Webinar: Cooperative Legal Framework Analysis (LFA) Unpacked

Wednesday, 25 February 2026 | 14:00–15:30 CET 

The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) will host a webinar co-organized by the regional and global offices to officially launch the Legal Framework Analysis (LFA) for Cooperatives, a harmonised research and analysis initiative examining the state of cooperative legislation worldwide. The LFA is implemented across all ICA Regions as part of an activity co-funded under the ICA–EU Partnership #coops4dev🌍. 

Register here to receive the Zoom webinar link. Interpretation will be provided in English, Spanish and French. 

Why an LFA? 

As custodian of cooperative values and principles, the ICA has long recognised that law is a decisive condition for cooperative development. Legal frameworks determine whether cooperatives can form, operate, scale, federate and endure as authentic member-owned enterprises, or whether their identity and potential are constrained by inadequate legislation. 

Building on 79 national reports and 4 regional reports, the LFA maps and analyses cooperative legal environments across regions, identifying strengths, gaps and reform needs. This webinar marks the public unveiling of the LFA as a coordinated, regionally implemented activity of the ICA, providing a shared platform for ICA members, lawmakers, policy professionals, civil society partners and private sector actors to engage with its first global findings. 

Webinar content 

The session will explore the relationship between cooperative law and the ICA’s mandate to safeguard cooperative identity, examining how cooperative values and principles are translated into enforceable legal provisions on democratic governance, member economic participation, autonomy, education, inter-cooperation and concern for community. 

A central part of the webinar will be a moderated exchange with ICA Regional officers leading the implementation of the LFA, followed by regional reflections from the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific, highlighting key trends, challenges and noteworthy national experiences. The session will conclude with a methodological overview and reflections on the international and intra-regional value of the LFA, including perspectives from the European Commission through the ICA–EU partnership. 

This webinar also serves as a call to collaboration, inviting legal scholars, practitioners, institutions and cooperative organisations to contribute to the LFA as a living and evolving body of knowledge on cooperative legal frameworks worldwide.

Equally importantly, the webinar will look to formally initiating collaborations with legal experts and organizations in the run up to the objective of the LFA, which is to map and record the general knowledge about legal frameworks that concern cooperatives, worldwide.

This event is organised under the ICA–EU Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (2024–2028) -also known as #coops4dev🌍- a five-year international cooperative development programme that aims to strengthen the ICA network and position cooperatives as international development actors in the EU development agenda.