What is Goals Membership Some of the Strategical Goals of the Portuguese Consumption Co-operatives Brief history Associate a Fenacoop

What is:
FENACOOP is a first degree Co-operative (Co-operatives Federation) which was established by public deed drawn up on the 24 October 1978 as an association without profitable aims, running its activity according to the Co-operative Principles which are part and parcel of the statement on co-operative identity adopted by ICA – International Co-operative Alliance.

Goals:
FENACOOP has a national scope and its goals are as follows:

• Political and social representation of the Consumption Co-operatives and the Consumers, speaking for them next to several bodies, both at the national and the international levels.

• Co-ordination, namely of the politics to be implemented in a perspective of modernization and development of the Consumers Co-operative both at the economical and social levels.

• Rendering of services, focusing its operation on technical assistance in the juridical and economical areas and on implementation of training actions, consumer’s information and defence and environmental protection.

Membership:
FENACOOP, as an organization representing the Consumer's Co-operatives and the Consumers, is member of several national and international institutions, namely:

At the national level

• It is member of CONFECOOP - Portuguese Co-operative Confederation.
• It represents the Co-operatives and Consumers in several bodies, namely:
• Economical and Social Council;
• National Consumption Council;
• Opinion Council of RTP - Radiotelevisão Portuguesa (The public TV channel);
• Trading Sectorial Council;
• Consultative Council of the Electrical Sector Supervising Body (ERSE);
• Opinion Council of RDP - Radiodifusão Portuguesa (radio broadcasting station);
• Enterprises-Public Administration Committee;
• Citizens-Public Administration Forum;
• Committee for the Employment Social Market;
• It has a share in the capital stock of EURESAP - Insurance Company owned by the Portuguese Social Economy Sector, which is composed by organizations with no profitable aims, acting in accordance with criteria of solidarity and clearness

At the International level

• It Is member of the following organizations:
• ICA - International Co-operative Alliance
• CCI - Consumers Co-op International
• EuroCoop – European Community of Consumer Co-operatives
• OCPLP – Co-operative Organization of the Portuguese-speaking Peoples
• It Represents Portuguese Consumers Organizations in the Consumers Consultative Committee of the European Commission
• It represents Euro Coop in several Consultative Committees and Working Groups of the European Commission

FENACOOP national and international activity makes possible to assure a network of contacts and interchanges of experiences which is fundamental to the development and protection of the Co-operatives and Consumers interests, intervening in decision-taking processes, divulging the Co-operative reality and ideals.

Some of the Strategical Goals of the Portuguese Consumption Co-operatives:
Portuguese co-operatives, in the last years, made a great effort to modernize and develop, which is based on the Co-operative Values and Principles, namely Interco-operation and assuming a discreet, differentiated attitude, but integrated in the community.

Developing its operation in trade and distribution, facing a stiff competition, with a globalized economy and information technologies more and more sophisticated, Portuguese consumption co-operatives need to carry out faster their modernization and development process.

So, the following main strategic goals were set:

ECONOMICAL DIMENSION

To pursue the integration processes, co-ordinated both politically and economically by FENACOOP and COOPLISBOA and to broaden the sphere of influence of Consumption Co-operatives;
To strengthen and to develop COOPLISBOA, moving to this one the management of the wholesale activity and logistics, so that it will take on the co-ordination of the Consumption Co-operatives economical activities;

MODERNIZATION

To pursue the image making uniform politics, namely in what concerns shops identification, uniforms, marketing and advertising.
To keep on the renewing of the consumption co-operative shops in a planned way, identifying them as COOP shops and to improve the intervention in the market through quality, training and information to the consumers.

INTERCO-OPERATION

To deepen the relationships with the other branches of the co-operative sector, dynamizing economical and institutional relationships;
To develop relationships with co-operative organizations throughout the world, especially those from Europe and Portuguese-speaking Countries, in a commercial and institutional perspective;

MEMBERSHIP DYNAMIZATION

To assume, in the very letter of the standing-rules and in the practice of their leaders and staffs, a dynamic action contributing to the participation of their members, raising a critical mind which best preconizes the way of living in a society we wish more fair and solidary.
To become more and more consumers organizations of the Consumption Co-operatives, recognized as such, developing politics for the reinforcement of the membership basis, through the training, information to the consumers, defence of their rights and environmental protection.

COLLABORATION WITH SCHOOLS

To develop a close collaboration with the whole schooling system having in view the study of the co-operative reality and its recognition for the youngest strata.
To deepen and broad the relationships with Universities and Polytechnic Institutes, establishing relationships which may contribute to the technical enhancement of the human resources and encourage co-operative research.

INTEGRATION INTO THE COMMUNITY

To develop projects of integration into the community through an active social politic which maximize the synergies of each local or neighbourhood in collaboration with the active forces and local authorities.

Brief history
In Portugal, the consumption co-operative movement goes back to the third quarter of the nineteenth century.

The first co-operatives came to light in the popular neighbourhoods of Lisbon and Oporto as "class associations".

In 1871 was established the "Sociedade Cooperativa e Caixa Económica do Porto", the first co-operative which was predominantly designed to carry out consumption activity , although its standing-rules comprised other purposes.

In 1876 the first consumption co-operative, "Caixa Económica Operária", was established by factory workers from the tobacco industry, in Alfama neighbour.

Since the establishment of the first co-operative till the end of the century 11 co-operatives were established, followed by another 3 till the implantation of the Portuguese Republic in 1910.

During the first Republic, we can verify the existence of some dynamics in the consumption co-operative sector, followed by a stagnation originated by the dictatorship instauration. From 1927 to 1946, were established only 13 co-operatives.

Between 1947 and 1973 the co-operative movement gained a renewed dynamics, fact which was brought about not only by social movements arising from the defeat of nazi ideology, but also by the post-war economical development.

But it was from 1951, with the launching of the Co-operative Magazine, under the inspiration of António Sérgio and owing the great push by this Portuguese thinker, that Co-operative Movement renewed. Existing Consumption Co-operatives established, in 1955, the first Co-operative Union, "UNICOOPE", which played an important role in the dynamization of this branch and meant the first attempt of economical integration. Nevertheless, this project went bankrupt after the April of 1974 Revolution, due the crisis it was already going through.

After the 25th of April 1974, the number of co-operatives increased significantly. From 1974 to 1980 only were established 330 new consumption co-operatives.

From the beginning of the 80’s the rhythm of establishments of co-operatives slowed down and in the 90’s the number of those ones started to decrease as a consequence of the closing of many of them and the politics of mergers then adopted.

The deep changes which occurred in trade and distribution in Portugal from the 80’s, drove FENACOOP into an attempt to define a strategy which could lead to integration and modernization. COOPLISBOA arose from that movement and in 1986 was adopted the Development Plan which placed the acting basis which led to the starting of mergers and modernization processes of the Portuguese Consumption Co-operatives.



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