Support For Farmers Cooperatives

For fostering the competitiveness of farmers in the food supply chain, the European Commission is committed to promote and facilitate the restructuring and consolidation of the agricultural sector by encouraging the establishment of voluntary agricultural producer organisations. The Directorates General Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) of the European Commission has launched a large study on “Support for Farmers' Cooperatives”, that will provide the background knowledge to help farmers organise in cooperatives. In this context, the specific objectives of the project are: 1. To provide a comprehensive description of the current level of development of cooperatives and other forms of producer organisations in the 27 EU Member States. In particular, the following drivers and constraints for the development of cooperatives and producer groups will be examined: Economic and fiscal incentives; legal aspects, including those related to competition law; historical, cultural and sociologically relevant aspects; as well as the relationship between cooperatives and other actors of the food chain. 2. To identify specific support measures and initiatives which have proved to be effective and efficient for promoting cooperatives and other forms of producer organisations in the agricultural sector. Based on the legal distribution of competences between the EU and the Member States, the project will identify specific actions or measures that would benefit clearly from the EU intervention, as compared with national or regional measures.