Slide 11 of 14

The report of the UN Secretary General on the Status and role of co-ops in the light of new economic and social trends, which is on the agenda of the UN General Assembly at its current session, provides an excellent helping tool for co-operative organisations in their negotiations with governments. The annex of the document, called guidelines, was elaborated by COPAC and contains a set of practical recommendations.

This year the ICA message on the occasion of the International Co-op Day calls the attention of co-op organisations to this report.

In addition to that, the ICA President addressed a letter last month to all governments requesting them to support the report and the guidelines at the UN General Assembly.

A similar document is being drafted by the European Commission, namely the White Paper on co-ops, with the aim of creating a supportive environment for the development of co-operatives. Once adopted, it would be of similar value at European level as the UN report is at worldwide level. However, the process of adoption had been postponed due to the internal structural reforms of the new Commission.

As we approach the new millennium the European Union is preparing for the biggest expansion in its history. The enlargement of the Union goes parallel to the reform of the Commission and at present the situation is far from being simple and clear.

Two weeks ago, the progress report on the situation of candidate countries was submitted to the European Parliament. It consists of a summary evaluation of the progress made by the countries, called composite paper and detailed national reports on each of the 13 countries concerned, i.e. 10 CEECs and Cyprus, Malta and Turkey. According to this report the two most prepared countries are Hungary and Poland, followed by Estonia and Slovakia.

(The documents can be found on the Web site of the European Commission or are available from the ICA Europe secretariat).

I would like to mention two other documents. One is the White Paper on the candidate countries adopted in May 1995 and the Statutes for a European Co-operative Society which is still pending because it is linked to the European Company Statutes and there is no unanimous agreement among the EU member states concerning workers' participation. A significant advantage of the European Statutes would be facilitating cross-border co-operation between co-operative societies.

Why did I expand so long on government policy and legislation? Firstly, because appropriate national legislation is a pre-condition of co-operative development and secondly, because whatever decisions are taken and regulations adopted now, at the level of the 15 member states of the European Union, they will have a significant impact on the future member states from CEE, including their co-operatives. And if co-operative organisations are not involved in the government negotiations, the future development of co-operatives might be threatened. Let me tell you one example. The Hungarian government has not asked for derogation from the EU banking regulations, in connection with the conditions of the foundation of savings co-ops or credit unions. Since the capital required is much higher in the EU than in Hungary, changes in this area could put savings coops in a difficult position. The co-operative movement has protested.