Constitution

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1 The name of the Association is European Association of Erasmus Coordinators (EAEC).

2 The name of the Association is legally reserved.

3 The seat of the Association could either be in Cyprus or in another European country, at an address chosen by the Management Board. The address that has initially been chosen is: Intercollege, 46 Makedonitissas Avenue, P.O.Box 24005, Nicosia, Cyprus.

4 The area of activity of the Association is the territory of the European Union. The Association can also conduct its activity outside the borders of the European Union.

5 The Association will be duly registered under law 57/72.

6 The Association acts in virtue of the Cyprus Law on Actions of Associations and the hereby Statute.

7 The Management Board can use its stamp with the logos shown above.

8 The Association can associate with other organizations within a framework of unions of associations and form various co-operation agreements with individuals, organizations with legal entity and ones that do not have legal entity on the territory of the European Union and outside its borders.

9 The period of existence of the Association is unlimited.

CHAPTER II

AIMS, SCOPE AND PRINCIPLES OF ACTIVITY

10 The aims of the Association are as follows:

  1. to enable information and experience exchange by the European Socrates/Erasmus Programme Coordinators;
  2. to promote mobility of students and research personnel in the territory of the European Union;
  3. to circulate provisions of the Bologna Process and its updates in academic circles;
  4. to promote principles and participation in the Socrates European Commission Programme;
  5. to support the process of raising education standards and quality in the territory of the European Union;
  6. to organize seminars and conferences, with an assumption of enabling direct communication among the Association members and defining new areas of the Association activity;
  7. to prepare proposals of utilization of European Commission's funds;
  8. to cooperate as a partner in European projects;
  9. to produce publications of interest to the members.

11 The Association can conduct an economic activity (e.g. conferences, seminars, lectures, publications etc) according to general rules defined in separate regulations. All income acquired from that activity shall be allotted to cover costs connected with a realisation of the purpose defined in the hereby statute and cannot be divided among members of the Association. The Association will hold a bank Euro-accountin Cyprus or in another European country.

12 For integration of environment of association, a Conference will be organized at least once every other year.

CHAPTER III

MEMBERSHIP, RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MEMBERS

13 Members of the Association can become institutions eligible to participate in Erasmus Programme with one official representative of university members, as well as other people linked with the Erasmus Programme. A European or a Foreigner who satisfies the conditions above can also become a member of the Association .

14 Members of the Association are divided into regular members and honorary members, as well as supporting members.

15 An ordinary member can become an individual with the full capacity to legal transactions and not deprived of legal rights.

An honorary member can become an individual of special importance or an individual, who rendered great service for the Association by making a contribution into development of the idea and realization of the statutory purpose of the Association.

A supporting member of the operation and function of the Association can be a legal entity who declares their financial or any other contribution. A supporting member acts in the Association through their representative.

Ordinary members and supporting members are admitted after an application process to the Management Board of the Association.

An honorary membership is granted by a General Meeting of Members of the Association on the ground of a motion of the Association Management Board.

16 An ordinary member of the Association has the right:

  1. for the active and passive voting rights for all authorities of the Association;
  2. to participate in a General Assembly of Members of the Association;
  3. to express own opinions in all matters concerning the Association activity;
  4. to participate in all forms of activity serving a realization of the statutory purpose of the Association;
  5. to participate in the creation and realization of the Association programme;
  6. to benefit from all privileges related to the Association membership.

An ordinary member of the Association is obliged to:

  1. observe the statute, regulations and resolutions of the Association authorities;
  2. pay regular fees and other charges for the benefit of the Association.

17 An honorary member of the Association enjoys all rights an ordinary member of the Association is entitled to, except the active and passive voting rights. An honorary member is obliged to observe the statute, regulations and resolutions of the Association authorities. An honorary member is exempted from the obligation to pay a membership fee.

18 A Supporting member of the Association has the right to participate in a General Assembly andexpress their opinion concerning any activity of the Association except the active and passive voting rights. A supporting member is obliged to observe the statute, regulations and resolutions of the Association authorities. A supporting member is obliged to meet their declared financial or any other contribution.

19 The Association membership ceases as a result of:

  1. voluntary resignation from the membership announced to the Association Management Board in writing, following a prior settlement of all commitments towards the Association;
  2. death of the member or loss of their legal entity status;
  3. removing the member from the membership list because of an unjustified non-payment of fees and other charges for two consecutive periods.

CHAPTER IV

GOVERNING BODIES OF THE ASSOCIATION

20 Governing bodies of the Association are:

  1. General Assembly of Members;
  2. Management Board;
  3. Audit Committee.

21 Election and dismissal from the governing bodies of the Association stated in 20 item 2 and 3, take place out of an unlimited number of candidates members of the Association, in the way of close voting during a General Assembly. Simultaneous running for the Management Board and Audit Committee of the Association is not permitted.

22 Governing bodies of the Association stated in 20 item 2 and 3, will consist of candidates, who, one by one, acquired the greatest number of valid votes. If two or more candidates acquire an equal number of votes, the voting is repeated in order to determine an election winner only from among candidates, who acquired an equal number of valid votes.

23 To count the required majority of votes in an election to the governing bodies of the Association referred to in 20 item 2 and 3, and to adopt resolutions by the governing bodies of the Association only votes 'for' or 'against' are taken into consideration.

24 Resolutions of the governing bodies of the Association shall be adopted in an open voting by a simple majority of votes provided that the body is in quorum (at least half of the members plus one authorizedto vote are present), unless any further resolution of the Statue says differently. (Voting concerning the members, unlike those defined in 23 and 30 is proceeded by a secret ballot.)

25 Term of office of the elected governing bodies of the Association referred to in 20 item 2 and 3 , lasts 2 years. Each member of the Association can be re-elected as many times as they wish, provided that they are eligible to be ordinary members. Not more than two officers in the governing bodies of the Association can be held by citizens of the same country, subject to the provision of 39. An elected member of the governing body cannot hold at the same time one of the appointed executive positions of the governing body that is Executive Vice-President, Executive Secretary and Executive Treasurer.

  1. GENERAL ASSEMBLY

26 General Assembly is the highest authority of the Association. Ordinary members take part in the General Assembly with decisive votes, while honorary members and supporting members, as well as selected experts and invited guests, take part without a vote. Each ordinary member has one vote.

27 The exclusive powers of the General Assembly consist of the following:

  1. approval of an activity plan of the Association, as well as approving a budget of the Association;
  2. passing the Statute and its changes;
  3. election and dismissal of members of the governing bodies of the Association;
  4. examination of reports of individual governing bodies of the Association and granting the vote of approval;
  5. passage of resolutions concerning a dissolution of the Association and division of its assets;
  6. repealing resolutions of the Management Board or Audit Committee contradictory to the law or the Statute;
  7. taking part in solving problems, significant for the Association;
  8. deciding upon termination of existence of the Association;
  9. forming sub-committees and entrusting them with specific tasks.

28 In order to change the constitution or dismiss members of the Management Board or Audit Committee the General Assembly has to be in quorum. Quorum is said to exist if at least half plus one of the ordinary members are present. In circumstances where less than half of the ordinary members are present then the General Assembly is postponed for 30 minutes, in which time all present ordinary members but not less than 20 are considered to satisfy quorum.

29 General Assembly shall debate according the debate rules approved by them.

30 Debates of the General Assembly shall be run by an Executive Committee consisting of the following: the chairperson, his (or her) deputy, two secretaries, and one member. The Executive Committee of the General Assembly shall be elected in an open vote, with a simple majority of votes of ordinary members present at the General Assembly, from among members of the Association, who will not be members of the Management Board or Audit Committee of the Association. A member of outgoing bodies of the Association cannot be a member of the selected Executive Committee of the General Assembly. In case there is no interest by an ordinary member to be elected to serve in this Executive Committee then the President may propose specific ordinary members. The term of service of the Executive Committee is until a new Management Board is elected.

31 Resolution of the General Assembly shall be binding for all members of the Association, unless a resolution of the General Assembly adopted in an individual matter is binding for a member concerned.

32 The General Assembly can be convened in an ordinary or extraordinary mode.

33 Ordinary General Assembly shall be convened at least once every two years.

34 Extraordinary General Assembly shall be convened by the Management Board on its own initiative, or on request of the Audit Committee, or on a written application of at least 1/3 of the total number of all ordinary members of the Association, giving the reason and explaining the purpose of the convening. The Management Board is obliged to convene the Extraordinary General Assembly within 2 months from the date the request of the Audit Committee was received or the application of members of the Association the preceding sentence refers to.

35 The General Assembly convened by the Management Board in an extraordinary mode shall examine only the matters, it was convened for.

36 The Audit Committee shall convene the Ordinary General Assembly should the Management Board fail to convene it within the time stipulated in 33 of the Statute or the Extraordinary General Assembly, should the Management Board fail to convene it within the time stipulated in 34 of the Statute, in both cases within one month from the date the Assembly was to be convened.

  1. MANAGEMENT BOARD

37 The Management Board shall consist of 9 members, 6 elected and 3 appointed, for the period of two years. The Board shall perform its duties until an appointment of a new Management Board.

38 The Management Board shall consist of the President of the Association, First Executive Vice President of the Association, three Vice Presidents, Executive Treasurer, Executive Secretary and two members.

39 First Executive Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary shall be appointed from among Cypriot and other European ordinary members by the institutions closely related to the Executive members and pointed out by the Management Board of the Association. The Association reserves the right to have its own independent office in Cyprus or in any other European country and be supported by executive members of the Management Board which are chosen by the ordinary members of the Association residing in the corresponding countries.

40 The Management Board shall assemble within one day from the date of its election by the General Assembly in order to form the body based on 38 and 39 . The Management Board shall meet at least once a year before a General Assembly.

41 The Management Board's authority covers in particular:

  1. Representing the Association on international platform;
  2. Acting on behalf of the Association;
  3. Management of Assets of the Association;
  4. Conducting of financial and budget economy of the Association, including passage of budget of the Association;
  5. Convocational of a General Assembly;
  6. Determination of the planning of Association;
  7. Granting membership of the Association, as well as crossing a member off the membership list, drawing up a current list of members of the Association;
  8. Execution of resolution of the General Assembly;
  9. Determination of the amount of the membership fee and methods of its payment, exemption from obligation to pay the membership fee;
  10. Formation of regulation of Works/Activity of the Management Board in the way of a resolution, as well asRegulations and agenda of the General Assembly;
  11. Other powers entrusted by the General Assembly, which are in conformity with the Statute.

42 The Management Board shall submit the General Assembly a report of its activity.

43 The Management Board shall be responsible for its undertaken actions and assumed obligations.

44 The Management Board meetings shall be convened by the President of the Association, with an observance of principles stated in the Regulations of Works of the Management Board.

45 Every member of the Management Board shall have one vote. In case of voting balance, the vote of the President of the Association shall be decisive.

46 The President of the Association represents the Association outside. Declaration of will on behalf of and for the Association shall be issued jointly by the President and First Executive Vice-President. Financial obligations for the Associationshall be assumed jointly by the First Executive Vice President and the Executive Treasurer after the written approval by the president of the Association .

  1. AUDIT COMMITTEE

47 The Audit Committee shall consist of three members, who are members of the Association. Members of the Audit Committee cannot be members of other governing bodies of the Association.

48 The Audit Committee shall select a Chairperson from its own members. The Chairperson shall manage works of the Audit Committee and, together with other two members of the Committee, sets Regulations and work timetable of the Committee for the term of office the governing bodies of the Association are appointed for.

49 The Audit Committee's authority covers the following:

  1. control of all fields of a current activity of the Association, especially a conformity of actions undertaken by the Association and its governing bodies with targets of the Association with its statute and financial plans, as well as its budget;
  2. control of activity of the Management Board;
  3. issuance of appraisals and opinions created on the base of its control proceedings;
  4. application to the General Assembly to grant an approval of performance of the outgoing Management Board;
  5. the audit of the accounts of the Association by a Certified Accountant who will be appointed by the Management Board of the Association;

50 The Audit Committee shall submit the General Assembly a report of its activity. The Audit Committee shall present the General Assembly an opinion on realization of statutory objectives by the Association.

  1. THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CO-OPTATION

51

  1. In the case of a decrease in the number of the Management Board members it is completed by co-optation of the people who, one by one, acquired the greatest number of valid votes, subject to the provision of 39. Co-optation is valid till the end of the term of the office.
  2. If the member leaving is a rank officer then the Board will elect between its members

the new rank officer.

  1. In the case of a decrease in the appointed executive officers of the Board then the

president of the Association shall request from the appointing organization to appoint a new

executive officer and if there is no response within two weeks then the president can appoint an Executive Vice president from the ordinary members of the Association.

CHAPTER V

ASSETS OF THE ASSOCCIATION

52 Assets of the Association consist of real estate, movables and funds, other property and non-property rights, in particular:

  1. membership fees;
  2. donations, bequests and legacies for the Association;
  3. subsides, subventions and non-repayable assistance;
  4. income from the statutory activity of the Association.

53 The Association can conduct business activity on general terms defined in separate regulations. Total income will be allotted for expenses connected with the implementation of aims defined in the Statute and cannot be divided among the members of the Association. The Association has the right to purchase and own land or premises.

54 The membership fee shall be paid by a member of the Association by 31 May each year. The amount of annual fee cannot exceed the sum of 100 EUR for the first two years of existence of the association. In cases where a member does not pay the membership fee for two consecutive periods, will be removed from the membership list. The General Assembly has the right to increase the annual fee.

55 Association will have its own bank account in Euro currency. The account will be held in a bank in Cyprus or in another European country for convenience.

56 By adopting a resolution on dissolution of the Association referred to in 57 of the Statute, the General Assembly defines the method of liquidation of assets of the Association, appoints, from among members of the Association, a Liquidation Commission responsible for the liquidation proceedings of the assets. The assets of the Association shall be allotted for purposes conformable with the statute of the Association.

CHAPTER VI

DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION

57 The General Assembly shall adopt a resolution on dissolution of the Association by an ordinary majority vote of members authorized to vote present at the General Assembly.

58 An application for an adoption of a resolution on dissolution of the Association can be submitted by at least 15 members of the Association authorized to vote at the General Assembly.

59 Provisions of the statute shall come into effect with the day of calling the first General Assembly.

CHAPTER VII

PROCEDURE OF ELECTIONS OF NEW MANAGEMENT BOARD

60 Announcement for invitation of candidates is made at least one month before the General Assembly.

61 Application for candidacy is made at least two weeks before elections. In case there is less or equal number of candidates by the deadline then no elections will be held and the General Assembly approves of the candidates provided they meet minimum requirements as mentioned above. In case there are more candidates than the number of positions, elections will run as described above.

62 The list of candidates will be announced at least one week before the elections.

63 In case of a court or out-of-court case, the Association will be represented by the Management Board.The Management Board can appoint a solicitor/s for its representation in a court, as this promotes the general benefits and aims of the Association.