BRUSSELS, Belgium - A report adopted by the European Parliament promoting the value of volunteerism and designating 2011 as the European Year of Volunteering contained what is thought to be the first formal definition of credit unions to be included in a European Union document, according to WOCCU, which lobbied for the language.
Authored by Marian Harkin, the European Parliament Rapporteur and an Irish member of the European Democrats Party, the report includes a reference to the role credit unions play with regards to volunteerism and reads as follows:
“...(W)hereas volunteers play an important role in achieving the Lisbon Strategy goal of socio-economic cohesion by contributing to financial inclusion, for example, by establishing credit unions which are regulated and not for profit financial cooperatives, run and governed by volunteers.”
The reference, supported by WOCCU in collaboration with consulting firm Policy Action Ltd., is the first formal reference in an official European Union document that defines credit union ownership and governance.
The reference makes possible use of this report to influence other EU decision-makers, according to Dave Grace, WOCCU’s vice president of association services. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
