Industrial Cooperatives: a tool for the challenge of inclusive and sustainable competitiveness

The EESC:

1. notes that the United Nations has proclaimed 2025 the International Year of Cooperatives under the theme “Cooperatives Build a Better World”, reflecting growing international recognition of the cooperative model across sectors;
2. recommends integrating cooperative business education into mainstream entrepreneurship and vocational training, including awareness activities for financial institutions and opportunities within Erasmus+;
3. believes that cooperatives should be actively promoted among start-ups and young entrepreneurs;
4. calls for recognition of industrial cooperatives as key economic actors and for targeted financial incentives at EU, national and regional levels (tax breaks, grants, low-interest financing) to support industrial symbiosis and circularity;
5. encourages investment in shared industrial parks, eco-industrial zones and cooperative knowledge-sharing platforms to strengthen cooperative localisation and sustainable production;
6. urges the inclusion of cooperative-specific policy measures in EU cohesion programmes and regional development strategies, prioritising cooperative-led initiatives to boost regional resilience and sustainability;
7. highlights the growing strategic importance of data-driven cooperatives and calls on EU and national authorities to support collective initiatives for managing and sharing industrial data;
8. stresses that the cooperative model provides unique added value through democratic governance, equitable wealth distribution, community engagement, and strong adaptability, reinforcing EU strategic autonomy;