1957
The Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community signed on 25th March 1957 already contained the most important framework provisions of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).The relationship between the Community authorities and the representatives of the agricultural sector was left open by the Treaty, but the Commission expressed its desire for close cooperation at an early stage and invited representatives of agricultural organisations to attend the 1958 Stresa Conference as observers.
Our objectives
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to represent the general and specific interests of European agricultural, forestry, fishery and agri-food co-operatives and to contribute to the overall development of cooperatives | to influence decisions that affect agricultural cooperatives’ activities by lobbying the EU’s public institutions and other organisations at EU and international level | to provide a platform for member organisations and cooperatives to hold political discussions and exchange views on policy issues and on the added value of agricultural produce and businesses | to facilitate and strengthen ties between its members and its members’ offices in Brussels as well as to provide cooperative networking services | to promote discussions and exchange of views with Copa in particular as well as with other representative organisations at EU and international level | to undertake legal, economic, financial and social studies, or similar research, of interest to agricultural, forestry, fishery and agri-food cooperatives |
Unity is strength
When Copa (the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations) first started out, it had 13 member organisations from the then six Member States. Today, Copa is made up of 60 organisations from countries within the European Union and 36 partner organisations from other European countries, including Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey as well. This broad membership allows Copa to represent both the general and specific interests of farmers in the European Union. Since its inception, Copa has been recognised by the Community authorities as the organisation that speaks on behalf of the European agricultural sector.VIEW ALL MEMBER LISTOrganisation Structure
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