Speaking at a meeting of European Cooperative leaders held in Brussels earlier today, prof. Gert van Dijk, President of Cogeca, expressed confidence in cooperatives’ economic development prospects over the years to come.

Concluding the debate between cooperative leaders and prominent academic experts, he said that “despite the current difficulties in sectors such as dairy, beef, pigmeat and olive oil, European agri-cooperatives have confidence in their ability to help their members surmount
these hard times. Farmers and agri-cooperatives continuously invest and innovate in order to secure a fair position in the food chain. This is even more necessary in the light of evolving global markets for food and agricultural products.”

European food products are of the highest quality and are produced in a way that meets consumers’ expectations of the common market. They fulfil the most stringent production standards for food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection as well as other consumer demands.
Supporting European cooperatives in developing a more balanced food chain, Cogeca encourages EU policy makers to pay more attention to the specific role of the cooperative business model for the future of EU food supplies and cooperatives’ role of maintaining a versatile countryside.
Coops should therefore be helped to support and care for their farmer members, thus maintaining economically vibrant, populated rural areas in the EU.

http://www.copa-cogeca.eu/Download.ashx?ID=517326&fmt=pdf

For further information, please contact:
Prodromos Kalaitzis
Policy Advisor
Tel.: +32 2 287 27 81
prodromos.kalaitzis@copa-cogeca.eu

Simon Michel-Berger
Press Officer
Mobile: + 32 474 840 836
simon.michel-berger@copa-cogeca.eu