The Chairman of the Conservative Cooperative Society has today urged the UK government to support changes to the EU procurement rules to permit special status for cooperatives, social enterprises and charities.

“The European commission is considering changes to the rules to exempt certain bodies in the social welfare area” said Simon Randall, Chairman of the Conservative Cooperative Society.

He commented: “Our government’s Big Society aspirations in this area could be achieved if they negotiated with the Commission to create a special status for all cooperatives, social enterprises and charities undertaking public sector services. The government is keen to encourage the transfer of public services to such bodies. This will be impossible to achieve without more flexibility within the procurement regime and accordingly the new Right to Challenge in the Localism Bill is seriously threatened”.

“2012 is the United Nations International Year of Cooperatives. The government should urgently seek talks with the European Commission to recognise cooperatives within public sector procurement strategy throughout Europe as their contribution to the cooperative movement”.

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