Article 9General Meeting of Members

9.1

The General Meeting of Members is responsible in particular for:

9.1.1

taking receipt of the Report for the Year of the Board of Directors with the Annual Financial Statements (balance sheet with profit and loss account),

9.1.2

ratification of the acts of management of the President and Vice-President,

9.1.3

ratification of the acts of management of the Presiding Committee,

9.1.4

ratification of the acts of management of the Board of Directors,

9.1.5

election of the President, Vice-President and members of the Presiding Committee of the EBC,

9.1.6

amending membership dues, sponsoring dues and the new membership fee,

9.1.7

taking resolutions on applications submitted to the General Meeting of Members, amending the Articles of Association and dissolving the association,

9.1.8

expelling a member.

9.2

General Meetings of Members may be held at any suitable place in an OSCE country.

9.3

A General Meeting of Members must take place at the latest by June 30 each year to take receipt of the Report for the Year with the Annual Financial Statements and resolve on ratification of the acts of management of the Board of Directors and Presiding Committee for the preceding year (ordinary General Meeting of Members). Extraordinary General Meetings of Members must be convened if required in the interest of the association.

This is not affected by § 37 of the B.G.B. (German Federal Law).

9.4

General Meetings of Members are to be convened by the President and Vice-President or by two members of the Board of Directors with one month's notice in writing with details of the Agenda. The period of notice begins on the day following the day of dispatch of the letter of invitation. The period of notice does not apply to members whose membership begins during the period; such members should, as far as possible, be invited without compliance with the period of notice; they are entitled to participate in the General Meeting of Members.
The letter of invitation is deemed to have been received by the member if sent to the last address notified to the association in writing by the member. Lack of or defects in an invitation are not harmful provided the member affected does not file a complaint or attends the General Meeting of Members without complaint.

9.5

The General Meeting of Members is chaired by the President. It may also be chaired by the Vice-President or another person determined by the General Meeting, in particular in the absence of the President.

9.6

In the passing of resolutions at the General Meeting, each Ordinary Member has one vote, each Senior Member has 5 votes and each Sponsoring Senior Member has 20 votes. The General Meeting is quorate when at least one-half of the votes are represented.

9.7

The General Meeting of Members generally passes resolutions by simple majority of votes cast. However, a majority of three quarters of votes cast is required to amend the Articles of Association and dissolve the association.

9.8

The form of voting is determined by the Chairman of the Meeting. Minutes must be kept of resolutions taken by the General Meeting of Members and signed by the Chairman of the Meeting; they must be in German in deference to the domicile of the association and the competent Register of Associations.

9.9

Members of the EBC may be represented by representatives with a written proxy. Representatives must show their proxy in order to vote at the General Meeting of Members.

9.10

Telefax transmission constitutes written form.

Article 10President and Vice-President

10.1

The President and Vice-President of the EBC head the association and in particular have the task of chairing the Presiding Committee and Board of Directors.

10.2

The President and Vice-President are elected by the General Meeting of Members in each case for a term extending until the end of the first General Meeting of Members to take place in the next calendar year divisible by two. The President and Vice-President remain in office after the end of their term of office until election of the new President and/or Vice-President. The General Meeting of Members may resolve to curtail these terms of office and elect the President and Vice-President out of office. President and Vice-President may resign at any time with notice to this effect to the Board of Directors; any member of the Board of Directors is entitled to take receipt of such notice.

10.3

The President and Vice-President act in an honorary capacity.