Ruling Bodies

General meeting

1. All powers of the Association not conferred to other bodies by law or by these articles are vested in the general meeting, also referred to as the \"members’ meeting\".

2. A general meeting – the annual meeting – will be held no later than six months after the end of the association year, except in the event of the extension of this period by the members’ meeting. At the annual meeting the following items must be included on the agenda:

a. The annual report and the rendering of account with the report of the external expert or financial committee.

b. Discharging the Executive Committee with respect to its liabilities.

c. The appointment of a financial committee for the following association year, if necessary.

d. Filling vacancies, if applicable.

e. Proposals of the Executive Committee or the members, indicated in the notice of convening for the meeting or a supplement to this issued in good time.

3. The General Meeting of Members will be convened by the president at least three weeks before the day of the meeting with notification of the topics to be considered. The president is further obliged to convene a general meeting within a period of no longer than four weeks at the request of at least ten per cent of the total number of vote-holding members.

4. If the request has not been acted upon within fourteen days, the petitioners themselves may proceed to the convening of a general meeting in accordance with the provisions of these articles of association or the law.

5. All working, associate and advisory members of the Association who have not been suspended may attend the general meeting. A suspended member is entitled to attend the meeting in so far as this concerns the deliberations upon the resolution to suspend, and is authorized to address the meeting with regard to this matter.

Legal persons will be represented at the meeting by an Executive Committee member who has been authorized to do so or by a natural person with sufficient authorization. If a number of Executive Committee members have been jointly authorized they will authorize one person to represent the legal person in question.

The general meeting will decide with regard to the admission of persons other than those mentioned in this section.

6.Each working member of the Association enjoys one vote in so far that he or she has not been suspended. A member may cast his or her vote through another member who has been authorized in writing to do so.

A member may not cast more than three proxy votes.

9. The president of the Executive Committee presides over the meetings of the Executive

Committee and the General Meeting of Members. In his or her absence the vice-president will preside. If the latter is also absent, the Executive Committee members present will arrange for the presidency of the meeting. Until they do so, the meeting will be presided over by the Executive Committee member who is oldest in years. If no Executive Committee members are present, the meeting will arrange for its own presidency.

8. Full and detailed minutes of the matters dealt with in each meeting will be kept by the secretary or another person appointed by the president to do so, which will be confirmed and signed by the president and the minute taker. Those calling the meeting may have a notarial record made of the matters deliberated upon. The members will then be notified of the content of the minutes or of the notarial record in writing within three weeks.

Executive Committee

1. The Executive Committee is composed of seven natural persons, being:

- a president, and

- six members with a political mandate by a working member.
The president will be elected by the General Meeting of Members for a period of two years. He or she may be re-elected.

The other Executive Committee members will be elected by the General Meeting of Members for a period of two years, taking into account as far as possible the need for a balanced geographic distribution. Resigning Executive Committee members may be re-elected.

2. At least two advisors will be added to the Executive Committee, namely:

- A representative of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CLRAE).

- A representative of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union (CoR).
In addition to the two aforementioned advisors, the Executive Committee may appoint one or more other advisors under the Management Regulations which it will draw up at a later date.
The rights, obligations and powers of the advisors, as well as their mode of working will be set out in more detail in the Management Regulations to be drawn up by the Executive Committee.
These advisors do not enjoy a voting right.

3. The Executive Committee will choose a vice-president, secretary and treasurer from among its number. The latter two functions may be performed by one person.

4. Even when an Executive Committee member is appointed for a particular period of time, he or she can be dismissed or suspended by the general meeting at any time. A suspension which is not followed within three months by a dismissal resolution terminates by law at the expiry of that period.

5. Each Executive Committee member will periodically resign according to a resignation rota to be drawn up by the Executive Committee. The resigning committee member may be re-elected at any time. A committee member who is appointed to an interim vacancy, will take the place in the rota of his or her predecessor.

6. Membership of the Executive Committee terminates:

a. If the membership of the Association is terminated, unless the Executive Committee member concerned was appointed from outside the members.

b. By resignation of the Executive Committee member concerned.

c. By death.

d. By the loss of the right to dispose over his or her own property, including bankruptcy, application for a suspension of payments, being placed in receivership and being put under controlled administration.

Secretary General

1. The general secretary will be appointed by the Executive Committee for a period of five years. He or she may be reappointed.

2. The general secretary will manage the secretariat.

3. The general secretary will be responsible for the implementation of the resolutions of the Executive Committee and the General Meeting of Members. He or she will participate in the Executive Committee and the General Meeting of Members with an advisory voice and will draw up the minutes of the meeting.

4. The general secretary will carry out his or her function under the authority of the president, who represents the Executive Committee with respect to him or her.


President, Jan MANS, mayor of Zaanstad, Netherlands;
Vice-President, Anton MATTLE, mayor of Galtür, Austria;
Secretary/Treasurer, Per Bødker ANDERSEN, mayor of Kolding, Denmark;
Members:
Vanik ASATRYAN, mayor of Spitak, Armenia;
Nikolaos CHARDALIAS, mayor of Vyrona, Greece;
Anders KNAPE, mayor of Karlstadt, Sweden;
Jean-Luc MOUDENC, mayor of Toulouse, France;
Volodymyr UDOVYCHENKO, mayor of SLAVUTYCH, Ukraine.

Secretary General, Harrie JEURISSEN