Cooperatives Europe held energy event at 2014 EUSEW
On 26 June, Cooperatives Europe organised the event ‘Decentralized energy systems: Engaging citizens in Europe’s energy future’ in partnership with Friends of the Earth Europe, REScoop.eu, Climate Alliance, CECODHAS and Euro Coop in Brussels. This is the third time that Cooperatives Europe has organised an energy event within 2014 EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW).
The EUSEW, organised by the EU Commission, takes place once a year since 2006 and showcases activities dedicated to energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions. It is designed to spread best practices, inspire new ideas and build alliances to help meet the EU’s energy and climate goals.
Cooperatives Europe’s event aimed at showing the EU Commission the importance of the co-operatively owned energy projects and the other citizen-based initiatives in order to achieve a successful energy transition. The main message that came through was the need for a more supportive and stable legislative framework and a clear and long-term energy and climate strategy at the European and the national levels. This is key to achieve a level playing field for renewable energy co-operatives and citizen based initiatives.
Participants also learned that co-operatives play an essential role in bridging the gap between producers and consumers of energy and, that cities should promote a cost-efficient energy model by decentralising electricity production and centralising heat through co-operative ownership of renewable energy.
“Decentralised energy is about collective action which is based on local communities, co-operative enterprises and city-councils collaboration. However, collective action also needs time and stable, long-term policy and financial frameworks. Therefore, we believe that policy makers do play a crucial role in the energy transition. We look forward to working together with the new EU Commission on creating the right smart sustainable policy framework to achieve a real competitive market that includes all the different energy players, such as co-operatives and local communities”, concluded Director of Cooperatives Europe, Klaus Niederländer.
You can read more on Cooperatives Europe’s website and see all the photos of the event on Cooperatives Europe’s Flickr account.
EU Elections outcomes: 27 MEPs openly support co-operatives
From 22 to 25 May European citizens were called to elect a new European Parliament.
In the run-up to the elections, the European cooperative movement encouraged candidates to support its enterprise model. ‘A Cooperative Manifesto’ was released by Cooperatives Europe, a document outlining the policy priorities for the elections.
To allow candidates to engage with the priorities outlined in the document, Cooperatives Europe lead the #coopsupporter campaign: to become #coopsupporter, a candidate needed to openly support the co-operative manifesto with a statement, which was than shared on social media. The campaign revealed a success: 45 candidates from 15 European countries and representing the 5 main political groups in the Parliament took part in the action. 27 of them have been elected and are now sitting in the European Parliament.
The campaign was of fundamental importance for the advocacy activities of Cooperatives Europe: it enabled to start a real dialogue with Members of the European Parliament and that will help letting the voice of European co-operatives being heard in the coming years. Cooperatives Europe will now continue to cultivate this dialogue, in order to strengthen its relationships with the Parliament. The campaign has not finished: Cooperatives Europe will keep on recruiting new #coopsupporter MEPs and enlarging its network of contacts within the European Parliament.
Co-operatives are high on new EU development agenda
The European Union is the world’s largest donor in development co-operation. A new European development strategy is now being defined, in which the private sector has an increased role to play. Cooperatives Europe has been working closely with different EU bodies to let the role co-operatives have in development be recognised and further developed.
In May, the EU Commission released the communication “A stronger role of the private sector in achieving inclusive and sustainable growth in developing countries”, which highlights the strategic role of co-operative enterprises in international development. The EU Commission is referring to co-operatives and other forms of people-centred businesses, stating that “co-operatives […] are often leading the way in providing decent jobs, sustainable livelihoods and inclusive solutions to social problems”. Cooperatives Europe appreciates the concrete actions that the document foresees, such as to “co-finance market-based schemes for MSMEs to access business support services from local providers including […] informal self-help organisations and co-operatives […]”
Following the EU Commission’s communication, the European Foreign Affairs Council adopted conclusions on the role of the private sector in international development, in which they call for “increased focus on support to micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as to social enterprises and co-operatives, in both the formal and informal sectors”.
Cooperatives Europe is also participating in the Policy Forum for Development, a consultation body run by the European Commission in order to include main development actors in the design and discussions around European development policies.
From 24 to 27 June, a regional seminar for Latin America of the Policy Forum in Development took place in Lima. Read more on this.
