Agricultural producers may use collective action to achieve common interests related to their agricultural activities. Such cooperation might range from the planning of production to placing products on the market. Producer organisations (POs) often also sell products of their members and perform activities such as e.g. joint purchase of inputs, storage, transport and logistics, quality control but also many other activities. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) actively promotes organisations among agricultural producers and considers collective action an important self-help tool for strengthening the positions of farmers in the food supply chain. Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 (Common Market Organisation - CMO Regulation) expressly recognises the added value of horizontal cooperation at primary production level when it states that "producer organisations and their associations can play useful roles in concentrating supply, in improving the marketing, planning and adjusting of production to demand, optimising production costs and stabilising producer prices, carrying out research, promoting best practices and providing technical assistance, managing by-products and risk management tools available to their members, thereby contributing to strengthening the position of producers in the food supply chain". Therefore, the CMO Regulation establishes rules for the recognition of producer organisations (recognised POs) and associations of producer organisations (recognised APOs). Recognised POs/APOs can obtain certain start-up funding under the rural development rules or financing via operational funds in the fruit and vegetable (FV) sector, and they can profit from certain derogations from EU competition rules. Previous EU-wide studies that have been conducted in this area fall short of providing a general overview of the number, legal forms and type of activities carried out under horizontal cooperation arrangements, which European farmers resort to today. In addition, the functioning of POs/APOs as well as the incentives and disincentives of producers to create POs and the impact that POs have on their members and on the food supply chain has not been described in detail in the majority of EU Member States. Against this background and based on a European Parliament initiative, the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) of the European Commission commissioned an "analysis of the best ways for producer organisations to be formed, carry out their activities and be supported" that started in December 2017 for a duration of 15 months.

Agricultural producers may use collective action to achieve common interests related to their agricultural activities. Such cooperation might range from the planning of production to placing products on the market. Producer organisations (POs) often also sell products of their members and perform activities such as e.g. joint purchase of inputs, storage, transport and logistics, quality control but also many other activities. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) actively promotes organisations among agricultural producers and considers collective action an important self-help tool for strengthening the positions of farmers in the food supply chain. Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 (Common Market Organisation - CMO Regulation) expressly recognises the added value of horizontal cooperation at primary production level when it states that "producer organisations and their associations can play useful roles in concentrating supply, in improving the marketing, planning and adjusting of production to demand, optimising production costs and stabilising producer prices, carrying out research, promoting best practices and providing technical assistance, managing by-products and risk management tools available to their members, thereby contributing to strengthening the position of producers in the food supply chain". Therefore, the CMO Regulation establishes rules for the recognition of producer organisations (recognised POs) and associations of producer organisations (recognised APOs). Recognised POs/APOs can obtain certain start-up funding under the rural development rules or financing via operational funds in the fruit and vegetable (FV) sector, and they can profit from certain derogations from EU competition rules. Previous EU-wide studies that have been conducted in this area fall short of providing a general overview of the number, legal forms and type of activities carried out under horizontal cooperation arrangements, which European farmers resort to today. In addition, the functioning of POs/APOs as well as the incentives and disincentives of producers to create POs and the impact that POs have on their members and on the food supply chain has not been described in detail in the majority of EU Member States. Against this background and based on a European Parliament initiative, the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI) of the European Commission commissioned an "analysis of the best ways for producer organisations to be formed, carry out their activities and be supported" that started in December 2017 for a duration of 15 months.

This book assesses the Statute for a European Cooperative Society (SCE) regarding agricultural activities by comparing how specific questions arising in this context must be dealt with under the Italian and Austrian legal systems. In this regard, Council Regulation (EC) No. 1435/2003, of 22 July 2003, on the Statute for a European Cooperative Society (SCE), is used as a tool for the structured analysis of various aspects of agricultural cooperatives. However, a comparison is only meaningful if the results are made comparable on the basis of a previously defined standard. Accordingly, the study uses, on one hand, a cooperative model developed by European legal scholars that defines general guidelines on how cooperatives should function (PECOL). On the other, the results are presented in connection with economic considerations to discuss how efficient rules can be developed.

International Trade, Labor Relations, and Bargaining Power: International Strawberry Commodity Networks examines power in the commercial food system through the history of always available strawberries. Applying an interdisciplinary approach to case studies on strawberry production and sales in Mexico, Spain, and the United States, the author untangles the symbiotic relationships between the economic boom and labor strife in the sector. By comparing workers’ struggles in the sector, he develops a novel model of workplace bargaining power in which the process of dignity catalyzes change. Since international trade in strawberries began three decades ago, the sector’s growth has paralleled the rise of retailer dominance of food sales. Highlighting inequitable gains from the sales boom, workers have organized mass strikes, boycotts, and pressure campaigns. The divergent results ranged from ephemeral acknowledgments of workers’ concerns to the establishment of union collective bargaining and steadily improving working conditions. Grounded in extensive research, the book provides fresh analytical approaches to understanding the social dimensions of international trade and workplace bargaining power. The book unpacks the relationship between poor working conditions and economic growth by applying a new method, international commodity network analysis, which builds on prior global supply chain approaches. It explains differences in workers’ initiatives to improve employment conditions by identifying the process of dignity in the creation of solidarity.

On 1 May 1 2004, after a 14-year transitional period from central planning to market economics, eight Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) became members of the European Union (EU). Bulgaria and Romania are preparing for accession and are expected to join in 2007. Croatia submitted its application for membership in 2002 and Macedonia in 2004. Part One of this paper presents an overall analysis of the situation and development of producer groups and farmer cooperatives across the CEE countries, including the new EU members, the applicant countries and Balkan states alike. Part Two provides a case study of FAO's experiences and lessons learned with technical assistance programmes and projects in the subregion. The example presents a number of practical suggestions as to how development organisations, governments, donors and advisers might be best able to facilitate the formulation and implementation of policies and strategies that promote the further development of more autonomous and financially sustainable producers' organisations and cooperatives in CEE countries.

This book constitutes the 25th International Conference on Infrastructure and Environment (infraeco 2018) that focuses on rural problems connected with infrastructural equipment. In general, infrastructure issues are dedicated to urban areas while rural topics are linked to agriculture so this conference bridges these two aspects. It also explores ways to manage and separate conflicts between different and important needs of inhabitants, the environment, and other spatial users. The conference provides a forum for much needed cooperation between various scientific disciplines regarding these multidisciplinary problems and issues; hence, Infraeco 2018 draws together engineers, planners, consultants, land developers, and academics from across all disciplines of highway planning, design, operations, and engineering to presents effective practices and share current research results.