Economy, Property, Finance and Work
Private Property and Broad Ownership
Property is a source of independence and responsibility. The answer to concentration is wider ownership, not the abolition of property.
Policy catalogueEconomy, Property, Finance and Work
Worker Ownership and Cooperatives
Cooperatives, employee ownership and profit-sharing are legitimate ways of spreading productive property, and taking part in them must remain voluntary.
Position
Restore Europa recognizes worker cooperatives, employee ownership trusts, direct employee shareholding and profit-sharing arrangements as legitimate means of distributing productive property. Employee buyouts and succession transfers may receive appropriately regulated access to finance where an independent assessment establishes that the business is commercially viable.
Participation remains voluntary. No employee should be compelled to buy shares in their employer or to place their savings in the same enterprise that already provides their income, because that concentrates the risk a household carries instead of spreading it.
Policy
5 commitments
- Recognize cooperatives, ownership trusts, employee shareholding and profit-sharing in law.
- Keep participation in worker ownership voluntary in every form it takes.
- Open regulated finance to employee buyouts and succession transfers assessed as viable.
- Require cooperatives to hold legal personality, transparent accounts and democratic internal governance.
- Give cooperatives access to ordinary business and insolvency law.
Limits and unresolved details
- Cooperative or social status exempts no firm from competition, consumer or financial regulation.
- No worker may be required to risk their income and their savings in the same enterprise.
Manifesto basis
- VIIThe Economic OrderNeither unrestricted capitalism nor centralized socialism: many proprietors rather than few.
- VIIICorporatism, Guilds and the Common GoodVocational bodies with real standing in economic life — and independent of the state.
- XVIIIWorkWork possesses dignity, but work is not the purpose of human existence.
Related positions
Economy, Property, Finance and Work
Family Business and Small Enterprise
Smaller and family-owned firms should have fair access to finance, procurement and premises, and a viable business should be able to pass to the next generation.
Economy, Property, Finance and Work
Guilds, Chambers and Corporatist Representation
Professional institutions should carry vocational formation, qualifications and sectoral dialogue, without replacing independent unions or closing an occupation to newcomers.
Economy, Property, Finance and Work
Finance, Lending and Access to Capital
A diversified financial system serving productive activity. Legitimate lending and a reasonable return are accepted; exploitative interest and debt traps are not.