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Conference : Consumer Co-operatives in Europe
Meeting the Challenge of the 2010 Lisbon agenda
in Barcelona on 17 October 2005
Among the top 50 retail trading companies in Europe, we can find consumer co-operatives in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Scandinavia, Finland and Spain. These co-operatives have grown by adapting their democratic organisations so as to be able to offer a good supply of products and services, compete with bigger companies and improve their market share.
They harness consumer power in the market to bring important economic and social benefits, fostering health, safety and welfare for their members and society, and develop committed and pioneering positions on sustainability and social responsibility. Their action is in tune with the Lisbon strategy that intends to create more jobs, more and better research and development, promote innovation and sustainability, complete the Internal Market, create the conditions for a strong European industrial base, increase the adaptability of workers and enterprises and the flexibility of labour markets.
This Seminar enabled us to learn and share the strategies of co-operative corporations towards 2010. We saw how they aim to combine their market leadership with their social function as democratic organisations which are rooted in society and in the active defence of the consumer in the market.
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