About us

Vision & mission

Through REScoop.eu, energy communities wish to make their voices heard in the European energy debate. After all, their members - people just like you and me - are the ones who will be paying for the transition to a more sustainable energy system. REScoop.eu empowers citizens and energy communities and wants to achieve energy democracy.

Our federation has four well-defined objectives:

We represent the voice of citizens and energy communities to European policy makers

We support starting and established energy communities and provide them with tools and contacts to help them grow and prosper

We facilitate international exchanges and cooperation between energy communities

We promote the cooperative business model in the energy sector

Governance

REScoop.eu was legally set up in 2013 as a Belgian not-for-profit association. We operate just like a cooperative.

Our team consists of 20 staff members who are all based in Belgium. People working for REScoop.eu have different nationalities and backgrounds. The coordinators take charge of the daily operations of the association and report to the Board of Directors.

Our Board of Directors is elected by the General Assembly for 4-year terms. Members are eligible for re-election. The Board takes important decisions related to policy, strategy and organisational planning. Board members control the budgets and supervise the coordinators. Their decisions are taken by absolute majority.

The General Assembly includes all of our members, both full members and supporters. Full members have voting rights and are either individual energy cooperatives or national/regional federations. Supporters do not have voting rights and are related organisations, companies or local authorities. The General Assembly respects the democratic voting principle of “one member, one vote”, and decisions are always taken by absolute majority.

Statutes

The legal statutes were approved by the General Assembly on 26 August, 2013 and published in the official Belgian State Journal on 24 December, 2013. The statutes were updated and approved by the General Assembly on 22 May, 2025.

Cooperatives Europe

REScoop.eu is a sector federation of Cooperatives Europe, the European branch of the International Cooperative Alliance. Cooperatives Europe represents the voice of 160,000 cooperative enterprises in Europe and their 123 million members. REScoop.eu holds a seat in the board of Cooperatives Europe.

European co-operative enterprises

REScoop.eu is one of the cofounders of REScoop MECISE and The Mobility Factory, European cooperatives through which we provide services on financing and e-car sharing. REscoop.eu holds a seat in the board of both organisations.

Community Power Coalition

REScoop.eu further teams up with other EU-wide organisations through the Community Power Coalition. This coalition features organisations like Friends of the Earth Europe, Energy Cities, ICLEI, Greenpeace Europe, etc. and gathers on a monthly basis to discuss policy and plan advocacy actions.

Charter

The present charter defines the shared ethical values and vision for the future of our consortium of energy communities, federations of energy communities and other partners. It is meant as a set of guiding principles but does not exclude each member to establish their own principles based on local values.

The REScoop.eu charter

Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors guides the federation's overall management and strategic direction. The board for the 2025-2029 term consists of eight REScoop.eu members: