)
which are likely to make profits but which are not intended to distribute them to
their owners because their final purpose is different. This European concept would be
operational because it could lead to the application of specific rules, for example on
competition, public procurement or taxation. In any case, the aim would be to
restore the conditions for free and undistorted competition with profit-making
companies that are not subject to the same constraints on access to capital. The
introduction of this concept into Union law would lead to better political recognition
and legal translation at European level of one of the strong characteristics of social
economy enterprises