Poland: The legal definition of social enterprise.

93 nonprofit organizations are currently involved in the theme D of the EQUAL program financed by the EU – European Social Fund. Theme D clusters 24 projects that have as an aim the development of the social economy and social enterprises in Poland. One of the goals of these projects is to develop the legal definition of the social enterprise in Poland and then lobby the Government to introduce the necessary regulations creating a legal form for this new organizational entity. The problem is that when various partnerships will lobby for different regulations to be passed, their efforts might neutralize each other as the government cannot pass opposing regulations at the same time. There had been then the growing consensus that partnerships should get together and try to reach a compromise so that they can lobby together for the same regulations. Finally, the Advocacy Department of the SYNAPSIS Foundation organized a meeting on June 22th 2006 of the representatives of various projects involved in creating the legal definitions of the social enterprise in Poland. During the meeting seven partnerships presented their preliminary concepts of the legal definition and organizational structure of the social enterprise. The presented concepts were still quite vague and general. One can, however, already say that they are going in two directions. Some have an inclination to imitate the Italian model of cooperatives of the type B, with the significant level of government financing. Others, on the other hand, are going more into the direction of British or Scottish ?social firms? that should aspire to self-financing. It seems then impossible to reach a compromise here. But maybe it will be doable to create a model with these two, yet well-defined subtypes? More meetings and discussions are to follow.