The process of national political integration of the social economy in Spain started in 1990 with the creation of the National Institute for the Promotion of Social Economy (Instituto Nacional de Fomento de la Economía Social—INFES) through Law 31/1990 by Spain's Parliament on 27 December of that year. The INFES replaced the former Directorate General of Cooperatives and Worker-Owned Societies (Dirección General de Cooperativas y Sociedades Laborales) of the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Among its purposes was the promotion of social economy organisations and, for that reason, it created the Institute from among its members. When the INFES ceased operating in the year 1997, its tasks were assumed by the General Directorate for the Promotion of Social Economy (Dirección General del Fomento de la Economía Social) and the European Social Fund. Law 27/1999 on Cooperatives, of 16 July 1999, incorporated the Council for the Promotion of the Social Economy as the advisory and consultative body for activities related to the social economy, and its regulations were implemented by Royal Decree 219/2001, of 2 March, to authorize the organization and operation of the Council. Thus, this Council is set up as the institution that provides visibility to the various organizations in the social economy.