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On October 25th 2011 the European Union adopted its Social Business Initiative. On analysing it, and the context to which it belongs, we are brought to acknowledge a flagrant imbalance between the intention of promoting social enterprises, and a failure to recognise that the associations exist, though 80 % of social business enterprises are associations. Next we inquire into the response of the associations with regard to their capacity to mobilise and bring about a change of paradigm. Finally we show how a reductive view of social enterprises leads to a trap, not only for the associations and for social services but for the European social model.