Final Remarks

Abstract

The SCE-R also is characterised by the fact that it does not lay down the complete body of rules from the European Cooperative Society, only the basic rules. Thus, it applies a legislative technique similar to that used by the European Union when adopting directives. In fact, Art. 8 SCE-R expressly provides that ‘in the case of matters not regulated by this regulation or, where matters are partly regulated by it, of those aspects not covered by it’, an SCE may be governed (among other sources) by ‘the laws of member states, which would apply to a cooperative formed in accordance with the law of the member state in which the SCE has its registered office’. For this reason, in the introductory part of this study, I mentioned that at least as many different types of SCEs as there are EU members might exist. This affirmation relies on the fact that the SCE-R creates rules that rely heavily on national legislation, and it often is not easy to provide an answer to such a presumption. Thus, because of the different national laws on cooperative societies, there may be, within the territorial scope of the European Union and its single market, cooperative societies operating across national borders with their own distinct rules. This conclusion must be kept in mind when establishing an agricultural cooperative organised as an SCE, as here, too, its framework is provided for by the general EU rules on SCEs and specific national provisions on agricultural cooperatives.