Dear co-operators, The Coops Europe General Assembly 2017 has come to a close. We hope that your discussions were fruitful and productive. We thank the co-operators who put their name forward to serve on the Coops Europe Board and congratulate the elected members. During the past days, we have been in contact with you, asking you to help us seek justice within the Maltese co-operative movement. The Malta Co-operative Federation was unjustly sidelined, starved of funds and repeatedly discriminated against by Koperattivi Malta officials. From the bottom of our hearts, we would like to thank all of you who decided [...]

Dear co-operators, Today, the Coops Europe General Assembly kicked off. We would have loved to be there and actively participate. Well, we were not. Just because senior officials at Koperattivi Malta, your hosts, made sure that the Malta Co-operative Federation, set up in 2012 to provide a much-needed impetus into a moribund Maltese Co-operative movement, was denied all funding for four full years. This meant working solely with volunteers and without the possibility of becoming members in ICA, Coops Europe and CECOP; hence our absence. We have been in contact with you for the past couple of days. We would [...]

Dear Coops Europe & CECOP members, if you have arrived in Malta, welcome.  The Malta Co-operative Federation would have loved to welcome you in person.  But, you see, officials from your host organisation, Koperattivi Malta had other plans.  For four full years they have made sure that no funding ever reached the Malta Co-operative Federation; making it impossible for us to fund our ICA/Coops Europe and CECOP memberships. For four full years, Koperattivi Malta availed itself of generous funding from the Central Co-operative Fund.  It paid its administrative staff, paid its international memberships, paid for delegations abroad, while it enjoyed the exclusive use [...]

Open letter to Coops Europe & CECOP members meeting in Malta. Ethics, openness and equal treatment are values held dear by all co-operators. Let’s introduce ourselves: We are the Malta Co-operative Federation. You might wish to know that in Malta, there are two Co-operative Federations. The other is Koperattivi Malta, who, we have learnt, will be hosting you in Malta. You might be saying: “how come tiny Malta has two Co-operative Federations?” Well, the answer lies in the state of the Co-operative movement in Malta. The first agricultural co-operatives were set up in 1947. That’s exactly seventy years ago. With [...]