These illustrative examples do not mean that co-operative action in this area has been beyond reproach. But it is nevertheless clear that Western European co-operatives have made a sincere and major commitment to environmental issues, without suffering any competitive disadvantage. The situation in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and in the Commonwealth of Independent States, requires an additional examination. They find themselves today the inheritors of a disastrous ecological situation, resulting from the centralised-planning concept of 'the bigger the better'. Their challenge is therefore enormous, technically as well as financially.
International assistance is therefore essential.
Other European countries, particularly in the Nordic area, have already committed themselves to extensive support. The forthcoming Conference of Ministers of the Environment, to be held in Sofia in October 1995, should lead to the mobilisation of the resources necessary for a global and coordinated plan of action, giving priority to the development of 'clean' technologies and facilitating the modification of existing models of production, including the use of water and energy. Positive examples of this kind of collaboration already exist. With respect to the social aspects of development, European co-operatives find themselves operating within national economies where growth alone cannot eliminate the problems of unemployment and social exclusion that today affect a growing proportion of the population. The average unemployment rate in the countries of the European Union has risen from four percent in 1971 to more than 10 percent in 1993.