The Consumer Co-operation from Moldova during its existence for more than 140 years had a great impact on the socio-economic development of the Republic of Moldova, keeping intact its principles and values. Having the mission of satisfying the consuming and social needs, it unfolds its activities of trade, procurement and processing of agricultural products, rendering services, including educational and research ones. The implementation during the last decades of free market relations based on competition was accompanied by a slow adjustment to the mechanisms and the dynamism of market economy and weak motivation of co-operative members and of employees in the consumer cooperation's development. The tendencies which were manifested in the co-operative sector during this period, initially marked by a decline (after 90-ies) and later by an economic increase during the last decade, as well as the impact of world's economic crisis on the development of consumer co-operation confirms that the existent social-economic model of co-operative system from the country falls behind the requirements of modern economy. In such conditions of a great importance becomes the necessity of an innovative economic model based on diversity, innovation, co-operation which would accelerate the social-economic development of consumer co-operation. This paper analyzes the constraint factors in the domain of consumer co-operation's development in the country (out of which in the first place is regulating the proprietorship's relations, rigidity of the form of co-operative organizing, limited access to investments), national legislation in this field (which is appreciated as over restrictive and already doesn't assure flexibility), European policies and experience in the domain of co-operation and is being argued the opportunity of more flexible application of the co-operative principles and organizing the co-operatives in an innovative way. From this perspective, in order to assure the functioning of the co-operative system and its progress in the future, to prevent the internal crisis of the system, there are being proposed the suggestions concerning the modification of the legislative framework (first of all of the Law of Consumer Co-operation), management’s optimization, reconsideration of proprietorship's relations, delimitation of economic and social functions in the activity of co-operative organizations, creation of favorable legal conditions for attracting internal and external investments, diversification of co-operative types, optimization and efficiency of the cooperative activities etc.