The synergy between employment policies and cooperatives with regard to new forms of work. An overview based on Spanish constitutional law

Abstract

This text explains how active employment policies and cooperatives are perfectly suited to fulfil the mandates outlined in the 1978 Spanish Constitution in relation to the promotion of cooperatives (Article 129.2), and to policies oriented towards full employment (Article 40.1), which fall under the overall protection of social rights. After analysing the provisions contained in these two articles, details are provided as to how the economic crisis and the strict balanced budget policies that ensued have also weakened the constitutional protection of social rights, with the adoption of regressive measures whose compatibility with the Constitution has been accepted by the Spanish Constitutional Court (despite divided opinions among the Court’s members). Finally, an analysis is conducted of the options available within the Spanish legal system to protect and encourage cooperative societies. It is then argued that cooperatives can be a very useful instrument to create employment, even within the most innovative and dynamic sectors of the economy. These sectors include, for example, the collaborative economy (which includes the digital economy), the ‘white economy’, the ‘green economy’ and the ‘circular economy’.Received: 01 October 2018Accepted: 07 March 2019Published online: 22 July 2019