Empresario individual y nueva regulación de la discapacidad

Abstract

The work analyzes the repercussions of the reform of civil and procedural legislation referring to the exercise of the legal capacity of people with disabilities, operated by Act 8/2021, on the legal sphere of the individual entrepreneur. That reform has modified three precepts of the Spanish Commercial Code, articles 4, 5 and 234, which are being examined. The study deals with aspects of great importance in the commercial field and the changes that the reform has brought about. The important question of the new conception of the legal capacity that is now required to be an individual entrepreneur and to act as such is discussed, expanding the scope of natural persons who can achieve said condition, including people with disabilities if they are of legal age. Reference is also made to support measures for entrepreneurs with disabilities for the exercise of business activity, highlighting the difficulties that their application may cause, particularly in the proper development of economic activity. Likewise, the relevant consequences that the reform of the legal capacity of the individual entrepreneur can cause in the liability regime and in the negotiation or contractual context are examined. The conflicts and insecurities that may arise when an entrepreneur with a disability, in the exercise of his full legal capacity, carry out legal operations in the business sector are highlighted. On the other hand, the deletion in article 5 of the Spanish Commercial Code of the reference to the continuation of the trade by a disabled person, which their parents or deceased would have exercised, is also analyzed, since now people with disabilities, not only can continue an existing business, but also acquire ab initio the status of entrepreneurs.