Chapter 5 Organisation

Article 10

The bodies of the Association are:

  1. General Assembly
  2. Standing Committee
  3. Executive Committee

A. General Assembly

Article 11

The General Assembly is the supreme body of the Association. It has at its disposal all the powers necessary for the running and administration of the Association. It shall define the general policies of the Association.

To this effect the General Assembly:

  1. Endorses the candidates for President, Vice President and General Secretary of the General Assembly as presented by the Standing Committee. Following endorsements these Members function in the same positions in the Standing Committee and form, with the Treasurer, the Executive Committee.
  2. Elects the renewal of 1/3 of the Standing Committee Members. The mandate of the President, Vice President, General Secretary and Standing Committee Members is three years. Outgoing members for the above functions can be candidates and re-elected. If no majority of votes required for election is achieved in the first ballot, a second ballot will be held in which the candidates obtaining the relative majority of votes will be elected.
  3. Establishes the limits of power it delegates to the Standing Committee.
  4. Adopts its rules of procedure and those of the Standing Committee.
  5. Adopts proposed modifications to the Statutes by a two-thirds majority of the Members present or those having valid representation.
  6. Can create Working Groups to realize the objectives described in Article 3.

Article 12

The General Assembly is composed of the Representatives of the Founding Member Institutions and the Member Institutions. Representatives may be accompanied by colleagues, whose presence they deem useful given the agenda in question.

  1. When a matter is put to the vote each Member Institution has a single vote.
  2. An Ordinary Session of the General Assembly is called once every three years on the initiative of the President who determines the Agenda. The date and place is decided by the General Assembly or by the General Assembly approving a proposal from the Executive Committee.
  3. Those Members unable to attend or to be represented at a Session of the General Assembly may delegate their power to another Member or to his/her Representative. No one may represent the delegated powers of more than two persons.
  4. All Members failing to be present or represented at three consecutive sessions of the General Assembly shall be considered as having resigned.
  5. The General Assembly may only enter into valid deliberation on condition that the number of votes the Members physically present or represent, taking into account the delegation of powers they have disposed, is equal to or more than half of the Membership of the Association. Should the Quorum not be reached, a meeting of the Standing Committee is called, at which deliberation and decisions can take place.
  6. At each Session of the General Assembly the President presents an activity and financial report and the accounts are submitted to the General Assembly for approval.
  7. With the exception of those deliberations relative to the modification of the Statutes as stated in Article 11, decisions are taken by simple majority vote of those Members present or validly represented. In the case the votes are equally divided, the President’s vote shall be decisive.

Article 13

If needs be, or upon the request of half of the Members plus one, an Extra-ordinary Session of the General Assembly may be called by the President, as laid down in Article 12. The rules concerning Quorum, delegation of powers, and the validity of the deliberations as laid out in the aforesaid articles also apply.

B. Standing Committee and Executive Committe

Article 14

The Standing Committee, which is initially composed of the Founding Members, manages the Association. One third of the Standing Committee members is re-elected or replaced by other Founding Members or Members every three years (starting from 2001) by the General Assembly according to Article 11.

The Standing Committee members elect among its members the Executive Committee composed of a President, Vice-President and General Secretary and a Treasurer.

Article 15

The President calls a meeting of the Standing Committee at least once a year and he/she is also responsible for drafting the Agenda.

Article 16

The Standing Committee is answerable to the General Assembly for the running of the Association and presents an Activity and Financial Report to the General Assembly.

The particular responsibilities of the Standing Committee are:

  1. To prepare the Agenda for the Sessions of the General Assembly, the Programme of Activities and the Budget of the Association.
  2. To propose changes in the Annual Membership Fee.
  3. To implement the decisions of the General Assembly.
  4. To ensure the smooth running of the Association between the Sessions of the General Assembly.

Article 17

Duties of the Executive Committee members are:

  1. The President is responsible for the implementation of the decisions of the General Assembly and represents the Association.
  2. The Vice-President will replace the President in case of absence.
  3. The General Secretary is responsible, amongst other things, for drawing up: (1) The Minutes of the Sessions of the General Assembly. (2) The Minutes of the Meetings of the Executive Committee. He/she shall be responsible for their distribution to the Members of the Association.
  4. The Treasurer is responsible for making all payments, receiving the funds of the Association and for keeping the Association’s accounts. In case the Standing Committee has not elected a separate person as Treasurer, these responsibilities will be assumed by the President of the Standing Committee who can delegate these to another member of the Executive Committee.