Cooperatives Europe

Countdown to 2012 International Year of Cooperatives

Ray Collins — 2010-09-06T11:32:52Z

Countdown to 2012 will be providing updates on the preparation for the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives. Its aim is to keep members informed on ICA and UN initiatives for the Year as well as provide information on how co-operatives will be celebrating the Year.

The United Nations has just launched its web site for International Year of Co-operatives See: http://social.un.org/coopsyear/

Encourage the formation of a national committee in your country

The United Nations has invited each country to form an International Year of Co-operatives National Committee. National Committees co-ordinate activities for preparing for, conducting and following up the IYC at the national level. The UN official communication, Note Verbale, addressed to government, was sent out in mid-May 2010 under the document reference DESA-10/02386. To date Algeria, Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Germany, Japan, Mauritius, Mongolia, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Slovakia and Spain have indicated that they will form national committees. The ICA hopes that national committees will be established in all 91 countries where its has members.

ICA members are encouraged to contact their government and request that they form a national committee and provide the name of the focal point or contact person to the United Nations as soon as possible.

Round-up of European co-operative news

Ray Collins — 2010-07-30T10:29:49Z

International Year of Cooperatives 2012

The United Nations proclaimed 2012 as the International Year of Co-operatives (IYC) in December 2009.

The IYC aims at raising awareness on the socio-economic impact of co-operatives, and for promoting the autonomous formation and growth of co-operatives.

The official UN website

ICA Countdown to 2012 Its aim is to keep ICA members informed on ICA and UN initiatives for the Year as well as provide information on how co-operatives will be celebrating the Year.

New ICA Director General

Charles Gould (United States of America) took office as the Director-General of the International Co-operative Alliance on 1 September 2010 succeeding Iain Macdonald.

(Note: Founded on 19 August 1895, the International Co-operative Alliance celebrates its 115th anniversary this year)

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Cooperatives Europe expresses its view on the Small Business Act and the EU Energy policy 2011-20

Small Business Act (SBA) review : As 95 % of our members are SMEs acting in all sectors of activities, the SBA is a very important issue for co-operatives. COOPERATIVES EUROPE participated to the previous SBA consultation processes, through different position papers, and is therefore very much interested in being involved into the review of the SBA. The European Parliament recognised in its opinion the specific input that co¬operatives could give in the implementation of the SBA.

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Energy Policy 2011-20: COOPERATIVES EUROPE welcomes the consultation on a new Energy Strategy for Europe 2011-2020, whose overall goal is to ensure safe, secure, sustainable and affordable energy for all. Co-operatives are a powerful instrument to improve and rationalise the use of energy among citizens. Co-operatives are deeply anchored in their local community. This connection often allows them to create partnerships with local administrators and other stakeholders for the creation of a decentralized model of energy production¬distribution-consumption.

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ICA appoints a new Director General

The International Co-operative Alliance has named Charles Gould as Director-General. Mr. Gould comes to the ICA after serving as CEO of Volunteers of America, a Washington-based health care, housing, and human services organisation, where he provided strategic leadership to 16,000 full-time staff and directed $1 billion in annual turnover.

In announcing the selection, Dame Pauline Green, ICA Board President, said "The ICA Board recognized, with the United Nations declaration of 2012 as the International Year of the Co-operative, the need for a leader who can successfully use this platform to communicate the co-operative value. Charles Gould has shown he has both the passion for a vital mission and the business knowledge to grow an organization to scale."

Charles Gould follows Iain Macdonald, who served as Director-General during the past eight years and, in anticipation of the changing economic environment, positioned the world co-operative movement to take its proper place in the global economy.

Read the ICA Press Release

International Cooperative Day 3 July 2010

"Co-operative enterprise empowers women"

"La empresa cooperativa empodera a la mujeres"

"L'entreprise coopérative autonomise les femmes"

This year's theme highlights how the cooperative model of enterprise can successfully empower women. It links to the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action (Beijing+15) which sets out the internationally agreed agenda for women's empowerment.

Examples of women cooperative entrepreneurs

UK Coop sector nudges £34 billion/€41 billion

Latest figures from Co-operatives UK reveal that co-operative businesses in the UK have pushed up their combined turnover by some 15.8% to almost £34 billion / €41 billion– during the same period UK GDP decreased by 4.9%.

As the coalition government debates the provision of public services via a co-operative model, and trust in PLCs and other models of business continues to decline, Ed Mayo, Secretary General of the trade body for co-operatives, Co-operatives UK, says the co operative sector is well placed to step up to the challenge.

Awards for Cooperative Innovation

Six dynamic and successful businesses have been honoured with national Co-operative Awards to recognise their innovation and contribution to the co-operative sector.

Chelmsford Star Co-operative Society, Delta-T Devices, Shared Interest Society, The Handmade Bakery, whomadeyourpants? and Winyates Co-operative Housing received the Co-operative Award in recognition of their excellent work in diverse areas of the economy.

The six winners were chosen from a diverse shortlist and all excelled in the past year to help promote, unite and develop their business as well as the co-operative movement.

Aldo Soldi, new President of Euro Coop for 2011-12

Euro Coop, the European Community of Consumer Cooperatives, elected its new President for the two-year period 2011-2012. The elected President is the Italian Aldo Soldi, already President of ANCC-COOP, the Italian national association of consumer cooperatives.

The other members of Euro Coop Presidency will be Mr. Zoltán Zs. Szöke, President of the national federation of consumer cooperatives of Hungary, and Mr. Thomas Bagge Olesen, President of the Danish consumer co-operative association FDB.

On the occasion of the annual General Assembly, a workshop on the performance of national consumer cooperatives was organized with the presentation of the results for 2009. The common denominator was clear: even in the context of widespread economic crisis, consumer cooperatives have continued to safeguard the purchasing power of consumers and consumer-members and, at the same time, were able to register good results.

New co_Presidents and Directors for Cooperatives Europe

In Brussels on 31 May Etienne Pflimlin from Credit Mutuel (FR) and Felice Scalvini from Confcooperative (IT) were elected co-Presidents along with directors from France, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, UK, Finland, Spain, Bulgaria, Denmark, Czech Republic and Russia.

Skills - LifeLong Learning Programme for cooperatives

Skills project: An EU Lifelong Learning Programme project co-ordinated by Federazione Trentina della Cooperazione - Italy.

Skills' partners have looked into an innovative lifelong learning system, to help co-operators to become more aware and active, and they found other possibilities in addition to traditional training.

Six partners from Italy, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and Finland have worked in a project called Skills. Three of them are cooperative organizations.

Read More and video interviews

European Commission highlights Coop entrepreneurs

As part of the European Commission's SME Week 2010, two co-operative entrepreneurs have been highlighted.

Anna Darzenta (EL) from 'To Kastri' Women's Agro-Tourist Cooperative

Luciana Delle Donne (IT) from Officina Creativa Soc Coop Sociale

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Italian Coop wins Champions League

The italian coop “Cooperative Prato allo Stelvio” (a member of ConfCooperative (IT)) are the league champions in the Renewable Energy Competition for European municipalities. The energy production coop won the gold medal beating the 2 600 European local authorities and 50 millions inhabitants from seven countries: Germany, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Czech Republic.

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Campaign for Robert Owen on Scottish Banknotes

The UK's Co-operative Group is supporting proposals to highlight the achievements of co-operative pioneer Robert Owen by campaigning to have his image featured on Scottish banknotes in time for the International Year of the Co-operative in 2012.

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European Coop Convention and Regional Assembly- Moscow 19-21 April '10 CANCELLED

In the light of the ongoing extreme travel difficulties being experienced in all parts of Europe following the Icelandic volcanic eruptions, it is with regret that the Cooperatives Europe Regional Assembly and European Convention scheduled to take place in the coming days in Moscow is CANCELLED. The ICA global Board meeting scheduled to take place in Moscow on 22/23 April is also CANCELLED.

The ICA, Cooperatives Europe and our hosts in Russia - Centrosojuz take this decision in the interests of the well-being of delegates to remove any uncertainty of arriving safely in Moscow and, equally as important, the returning home of delegates.

We hope to have the understanding of all delegates about the difficulty of taking this decision and hope that the inconvenience this may cause is balanced by the need for our individual safety at this time.

A further communication will be made in the near future with proposals as to how outstanding issues will be addressed.

Etienne Pflimlin, co-President Cooperatives Europe

Rainer Schluter , Director

Dame Pauline Green, President ICA

Iain Macdonald, DirectorGeneral ICA

Building a co-operative future through a shared global brand

.coop is the de facto verifiable brand identity for cooperatives worldwide. With its primary focus online it is perfectly suited to supporting and promoting cooperative identity in the fastest developing business environment that is revolutionizing the way we all live and work.

.coop is a carefully constructed platform that has been painstakingly developed over the last decade. It is a robust and mature top level domain, and is ideally positioned to provide the social brand platform that will lift the co-operative movement to the next level.

Read more and get details of how to get a free .coop domain name

DG Enterprise website updates - cooperatives

The DG Enterprise website has been just updated including information on 5 ongoing projects on Satellite Accounts for cooperatives and mutuals, the ongoing Study on the implementation of the Statute on the European Cooperative Society and the forthcoming European Conference on Social Economy in Toledo, Spain, 6-7 May 2010.

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Finnish Cooperative Project nominated for European Enterprise Award

A project in Finland for the promotion of cooperatives is in the top 12 projects nominated for an award in the European Enterprise Awards 2010 - "Rewarding excellence in the promotion of 'Entrepreneurship'

‘ Promoting co-operatives as a modern and flexible form of entrepreneurship

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Cooperatives will contribute to the success of the EU2020 Strategy

COOPERATIVES EUROPE welcomes the EU2020 Strategy document published on 3 March by the European Commission, and supports the view that Europe needs a sustainable economy, putting people and responsibility first with a sustained fight against exclusion and a transition to a green economy.

Co-operatives are determined to contribute to the achievement of the EU2020 Strategy's targets.

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Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all

On the 8th March 2010, International Women's Day, the ICA calls on its member organisations and co-operators, to review and reinforce their commitments, policies and programmes to make gender equality a reality.

Let us be leaders in assuring progress for all by taking important steps to booster women's rights and access to participation and leadership in co-operative enterprise.

Let us begin by asking all our members to ensure that from this year onwards that their representative delegations are truly gender-balanced.

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EU Jigsaw Complete - New Parliament, New Treaty and New Commission

Michel Barnier, Commissioner for Internal Market & Services will be looking at the model of co-operatives and mutuals in the context of giving fresh impetus to the 'Internal Market'

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Assistance for Cooperatives in Haiti

The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) is mobilising its members and partners around the world to provide emergency relief and reconstruction assistance to co-operators in Haiti following the devastating earthquake of 12 January 2010.

ICA is working with its members and partners to contact the ICA member, Conseil National des Coopératives –CNC– (National Co-operative Council) located in Port-au-Prince to determine the relief and future needs of Haitian co-operators for longer-term reconstruction of the co-operative movement. Information will be available on the ICA website as it becomes available.

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How to contribute

Coop responses

ICA Seeks New Director General

The International Co-operative Alliance is seeking candidates for the position of ICA Director-General.

The Director-General will be responsible for ensuring that the business of the ICA is carried out in accordance with the Values and Principles of the International Co-operative Alliance, the ICA Rules and Bye-Laws, and the strategy agreed by the Board.

Job Description and Application Details

Closing date for applications is 8 March 2010.

UN proclaims 2012 International Year of Cooperatives

The ICA is pleased to announce the adoption of the UN resolution, "Co-operatives and social development" which proclaims 2012 International Year of Co-operatives. The resolution A/RES/64/136) passed on 18 December 2009 by consensus was proposed by 55 UN Member States.

It recognises that the co-operative business model is a major factor in realising economic and social development and calls on governments, international institutions, co-operatives and other stakeholders to support the development and growth of co-operatives worldwide.

Read more and give us your ideas for promoting 2012

Copenhagen COP15 - Success or Failure?

Read the Copenhagen Accord

What do you think?

Tell us what ACT! should do now to help Cooperatives continue to address the climate threat.

Use this reply form

CoopErasmus

Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs is a European exchange programme aimed at helping new entrepreneurs to acquire relevant skills for managing a small or medium-sized enterprise by spending time (1 to 6 months) in an enterprise managed by an experienced entrepreneur in another European country.

COOPERATIVES EUROPE and the other 7 European partners of the consortium CoopErasmus (COOPERATIVES UK, CEPES-ANDALUCIA, UNCCUE, ELABORA-CONFCOOPERATIVE, INFORCOOP-LEGACOOP, CCU-BULGARIA, COOMPANION) have been selected to be Intermediary organisations. Intermediary organisations help new and host entrepreneurs in getting in contact and assist them during the relationship.

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EU Energy Policy 2011-20, a Cooperatives Europe Position Paper

Ray Collins — 2010-07-28T14:23:02Z

Energy2011-2020 Coopaeratives Europe position paper

Small Business Act (SBA) review - CoopsEurope position paper

Ray Collins — 2010-07-28T14:17:15Z

Small Business Act (SBA) CooperativesEurope PositionPaper

Documents/reports published by Cooperatives Europe

Ray Collins — 2010-07-26T13:20:23Z

To read and download Cooperatives Europe publications go to: http://www.scribd.com/CoopsEurope

Slide Presentations

Ray Collins — 2010-07-26T13:03:59Z

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International Year of Cooperatives 2012 - a global briefing

Ray Collins — 2010-07-19T08:57:08Z
The ICA background information - International Year of Cooperatives 2012

ICA Appoints a new Director General

Ray Collins — 2010-07-06T14:32:43Z

New ICA Director General

Cooperatives Europe Website New articles

Ray Collins — 2010-07-02T19:06:25Z

UN International Year Countdown to 2012 6 September 2010

UK Co-operative sector nudges £34 billion / €41 billion

Ray Collins — 2010-07-02T18:47:49Z

Latest figures from Co-operatives UK reveal that co-operative businesses in the UK have pushed up their combined turnover by some 15.8% to almost £34 billion /€41 billion – during the same period UK GDP decreased by 4.9%.

As the coalition government debates the provision of public services via a co-operative model, and trust in PLCs and other models of business continues to decline, Ed Mayo, Secretary General of the trade body for co-operatives, Co-operatives UK, says the co operative sector is well placed to step up to the challenge.

The figures - released during the first ever Co-operatives Fortnight - show that the UK has some 4,992 jointly owned, democratically controlled co operative businesses, which together reported a combined performance of £33.5 billion and the number of co-operative members (ie owners) surged by 14% to 12.9 million people (over one in five of the population). Co-operatives now sustain over 237,000 jobs in the UK.

These numbers include not only the consumer owned high street “Co-operative” shops but also employee owned co-operatives, co-operative consortia, agricultural co-operatives, housing co-operatives, fishing co-operatives, credit unions and community owned co operatives.

Ed Mayo said: “Despite the ongoing difficulties in many sectors of the economy, co-operative businesses have maintained their momentum of recent years and continue to grow and prosper.

“Co-operatives work across the economy, from football to farming, finance to funeral care. They address some of the biggest challenges – from inequality and climate change to the changing nature of business and the economy. Co-operatives are not immune to the woes of the economy, but these results show that the co-operative economy is in good shape.”

Consumer owned co-operative food retailers, including the Co-operative Group and a number of regionally based co operative societies such as Southern Co-operatives and Chelmsford Star have seen significant sales increases compared to last year. Trading profit before depreciation for all consumer co-operatives is slightly down on the year, although the last five years have seen significant improvements in the profitability of the consumer societies.

The Co-operative UK 100 – the annual ranking of the UK's biggest co-operative businesses – was also unveiled. The top ten co-operative businesses in the UK are the Co-operative Group, John Lewis Partnership, Midlands Co-operative Society, The Midcounties Co operative Society, First Milk, Milk Link, National Merchant Buying Society, Openfield Group, East of England Co-operative Society, Scottish Midland Co-operative Society.

Said Ed Mayo: “Co-operatives enable customers, employees and communities to work together, allowing them to control the business and share the profits: co-operatives are a powerful alternative.”

The Co-operative Economy can be downloaded here