CCW Publishes First-Ever Policy Guide

CCW has published a new influencing strategy document, a first of its kind, for consumer co-operatives. The policy guide, co-produced Mutuo – esteemed think tank for co-operatives and mutuals, makes the case for consumer co-ops and demonstrates their importance to the global economy and wider society. The core objective, however, is to provide national organisations with a methodology to compose their advocacy strategies towards policymakers for the purpose of working towards a legal and policy environment supportive of consumer co-operatives.

The policy guide identifies a number of actions conducive to a better policy environment for consumer co-ops, including:

• Adoption of the 2002 UN recommendation that governments should support co-ops;

• Ensuring government departments and ministers are sufficiently skilled to work with co-ops;

• Improving education about the co-op model;

• Adopting the legal principle of ‘indivisible reserves’ to safeguard co-op assets;

• Legislating for new capital raising instruments for co-op enterprises;

• Permitting more cross border trading for co-ops, where this is restricted;

• Better collection of statistics nationally and internationally, which would underpin the overall advocacy process.

Prof. Petar Stefanov – CCW President believes this groundbreaking Policy Guide will aid members in devising a clear, consistent and effective strategy to raise consumer co-operatives’ visibility, acknowledgment, and recognition by government institutions for their real value and contribution to building a better world.

“We want to ensure the best possible business environment for consumer co-ops. These businesses are the original type of co-op. They provide significant competition for consumers and drive up standards of safety, quality and sustainability. CCW’s guide sets out a number of key measures that should be adopted to ensure this sector continues to grow and thrive.”

Download the policy guide here.