16 Amendments of Ivo BELET related to 2012/2321(INI)
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
– having regard to the Treaty on European Union (TEU), in particular Article 3(3),
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes that, in the EU, there are about 160 000 cooperative enterprises owned by 123 million members and providing jobs for 5.4 million people – including around 50 000 cooperative enterprises in industry and services providing jobs for 1.4 million persons – and that cooperatives contribute around 5% on average to Member State GDP; notes that, over the last few years, several hundred industrial and service cooperative enterprises have been established as the result of the restructuring of businesses in crisis or without successors, thereby saving and re- developing local economic activities and jobs; notes that industrial and service cooperative groups have had a key impact on regional development in some of the most industrialised regions of the EU; notes that some industrial and service cooperatives specialised in labour integration provide jobs to over 30 000 disabled and disadvantaged persons; notes that cooperatives therefore play a very important role in the EU in economic, social and employment termsmake funds available to serve the purposes of the sustainable economic and social development of regional and local communities and thus put into practice the principles of the social market economy in virtually the entire EU;
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Points out that many cooperatives have proved themselves to be even more resilient in times of crisis than many conventional enterprises and notes that there is considerable evidence of this resilience, particularly in relation to cooperative banks and industrial and service cooperatives (worker cooperatives, social cooperatives and cooperatives formed by SMEs);
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Expresses the view that this greater resilience is in large part due to the cooperative model of governance, which is based on joint ownership and democratic control by their member-stakeholders, and that it is also due to their characteristic method of capital accumulation, which is less dependent on the development of financial markets; considers that this model helps to ensure that cooperatives can take a long-term approach and anchors them in the local economy, giving them a stake in local sustainable development and ensuring that they do not delocalise, even when theyeven when they delocalise part of their operations under the pressure of internationalise competition;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes also that, by cooperatives have a long tradition of cooperation among themselng, cooperatives cand that this allows them to take advantage of economies of scale and to share experience and best practice, as well as to transfer human and financial resources, where necessary; contends that this inherent flexibility allows cooperatives to sustain themselves even in the most trying times;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Observes that the cooperative society, modelled on the British trust, can also be an efficient model for good governance of professional or semiprofessional sports organisations, which at the same time facilitates close involvement of the principal stakeholders – the supporters – in the management of a club (whether professional or not);
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Stresses that employees incur a substantial financial risk when setting up a cooperative or when ownership of a business is transferred to its employees; observes that good governance, particularly in a workers’ cooperative, is heavily dependent on support for and supervision of the employees’ business management;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to bolster its services responsible for cooperatives by creating a Directorateunit focused on cooperatives and other social-economy, including in the financial sector, and other allied or alternative organisational forms (such as mutuals) within DG Enterprise, with a unit working solely on the restructuring of industrial and service enterprises in crisis or without a successor into cooperatives;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Urges the Member States, in keeping with ILO Recommendation 193/2002, to review their legislation applying to cooperatives, with a view to adopting a comprehensive policy to support the cooperative business model and creating a regulatory environment favourable towhich facilitates the recognition and development of cooperatives in all fields and sector; calls on Member States, acting in cooperation with the social partners and other stakeholders at regional and local level, to identify strategic sectors suitable for cooperative projects, particularly in regions where the conventional economy cannot sufficiently meet the specific economic and social needs; stresses that this should include the introduction of appropriate financial instruments and the recognition of cooperatives’ role in the national social dialogue; calls on the Commission to support the Member States in this;
Amendment 67 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers that the transfer of a business to the employees through the creation of a cooperative is often the bestmay be an economically viable way of ensuring the continuity of an enterprise; stresses that this kind ofwell-considered transfers should be supported by a specific EU budget line that also includes financial instruments; calls urgently for the creation, with the participation of the EIB, the social partners and stakeholders from the cooperative movement, of a European mechanism designed to promofacilitate the development of cooperatives and, in particular, business transfers under the cooperative form;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that, very often, the problem encountered in business transfers to employees is not only a question of length of the relevant procedures but also, and even more importantly, of lack of knowledge about this business scenario amongst relevant professionals (e.g. lawyers and accountants) and within the legal and education system; stresses that training and awareness-raising would greatly contribute to promoting this practice; recommends, therefore, that the cooperative form of enterprise be assigned a permanent place in the relevant curricula of universities and management schools; believes, furthermore, that better knowledge about cooperatives should also be promoted amongst trade unionhe social partners and bodies tasked with providing information on the creation or transfer of businesses;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Urges the Member States to develop a framework to encouragfacilitate business transfers to employees, including financial mechanisms designed to help employees invest in enterprises in crisis or without a successor, as well as preferential rights for employees, in order to create the best conditions for a takeover bid for an enterprise facing closure;
Amendment 80 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Believes also that the Member States should adopt policies encouragingto facilitate action by employees to take part in the capital and results of their enterprises, through concrete fiscal mechanisms in other forms of industrial and service enterprises as well, and with the necessary legal protection and corresponding ratio of participation in the governance, oversight, decision-making and responsibility of the enterprise;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Stresses that the conversion of enterprises in crisis into economically sustainable cooperatives requires a precise and early diagnosis; calls on the authorities at all levels to cooperate with the social partners and the cooperative systemmovement in making such early diagnoses and assessing the feasibility and worthwhileness of transforming the enterprises into cooperatives;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Recalls that it is not easy for cooperative enterpriseSMEs, like conventional SMEs in industry and services, and particularly SMEs, to gain access to venture capital and credit on the capital markets; notes also that workers’ cooperatives are not normally able to obtain large quantities of capital from their memberin capital-intensive sectors normally find it difficult to obtain sufficient capital from their members to take over a conventional business; observes that financial institutions are often not sufficiently familiar with the way in which workers’ cooperatives function and with their objectives;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Considers that the programmes and funds being established under the Multi- annual Financial Framework (2014-2020) should be important instruments for supporting cooperatives; contends that, when operational programmes are established, there should be a focus on facilitating the establishment of new cooperatives, providing support for sustainable business development and responsible restructuring, including measures such as business transfers to employees, social cooperatives, local development and social innovation, using global grants and other financial instruments;