Giuseppe Guerini elected President of Cooperatives Europe

Cooperatives Europe is pleased to announce the election of Giuseppe Guerini as its new President for the coming four years. The decision was confirmed today at Cooperatives Europe’s General Assembly in Antalya, Türkiye.

Guerini was nominated by DGRV (Germany), Coop FR (France), and Febecoop (Belgium). He will lead Cooperatives Europe for the next four years, succeeding Petar Stefanov from CCU Bulgaria, who has served as President since 2024.

Guerini brings extensive cooperative experience, having served as President of CECOP–CICOPA Europe, Vice-President of CICOPA, and as a board member of Cooperatives Europe and the International Cooperative Alliance. He is also a long-standing member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), where he has authored over 30 policy opinions, among them many concerning social economy and cooperative entrepreneurship.

In his vision for Cooperatives Europe 2030, Guerini stated:

“We are facing profound transformations in all cooperative sectors. Cooperatives Europe must be present and active in shaping these changes—defending economic democracy, strengthening policy dialogue, and making the cooperative voice heard.”

New board elected 

The General Assembly also elected a new board, made up of a diverse group of cooperative leaders from across Europe:

• Iñigo Albizuri Landazabal, COCETA (Spain)

• Jacques Debry, Febecoop (Belgium)

• Mariam Gabrielyan, Farm Credit Armenia (Armenia)

• Stephen Gill, Co-operatives UK (UK)

• Illia Gorokhovskyi, UKRKOOPSPILKA (Ukraine)

• Mieczysław Grodzki, National Cooperative Council (Poland)

• Andreas Kappes, DGRV (Germany)

• Teodora Kuzmanova, CCU Bulgaria (Bulgaria)

• Catiuscia Marini, Alleanza delle Cooperative Italiane (Italy)

• Thomas Meyer, Coop FR (France)

• Ünal Örnek, ORKOOP (Türkiye)

• Anu Puusa, Pellervo (Finland)

• Vivian Woodell, Co-operative Housing Ireland (Ireland)

Sectoral organisations also nominated the following representatives, confirmed by the General Assembly:

• Mathias Fiedler, Euro Coop

• Leonardo Pofferi, COGECA

• Priscille Szeradzki, European Association of Cooperative Banks (EACB)CECOP and REScoop.eu will designate their representatives following their respective General Assemblies.

With a renewed mandate and a committed board, Cooperatives Europe will continue to defend and promote the cooperative model in policy, partnerships, and practice across the continent.

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About Cooperatives Europe –

Cooperatives Europe is the voice of cooperative enterprises in Europe established in 2006 in Brussels. On behalf of its 77 member organisations from 32 European countries across all business sectors, it promotes the cooperative business model in Europe.

Its members represent 141 million individual member cooperators owning 250.000 cooperative enterprises and providing jobs to 5.4 million European citizens – a force for economic growth and social change.