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EADI Constitution

Article 1
The Association shall be known as the  “European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes”.

Article 2
The Association shall operate in Europe and in such other countries as may be necessary to enable it to achieve its objectives.

Article 3
The Association is established in Bonn, Germany. It is subject to German Law.

Article 4
Branch Offices, including the operational secretariats, shall be established in such countries in Europe as the Executive Committee may decide.

Article 5
The Association will promote research and training activities in development, as approached through the social sciences and interdisciplinary studies.

a. It shall endeavour, particularly, to promote contacts among affiliated members, inter alias by disseminating information on research in progress or on studies and experiments in training and on new training schemes.

b. It shall endeavour to establish or facilitate exchanges, working relations and useful cooperation between the affiliates on the one hand and the regional associations, institutions of research and/or training and individual researchers in African, Asian and Latin American countries on the other. The Association will hold itself at the disposal of these institutions and researchers with a view to facilitating their access to the sources of information and the instruments of work and research available in Europe.

c. It shall endeavour to cooperate with government and private development agencies, and international organisations, in development training and research activities.

d. It shall endeavour to communicate and disseminate research and training results on development to government and private development agencies, international organisations, as well as to the mass media.

Article 6
The Association shall not seek to make profits in any one of its activities in accordance with the paragraph „privileged tax purposes” laid down in the German tax code. The purpose of the Association is defined as the promotion of research and science as well as the promotion of development cooperation. Any profits earned are to be used towards the objectives of the Association laid out in Article 5 of this Constitution.

The Association shall operate altruistically and not for its own financial purposes.

Article 7
To achieve the purposes laid down in Article 5 of the present Constitution, the Association may organise conferences, seminars, working parties and the like on a regional, sub-regional or problem-oriented basis; it may collect information and publish books, papers, documents, information bulletins and the like.

Article 8
The activities of the Association shall be financed by:

a. Fees of members and associates;

b. Income from events and studies organised by the Association and from publications published under its auspices;

c. Grants and donations;

d. Subsidies and subventions;

e. Any other legal sources.

Article 9
a. Applications for membership shall be addressed to the Executive Secretariat and decided upon by the Executive Committee.

b. The Association shall process the following information from its members: surname, name, contact details (address, telephone number and email address), student identification and invoice and payment information. The data protection regulations will be observed. The disclosure of information may only occur upon legal requirement. As the Association may only handle correct data, members are required to promptly notify the Association of any relevant changes to their information.

Article 10
The Association shall have full membership (Institutional and individual), in addition to associated members, observers and student members. Full members have voting rights in the General Assembly.

Article 11
Full institutional membership shall be open to:

a. Institutes or associations, established in Europe, whose objectives and activities are oriented towards research and/or training in development;

b. National scientific associations in European countries devoted to objectives consistent with those of the Association;

c. NGOs in European countries devoted to objectives consistent with those of the Association.

Article 12
Full individual membership shall be open to individuals who are professionally active in research and/or training in development and who are resident in Europe.

Article 13
Student membership shall be open to individuals pursuing studies in the field of development / international cooperation. This is to be verified with a valid form of student identification at the beginning of each calendar year. Membership shall be terminated should student status not be substantiated. Individual full membership may thereafter be applied for.

Article 14
Associate membership shall be open to:

a. Institutions based in Europe which do not fulfil the conditions laid down in Article 11, but which nevertheless show consistent interest in matters of research and training in development, such as international organisations, government agencies, and similarly companies and financial institutions which want to promote the general objectives of the Association as stated in article 5;

b. Regional associations of research and training institutes established outside Europe, mentioned in Article 5b of the present Constitution.

Article 15
a. Institutions based in Europe that fulfil the conditions laid down in Article 11a, but that do not yet want to become full institutional members will have the possibility of obtaining the status of observer.

b. Applications for the status of observer are subject to the approval of the Executive Committee.

c. The status of observer may be held during maximum two years after the decision made by the Executive Committee.

d. The rights and duties of observers are identical to those members as far as they are described in Article 17.

Article 16
a. The status of member, associate and observer expires as a result of voluntary withdrawal, death, loss of corporate body, expulsion or removal from the membership list. A member must give the President or the Secretariat at least three months’ notice in writing of his or her intention voluntarily to withdraw from EADI, which may only take effect at the end of a business year.

b. The management committee reserves the right to revoke membership in the event of a gross violation of regulations, following action against the interests of the Association or through payment arrears of over ten months. The member shall be given the opportunity to provide a statement prior to the decision-making process. All membership rights shall be suspended during the expulsion proceedings.

c. A member can be removed from the membership roster, should the members’ residency be unclear.

Article 17
Every paid-up member, associate and observer shall have the right to:

a. Participate in the General Assembly;

b. Avail themselves of the services of the Association in accordance with pertinent regulations.

Article 18
Every member and associate shall have the duty to pay his membership fee regularly at the rate determined by the General Assembly.

Article 19
The Association shall not commit its members to liability beyond the amount of their membership fee.

Article 20
The organs of the Association shall be:

a. A General Assembly;

b. An Executive Committee;

c. A Management Committe;

d. A Secretariat.

A. The General Assembly

Article 21
a. The General Assembly is the supreme body of the Association.

b. It shall be composed of authorised representatives of all institutional members and of all individual members and student members. No individual can represent more than one institutional member.

c. The General Assembly shall be convened at least once every three years, which shall be decided by the Executive Committee. The assembly may convene through either physical or virtual means. Further details through which the General Assembly shall be decreed are included in its standing orders.

d. Invitations to the General Assembly shall be sent to members at least 8 weeks prior to the appointment; any proposals for the agenda are to be submitted at least 7 weeks prior to the appointment. The agenda shall be released to its members at least 14 days prior to the Assembly.

e. The Assembly shall approve any changes to the constitution, the release of the annual report and the exoneration of the executive committee, the rules of procedure of the Executive Committee and its work programme.

f. It shall determine the rates of fees for the various categories of members and for the associates.

g. It shall elect the President. The President in coordination with the Executive Committee shall appoint a Vice President as deputy. They shall form a board in accordance with Article 26 BGB to legally represent the Association.

h. It shall elect the members of the Executive Committee.

i. It may appoint on the proposal of the President one or more Vice-Presidents and a treasurer. The General Assembly may assign to certain members of the Executive Committee permanent or temporary tasks in the form of Sub-committees or Ad hoc task groups while maintaining its role as chair. The General Assembly may delegate to the Executive Committee the power to assign tasks among its members in the form of sub-committees and Ad hoc task groups and to co-opt additional Vice-Presidents.

j. Nominations for the post of President shall be received by the Executive Secretary no later than six weeks prior to the General Assembly during which the election is to take place. Nominations for the post of President must be moved and seconded by paid-up EADI members. In addition to the willingness for candidacy, a brief introduction of candidate shall be made. The Presidential mandate, as well as that of the Executive Committee shall be for three years. Those elected shall remain in their respective posts until re-election.

k. Minutes of the decisions of the General Assembly must be kept and signed by the Chair of the Assembly, the President or his representative and the Secretary taking the minutes

Article 22
a. Voting in the General Assembly shall take place via block voting.

b. In the General Assembly decisions will be made by consensus.

c. When it is impossible to reach a consensus, decisions shall be reached by simple majority of votes cast. If the votes are equal, the determining vote shall be that of the President.

d. In all votes and elections, Full Members according to Article 11 have ten (10) votes each, votes submitted cannot be split. Full Members according to Article 12 have one (1) vote each;

e. All other Members may participate in the discussions, but shall not have the right to vote.

f. Decisions of the General Assembly are valid regardless of the number of members participating in the voting.

B. The Executive Committee

Article 23
a. The Executive Committee consists of the President, the Vice-Presidents and a country representative from each country with at least two institutional members. The Committee may also co-opt ad personam up to five (5) other members based on special qualifications or institutional affiliations.

b. The Country Representatives shall be elected by the General Assembly. Candidates shall be nominated by EADI Members of each country in connection with the conclusion of consultation process among institutional and individual members. This consultation process is to be organized by the EADI Executive Committee.

c. The Executive Committee shall appoint the editors of the association's journal, the European Journal of Development Research (EJDR). It may appoint one of the editors as additional member of the Executive Committee.

Article 24
a. The Executive Committee shall normally meet once a year. It shall give directions and supervise the affairs of the Association, organise the activities specified in the Constitution and control the activities of the Management Committee and Secretariat.

b. The Executive Committee approves the Annual Report of the Association.

c. In the Executive Committee decisions will be made by consensus. When it is impossible to reach a consensus, decisions shall be reached by simple majority of votes cast. If the votes are equal, the President has a casting vote.

d. When a member of the Executive Committee is unable to continue in office, the Committee shall have the power to co-opt to replace that member for the remaining tenure of office.

Article 25
The Executive Committee appoints an Executive Secretary charged with the effective direction of the Secretariat. It may also decide on the establishment and the location of branch offices and operational secretariats.

C: The Management Committee

Article 26
The Executive Committee appoints a Management Committee to manage the affairs of the Association in co-operation with the Secretariat. It comprises at least the President, the Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, the chairs of Sub-committees elected/appointed by the General Assembly/Executive Committee and the Executive Secretary. The Management Committee shall meet at least two times a year and at the times of the other Statutory meetings of the Association.

Article 27
a. In the Management Committee decisions will be made by consensus. When it is impossible to reach a consensus, decisions shall be reached by simple majority of votes cast. If the votes are equal, the president has a casting vote.

b. For decisions of the Management Committee to be valid, at least five members must be present at the meeting.

Article 28
a. The President shall convene the Management Committee, the Executive Committee and the General Assembly and preside over their meetings.

b. The President shall represent the Association. Both the President and Deputy individually represent the Association within the meaning of paragraph 26 of the German Civil Code (BGB). The internal understanding is that the Deputy represents the Association only in case the President is unable to represent. The Executive Committee appoints the Executive Secretary to perform the duties assigned to him or her. The Executive Secretary can represent the Association in specific matters as defined by the Executive Committee and/or the Management Committee. The details shall be regulated by the rules of procedure of the Executive Committee, decided upon by the General Assembly.

D. The Secretariat

Article 29
a. For the day-to-day conduct of business a Secretariat shall be established under the responsibility of the President or, under the ruling of Article 25, under that of the Executive Secretary.

b. It shall prepare the regular business meetings of the Management Committee, Executive Committee and the General Assembly; organise or support the organisation of the activities of the Association as described in Article 7 and carry out the administrative work involved in the day-to-day conduct of business.

Article 30
a. If a dispute among members of the Association concerning affairs of the Association arises, the President shall try to arrange a settlement.

b. If this proves to be impossible, the President shall ask each party involved in the dispute to nominate two members of the Association as arbitrators who shall elect a chairman among them. If there is no agreement on the chairman, the chairman shall be determined by lot.

c. The arbitrators shall reach their decision by simple majority; a tie is broken by the chairman. There shall be no appeal against such decisions.

Article 31
a. Decisions concerning amendments to the Constitution or the dissolution of the Association may be taken only by the General Assembly.

b. Editorial changes to this constitution, in addition to any provisions deemed necessary by the courts or responsible authorities can be made (as an alternative to the Executive Committee) by the President. Members shall be informed over these changes.

c. Dissolution may only be decided upon by a two-third majority vote of the members referred to in Article 11.

d. In the case of the dissolution of the Association, or by discontinuation of tax-privileged purposes, shall the assets of the Association be transferred for use to another tax-privileged organization who’s function fulfils the charitable purpose outlined in Article 5 of this constitution.