The nature of a cooperative

A cooperative company is an enterprise owned by an association of natural or legal persons with the objective to satisfy their common needs (accessibility to products or services, selling their products and services, employment, etc.)

This association regroups one or several types of the enterprise’s users:

 Either consumers buying products and services of the enterprise (such as food, housing, health or childcare cooperatives);

 Either producers ( independent or artisan entrepreneurs, like farmers) dealing with the enterprise for the manufacturing and the trading of their products and services or for buying the products and the services necessary for their professional activities;

 Or workers wishing to protect their employment and to control their working environment.

Such an association functions democratically, (one man, one voice) with two organs (the General Assembly of members and the Board composed of members elected in general assembly). A structure of delegates may be necessary to take into consideration the size of the cooperative or the area of its territory. The start-up capital of a cooperative usually comes from the shares acquired by the members. The responsibility of each member is limited to the amount of the share capital that he/she owns.