SCE (Societas Cooperativa Europaea)
The objective of the statute for a European cooperative society is to create a European company with its own legislative framework. This will allow companies incorporated in different Member States to merge or form a holding company or joint subsidiary, while avoiding the legal and practical constraints arising from the existence of 27 different legal systems.
SCE widens possibilities for legal entities already doing business in the EU or for future entrepreneurs. The inauguration of SCEs reflects efforts to remove impediments arising from differences between national laws and will further boost entrepreneurial cross-border activities within the EU.
European Cooperative Societies may be established, and may operate, throughout the European Economic Area (including the European Community). The legal form was created to remove the need for co-operatives to establish a subsidiary in each Member State in which they operate and to allow them to move their registered office and head office freely from one Member State to another, keeping their legal identity and without having to register or wind up any legal persons.
SCE can be formed in five ways:
- ex novo: by five or more natural persons resident in at least two Member States
- by a merger between at least two EEA co-operatives governed by the law of at least two different Member States;
- by at least five natural and legal persons resident in, or governed by the law of, at least two Member States;
- by conversion of a single EEA co-operative, if it has had an establishment or subsidiary in a different Member State for at least two years.
- by two or more legal persons governed by the law of at least two Member States;
Minimum capital requirement: 30,000 EUR.
In tax matters, the SCE is treated the same as any other multinational, i.e. it is subject to the tax regime of the national legislation applicable to the company and its subsidiaries. SCEs are subject to taxes and charges in all Member States where their administrative centres are situated. The process of setting up a tailor-made SCE is similar to setting up a Slovak joint-stock company.
In tax matters, the SCE is treated the same as any other multinational, i.e. it is subject to the tax regime of the national legislation applicable to the company and its subsidiaries. SCEs are subject to taxes and charges in all Member States where their administrative centres are situated. The process of setting up a tailor-made SCE is similar to setting up a Slovak joint-stock company.
