Pointers and ex lanations THE BREAKTHROUGH OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE: CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATIONS

"Covering the fifteen countries that then formed the European Union, {EMES}has grodually developed a common approach to social enterprise based on the definition of an "ideal-type' ~ i.e. an abstract model synthesising the principal characteristics of the new entrepreneurship observed within the social economy'~ ince the mid-90s, we have witnessed a breakthrough of three notions that had virtually never been used before: social entrepreneurship, social entrepreneur and so-cial enterprise. Although each is sometimes the subject of specifie conceptual debates, they are largely interconnected- especially since they have gained in popularity and are still riding on the crest of the same wave. These notions are closely related to the variou