Cooperative Law (Germany)

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Basic data
Title: Law on trade and business cooperatives
Short title: Cooperative Act
Abbreviation: GenG
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Legal matter: Commercial law
References : 4125-1
Original version from: May 1, 1889
( RGBl. P. 55)
Entry into force on: October 1, 1889
New announcement from: October 16, 2006
( BGBl. I p. 2230 )
Last change by: Art. 3 G of August 12, 2020
( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1874, 1876 )
Effective date of the
last change:
August 19, 2020
(Art. 7 G of August 12, 2020)
GESTA : C127
Weblink: Text of the law
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Genossenschaftsgesetz (GenG) came into force in Germany on October 1, 1889. It regulates the law of the cooperatives . According to the amendment that came into force on August 18, 2006, social or cultural purposes may also be involved, which means that social and cultural cooperatives can also use the legal form of the eG. This amendment to the Cooperative Act should make it much easier to set up a company and bring about simplifications for smaller cooperatives.

Focus of the 2006 amendment

The main focus of the amendment was:

  • In future, three founding members will be sufficient instead of the previous seven.
  • The purpose of the funding is being expanded: cultural and social concerns can now also establish cooperative associations, such as kindergartens, care facilities, and cultural institutions.
  • The new law allows material foundations (such as the introduction of an IT system).
  • The limitation period for paying in cooperative shares is extended to 10 years. Since 2002, the limitation period has been reduced from 30 years to three years. The supervisory board and management board could be held liable if the payment was not made in full during this time.
  • Cooperatives with up to 20 members do not have to elect two board members and three supervisory board members, as was previously the case, but only one board member.
  • For small cooperatives with total assets of up to one million euros, it should be possible to facilitate examinations and make individual agreements with the auditing associations.

The amendment to the Cooperative Law is particularly interesting for cooperation between medium-sized companies. It is now possible, for example, for several independent companies to join forces to organize common business areas such as marketing, administrative tasks, and insurance issues.

history

Initially, the only possible legal form for a cooperative association was the “permitted private company”. In 1868 the law concerning the private law position of the commercial and economic cooperatives for the North German Confederation was passed. This came into force on January 1, 1869. With the Reich Law of 1889, an important basis was created for the housing cooperatives, as financing concepts in connection with social security legislation (loans from insurance companies for housing construction) were also created. The question of liability was regulated by the choice of the obligation to make additional payments and the form of an eG (cooperative with theoretically unlimited liability) or an eGmbH (cooperative with limited liability).

It was extensively amended by the laws of July 21, 1954 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 212 ) and October 9, 1973 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 1451 ). In 2006, the cooperative law underwent another fundamental reform ( Federal Law Gazette I, p. 1911, 1931 ).

literature

  • Johann Lang, Ludwig Weidmüller: Cooperative Law. With explanations on the Transformation Act. Comment. 37th edition. De Gruyter, 2011, ISBN 978-3-11-025061-9 .
  • Hartmut Glenk: The registered cooperative. Verlag CH Beck, 1996, ISBN 3-406-40114-7 .
  • Emil H. Meyer, Gottfried Meulenbergh, Volker Beuthien : Cooperative Law . 15th edition. CH Beck Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-60578-9 .
  • Klaus Müller: Commentary on the law on trade and business cooperatives. 2nd Edition. Bielefeld 2000, ISBN 3-7694-0445-9 .
  • Klaus-Peter Hillebrand, Jürgen Keßler, Manfred Kühnberger: Berlin commentary on the cooperative law. Hammonia Verlag, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3872920952 .
  • Heinrich Bauer, Rolf Schubert, Karl H. Steder: Genossenschafts-Handbuch: Commentary on the cooperative law, on the conversion law, tax and competition law regulations as well as a collection of relevant legal provisions. Loose-leaf work, Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin 1973, ISBN 978-3-503-00852-0 .
  • Hartmut Glenk: Cooperative Law. Text collection , 4th edition 2013. Beck texts in dtv, ISBN 3-423-05584-7 .
  • Hartmut Glenk: Cooperative Law. Systematics and practice of the cooperative system (= study and practice. Volume 7). 2nd Edition. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-406-63313-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence