How was the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives for you and your organisation?
The International Year of Cooperatives 2025 was an important opportunity to promote comprehensive attention to co-operatives.
For Cooperatives Europe and for me personally, this provided the opportunity to participate in a large number of events and initiatives in various countries throughout the year.
We began with the conference co-organised with the European Commission, the EESC, and Cecop on March 18, preceded by a summit of European co-operative leaders. We concluded on 3 December with participation in a debate at the EESC and the presentation of an opinion on the role of co-operatives in the competitiveness of the European industrial system. Other highly interesting events to which we contributed with our contributions took place in Turkey, Spain, Bulgaria, Poland, Portugal, and France.
A special mention also goes to the ICA assembly and conference held in Manchester and Rochdale. In short, a year of high co-operative intensity.
Indeed, interest in co-operatives has done much more than increase. Policymakers, the media, researchers, and students engaged more actively with the movement. Institutions at the local, national, European, and international levels involved co-operatives in debates and decision-making processes.
As Cooperatives Europe, we worked to maintain this consistent and meaningful visibility. Our members seized the opportunity to present clear priorities in sectors such as housing, energy, retail, agriculture, and industry. Together, they demonstrated that co-operatives are an integral part of everyday life in Europe and help communities remain stable despite social, economic, and environmental pressures.
The year also helped us advance the work we had been preparing for some time, which included events, research, communication campaigns, and joint initiatives with partners. It strengthened relationships within the movement. Sectoral organisations, national federations, youth networks, and global partners collaborated more closely. For Cooperatives Europe, this led to joint advocacy, exchanges among members, and improved coordination with the ICA regions. It has shown that co-operation isn’t just our message. It’s also our way of working.
We’ve also taken time to reflect on our responsibilities. We’ve listened to younger co-operators who want a more decisive role in shaping the movement. We’ve collaborated with development partners and continued discussions with EU institutions on competition, the green transition, skills, and social rights. These discussions haven’t always been easy, but they’ve confirmed the role of co-operatives in broader economic debates.
What are your hopes for 2026?
Looking ahead to 2026, we want to maintain this momentum. Cooperatives Europe will celebrate its 20th anniversary, an opportunity to celebrate but also to set shared priorities. We hope to offer policymakers a clear co-operative agenda, especially as work begins on the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework.
My hope for 2026 is simple: that co-operatives continue to give people trust, a voice, and a sense of responsibility. In this direction, we must also reinforce the message of peace that is part of the cultural mission of co-operatives, as enterprises dedicated to human and economic development. Investing in food producers, in health and social service, in education and in inclusive industry, is our way to building trust. So that co-operation remains a concrete way to build a better life together. Co-operative businesses build a better world, and this will remain true beyond 2025.
