Legal frameworks for the social and solidarity economy

The OECD Global Action “Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy Ecosystems”, funded by the European Union, through its work stream on legal frameworks, endeavours to: 1) increase knowledge and understanding on legal frameworks for the social and solidarity economy; 2) explore approaches and trends of legal frameworks to regulate the social and solidarity economy as a whole and social economy organisations; and 3) understand how legal frameworks can be used to promote and develop the social and solidarity economy in different contexts. This paper defines the legal notions, traditions and approaches to better understand legal frameworks that regulate the field. It presents and analyses the diversity, relevance and implications of legal frameworks that regulate the social economy; takes stock of the processes that lead to their design and implementation; identifies possible criteria for assessing their performance; and highlights the crosscutting issues and policy examples that could inspire countries.