1. Co-operative banks remain strongly committed to the European project and its values, including democracy, solidarity and diversity.
2. Co-operative banks support initiatives aimed at making Europe a stronger economy and a more powerful democracy for the benefit of all its citizens and businesses.
3. Co-operative banks call for powerful actions from policy makers to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth and to reduce unemployment in Europe.
4. Co-operative banks call Europe to take the lead to address climate change and to accelerate innovation for sustainable growth.
5. Co-operative banks recommend that the subsidiarity and accountability of the EU Institutions, EU regulatory agencies and the involvement of local and national authorities are enhanced hand in hand with greater transparency in the decision process.

The co-operative banks’ form of enterprise is enshrined in the European Treaties and is reflected in the Statute for a European Co-operative Society. Our principles are:

• Members-ownership: with one-person-one-vote, representatives of members and customers govern co-operative banks taking decisions with a bottom up approach.
• Proximity: rooted in the European regions, co-operative banks have dense branch networks and actively support their local communities.
• Prudence: most of co-operative banks resources come from deposits, they mainly provide retail banking products, proximity allows them to assess risks accurately.

About the EACB:
The European Association of Co-operative Banks (EACB) defends the interests of the 4,056 co-operative banks with approx. 59,000 branch offices in Europe. Co-operative banks in Europe have 210 million customers, of whom 79 million are members. 31 organisations, associations and companies are affiliated to the EACB. The German members are the BVR and DZ BANK.