The International Journal of Cooperative Law (IJCL) is a peer-reviewed, open access online journal, founded by Ius mCooperativum in 2018. It is the first international journal in the field of cooperative law. It aspires to become a venue for lawyers, legal scholars and other persons interested in the topics and challenges that the discipline of cooperative law faces. The content of the journal is under the Creative Commons license 3.0, which allows free sharing and remixing of the text under the condition of attributing the source. Editors Douvitsa, Ifigeneia, Hellenic Open University at Athens, Greece Giagnocavo, Cynthia, University of Almeria, Spain Henrÿ, Hagen, University of Helsinki, Finland Hiez, David, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg Snaith, Ian, University of Leicester, United Kingdom Advisory Board Alcalde Silva, Jaime, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile Apps, Ann, University of Newcastle, Australia Cracogna, Dante, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina Cusa, Emanuele, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy Czachorska-Jones, Barbara, Global Communities, United States of America De Conto, Mario, ESCOOP, Brazil Fajardo, Gemma, University of Valencia, Spain Fici, Antonio, University of Molise, Italy Gaudio, Ronaldo, IBECOOP, Brazil Jang, Jongick, Hanshin University, Osan City, Republic of Korea Kurimoto, Akira, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan Mariño, Manuel, PROMOCOOP, Costa Rica Münkner, Hans-H., University of Marburg, Germany Meira, Deolinda, Polytechnic of Porto/ISCAP, Portugal Moreno Fontela, Juan Luis, Spain De Souza, Leonardo Rafael, PUC/PR, Brazil. Reyes Lavega, Sergio, University of the Republic, Montevideo, Uruguay Tadjudje, Willy, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium Theron, Jan, University of Cape Town, South Africa, Titus, Ursula, Cooperative Development Consultant, Pretoria, South Africa van der Sangen, Ger J. H., Tilburg University, Netherlands Veeracumaran, G. Kau, Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, India Villafañez Perez, Itziar, University of the Basque Country, Spain IJCL│ INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COOPERATIVE LAW │ Issue II, 2019 3 Vladimirova, Oksana, Belgorod University of Cooperation, Economics and Law, Belgorod, Russian Federation Reviewers Alcalde Silva, Jaime, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile, Chile Meira, Deolinda, Polytechnic of Porto/ISCAP, Portugal Apps, Ann, University of Newcastle, Australia Cracogna, Dante, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina Cusa, Emanuele, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy De Conto, Mario, ESCOOP, Brazil Fajardo, Gemma, University of Valencia, Spain Kurimoto, Akira, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan Münkner, Hans-H., University of Marburg, Germany Miribung, Georg, University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy Rubio Aguilar, Marina, University of Almeria, Spain van der Sangen, Ger J. H., Tilburg University, Netherlands Proof-Readers Apps, Ann, University of Newcastle, Australia Giagnocavo, Cynthia, University of Almeria, Spain Gould, Charles, Past Director-General, International Co-operative Alliance, U.S.A. Kumar Santosh, International Cooperative Alliance, Belgium Mills, Cliff, Mutuo, United Kingdom Snaith, Ian, University of Leicester, United Kingdom 3 IJCL│ INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COOPERATIVE LAW │ Issue II, 2019 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword /Editorial NOTE BY THE EDITORS/PUBLISHERS – p. 6 Articles David Hiez, VOLUNTARY MEMBERSHIP: UP TO WHICH POINT DO COOPERATIVES SUPPORT LIBERALISM? – p. 8 Milena T. G., Cesar, THE JUDICIAL PRECEDENT AS A TOOL FOR RESEARCH AND STUDY OF COOPERATIVE LAW: THE BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCE – p. 26 Ger J.H. van der Sangen, THE PRINCIPLES OF EUROPEAN COOPERATIVE LAW AND THEIR IMPACT ON FUTURE LAW-MAKING ON COOPERATIVES. THE CASE OF THE NETHERLANDS – p. 39 Deolinda Meira, THE PORTUGUESE SOCIAL SOLIDARITY COOPERATIVE VERSUS THE PECOL GENERAL INTEREST COOPERATIVE – p. 57 Aitor Bengoetxea Alkorta, EMPLOYMENT IN WORKER COOPERATIVES IN THE FRAMEWORK OF SPANISH COOPERATIVE LAW – p. 72 Special Section: Cooperatives and other fields of law Dominik Bierecki, LEGAL CONSEQUENCES OF INTRODUCTION OF ELEMENTS OF PUBLIC LAW INTO COOPERATIVE LAW POLISH PERCEPTION – p. 88 Legislation Sofia Adam, LEGAL PROVISIONS FOR SOCIAL AND SOLIDARITY ECONOMY ACTORS. THE CASE OF LAW 4430/2016 IN GREECE – p. 97 4 IJCL│ INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COOPERATIVE LAW │ Issue II, 2019 5 Gemma Fajardo, NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR THE COOPERATIVISM OF RENEWABLE ENERGIES: LEGAL RECOGNITION AND PROMOTION – p. 111 Court Cases Antonio José Sarmiento Reyes, WORKER COOPERATIVES AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT IN THE COLOMBIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT’S JURISPRUDENCE – p. 127 Demosthenis Kassavetis & Ifigeneia Douvitsa, THE MYTILINAIOS AND KOSTAKIS V GREECE CASE OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS: THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR THE MANDATORY COOPERATIVES IN GREECE – p. 140 Book Reviews - Events David Hiez & Ifigeneia Douvitsa, REPORT OF THE 2ST INTERNATIONAL FORUM OF COOPERATIVE LAW: ATHENS, 21-23RD OF SEPTEMBER 2018 – p. 153 Practicioners’ Corner Arielle Romenteau & Jeffrey Moxom, LEGAL FRAMEWORK ANALYSIS AND THE ICA-EU PARTNERSHIP: ACKNOWLEDGING THE SPECIFICITY OF THE COOPERATIVE MODEL AND ENSURING A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR PEOPLE-CENTRED ORGANISATIONS – p. 155 Interviews Interview with Professor Dr. Dante Cracogna - p. 167 5 Foreword/Editorial Introductory remarks Encouraged by the positive reactions to the publication of the first issue of the International Journal of Cooperative Law (IJCL) the editors decided to continue testing the ground for such a journal. Besides articles based on contributions to the 2nd biannual International Forum on Cooperative Law at Athens in September 2018, this second issue of the IJCL also contains articles written by authors who did not take part in the Athens event. This, the fact that the editors received more articles than they could publish, the feedback from readers and the momentum the IJCL helped creating for the organization of a special session on cooperative law on the occasion of the European Research Conference of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) at Berlin in August 2019 endorse the endeavor of publishing such a journal. In their Note to the readers of the 1st issue of the IJCL the editors/publishers justify this endeavor. The IJCL is to provide a forum through which knowledge on cooperative law would be created and lead, eventually, to the elaboration of a theory of cooperative law. A theory of cooperative law, in turn, would help find answers to legal questions and help form and protect the identity of cooperatives. This identity has been put at risk, particularly over the past 50 years, not the least because of the lack of such a theory. The editors/publishers “hold the creation of knowledge [of cooperative law] through authors … from different legal traditions as a precondition” for the IJCL to qualify as a scientific journal.” But they underline that the “object [of the IJCL] is not international law … Nor is [the journal] a comparative law journal, although [they] hope that its analyses concerning various jurisdictions will be a precious source for comparatists. For the rest, [they] wish that papers coming from any country will be fruitful to readers from all countries.” Notwithstanding this editorial policy, the editors, authors and readers engage in international and in comparative law. Regional and international cooperative law applies to/is applied by cooperatives and/or is part of national cooperative law. By selecting articles for publication in the IJCL, by writing articles for it, by reading these articles the editors, authors and readers, having been inculturated in their respective legal tradition, engage in comparative processes. The editors decide what “cooperative law” is and they decide what “cooperative law” is. The qualifier “law” varies from legal tradition to legal tradition. It results from the continuous debates on the nexus between policy and law and from the constantly renegotiated separation of law from other norms (internormativity). In their judging of whether a contribution qualifies as a contribution on cooperative law the editors do already what the IJCL is to allow them eventually to do, namely to make such a judgment based on knowledge created through the IJCL. But even the best compilation of information on various cooperative laws does not constitute cooperative law. Law is more than the sum total of laws. Like the editors, the authors and readers of the IJCL engage in comparative processes. These will be the more beneficial the better they communicate with each other. The risk of not understanding each other, heightened by the use of a common language, IJCL│ INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COOPERATIVE LAW │ Issue II, 2019 7 will increase the more the IJCL succeeds in representing all legal traditions, which it failed for the second time to do. Unless we draw on the knowledge accumulated by comparative lawyers on how to avoid misunderstandings in the sense of not understanding and how to try and understand each other, we shall not be able to use each other´s knowledge of cooperative law. In addition to abiding by their advice to situate specific legal rules and institutions in the wider context of the respective legal system and to go beyond the texts to the “legal formants” or “legal determinants”, and in addition to accepting that the international consensus on a set of cooperative values and principles forming the identity of cooperatives does not equal understanding each other, editors, authors and readers might keep in mind that a number of