The national apex organisation for French co-operatives, Coop FR, has elected a new president on 26 January. Jean-Louis Bancel will be taking over from Jean-Claude Detilleux, who has been leading the organisation since 1998.
Mr Bancel, who praised his predecessor for his contribution to the French co-operative movement, is a board member of the International Co-operative Alliance. He is also president of Crédit Coopératif and the International Association of Co-operative Banks. Mr Bancel has studied at the National School of Administration in Strasbourg and has a degree in business law and a Master’s in public law. A keen co-operator, he has been with Crédit Coopératif since 1999.
With a new social and solidarity economy law adopted last year, Coop FR will aim to focus on best practices and new ideas to reinforce and boost co-operation. Another area of action for the new president will be to engage with the youth. An important step in this direction is the creation of young French and European co-operators network, which will be officially launched at the general assembly of Cooperatives Europe in Paris on 22-24 April. Young co-operators will meet on 22 April to discuss their priorities. They will then take part in a round table on the future of the movement on 23 April, as part of the general assembly.
Coop FR invites member organisations to mobilise their young members (under 35) not only for this event, but also for the network of young French co-operators.
The organisation also plans to develop new joint projects with international co-operative organisations and build relationships with the academic world in order to share the co-operative vision for the future and explain the benefits of the model.
