Abstract
Cooperatives are best described as atypical business organizations. This is evidenced by: the priority given to social objectives over return on capital; democratic governance by members; combining the interests of members with the general interest; the defence and implementation of solidarity and responsibility values; reinvestment of surplus funds in long-term development objectives or providing important services to members or in the general interest; free and voluntary adhesion to membership; by autonomous and independent management. All of these atypical features are reflected in the PECOL Principles (Principles of European Cooperative Law). This paper shows that the PECOL Principles related to cooperative governance are consistent with the concept of sustainability.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Sérgio (1958), p. 235.
- 2.
Namorado (2005), p. 154.
- 3.
See Henrÿ (2012), p. 16 ff.
- 4.
Fauquet (1980), p. 26.
- 5.
- 6.
ICA (2013), “Blue Print for a Cooperative Decade”, available at http://ica.coop/sites/default/files/media_items/ICA%20Blueprint%20-%20Final%20-%20Feb%2013%20EN.pdf, accessed on 22 March 2014.
- 7.
- 8.
These Principles are as follows: Voluntary and Open Membership, Democratic Member Control, Member Economic Participation, Autonomy and Independence, Education, Training, and Information, Cooperation among Cooperatives, Concern for Community. See Namorado (1995).
- 9.
Cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others. See Moreno (2014), pp. 371–393.
- 10.
ICA has established that “A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise”.
- 11.
See Fici (2013), pp. 37–64.
- 12.
- 13.
See Henrÿ (2012), p. 9 ff.
- 14.
The Study Group on European Cooperative Law (SGECOL) aims to conduct comparative research on cooperative law in Europe. Principles of European Cooperative Law (PECOL) was his first project. See Fajardo et al. (2013), pp. 331–350.
- 15.
See Hiez (2017), p. 1, ff.
- 16.
See Meira (2012), pp. 127–144.
- 17.
See Snaith (2017), p. 47 ff.
- 18.
- 19.
See Snaith (2017), p. 49 ff.
- 20.
See Münkner (2012), pp. 132–135.
- 21.
See Fajardo and Meira (2017), p. 83 ff.
- 22.
See Meira (2017), pp. 57–72.
- 23.
See Snaith (2017), p. 53 ff.
- 24.
Henrÿ (2013), pp. 18 ff.
- 25.
See Snaith (2017), p. 59 ff.
- 26.
See Snaith (2017), p. 59 ff.
- 27.
See Snaith (2017), p. 71 ff.
Bibliography
Fajardo G, Fici A, Henrÿ H, Hiez D, Münkner H, Hiez D (2013) El nuevo grupo de studio en derecho cooperativo europeo y el proyeto “Los principios de derecho cooperative europeo”. CIRIEC. Rev Jurídica Economía Soc Cooperativa 24:331–350
Fajardo G, Meira D (2017) Chapter 3. Cooperative financial structure. In: Fajardo G, Fici A, Henrÿ H, Hiez D, Meira D, Muenker H, Snaith I (eds) Principles of European Cooperative Law: Principles, Commentaries and National Reports. Intersentia, Cambridge, pp 73–95
Fauquet G (1980) O Sector Cooperativo. Ensaio sobre o lugar do homem nas instituições cooperativas e destas na economia (tradução de F. Pinto). Livros Horizonte, Lisboa
Fici A (2013) Cooperative identity and the law. Eur Bus Law Rev 24:37–64
Henrÿ H (2012) Guidelines for cooperative legislation. International Labour Office, Geneve
Henrÿ H (2013) Superar la crisis del Estado de Bienestar: el rol de las empresas democráticas, una perspectiva jurídica. Ciriec España-Rev Jurídica Economía Soc Cooperativa 24:11–20
Hiez D (2017) Introduction. In: Fajardo G, Fici A, Henrÿ H, Hiez D, Meira D, Muenker H, Snaith I (eds) Principles of European Cooperative Law: Principles, Commentaries and National Reports. Intersentia, Cambridge, pp 1–15
Hiez D (2019) Voluntary membership: up to witch point do cooperatives support liberalism? Int J Coop Law 2:8–25
ICA (2013) Blue Print for a Co-operative Decade. http://ica.coop/sites/default/files/media_items/ICA%20Blueprint%20-%20Final%20-%20Feb%2013%20EN.pdf
Meira D (2012) Cooperative social responsibility: an intercultural analysis. In: Sarmento C (ed) Permanent Transit. Discourses and maps of the intercultural experience. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, England, pp 127–144
Meira D (2017) Reflexões em torno do regime jurídico da reserva de educação e formação cooperativas. In: Teixeira M, Teixeira M (eds) O Pensamento Feminino na Construção do Direito Cooperativo. Vincere Editora, Brasília, pp 57–72
Meira D (2019) Identidade cooperativa, admissão e demissão dos cooperadores. Realidades convergentes no direito português. In: Miranda J, Sousa L, Gadea E (eds) Direito Cooperativo e Identidade Cooperativa. Brazil Publishing, Curitiba, pp 71–96
Meira D, Ramos E (2015) Os princípios cooperativos no contexto da reforma do Código Cooperativo português. CIRIEC-España, Rev Jurídica Economía Soc Cooperativa 27:401–428
Moreno J (2014) Los valores según la Alianza Cooperativa Internacional (ACI). CIRIEC-España, Rev Jurídica Economía Soc Cooperativa 25:371–393
Münkner H (2012) Making co-operative promoters-40 years ICDC. Marburgo
Namorado R (1995) Os Princípios Cooperativos. Fora do Texto, Coimbra
Namorado R (2005) Cooperatividade e Direito Cooperativo. Estudos e pareceres. Almedina, Coimbra
Namorado R (2018) Artigo 3º. In: Meira D, Ramos E (eds) Código Cooperativo anotado. Almedina, Coimbra, pp 28–36
Sérgio A (1958) Sobre o socialismo de Oliveira Martins, Ensaios, tomo VIII. Guimarães, Coimbra
Snaith I (2017) Chapter 2—Cooperative Governance. Commentary. In: Fajardo G, Fici A, Henrÿ H, Hiez D, Meira D, Muenker H, Snaith I (eds) Principles of European Cooperative Law: Principles, Commentaries and National Reports. Intersentia, Cambridge, pp 47–72
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Meira, D. (2022). Cooperative Governance and Sustainability: An Analysis According to New Trends in European Cooperative Law. In: Tadjudje, W., Douvitsa, I. (eds) Perspectives on Cooperative Law. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1991-6_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-1991-6_21
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-1990-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-1991-6
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)