Abstract. The evolution from public services to networks of social enterprises, not integrated into administrative convergence, expresses the essence of a process of institutional restructuring and reconversion based on common directions above mentioned and determined by the impact of Collaborative Public Management on Collaborative Governance. The above evolution has endemic characteristics for various European regions, in this context for South-Eastern Europe.

The current paper aims to emphasise specific trends for South-Eastern European states within the construction and operationalisation of a social enterprise network system, as well as lessons from relevant models for the social enterprises, such as the American, European model.

The paper achieves brief presentation of the state of the art concerning the social enterprises in some South-Eastern European states: Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia.

Keywords: social enterprises, networks, social economy, clusters.