European Economic
and Social Committee
EESC PLENARY: The role of industrial cooperatives needs to be promoted more widely
The cooperative model has proved its ability to establish competitive companies rooted in inclusivity and worker participation. As an EESC’s opinion stresses, it is becoming increasingly important to maintain industrial capacity within the EU, in the interests of its security and strategic autonomy.
On 3 December 2025, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held a debate on Cooperatives building a better world: the contribution of the EESC to the International Year of Cooperatives, in connection with the adoption of an opinion on Industrial cooperatives: a tool for inclusive and sustainable competitiveness. The debate was joined by Jeroen Douglas, Director-General at the International Cooperative Alliance, Carlien van Empel, Director of the ILO Office for the EU and the Benelux, Amal Chevreau, Head of Unit at the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities, and Dr Joachim Schwerin, Principal Economist, Responsible Business Conduct Unit within the DG GROW of the EU Commission.
Cooperatives offer distinct added value through democratic governance, equitable distribution of wealth and deep community engagement. They therefore strengthen EU strategic autonomy and create businesses that are more resilient during crises,
said EESC President Séamus Boland. Cooperatives demonstrate that competitiveness and social responsibility are not opposing goals, but rather mutually reinforcing.
Members of the Committee's Civil Society Organisations' Group also participated in the lively debate:
Alain Coheur, president of the EESC's Consultative Commission on Industrial Change (CCMI), highlighted that as the International Year of Cooperatives ends, we must continue to broaden the horizons for cooperatives, by identifying strategic sectors for the future – those areas where cooperatives can make a lasting impact.
The rapporteur for the EESC opinion on Industrial cooperatives, Giuseppe Guerini, said that with this opinion, the EESC contributes to the International Year of Cooperatives by showing that industrial cooperatives are competitive enterprises with strong local roots. Thanks to these characteristics, they can contribute to European strategic autonomy.
Simo Tiainen emphasised that the cooperative model remains vital across sectors, delivering services to areas where commercial actors do not – a strong driver of rural development. Rural broadband cooperatives show how cooperatives can boost digital inclusion.
Diego Dutto echoed the social dimension: we live in a society where inequalities are growing. Being united and creating something together that genuinely makes us better and more equal is a concrete answer to such inequalities.
Korasidis Moschos concluded that cooperative organisations provide the resilience needed to confront economic and ecological change.
Read the EESC’s press release: https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/news/eesc-calls-role-industrial-cooperatives-be-promoted-more-widely
Watch the debate at: https://webstreaming.europarl.europa.eu/ep/embed/embed.html?event=20251203-1430-SPECIAL-OTHER