The European Cooperative Society (SCE, for Latin societas cooperativa Europaea) is, in company law, a European co-operative type of company, established in 2006 and related to the European Company. European Cooperative Societies may be established, and may operate, throughout the European Economic Area (including the European Community). The legal form was created to remove the need for co-operatives to establish a subsidiary in each Member State in which they operate, and to allow them to move their registered office and head office freely from one Member State to another, keeping their legal identity and without having to register or wind up any legal persons. No matter where they are established, SCEs are governed by a single EEA-wide set of rules and principles which are supplemented by the laws on co-operatives in each Member State, and other areas of law.
Article 2(1) of the SCE Regulation provides for SCEs to be formed in five ways:
The creation of a cooperative: by 5 or more persons residing in different Member States or by legal entities established in different Member States.
The subscribed capital shall not be less than EUR 30 000.
Shares issued for cash shall be paid for on the day of the subscription to not less than 25 % of their nominal value. The balance shall be paid within five years unless the statutes provide for a shorter period.
So there exists difference between subscribed and paid capital, and the subscribed one should be at least paid by 25% while payment should be completed in 5 years.