ILO Urges Co-ops in EU Global Gateway Investments
The ILO's EU office called for co-operatives to be built into the bloc's Global Gateway strategy to help investments generate decent work.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Employment
Carlien van Empel, head of the ILO Office for the EU and the Benelux countries, called for deeper integration of co-operatives into the EU's Global Gateway strategy. The call was made at a Cooperatives Europe panel titled 'From aid to ownership: rethinking development through a cooperative lens.'
Why it matters
Van Empel argued that co-operatives can help ensure large investments produce decent work and benefits that stay locally anchored over time. She invited the European Commission and development partners to explore more systematically how co-operatives and the wider social and solidarity economy can contribute to Global Gateway investments.
The ILO Recommendation on the Promotion of Cooperatives, adopted in 2002, has informed co-operative policy and legislation in 120 countries. In Tunisia, the EU-funded Jeun'ess project supported over 170 SSE entities contributing to more than 3,600 decent jobs, though the extraction does not state whether the project's results extend beyond that reporting period.
The players
Carlien van Empel
Head of the ILO Office for the EU and the Benelux countries, who called for co-operatives to be integrated into the EU's Global Gateway strategy.
International Labour Organization (ILO)
The United Nations agency that sets international labour standards and promotes decent work, including its 2002 recommendation supporting co-operatives.
Cooperatives Europe
The European regional organisation for co-operatives, which organised the panel discussion in partnership with the International Cooperative Alliance.
The details
Van Empel said countries need appropriate policies, capable institutions, social dialogue, and safeguards to protect co-operative autonomy. The ILO also works to ensure large investments deliver quality jobs through joint methodologies such as employment impact assessments.
Timeline
• 2002: ILO Recommendation on the Promotion of Cooperatives adopted.
• 2022: ILO constituents adopted a Resolution on decent work and the social and solidarity economy.
• November 2, 2026: Panel discussion on co-operatives in EU external action held.
Roadmap
The 2002 ILO Recommendation on the Promotion of Cooperatives has guided co-operative policy in 120 countries, and the new call extends that framework into the EU's external investment agenda. It signals a shift from treating co-operatives as aid recipients toward treating them as owners of development outcomes.
For workers in co-operatives and informal sectors, policies that formalise domestic work and caregiving could bring more stable employment protections. Readers interested in development funding can watch whether Global Gateway projects begin to include co-operative structures in their design.
The takeaway
Investment models that build worker and community ownership may produce more durable employment gains than those relying on external aid alone. Tracking how the EU responds to this call will show whether co-operatives move from the margins of development policy toward its center.
Further reading
Explore more on Employment and how co-operative models shape job creation worldwide.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Co-operative News.
