Seminar Presentation

Cooperative groups appear as cooperatives have to adapt to a more open and competitive environment. If the historical roots of cooperatives plunge into the nineteenth century, cooperative groups emerged from the success of local cooperatives in the second half of the twentieth century and more specifically during the past 30 years. Cooperative groups are present in many economic sectors. What are their common points? - A specific way of thinking and an evolution of the cooperative form. These changes can be explained by different ambitions: gathering small structures to realize economies of scale, improving the operational efficiency in a competitive national and international economy, a logical and historical integration built all over the years…

These evolutions mostly take into account the will to keep the cooperative model as the basis of corporate governance in association with economic efficiency and growth, within the cooperative balance process. The concept of cooperative group refers to several crucial questions.

Cooperative Groups are made up of different legal entities, owned by their own members, but related to each other by law or by contracts alone, without any capitalistic relation in some cases between the head of the Group and the different legal entities. The legal dimension is therefore fundamental in the very definition of the Group. Economically, all the legal entities of the Group share a common goal and build reciprocity links and financial solidarity with one another.

Finally, a group is also, and maybe above all, the result of a simple and strong shared will: the wish of some people to work or undertake some activities together, within co-operative structures which are legally separated but economically linked.

A financial approach of hybrid financial groups

MICHEL ROUX, UNIVERSITY OF PARIS NORD (FRANCE)
Michel Roux is Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Management Director of industrial and commercial activity Department at the University Paris 13.

As a banking and insurance sector specialist, he is also the director of the Banking/Finance Professional University Institute. He belongs to the Economics Centre of Paris Nord (CNRS unit No. 7115). He worked on the financing innovation issue, corporate governance for financial entities and corporate responsibility. He had a contribution on Relations Entreprises/Banques (F.Lefebvre) and is personally the authors of: Finance éthique, structures, acteurs et perspectives (novembre 2005, Revue Banque, which received the Prix Turgot honorific distinction the same year).

A report on the mutual entities statues issue asked by the french governemental delegation for innovation and social economy (Délégation Interministérielle, à l'Innovation, à l'Expérimentation Sociale et à l'Economie Sociale -DIIESES). He is both co-founder and co-director of an international French-Canadian reflexion group on financial ethics issues (Groupe Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Ethique Financière et Fiduciaire -GIREF : www.giref.uqam.ca).

The presentation will be done in three parts. Firstly, a bit of history to set up with the context, particularly, concerning the hybrid groups issue. Secondly, one will examine the debate that hangs over the co-operative world since a long time: principles vs. ambitions, which realities? Last but not least, the presentation will be concluded with a reflexion on challenges that facing hybrid groups, mainly in a crisis situation. If the co-operatives banks specificities would be able to provide an alternative model to capitalism, which moved away from entrepreneurship?

A legal approach of cooperative groups

LAURENT GROS, UNIVERSITE LILLE 2, is teaching and research committed (in French: ATER) at the Juridical and Political Sciences Department, University Lille 2 and member of the René Demogue centre. PhD student in private law, his thesis (edited by Professor David -University of Luxembourg) focuses on co-operative groups. He gives also one course at the Institute for Political studies from Lille on the social economy actors and he is committed to property law and contract law.

The co-operative groups are not just a variety of corporate group, but they constitute a right category, whose limitations and structure could move depending on various situations. Thus, one proposes to clarify the legal content of this concept through the study of French law, while making comparisons with other European law systems

Round table: some examples of cooperatives groups in europe

CHANTAL CHOMEL, DIVISION CHIEF, LAW AND TAX, COOP DE FRANCE, is the Law and taxing division chief from Coop de France since 1994.

She participates also both to the legal group of Coop Europe and GNC (French national grouping for co-operatives) and is the vice-chairman of the legal and taxing group of COGECA (General Committee for Agricultural Cooperation in the European Union). Coop de France is the professional organization of agricultural cooperatives in France. It represents the 3200 cooperatives and co-operatives unions and the 12,700 CUMA (Cooperatives for using of agricultural equipment). The Taxing and Legal Affairs department is a 10 people team, which has several roles: to support and to give legal and taxing advices to agricultural cooperatives and agricultural cooperative groups including in their restructuring operations, to organize the lawyers network with the creation and provision of tools: guidelines, circulars, jurisprudence… including a database on the Internet: www.juricoop.coop, to represent the agricultural cooperative world interests to the national government and the EU, the Department is also responsible for boosting reflections on cooperative governance.

Since twenty years many cooperative groups are formed and are even favoured way for the restructuring of agricultural cooperatives. Chantal Chomel's speech will define the various types of cooperative groups and which issues they are resolving. It will also aim to understand the new challenges posed by these creations, and practices implemented by the cooperatives.

The european prospects of cooperative groups

APOSTOLOS IOAKIMIDIS, GENERAL DEPARTMENT OF ENTERPRISES AND INDUSTRY, EUROPEAN COMMISSION is Principal Administrator in the European Commission, Directorate General "Industry and Enterprises" Unit "Crafts, small businesses, cooperatives and mutuals" Brussels Member of the Athens Bar Association

THE EUROPEAN PROSPECTS OF COOPERATIVE GROUPS. There is no unique definition of what is a group at the level of EU. Various pieces of legislation (in areas like accounting, SMEs, workers' participation, taxation, competition) describe what a 'group of undertakings' is. The Regulation for a European Cooperative Society allows cooperatives to create groups of all kinds, e.g. those which imply dominance and control as well as arrangements for common business plans or attribution of internal tasks.