The general interest cooperatives: a challenge for cooperative law

The presentation is to demonstrate the possible influence of the emergence of general interest cooperatives on cooperative law. The recognition of cooperatives have started in the beginning of the 20th century and the... [ view full abstract ]

The presentation is to demonstrate the possible influence of the emergence of general interest cooperatives on cooperative law. The recognition of cooperatives have started in the beginning of the 20th century and the cooperators struggled everywhere to get a legislative status, not to be regulated, but to be able to claim for public support. International organizations chose the same way, and cooperative law is presented like the basic need to build a cooperative-friendly policy. In the meantime, apart from that special for-profit enterprises, some community targeted enterprises developed, sometimes in coordination with cooperatives, sometimes against them. Depending on the traditions, histories, culture, the equilibrium differs. However, even the disputes between general interest targeted enterprises and cooperatives implied a reflexion among cooperatives; in many countries the spectrum of cooperatives is not the same today as it was twenty years ago. Therefore, beginning with this century, when elaborating a cooperative law,
one needs finding the right way to integrate general interest cooperatives. To do so, some major points need tackling. Firstly, the definition of cooperatives, traditionally aimed at the satisfaction of members’ needs, and contradicted by the focus on the outside of the cooperative. This raises the question of the genus cooperatis: is it a shape that can be used as a model for many purposes, or is it a more historically situated grouping? It appears acceptable to redefine cooperatives, without violating cooperative principles. Secondly, a more technical aspect, some adaptations of traditional cooperative rules are likely to be necessary. This concerns the concept of cooperative transactions and subsequently the mechanism of patronage refund, as well as the development of the democratic governance in a multi-membership organization. This does not require derogations to cooperative principles, but some adaptations.
This has been a tough discussion along the drafting of the principles of European cooperative law (PECOL) by the study group on the European cooperative law (SGECOL), and the members did not share all the same view. The outcome of the debates has been that, technically, the law is able to integrate the evolution and to propose a coherent answer for cooperative law. But, in the meantime, this requires some political choices, that is to say a decision about the room that cooperatives wish to make for general interest among themselves, and lawyers are, for sure, not the only ones to have a word to say about it.
*Professor, University of Luxemburg