Cooperatives Europe response to EU survey on impact-driven businesses

On 11 February, Cooperatives Europe responded to a survey on impact-driven businesses in the EU conducted by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW).

The purpose of this study is to better understand how these businesses operate across the EU, the barriers and enablers they face, and how existing legal and policy frameworks support or constrain them.

Cooperatives Europe highlighted the specificities of the cooperative business model, particularly its governance, as well as some of the barriers it faces, including limited access to finance and uneven recognition across Member States. We also emphasized the work done through previous initiatives like the Social Economy Action Plan (SEAP) and called for not reinventing the wheel or multiplying the terminologies, labels and statuses, to avoid unnecessary confusion.

View our response to this survey