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Consumer Co-operatives
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The consumer cooperatives. Organisations for the protection of consumers.
 The consumer cooperatives were set up by consumers, for consumers. Created in the 19th century for the protection of the interests of their members, they have developed their activities in diverse sectors : foodstuffs, houseold appliances, leisure activities, etc. They were, therefore, the first consumer organisations, and subsequently have often helped to set up national consumer unions, e.g. recently in Sweden.
It is also the task of the consumer cooperatives to provide information, education, and to protect the interests and the health of consumers. For this purpose, they offer a whole range of services such as the elaboration of a food quality policy by their own laboratories, the distribution of magazines and information brochures in the shops and to members, the preparation of information and education campaigns, and even the setting up of training courses for consumers.
Consumers' representation.
 Consumer co-operatives are organisations that belong to the members, consumers, who influence and control co-operatives' activities at every level. The aim of a co-operative is not to make a profit, but to be of use to its members and defend their interests.
Consumers' participation in the management of their co-operatives is ensured through a complex process of representation, which can differ from one country to another or from one co-operative society to another, but which is always seeking to ensure that the co-operatives' activities meet consumers' interests.
The basic principle of consumers' representation is that each co-operative's member has a right to vote, "1 member, 1 voice". It is the democratic principle, the fundamental principle of co-operative identity.
Co-operatives belong to their members. Members or their representatives exercise a direct control over the activities and the management of co-operatives. General assemblies are organised every year. On that occasion, members discuss the functioning of their co-operatives, their expectations, shops, etc and elect their Board's representatives. These assemblies represent a significant forum in which members can express their expectations as consumers and define the role and activities of their co-operatives. Therefore discussions that take place in those assemblies mainly concern consumer issues.
When co-operatives are grouped together at regional and/or national level, the democratic system is repeated at every level. Members' representatives at local level elect their representatives at regional level, who elect in turn their representatives at national level; members ensuring the monitoring of co-operatives' activities at every level.
Members do not have financial interests in their co-operatives and therefore ask their co-operatives to defend their interests and to answer their needs on information as conumers rather than to achieve economic performance. Surplus resulting from economic activities are used for new investments, or in the case of some co-operatives, redistributed to members in the form of "dividend" calculated according to the level of transaction with the co-operatives.
 The members' right to control co-operatives also explains consumers' role of information and education played by co-operatives. Members ask their co-operatives to defend their interests and to answer their needs on information. A significant part of co-operatives' resources is therefore devoted to the information and education of consumers, which varies according to the different co-operatives and countries; for example information campaigns to members in shops, education programmes in schools, own brand products' labelling internal policies, campaigns organised together with other non governmental organisations (including consumer or environmental associations) etc.
Consumer co-operatives were the first consumer organisations aiming to defend and promote consumers' interests, and in many countries they contributed to the creation of consumer associations, as it was recently the case in Sweden.
At the European level, Euro Coop's first purpose is to defend and promote consumers' interests. Its priorities are laid down by the members, consumer co-operatives' national organisations.
Euro Coop positions are drafted in close collaboration with the experts employed by Euro Coop's member co-operatives in order to implement the actions and policies defined by consumers. Euro Coop's positions closely reflect consumers' expectations and concerns, expressed by the co-operatives' members or by the customers in shops.
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