The Ministry ruled with Directorial Note n. 10979/20 20 on the applicability to voluntary members of a social cooperative of the provision contained in art. 17 paragraph 4 of the d. lgs. no. 117/2017 (Third Sector Code), containing the following derogation from the general rule according to which ETS volunteers can only be reimbursed for expenses actually incurred and documented: "the expenses incurred by the volunteer can also be reimbursed against a self-certification made pursuant to article 46 of the decree of the President of the Republic December 28, 2000, n. 445, provided that they do not exceed the amount of 10 euros per day and 150 euros per month and the competent corporate body decides on the types of expenses and voluntary activities for which this reimbursement method is permitted."
On the basis of the art. 40 of the Third Sector Code, social enterprises are governed by Legislative Decree no. 112/2017 and social cooperatives and their consortia, social enterprises "by law" (art. 1, paragraph 4, Legislative Decree no. 112/2017) continue to be governed by special law no. 381/1991.
Also pursuant to the Third Sector Code, the provisions of the same "apply, where not waived and insofar as they are compatible, also to the categories of Third Sector entities that have a particular discipline".
With reference to the generality of social enterprises, the Ministry observes that the art. 13 of Legislative Decree lgs. no. 112/2017, in referring to the services of volunteers, says nothing about the methods of reimbursement of expenses incurred, with the consequence that, with reference to social enterprises other than social cooperatives, the applicability of the provisions of the paragraph 4 of the art. 17 of the Third Sector Code.
The art. 2, paragraph 4, of the law on social cooperatives provides that the statutes of social cooperatives can provide for the presence of voluntary members who lend their activity free of charge and that they can "only be reimbursed for expenses actually incurred and documented, on the basis parameters established by the social cooperative for all members". This is a special rule governing reimbursements to voluntary members.
But since the provision of the "simplified" reimbursement method envisaged by the Third Sector Code does not conflict with that referred to in the aforementioned Law no. 381/1991, constituting a mere faculty that the entity could decide not to exercise, simply by not deliberating anything in this regard, the Ministry concludes that it can reasonably be assumed that articles 17 to 19 of the Code apply to social cooperatives, which they can be considered supplementary to the special discipline; in particular, paragraph 4 of art. 17, provided that this takes place within an overall method of quantifying and reimbursement of expenses, as envisaged by the combined provisions of the aforementioned paragraph and paragraph 4 of art. 2 of the law n. 381/1981.
