Euro Coop General Assembly 2025 in Manchester the UK Co-op Congress

From 2 to 5 July, Euro Coop was present at a series of high-level cooperative gatherings in the United Kingdom, reaffirming the organisation’s commitment to international exchange and cross-border collaboration. Delegates gathered in Manchester for the Euro Coop General Assembly and took part in the Festival of Co-operatives - a rich programme of events alongside fellow cooperators from across Europe and the world, within the framework of the General Assembly of the International Co-operative Alliance and the UK Co-op Congress.

On 2 July, Euro Coop delegates joined the global cooperative community for a special dinner organised by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), hosted by Co-operatives UK and The Co-operative Group, UK at the latter's headquarters in Manchester. The event, held in conjunction with the ICA General Assembly, offered a unique opportunity for Euro Coop representatives to connect with co-operative peers from across the world in a spirit of unity and exchange.

The following day, 3 July, Euro Coop held its General Assembly, where delegates came together to assess the organisation’s progress and shape its strategic direction. The 2024 Annual Report was formally presented and approved. Members approved the President and Secretary-General reports and adopted the Financial report for 2024, along with the calendar of upcoming events. Discussions centred on the future of Euro Coop, initial results from the internal advisory groups, and strategies to support the acquisition of new members, to further strengthen the voice of consumer cooperatives in Europe.

After the General Assembly, delegates had the opportunity to participate in the series of activities organised by the ICA and Co-operatives UK, continuing the momentum of collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

On 4–5 July, attention turned to Rochdale, the historic birthplace of the cooperative movement, for the Co-operatives UK Congress. Euro Coop took centre stage at the event, with Vice-President Debbie Robinson and Secretary-General Todor Ivanov speaking on a high-level panel, together with ICA Director-General Jeroen Douglas.

Todor Ivanov presented the European consumer co-operative movement and its contributions to the retail sector, highlighting three major challenges faced by co-operatives across Europe:

Overregulation
Inadequate legislation and
Rising competition in the retail landscape

He advocated for stronger collaboration between co-operatives, underlining the value of increased coop-to-coop cooperation, highlighting successful examples such as the Malawi Project developed by Central Coop and the potential of further such projects through the Fund for International Co-operative Development (FICD). In addition, Todor Ivanov underlined the importance of co-op private labels as a strategic asset, offering a way forward in a rapidly evolving policy and market environment, as it is an instrument to offer products at their 'true price' based on their economic, environmental and social costs. There is immense potential in collaboration between national members within Euro Coop.

This week of meetings and exchanges provided a valuable opportunity for Euro Coop delegates to meet fellow representatives of the global co-operative realm. Being in Rochdale — where the co-operative movement was born in 1844 — deepened the shared sense of identity and strengthened the bonds of community that unite co-operatives across borders.