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BY-LAWS |
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ART. 1 - DENOMINATION AND DEFINITION
The name of the Association is:
"European Association Rotary for Environment -
ONLUS" or, in short form, "A.E.R. A. - ONLUS" from now on.
ART. 2 - MISSION
The association has no profit purposes and
exclusively pursues its aim of social solidarity and good:
a) education to the respect of the environment using incentives and
scholarships;
b) the promotion and management of programs and projects made by the Rotary,
aiming, in particular, at technical-economic developments in harmony with the
environment;
c) presentation of operational proposals to International and National
Institutions concerning the following priority themes:
- the environmental factor in every human action;
- earth, sea, water and atmosphere: their correct use and decontamination;
- urban environment: protection and correct behavior; agriculture: the
environment as a resource;
- protected areas: establishment and management.
The Association cannot carry on any other activity but the ones herein above
indicated as well whose activities directly related to collect funds and
donations bound to the constitution of the Rotary European Foundation for the
Environment and to participate in actions promoted by the Rotary International
with the purpose of extending the philosophy and the scopes of the Association
on a wider international basis.
ART. 3 - DURATION
The duration of the Association is unlimited with the
exception of the cases foreseen in the present Statute or by the current Laws and
Regulations.
ART. 4. ASSOCIATION HEAD OFFICE
The Head Office of the Association is located
in Milan (Italy), Piazzale Brescia, 6.
ART. 5 - MEMBERS
Ordinary Members of the Association are the Rotary
International Districts.
The R.I. Clubs and individual Rotarians, who accepting the Association objectives,
request to join as Adherent Members with no right to vote.
It is not allowed a temporary membership of the Association cannot being in any
case granted the right of with drawl.
In order to become members of the Association, the R.I. Districts must
have the approval of at least two thirds of the relevant Clubs. Consequently the District may apply for
membership will be entitled, at the Assembly of the Association, to a one vote.
Rotarians, that the Board of the Association considers capable of offering a
contribution of activity and prestige due to their experience, titles and
profession can become Honorary and Meritorious Members with no right to vote.
The participation in the Association activity is not only confined to payment
of the yearly subscription, but also includes a commitment to develop actions
for the environment problems, at any level, in conformity with the spirit of the Rotary International.
The membership ceases at death, renunciation in the case of Districts or Clubs,
default in the payment
of dues longer than one year, for the withdrawl of the Club, or when performing
activities that the Board considers in conflict with the mission of the
Association, for violations of the organization rules. In this last case, the banishment of a
Member is to be deliberated by the Members Assembly.
The withdrawl of a Club from the Association does not involve the Rotarians
belonging to the said Club, it self who intend to remain Members of the
Association.
The contribution will be volunteer and will be indicated yearly by the
Association's Board according to the type of membership.
ART. 6 - INCOMES
Incomes are represented by the contribution mentioned
in the previous Art. 5, plus public and private subsidies, donations and/or
legacies
ART. 7 - FINANCIAL YEAR
The financial year expires on June 30 of every year.
For every financial year is drawn up a budget and an annual balance sheet. The balance and relevant statements shall be
deposited in the Association registred office for a fifteen days period before
the Members Assembly called for the approval of the same. Copies of the same can be required being the
expenses paid by the applicant.
ART. 8 – ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE
ASSOCIATION
The Association organization includes the following
structures:
1 - the Members Assembly;
2 - the Chairman of the Board of Directors
3 - the Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors;
4 - the Board of Directors;
5 - the Executive Committee;
6 - the Secretary of the Board;
7 - the Auditors Committee;
8 - the Warranters Committee;
9 - the Scientific Committee;
10-the Promotion Committee.
The Board of Directors might appoint a Secretary
General and a Treasurer.
The appointment of the members of the bodies of the Association cannot be
subject to any constraint or limit and shall be in line with the principles of
the widest free participation.
ART. 9 - ASSEMBLY
The assembly is composed of all Members of the
Association and is most the main body (see art. 5).
The Members Assembly is
convened by the Board in the premises of the Head Office or anywhere in Italy
or in Europe, normally once a year, within four months from the end of the
financial year, and when requested in writing by at least one tenth of the
Members.
The
ordinary Assembly deliberates in:
a) the annual report of the Board on the activity carried out by the
Association;
b) the annual balance-sheet;
c) the designation of the Board of Directors (see art. 12);
d) the designation of the Auditors Committee;
e) the nomination of any other organ of the Association;
f) at any other argument proposed by the Board of Directors;
g)the determination of the yearly volunteer membership rate for
Districts, Clubs and individual Rotarian;
h)the rules that regulates the activity of the Association
i )The eventual allocation of managements profits, finds and capital if it is
permitted by the law and by the present statute.
l)the dissolution, the severance indemnity of the Association and the
devolution of its estate.
ART. 10 - CONVOCATION
The Assembly is
convened, and as the Board decides, members entitled to vote are notified by
letter, or any other type of written information, including Rotary papers, at
least twenty days before the meeting date within specified place, day, time of
the meeting in first call and in second call all the subject to be treated,
sent to all shareholder at the addresses registered in the share register to
the Members of the board of Directors, to the revisors and to everybody that is
part of the Association.
lf there are more than fifty people with the rights to partecipate to
the assembly the call should change to a letter that has to be sent twenty day
before the date fixed for the assembly; a notice has to be with evidence
published twice, on a newspaper of a large diffusion in the territory of the
Association.
The Assembly is held,
on special occasions, whenever the Board considers the meeting necessary or
when required by law or at the request of at least one third of the Members.
ART. Il - MEMBERS ASSEMBLY AND RELEVANT
DELIBERATIONS An ordinary meeting is valid, in the first
convocation, when at least half of the Members entitled to vote, are
present. When the majority is not
obtained, a second convocation is to be made within fifteen days from the first
and, in this case, the meeting is valid with any number of Members entitled to
vote, unless the meeting concerns items included in parts e) - d) and g)
of art. 9.
In this case a minimum
presence of 15% of voting members is required.
Special meetings, which are generally held for amendments to the By-Laws, for
dissolving the Association and devolution of properties and for actions against
Officials of the Association, are valid when, in both the first and second
convocation, 50% plus one members are present.
Both ordinary and special meetings are considered valid, even in absence
of regular convocation, when all Members entitled to vote, all the Board
Members and all the Auditors are Present.
In all cases, either ordinary or special Assemblies, in the first or
second convocations, deliberations require the approval of the majority of the
members with the right to vote, actually present. In the meetings for the approval of the balance-sheet or for the
discussions regarding Officials' responsibilities, the Officials have no right
to vote.
The Members can delegate other Members by writing; each Member cannot have more
than three proxies.
The Assembly is chaired by the President of the Board or, in his absence, by
the Vice-President or by the senior Official; when none of them are available,
the Assembly will proceed to appoint one of the present members as
Chairman. The Assembly appoints a
Secretary who will write up the meeting report, duly undersigned by the Chairman. It is the responsibility of the Chairman
to verify the regularity of the meeting, of the proxies and, in general, the
right to participate in the assembly.
ART. 12 - THE BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
The Board consists of a
minimum of 9 and a maximum of 15 members subdivided as follows:
a)
four, elected among Rotarians PastGovernors of Districts members of the
Association, indicated by the Governors in charge of
the same Districts.
b) the others, representing the Rotary Clubs members, selected among candidates
indicated by each Club or, in absence of indications, among Rotarians.
The Board appointment lasts three years.
In case a Director resigns, before the regular termination of the Board,
the latter will appoint another member of the same category in charge until the
subsequent Assembly.
All the Members of the Board may be reelected.
No compensation is due to the Members of the Board; however they are entitled
to the reimbursement of the expenses authorized by the Board.
The meetings of the Board are attended by the members of the Executive and
Warranters Committees.
ART. 13 - POWERS OF THE BOARD The
Board bas all the powers related to the ordinary and special management of the
Association, with the exception of those that the law and the By-Laws
attributes to the Assembly.
The Board will:
a) nominate a President among its own members and can
also appoint one or more Vice-Presidents, one of whom should be a Past-Governor;
b) nominate a Secretary General and a Treasurer who can be Rotarians, not
necessarily members of the Board. fixing, if required, the relevant
compensation;
c) appoint an Executive Committee composed of a minimum of 5 and a maximum of
7, chosen among its members. The
President of the Board member by right - will be also the President of the
Committee. The Board may delegate part
of its powers to the Executive Committee, establishing, when necessary the
limits of the delegation;
d) convene the Members Assembly;
e) prepare the Annual Report, the Balance-sheet and the Budget for the Members
Assembly;
f) hire and dismiss employees;
g) approve the initiatives, in line with the activity and the mission of the
Association as indicated in art. 2 of the By-Laws, selected among those
proposed by the Assembly, the Executive Committee, the Scientific Committee and
the Promotional Committee;
h) appoint, after having fixed the number of the members, the members of the
Scientific and Promotional Committees and the relevant Presidents.
The President of the Board is the legal representative with respect to third
parties and legal problems, is elected for a period of three years and can be
re-elected. In case of absence or
impediment of the President, the representation is taken over by the
Vice-President or the Vice-Presidents (separately if more than one). The signature of the Vice-President
certifies the absence or the impediment of the President. A reimbursement of expenses is expected but
must be noticed, documented and strictly connected to the held offíce.
ART. 14 - CONVOCATION AND
DELIBERATION
President of the association represent the Association
to third parties and in judgement.
President can as well attribute representation after a deliberation of the
board of Director, to people unrelated to the board of Director.
The President, or his representative, takes care of the actuation of Assembly
and Board deliberations, convenes the Board by certified letter or cable or
fax, to be sent at least fifteen days before the meeting to the effective
members, specifying the agenda.
The Board will also be convened when at least three Directors, the Auditors or
the Warranters, according to the subsequent Art. 17, make such a request,
indicating the topics of the meeting.
The Board is also validly convened, in absence of convocation, when all the
members are present together with all Warranters and Auditors.
In the case of a regular convocation, the presence of at least one third of the
Board Directors and one Warranter, is required. The Board meeting is chaired by the President or one of the
Vice-Presidents. Taking into
consideration what is foreseen in the subsequent Art. 17, the deliberations are
taken by the majority of those present and in case of parity of votes, the vote
of the Chairman will prevail.
The meeting report will be prepared by the Secretary and undersigned by the same
together with the Chairman.
The Board will meet at least once a year for the approval of the Annual
Financial Report to be submetted to the Assembly and for the preparation of the
budget for the following year.
The meetings of the Board will be held in the Association Head Office, unless
differently indicated in the meeting convocation.
The Board operates in line with the indication of the Warranters Committee as
per Art. 17 of the present By-Laws.
Vice President substitute President in any his function and every time
he can not fulfil his office
A Vice President intervent is proof of a President impediment to third parties.
ART. 15 - THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Executive Committee is composed of a minimum of 5
and a maximum of 7 members appointed by the Board and in addition to the Board
President who is member by right.
Its meetings are attended also by the Secretary General, the Treasurer, the
Presidents of the Scientific, Promotional and Auditors Committees.
Attendees by right are
also the members of the Warranters Committee entitled to the powers and the
rights foreseen in the following Art. 17 which covers the right to vote and the
use of the veto faculty. The Executive
Committee has the mission and the responsibility of implementing operationally
the activities decided by the Members Assembly and delegated to the Board; it
takes decisions on all problems concerning the carrying out of the projects
promoted and/or approved by the Board.
The Committee is chaired by the Board President who convenes it whenever
he seems it necessary to have a meeting and, in any case, at least four times a
year and when requested by at least three of its members.
The
Executive Committee is convened by certified letter or cable or fax at
least seven days before the meeting date, with the indication of the agenda.
The Executive Committee is validly convened, in absence of convocation, when
al] the members are present together with the members of the Warranters and
Auditors Committees.
In the case of a regular convocation, the presence of at least one half or the
members and at least one Warranter, is required.
Taking into consideration what is foreseen in the subsequent Art. 17,
the deliberations are taken by the majority of those present in case of parity,
the vote of the President will prevail.
The Executive Committee
meeting report is undersigned by the Chairman.
The
Executive Committee coordinates the activity of the Scientific and Promotional
Committees.
ART. 16 - THE AUDITORS COMMITTEE
The Auditors Committee is composed of three effective
members and two substitutes; it is
appointed by the Members Assembly and operates for three years. The Committee checks the administration of
the Association, controls the respect of the laws and By-Laws and verifies the
regularity of the accounting operations, preparing its own report to be
presented to the Members Assembly together with the Annual Report and the
Balance-sheet, for approval. The
Committee is entitled to make any type of control on the accounting and financial
management of the Association.
The Auditors are selected among Rotarians with experience in finance and
accounting, professional qualified, in whatever Rotary District they belong to.
ART. 17 - THE WARRANTERS COMMITTEE
The Warranters Committee consists of the Governors in
charge of all the Districts members of the Association or of former Rotary
International past-Governors indicated by the Governors of the Districts
members of the Association.
This Committee has the right to participate in the meetings of the Board and
each members is entitled to one vote.
The Warranters Committee has the mission to:
a) control the activity performed by the Association
in order to ascertain that such activity is carried out for achieving the
institutional objectives of the Association, in order to avoid direct or
indirect interferences with initiatives, if any, made by Districts or
individual Clubs, for the realization of the Rotary International programs;
b) verify that every initiative, behaviour and activity of the Association, of
the Board and of the Executive Committee is conforms to the principles and the
regulations foreseen by the Rotary International Manual of Procedures:
c) ascertain that every activity of service and project for the institutional mission
of the Association, be adequate, for nature and scope, to the possibility and
capability of the Districts and individual Clubs to carry it out successfull
even if in cooperation with Institutions, Bodies and Subjects external to the
Rotary International organization, safeguarding the guarantees mentioned in the
previous parts a) and b);
d) express, in advance, the right of veto on the proposals of the Board and of
the Executive Committee, whenever remarking initiatives, acts and behaviours
not conforms to the regulations and spirit of the present By-Laws or in
contrast with the Rotary International Manual of Procedures and the laws of the
States where to the Association operate.
Every time the right of veto is exercised by the Committee, the latter will
officially give a detailed notice to the Auditors. The right of veto is effective when supported by the majority.
ART. 18 - THE SCIENTIFIC
COMMITTEE
The
Scientific Committee is chaired by a President appointed by the Board and
selected among
The revocation for unavailability or incapability to cover the position, must
be decided by the Board.
In case of revocation and/or dismission ot the President Committee, the Board
proceeds to his replacement for the remaining period to the end of the
triennium.
The Scientific Committee's President concours to the indication to the Board
the Committee members to appoint. Such
members will be chosen among Rotarians of proven scientific and specific
experience.
The function of the Committee is to establish programs, projects,
evaluations, express conclusions about the Association activity, together with
the realization and the evolution of the projects approved by the Board.
The Committee will be subdivided into working parties according to the specific
matters to be handled.
The members of the Scientific Committee will meet whenever the President
considers it necessary
In any case, the Committee will meet at least once every three months.
ART. 19 - THE PROMOTION COMMITTEE
The
Promotion Committee is chaired by a President appointed by the Board and
selected among experienced Rotarians The Committee lasts three years, in
absence of revocation.
The revocation for unavailability or incapability to cover the position, must
be decided by the Board.
In case of revocation and/or dismissions of the President, the Board proceeds
to his replacement for the remaining period to the end of the triennium.
The Promotion Committee's President concours to the indication to the Board the
Committee members to appoint. Such
members will be chosen among Rotarians of proven experience in the Il
media" sector, in public relations and ancillary activities of mentioned
sectors. The function of Promotion
Committee is to enforce the activities and demonstrations promoted by the
Association within the field of specific projects from an advertising and
financial point of wiew and approved by the Executive Committee. The members of Promotion Committee will meet
whenever the President considers it necessary. In any case, the Committee will
meet at last once every three months.
ART.
20 - DOCUMENTATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
Books
of documentation must be kepi on file by the responsible organs:
a)
minutes of the Members Assembly;
b) minutes of the meetings of the Board Directors;
c) minutes of the meetings of the Executive Committee;
d) minutes of the meetings or the Auditors Committee;
e) minutes of the meetings of the Scientific Committee;
f) minutes of the meetings of the Promotional Committee;
g) registry of the Members;
h) daily log;
i) inventori register.
Before utilization by interested parties, the books of documentations must be
legally certified.
ART.
21 - DISBANDMENT
It
is forbidden to the association to distribute even indirectly working surplus
and profits anyhow named as well as fund, reserve or capital during the life of
the Association, except the cause in which the destination or distribution are
imposed by law or done in favour of non profitable but socially useful which
are part of the same structure, according to law, statute or regulations.
The Association is bound to invest working profits or surplus for the
realisation of the institutional activities or of those directly connected.
ART.
22 - DISBANDMENT
The
Association disbands, not only by the causes foreseen by the laws and by its
own deliberation, but also by a Rotary International decision, taken in
accordance with the Rotary International Manual of Procedures, except, in this
last case, the right of the Association to continue its proper activities,
outside the Rotarian Organization.
In case of dissolution, the Association is bound to transfer its properties to
other non profitable organisations but socially useful or to a public utility
aim after having had the opinion of the board of control as per Article 3, 190
subjection to the 23 december 1996 n. 662 law, any different destination
statued by law excepted.
ART.
23 - CRITERIA FOR REFERENCE
For
what is not expressely foreseen by the present By-Laxs, reference must be made
to the existing legislative standards in the Book I' Title Il of the Italian
Civil Code and to the Rotary International Manual of Procedures.