Cooperatives Europe
Cooperatives Europe is the umbrella organization of European cooperative organizations and represents the interests of around 180,000 cooperatives with 141.5 million members and 4.7 million employees. The association, based in Brussels , has 84 member organizations (national umbrella and sector organizations as well as important European cooperatives) from 34 European countries. It is also the European arm of the International Association of Cooperatives ICA .
The association sees itself as the voice and advocate of the cooperative business model in Europe, especially towards the EU institutions. The activities include, in particular, statements on key cooperative issues, such as B. Cooperative law, financing, publicizing the business model, especially in training, new cooperative forms (e.g. renewable energies), but also on special topics such as accounting regulations or cooperatives and corporate social responsibility.
The practical political positioning at Cooperatives Europe requires the professional exchange between the national cooperative organizations and the sectors. To this end, working groups are convened, for example on the topics of accounting, taxes or cooperative law.
As in Germany, energy cooperatives have also been founded in a number of other EU countries. But there are also many questions about the energy transition for the established cooperative industries. That is why a working group for energy and the environment was set up a few years ago. This working group also played a key role in helping the new European sector association for energy cooperatives REScoop to be established.
The coordination of the political positions - especially with the sector associations - takes place in a separate committee, the EU Coordination Committee.
history
It was founded on March 7, 2006 as a non-profit organization under Belgian law. At the first General Assembly on November 11, 2006 in Manchester, Dame Pauline Green and Etienne Pflimlin were elected to the presidium of the organization. Dirk J. Lehnhoff, member of the board of the German cooperative umbrella organization DGRV , has been President of Cooperatives Europe since 2013 .
Cooperatives Europe has been part of the European Commission's working group on international development cooperation, DG DevCo., Since 2012. In this context, Cooperatives Europe has (co-) organized numerous events on international cooperation, for example the conference "Cooperatives and Sustainable Development: Challenges for the Post-2015 Agenda". Cooperatives Europe was also a partner organization of the "European Year for Development (EYD 2015)".
With a view to recruiting and promoting young people in cooperatives, a European network of young cooperative employees was founded, the Young Cooperators Network. A major concern of this international exchange platform is to receive impulses from younger generations for their own established organizations. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary, Cooperatives Europe published the report "The Power of Cooperation - Cooperative Europe Key Figures 2015" in April 2016. The report is the result of a survey carried out over the past 18 months among Cooperatives Europe members. 40 cooperative experts from 34 European countries were interviewed. The report highlights the great importance of cooperatives across Europe. The current facts and figures on cooperatives in the individual sectors and countries are intended to support the representation of interests for cooperatives in Europe. To this end, the report primarily highlights the strengths and opportunities of the European cooperatives.
organization
The day-to-day business is conducted from the Brussels office. Agnès Mathis has been the managing director since June 2016. Fundamental strategic decisions are made by the General Assembly, which meets at least once a year. The General Assembly also elects the Board of Directors, which is responsible for the implementation and implementation of the strategic decisions, as well as a President, who is also Vice-President for Europe of the International Association of Cooperatives (ICA).
- (Co-) President since foundation
- Pauline Green (2006–2009) and Etienne Pflimlin (2006–2010)
- Etienne Pflimlin and Felice Scalvini (2010–2013)
- Dirk J. Lehnhoff (since 2013)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ " The power of Cooperation - Cooperative Europe Key Figures ". Cooperatives Europe 2016 (PDF file)
- ^ Lehnhoff, Dirk J .: 10 years of Cooperatives Europe . In: PerspektivePraxis . tape 3/2016 , p. 6th f .
- ^ 'Cooperatives are major job creators'. September 28, 2014, accessed July 28, 2016 .
- ↑ Cooperatives Europe | European Year for Development. (No longer available online.) In: europa.eu. Archived from the original on July 28, 2016 ; accessed on July 28, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ European Young Cooperators Network launched in Paris. Cooperatives Europe, accessed July 28, 2016 .
