"Co-operatives are voluntary organisations". A "voluntary organisation" is one that is formed by the free choice of the persons who are members of it. As voluntary organisations, co-operatives should have their rights and freedoms, and the freedom of their members to form them, protected in law.
"Open to all persons" affirms a general commitment to recognising the fundamental dignity of every person and their right to involvement in a co-operative, which has been a basic commitment of all co-operatives since their emergence in the 19th century. It affirms that there should be no arbitrary restrictions placed on persons wishing to become members, the only limit on membership being the limit imposed by the purpose of the co-operative.
"Able to use their services" acknowledges that co-operatives are organised for specific purposes. In many instances, they can only effectively serve a certain kind of member or a limited number of members. For example, fishery co-operatives essentially serve those engaged in commercial fishing, usually in a single port or area; housing co-operatives can house only so many members; worker co-operatives can employ only a limited number of members. In other words there may be understandable and acceptable reasons why a co-operative may impose a limit on membership. Otherwise, a co-operative should not impose a limit on membership. Consumer co-operatives for food distribution, insurance and banking are open to all consumers of their services and/or the localities in which they operate.
"Willing to accept the responsibilities of membership" reminds members that while membership is open to them, members must also be willing to accept the duties that come with being a member. "Responsibility" is having a duty to deal with or having control over something.
"Membership" is a central element of a co-operative enterprise that is jointly owned and democratically controlled by persons who chose to join it. A "member" will usually be an individual (natural) person in a primary co-operative, but may also be a corporate (legal) person in a co-operative which provides services to other businesses or organisations. Corporate persons may also be members of primary co-operatives where multiple stakeholders are members. Other co-operatives will normally be the members of secondary and tertiary co-operatives.
"Discrimination" is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people. In the phrase "without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination" the preposition "without" governs the noun "discrimination". The Principle therefore requires membership to be open to all persons "without discrimination" irrespective of any personal characteristic.