Features and trends of the agricultural cooperative system in the European Union

Abstract

The development of the cooperative system in the agriculture of the EU countries was achieved by permanent adaptation to the socio-economic conditions specific to the territory in which it was born. As a result, community agricultural cooperatives have many common characteristics but also particularities. The changes in the agricultural and agri-food sectors have led cooperatives to focus on adopting strategies that can keep them competitive: introducing high quality standards, branding own products, emphasizing the process of vertical integration, multiplying processing operations, accepting as members farmers from outside the host countries and even abandoning the legal status of a cooperative.