ECOSY Congress 11 Draft Statutes

ECOSY – Young European Socialists

www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress

Bucharest, 31st March – 3rd April 2011

Draft statutes

1

2

3

4

5

10TH ECOSY CONGRESS 6

Bucharest, 31 March – 3 April 2011 7

8

9

10

11

12

13

Draft Statutes14


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

ECOSY STATUTES 15

16

Non-profit association 17

« ECOSY- Young European Socialists » 18

19

Article 1. NAME, SEAT 20

21

1.1 The association is named « ECOSY- Young European Socialists ». 22

23

1.2 Its seat is established in Brussels. It can be moved to any place in Belgium by 24

simple decision of the Bureau which should be published within a month in the 25

Annexes to the “Moniteur Belge”. It is currently established at 1050 Brussels 26

Belgium, Troonstraat 98. 27

28

Article 2. AIMS 29

30

2.1. ECOSY is an international political association consisting of socialist and social 31

democratic youth organisations throughout Europe. ECOSY is the youth structure of 32

PES – Party of European Socialists and the S&D and PES Groups. 33

34

2.2. The aims of ECOSY are: 35

a) to promote and contribute to the socialist and social democratic values; 36

b) to contribute towards the construction of a democratic European state; 37

c) to defend the interests of the youth in the EU; 38

d) to integrate the member organisations on the European level; 39

e) to promote European citizenship amongst progressive young people in Europe. 40

41

Article 3. MEMBERS 42

43

3.1. MEMBERSHIP 44

45

3.1.1. The association is composed of full members, observer members, fraternal 46

organizations and passive members. They accept the statutes of the association and 47

its political orientation as expressed through the position paper adopted in Congress 48

and through its resolutions and declarations. 49

50

3.1.2. Every organization is a full member of the association which: 51

a) accepts the Policy Paper, Declarations and Resolutions with the possibility of 52

minority statements mentioned in the statutes of ECOSY 53

b) undertakes to cooperate to achieve the aims of ECOSY 54

c) is a full member organization of IUSY and / or is the recognised youth 55

organization of a political party, which is a member of PES - Party of 56

European Socialists, or is a student organization attached to the above 57

mentioned. 58

d) is established in an EU member states or in an applicant country; 59

e) is accepted as full member in the way mentioned in these statutes; 60

f) pays its membership fee. The Control Commission will be in charge of the 61

evaluation of the fulfilment of this requirement. 62

g) Participates at least in half of the meetings of the statutory bodies of which it 63

forms part. The Control Commission will be in charge of the evaluation of the 64

fulfilment of this requirement. 65


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

h) Maintains the required criteria during its life in ECOSY - Young European 66

Socialists. The Control Commission will be be in charge of evaluation of the 67


69

3.1.3. Every youth organization is an observer member or ECOSY which: 70

a) accepts the Policy Paper, Declarations and Resolutions with minority 71

statements mentioned in the statutes, and the statutes of ECOSY 72

b) undertakes to cooperate to achieve the aims 73

c) is accepted as observer member in the way mentioned in the statutes 74

d) is an observer member or full member of IUSY; or is established in a EU 75

member state or in a state which is associated or applicant country of the EU 76

e) participates at least in one of the activities organized by ECOSY – Young 77

European Socialists a year. The Control Commission is in charge of the 78


f) pays its membership fee. The Control Commission is in charge of the 80


g) maintains the required criteria during its life in ECOSY - Young European 82

Socialists. The Control Commission is in charge of the evaluation of the 83


85

3.1.4. IUSY - International Union of Socialist Youth and IFM-SEI – International 86

Falcon Movement - Socialist Education International are fraternal organizations of 87

ECOSY - Young European Socialists. 88

89

3.1.5. Every member of ECOSY full and observer member organization is considered 90

as direct member of ECOSY, if the organization she/he is a member of statutorily 91

provide such a possibility. Direct members of ECOSY have right to: 92

a) register for ECOSY Newsletters and ECOSY Newsflashes 93

b) participate in the internet forum for ECOSY direct members on ECOSY website 94

c) participate in ECOSY activities only if nominated by her/his organization. 95

96

3.1.6 a. Every youth organization receives the "candidate status" of ECOSY – Young 97

European Socialists by the following process: 98

a) An organization willing to become either full or observer member has to apply 99

accordingly to the procedure set in Rules and Regulations for applicant 100

organizations. 101

b) After the completed application has been submitted to the ECOSY Secretariat 102

and Control Commission, the organization can receive the status of "candidate 103

member" if such a recommendation is approved by ECOSY Bureau. 104

c) The "candidate status" is granted for two years by the Bureau and expires 105

automatically once this period is over with the adoption or not of the 106

organization to a category of full or observer members. 107

108

3.1.6 b Applications for full, observer membership and candidate status have to be 109

submitted to the ECOSY Secretariat and ECOSY Control Commission. Serious 110

deliberation should be taken with the other organizations of the country in which the 111

organization searching application is established. The Bureau is empowered to accept 112

full, observer members or grant the candidate statutes preliminarily with at least 2/3 113

majority and in an open vote system. These decisions must be taken by the next 114

Congress for ratification in an open vote system and decided with at least 2/3 115

majority. 116

117

118


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

3.2. MEMBERS’ RIGHTS 119

120

3.2.1. Full members have the right to participate in the Congress with the right to 121

speak and the right to vote. Observer members and organizations granted a 122

candidate status have the right to participate in the Congress with the right to speak. 123

Passive members and fraternal organizations are invited to the Congress. 124

125

3.2.2. If a full or observer member organization ceases to be a member of IUSY and 126

/ or the political party ceases to be a member of PES - Party of European Socialists of 127

which it is the recognised youth organisation or a student organization attached to 128

the above mentioned, its status in ECOSY is automatically changed. The level of 129

membership is decided either at the Bureau or at the Congress. The Control 130

Commission is obliged to give its opinion prior to the decision. The change of status 131

must be ratified by the Congress. 132

133

3.2.3. Apart from the non-payment of the fee and the situation mentioned in the 134

previous paragraph, membership can be terminated: 135

a) by a 2/3 majority of the Congress; 136

b) by decision of the statutorily empowered body of the member organisation, 137

which has been communicated to the Secretary General in written form. The 138

organisation concerned has the right to be heard by the Congress before a 139

decision on the termination of its membership is taken. 140

141

3.2.4 Organizations with the "candidate status" are invited for activities of ECOSY - 142

Young European Socialists apart from the Bureau, Control Commission and Presidium 143

Meetings. They do not have any voting rights. Before the following congress the 144

application for full or observer membership of all organizations with the "candidate 145

status" should be thoroughly evaluated by firstly the Control Commission, secondly 146

by Presidium and thirdly consulted by the Bureau, and a common proposal for 147

decision must be presented to the Bureau and taken to the next Congress for 148

ratification. 149

150

3.3. TURNING TO PASSIVE MEMBERS AND EXPELLING MEMBER 151

ORGANIZATIONS 152

153

3.3.1. A full member organization or an observer member organization can be 154

expelled from ECOSY or its membership can be turned into passive membership. 155

Both decisions mean immediate loosing all voting rights. 156

157

3.3.2. At least 2/3 majority of the Congress in necessary for expelling an 158

organization or turning its status to a passive membership. The vote in both cases 159

has to be an open vote. 160

161

3.3.3. The Congress will make decision on turning organization to a passive member 162

or expelling the organization after hearing the report and evaluation of Control 163

Commission. 164

165

3.3.4. The Control Commission can propose an organisation be turned passive in 166

case the organisation meets the following criteria: 167

a) the organization has not participated in the last two years in any ECOSY - 168

Young European Socialists activity according to the evaluation of Control 169

Commission. 170


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

b) the organization has not paid its membership fee during the last two years 171

according to the evaluation of the Control Commission 172

173

3.3.5. An organization can be expelled from ECOSY if: 174

a) an organization has not participated in the last two years in any ECOSY - 175

Young European Socialists activity according to the evaluation of Control 176

Commission, and if the organization has not paid either its membership fee 177

during the last two years according to the evaluation of the Control 178

Commission 179

b) It become evident that an organization or major parts of an organization does 180

not follow the political guidelines of ECOSY - Young European Socialists as set 181

in Position Paper, Declarations and Resolutions. 182

c) There is a decision by the statutory empowered body of a member 183

organization to withdraw from ECOSY - Young European Socialists, which 184

decision has been communicated to the Secretary General in a written form. 185

d) In any case, the concerned organization has a right to be heard before the 186

starting of the voting. 187

188

Article 4. MEMBERSHIP FEE 189

190

4.1. The membership fee is decided by the Congress. 191

192

4.2. The right to vote of an organisation in the Congress and the Bureau is 193

automatically suspended, based on the proposal of the Control Commission and of 194

the Secretary General in case proof of payment of the membership fee of the 195

previous years has not been shown to the ECOSY Secretariat by the opening of the 196

Congress and the Bureau. 197

198

Article 5. ECOSY BODIES 199

200

The bodies of ECOSY are the Congress, the Bureau, the Presidium, the Control 201

Commission and the Secretary General. 202

203

5.1. THE CONGRESS 204

205

5.1.1 The Congress must be understood as the general assembly according to the 206

law on non-profit associations. It is the supreme organ of the association. 207

208

5.1.2. The Congress controls the activities of the other association bodies. It 209

determines the guidelines of the association policy and activities within the 210

framework of these statutes. It is notably responsible for: 211

a) the adoption of budgets and accounts; 212

b) the election and dismissal of Presidium members; 213

c) the modification of the statutes; 214

d) the adoption of the activity plan for the period until the next Congress; 215

e) the election and dismissal of the President and the members of Control 216

Commission; 217

f) the adoption of the position paper, composed of the programme of principles 218

g) and policy position paper; the adoption of resolutions and declarations; 219

h) the dissolution of the association. 220

221

5.1.3. The Congress meets every second year during the first semester. The Bureau 222

convenes it three months in advance at the date and place specified in the 223


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

notification letter. The Bureau proposes an agenda for the Congress. Extraordinary 224

Congresses are convened when the Bureau or 1/2 of all full member organisations 225

propose to do so. The congress is run following the guidelines of a separate Congress 226

Rules and Regulations adopted at the last Bureau before the congress. 227

228

5.1.4. There are 12 mandates per country. If several full member organisations are 229

from the same country, they should share the mandates between them. Each 230

delegation should have an equal representation of gender. Each delegate can cast 231

any number of mandates for her/his organisation. Congress decisions are only valid 232

when half of the mandates are present or represented. 233

234

5.1.5.The under mentioned have the right to participate as observers in the 235

Congress: 236

a) the Bureau 237

b) the Presidium 238

c) the Secretary General 239

d) the Control Commission 240

e) the fraternal organizations - with maximum number of representatives 241

determined by the Bureau 242

f) representatives from observer member organizations and organizations with 243

candidate status in number of representatives determined by the Bureau. 244

245

5.1.6. The Congress ratifies the Bureau proposed by the member organisations. The 246

Congress elects the President, Secretary General, Vice-Presidents and the members 247

of the Control Commission. 248

249

5.1.7. The undermentioned decisions shall be taken by a 2/3 majority of the 250

Congress: 251

a) amendments to the Statutes (in accordance with Art. 8.3) 252

b) dissolution of ECOSY (in accordance with Art. 7.1). 253

254

5.1.8. Decisions concerning ECOSY's EU policy are binding for all full member 255

organisations if they have been voted by a 2/3 majority of the Congress. Full 256

member organisations can always put forward a minority statement that makes a 257

specific element of the decision non-binding to the organisations signed. 258

259

5.1.9. Every congress the Position Paper is debated. The last Bureau before the 260

congress, in which the decision to call for the congress is made, it can be decided by 261

simple majority, to decide upon the Program of Principles at the congress in 262

between. 263

264

5.1.10. All decisions are taken by simple majority unless otherwise stated. For all 265

votes, abstentions are not counted, but 1/3 of the total votes should be in favour. 266

267

5.1.12. The Congress should always firstly debate over position papers, resolutions 268

and other policy documents before moving on to elections. The result of the vote, 269

however, should only be revealed after the vote on policy issues. The decision on 270

applicant organisations should be taken as the last point after all other decisions 271

have been made. 272

273

274

275

276


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

5.2. THE BUREAU 277

278

5.2.1. The Bureau is elected for two years according to the procedure specified under 279

Art. 5.1.6. of these Statutes. It includes a minimum of three members, one of which 280

should be Belgian. 281

282

5.2.2. The Bureau is responsible to the Congress. 283

284

5.2.3. Bureau Members represent full member organizations of ECOSY. They shall 285

not serve more than two mandates. The Congress elects one representative of 286

observer members and organizations with candidate status as a member of the 287

Bureau with full rights. One representative from each fraternal organization is invited 288

to the Bureau without voting rights. Other observer members can be invited to the 289

Bureau as observers without voting rights. 290

291

5.2.4. If a Bureau member ceases to be member of her/his organisation, if she/he 292

resigns as a Bureau member or if her/his organisation withdraws her/him as a 293

Bureau member, she/he can be replaced by a member of the same organisation who 294

should be accepted by the Bureau. 295

296

5.2.5. If the organisation to which a Bureau member belongs has changed its status 297

in ECOSY, the seat will dissolve. 298

299

5.2.6. There are two mandates per country in the Bureau. If several Bureau 300

members represent organisations from a same country, they should share mandates. 301

302

5.2.7. The representative of the observer members and organizations with candidate 303

status holds also two mandates. 304

305

5.2.8. A Bureau member can be represented by a member of his/her organisation, if 306

notified in advance by his/her organisation to the ECOSY Secretariat. 307

308

5.2.9. Half of the mandates present or represented constitute a quorum. 309

310

5.2.10. All votes are taken by simple majority unless otherwise stated. For all votes, 311

abstentions are not counted, but 1/3 of the total votes should be in favour. 312

313

5.2.11. The Presidium members and president of the Control Commission are 314

members of the Bureau without the right to vote. 315

316

5.2.12. The Bureau assembles at least twice a year, before the change of Presidency 317

of the EU. An extraordinary Bureau meeting can be convoked by the Presidium or at 318

least half of the Bureau members. 319

320

5.2.13. The Bureau and the Presidium can invite member organisations not 321

represented in the Bureau, other organisations and individuals to participate in the 322

Bureau. 323

324

5.2.14. The Bureau determines and implements ECOSY policy and activities within 325

the framework of the guidelines adopted by the Congress. 326

327


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

5.2.15. Political decisions can be taken by the Bureau with a simple majority if they 328

are in accordance with ECOSY policy as decided by the Congress. On issues that 329

arise between Congresses a 2/3 majority is needed. 330

331

5.2.16. The bureau establishes three permanent networks: Feminist, Queer and 332

Students. The bureau will elect for each permanent network one coordinator that is a 333

member of the Bureau to coordinate the permanent network. The bureau can elect 334

one coordinator that is a member of the Bureau for an ad-hoc network that will be 335

established for the remainder of the mandate. The Bureau can organise itself in 336

special commissions that are led by Vice-presidents with specific organisational 337

goals, set by the bureau. The Bureau may also give a Bureau member any general or 338

specific mandate to act on its behalf. 339

340

5.3. THE PRESIDIUM 341

342

5.3.1. The Presidium is composed of: 343

a) the President; 344

b) the Secretary General; 345

c) ten Vice-Presidents; 346

d) the president of Control Commission 347

348

5.3.2. The Presidium should be gender balanced, meaning that both genders should 349

be equally represented among the elected members. At least 40% of the Vice-350

Presidents should be of each gender. 351

352

5.3.3. The President, Secretary General and ten Vice-Presidents are elected by the 353

Congress for two years. The age limit for Presidium members is 35. The Presidium 354

members can be elected for maximum of two consecutive mandates for the same 355

position. They will be members of a full member organisation of ECOSY but 356

independent from their organisation. 357

358

5.3.4. The Presidency or an elected vice-presidency cannot be combined with Bureau 359

membership of ECOSY. The Bureau can dismiss the President and/or one or more 360

elected Vice-Presidents with a 2/3 majority. In case the President or an elected Vice-361

President resigns or is dismissed, the Bureau elects a new Vice-President until the 362

end of the mandate. 363

364

5.3.5. If a vice-president fails to attend three consecutive statutory meetings without 365

any comprehensible reason the question of dismissal of the vice-president goes 366

automatically to the agenda of the next Bureau meeting. 367

368

5.3.6. If at least two Bureau members from two different countries declare their 369

distrust of the vice-president and explain the reason to the Bureau, the vote of 370

dismissal goes automatically to the next Bureau meeting. 371

372

5.3.7. The Presidium is elected at the Congress on the basis of the orientation and 373

proposals adopted by the Congress. Should the Congress fail to fill all necessary 374

posts, the next Bureau has a mandate to elect representatives from ECOSY full 375

member organisations to fill the vacancies. 376

377

5.3.8. Half of the mandates present constitute a quorum. 378

379


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

5.3.9. Political decisions taken by the Presidium must be ratified by the Bureau to 380

become policy of ECOSY. 381

382

5.3.10. The President and ten Vice-Presidents hold one mandate each in the 383

Presidium. 384

385

5.3.11. Membership of the Presidium is strictly personal. A representative of the 386

member is not admitted to the meetings; except in the event of a serious personal 387

psychological or physical difficulty occurring to the member: in agreement with the 388

Presidium, she/he can nominate, in accordance with her/his organisation of origin, a 389

person to represent her/him for a temporary period of time without any right of vote. 390

391

5.3.12. At the first meeting, the Presidium will adopt its Working methods, which 392

include definitions of the roles of all Presidium members including the President and 393

the Secretary General and provisions regarding the voting procedures within the 394

Presidium. Within the Working methods of the Presidium the general rules for 395

representation in communication and activities with Third Parties should be agreed 396

upon. 397

398

5.3.13. The Working methods of the Presidium will also include the division of 399

portfolios between members of Presidium. There are six (6) permanent portfolios: 400

Education; Social Europe; International Affairs; Sustainable development; Financial 401

Affairs, Equal Rights. Additional portfolios can be added. The portfolios are 402

distributed in agreement between members of Presidium and according to policy 403

preferences stated by the members in the election process. 404

405

5.4. THE SECRETARY GENERAL 406

407

5.4.1. The Secretary General is elected for two years by the Congress by absolute 408

majority. She/he must be a member of a full member organisation of ECOSY. 409

410

5.4.2. She/he may not be elected more than twice consecutively. 411

412

5.4.3. The Secretary General represents ECOSY and is independent from her/his 413

member organisation. 414

415

5.4.4. The Secretary General coordinates the work of the Bureau and Presidium and 416

implements their decisions. 417

418

5.4.5. The Secretary General manages the association and runs it daily. 419

420

5.4.6. The Secretary General shall work out a political, organisational and financial 421

report which is presented to the Bureau for approval. The report shall then be 422

presented to the Congress. 423

424

5.4.7. The Secretary General is responsible to the Bureau. The Bureau can dismiss 425

the Secretary General with a 2/3 majority in a meeting specially convened for this 426

purpose. 427

428

5.4.8. If the Secretary General resigns or is dismissed, the Bureau appoints a new 429

Secretary General until the end of the mandate. 430

431

432


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

5.5 THE CONTROL COMMISSION 433

434

5.5.1. The Control Commission is made up of five members, including the president, 435

elected by the Congress. These members can not be members of the Presidium or 436

the Bureau. The Control Commission must be gender balanced. 437

438

5.5.2. The Control Commission has to control the execution of the decisions of the 439

statutory bodies and the Secretary General. The Control Commission is to be 440

consulted on financial matters and agreements. 441

442

5.5.3. The Control Commission will also have any kind of task set by the Regulatory 443

texts of ECOSY. 444

445

5.5.4 The members of the Control Commission have to be members of a full member 446

organisation of ECOSY. Should a member of the Control Commission cease to belong 447

to a full member organisation during her/his time of office, or if a member of the 448

Control Commission resigns, the Bureau elects a new member, following a proposal 449

of the Presidium. The president of the Control Commission is permanently invited to 450

the Presidium and Bureau meetings. 451

452

5.5.5 The Control Commission meets at least twice a year. 453

454

5.5.6 Between the Congresses the Control Commission is the only body which can 455

interpret the Statutes. 456

457

Article 6. FINANCES 458

459

6.1. The Bureau in its entity is responsible to the Congress for the finances of 460

ECOSY. 461

462

6.2. The financial year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31 of every year. 463

464

6.3. An external audit must be performed each year. 465

466

6.4. Further provisions on managing the finances are regulated in the General 467

Financial Regulations adopted by the Bureau. 468

469

Article 7. DISSOLUTION 470

471

7.1. Dissolution can only be decided by a specially convoked Congress. The decision 472

of dissolution requires a majority of 2/3 of the mandates present or not. Full member 473

organisations will decide on finances after dissolution. 474

475

Article 8. FINAL PROVISIONS 476

477

8.1. Congress and Bureau decisions shall be recorded in a register that shall be 478

signed by the Secretary General and made available to all members. 479

480

8.2. Except under a special power of attorney, all acts that bind the association are 481

signed by the Secretary General, who will not have to justify the powers conferred 482

for this purpose to third parties. 483


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

8.3. All legal action, be it as plaintiff, claimant or defendant, shall be taken by the 484

Bureau, represented by the Secretary General or a member of the Bureau appointed 485

for this purpose by the Bureau. 486

487

8.4. Amendments to the Statutes shall only come into effect after approval by Royal 488

Decree and after fulfilment of the formalities of legal publicity stipulated in Article 3 489

of the law of 25 October 1919. 490

8.5. All that is not stipulated in these statutes, and especially the formalities of legal 491

publicity to be made in the Annex of the Belgian State Gazette, shall be settled 492

according to the provisions of the law of 27 June 1921 on non profit associations. 493

494

Article 9. TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS 495

496

The Congress of this day elected: 497

498

President : 499

Secretary General : 500

501

Vice-president (1) : 502









Vice-president (10): 511

512

President Control Commission: 513

514


www.ecosy.org

10th ECOSY Congress


Draft statutes

ECOSY Congress 11 Draft Statutes

Documents

Transcript of ECOSY Congress 11 Draft Statutes