Cooperatives Europe leads the ICA into a partnership with the EU on international development

On Friday 18th March, Neven Mimica – EU Commissioner in charge of International Cooperation & Development, signed a multi-annual framework partnership agreement with the ICA global and regional offices. This agreement was driven by Cooperatives Europe’s development work over the last decade.

In 2008, Cooperatives Europe compiled the first compendium of almost 300 development projects carried out by European cooperative organisations all over the world. Thanks to the Cooperatives Europe Development Platform (CEDP), which promoted the potential of cooperative enterprises in international development, cooperatives received recognition within the relevant EU development policies over recent years.

“We are proud to have lead the whole global cooperative movement into a partnership with the European Commission on international development – commented Klaus Niederländer, Director of Cooperatives Europe. By casting light over what cooperatives were already doing in development it attracted the attention of the EU and highlighted the potential for collaboration to move forward together”.

The current partnership agreement for the period of 2016-2020 recognizes cooperatives as strong development actors. It will further strengthen the cooperative movement worldwide, enhance its visibility, and increase its capacity to speak out within global and regional development policies and processes.