On 20 May 2021, there will be an extra Members' Council meeting to address the concerns of the petitioners. This was decided by the Members' Council on 22 April. All members of Royal FloraHolland can have their say then. So what will be discussed? The Members' Council is happy to tell you more.
1. How does that work, a members' petition?
Since the establishment of the Members' Council in 2019, there has been the so-called emergency brake procedure. Members who are not members of the Members' Council can use this to call an extra Member Council meeting to discuss a specific topic. All members are invited to attend and have the right to speak.
A few conditions must be met in order to make a request. At least 250 members with a total of at least 5% of the voting value are required. On 19 February 2021, Florinee submitted a request to the Members' Council. This met the minimum requirements. Over 400 members have signed.
2. What are the petitioners actually asking for?
They are asking for an extra Members' Council meeting to discuss an external audit of RFH's operations. The emergency brake petition actually includes 3 requests, which we summarize below.
1. A request to the Members' Council to conduct an external audit of the operations of RFH, and specifically of Floriday, the compulsory certification, and whether the management complies with and acts in accordance with the cooperative's articles of association on a daily basis.
2. A request to the Members' Council to command the management to withdraw four decisions and to work towards decision-making and support among all stakeholders.
This involves the following decisions:
- Decision to introduce Floriday and discontinue Connect EAB
- Decision on the time schedule for the introduction of Floriday
- Decision to introduce compulsory certification
- Decision on Floriway
3. And finally a request to let the Members' Council exercise its advisory tasks and to request the Management Board to revoke the same 4 decisions and to work on decision-making and support.
3. What is the Members' Council's opinion?
After Royal FloraHolland spoke to a large number of members, we decided that there should be an additional meeting of the Members' Council as requested. The third request of the petition was partially adopted by the Members' Council with 96.88% of the votes. This gives us maximum room for discussion with all members and we think this does justice to the objections of the petitioners.
As Members' Council, we have also indicated that we support the strategy of Royal FloraHolland. We also think that the implementation of the strategy could and should have been better in parts.
The first two requests of the petition were therefore rejected by the Members' Council. Moreover, these requests do not fall within our mandate.
4. What will we be discussing on 20 May?
The discussion on 20 May will mainly focus on the advisory role of the Members' Council and the implementation of the strategy. All members of Royal FloraHolland can have their say. The petition was explained to the Members' Council by the initiators in a consultation meeting. It is now time for the Members' Council to make its own assessment of the situation. In addition, during the petition discussions with the members, a great deal of information was collected about the Members' Council's own role and functioning. We, therefore, want to talk to the members about possible solutions to the objections and find a way forward.
5. What happens next?
In a formal Members' Council meeting to be held shortly after 20 May, we as Members' Council will assess everything that has been submitted and draw our conclusions. As Members' Council, we have indicated that we support Royal FloraHolland's strategy.
However, we are of the opinion that the implementation of the strategy could and should have been better in parts. We also think that we as a Members' Council are in our power, but that there is room for improvement in the contacts with members and the execution of the advisory tasks.
For more information:
Royal FloraHolland
www.royalfloraholland.com