Co-op News (August 2019)
What is co-operative culture - and why does it matter? This issue looks at how co-op values intersect with the values in organisations, across movements and between countries. Plus 100 years of the Channel Islands Co-operative – and how the new Coop Exchange app is tackling the capital conundrum.
What is co-operative culture - and why does it matter? This issue looks at how co-op values intersect with the values in organisations, across movements and between countries. Plus 100 years of the Channel Islands Co-operative – and how the new Coop Exchange app is tackling the capital conundrum.
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In the mid 1990s Italian social co-<strong>op</strong>s<br />
joined Cec<strong>op</strong>, posing new challenges<br />
when it came to finding a common<br />
political message. These co-<strong>op</strong>s had<br />
been created in 1991 as worker co-<strong>op</strong>s, to<br />
provide employment for disadvantaged<br />
pe<strong>op</strong>le; the model started being replicated<br />
all over Eur<strong>op</strong>e.<br />
<strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong> federations from former<br />
communist states in Eastern Eur<strong>op</strong>e also<br />
started joining in the 90s – including<br />
the Poland’s National Union of Worker<br />
<strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong>s (NAUWC). Its president Janusz<br />
Paszkowski said: “The decision by the<br />
federation to join Cec<strong>op</strong> was one of the<br />
best the organisation made at the time.”<br />
He said Cec<strong>op</strong> provided a platform for<br />
co-<strong>op</strong>s to showcase their role in other<br />
Eur<strong>op</strong>ean countries. Back then co-<strong>op</strong>s<br />
in Poland were seen as the remnants of<br />
communism and authorities were looking<br />
to introduce policies to put an end to<br />
co-<strong>op</strong> enterprises. Around 18,000 co-<strong>op</strong>s<br />
(60%) were closed down.<br />
In 2004 Krakow was chosen to host the<br />
Eur<strong>op</strong>ean Social Economy conference.<br />
“That conference gathered 800 pe<strong>op</strong>le<br />
from Poland and different countries,”<br />
said Mr Paszkowski. “It was an important<br />
moment because it was the first time<br />
pe<strong>op</strong>le in Poland heard about the social<br />
economy, what it stands for.”<br />
He added: “The reason why we<br />
joined Cec<strong>op</strong> was to show them that<br />
co-<strong>op</strong>s are important.<br />
“The experience from Cec<strong>op</strong> can be<br />
used to explain to politicians, and all<br />
those reluctant [to engage with co-<strong>op</strong>s]<br />
about what the sector can do.”<br />
Cec<strong>op</strong> continued to work with these<br />
countries to share other Eur<strong>op</strong>ean states’<br />
experiences and make the case for the<br />
co-<strong>op</strong> sector. It also played a key role in<br />
setting up <strong>Co</strong><strong>op</strong>eratives Eur<strong>op</strong>e in 2005,<br />
which acts as the voice of all co-<strong>op</strong>s<br />
in Eur<strong>op</strong>e.<br />
“We are strong only when we are strong<br />
everywhere,” said Mr Schlüter.<br />
Currently, Cec<strong>op</strong> represents 40,000<br />
co-<strong>op</strong>s with 1.3 million members; these<br />
all come from EU countries, but Cec<strong>op</strong> is<br />
keen to have co-<strong>op</strong>s in non-EU states join.<br />
“Our mission is to go east of what is<br />
today the EU,” said secretary general<br />
Diana Dovgan.<br />
A 2016 survey collecting membership<br />
data revealed that 77% of Cec<strong>op</strong> members<br />
are worker co-<strong>op</strong>s and 22% are social<br />
“SOCIAL CO-OPERATIVES MUST<br />
PROMOTE A CULTURE OF SOLIDARITY<br />
AND RESIST. THEY MUST BE READY<br />
FOR EVERYTHING THE FUTURE HOLDS<br />
FOR US, WHATEVER IT IS”<br />
co-<strong>op</strong>s. The organisation is keen to engage<br />
more with freelancer co-<strong>op</strong>s, community<br />
co-<strong>op</strong>s, multistakeholder co-<strong>op</strong>eratives,<br />
platform co-<strong>op</strong>s and youth co-<strong>op</strong>s.<br />
With transformations in the world<br />
of work, Cec<strong>op</strong> intends to provide new<br />
tools to offer workers access to social<br />
protection and financial security.<br />
“We have to think about building<br />
alliances with co-<strong>op</strong>s in other sectors<br />
as well as other organisations,”<br />
said Ms Dovgan.<br />
Diego Dutto, director of the Italian<br />
association of co-<strong>op</strong>eratives and social<br />
enterprises Legaco<strong>op</strong>, added: “If I<br />
think of the Eur<strong>op</strong>e of 1979, I think<br />
of a Eur<strong>op</strong>e that no longer exists. We<br />
need to respond to current challenges;<br />
we are the first generation that<br />
accepts the world might end due to<br />
climate change – but the market has<br />
to continue.”<br />
He added: “Yesterday [20 June] was<br />
World Refugee Day – our movement<br />
can contribute a culture of solidarity.<br />
What future can we expect? We need<br />
to respond promptly and organise.<br />
Social co-<strong>op</strong>eratives must promote<br />
a culture of solidarity and resist. They<br />
must be ready for everything the future<br />
holds for us, whatever it is. "<br />
In 2013, the EC established its Working<br />
Group on <strong>Co</strong><strong>op</strong>eratives. Mr Guerini thinks<br />
co-<strong>op</strong>s and other social economy actors<br />
need to continue to work together to<br />
ensure the digitisation of the economy is<br />
done in a sustainable, ecological manner.<br />
“We are not trendy ecologists like<br />
those in Silicon Valley – we believe<br />
sustainability has to do with how wealth<br />
is distributed,” he said, adding that<br />
co-<strong>op</strong>s need to respond to challenges<br />
posed by the digital revolution.<br />
Some public procurement benefits<br />
were obtained in 2014 when the Eur<strong>op</strong>ean<br />
Parliament ad<strong>op</strong>ted new rules on public<br />
procurement. CECOP welcomed the<br />
ad<strong>op</strong>ted EU rules, especially the new<br />
criterion of the “most economically<br />
advantageous tender”, which allows<br />
public authorities to place a stronger<br />
emphasis in the award procedure on<br />
quality, social aspects, environmental<br />
considerations or innovation.<br />
In a video message to the conference,<br />
Ulla Englemann, head of Unit<br />
Advanced Technologies, Clusters and<br />
Social Economy at the EC, said co-<strong>op</strong>s<br />
had already proven their resilience<br />
during the 2008 economic crisis<br />
and their ability to adapt to major<br />
economic transformations.<br />
She called on the sector to keep<br />
showing that economic performance<br />
is not incompatible with social<br />
benefits. She thinks co-<strong>op</strong>s are<br />
suitable models for digital innovation<br />
and platforms and devel<strong>op</strong>ing<br />
disruptive technologies.<br />
Juan Antonio Pedreño, president<br />
of Social Economy Eur<strong>op</strong>e, who has<br />
been a member of a local co-<strong>op</strong> in<br />
Murcia for 37 years, said: “<strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong>eratives<br />
are the backbone of social economy.<br />
There is momentum for the social<br />
economy to thrive in Eur<strong>op</strong>e. We need<br />
to make sure that the Social Economy<br />
Intergroup in the Eur<strong>op</strong>ean Parliament<br />
is re-established.”<br />
Intergroups are unofficial groupings<br />
of MEPs who are interested in a particular<br />
t<strong>op</strong>ic formed at the start of each<br />
parliamentary term.<br />
Mr Pedreño also called on co-<strong>op</strong>s to<br />
continue to work with social economy<br />
actors to speak with a single voice.<br />
AUGUST <strong>2019</strong> | 37