The Federation of European National Statistical Societies

Statutes of the Federation

 

 

Art. 1 - NAME, GENERAL GOAL AND SEAT OF THE ASSOCIATION

1. The name of the non-profit association is "The Federation of European National Statistical Societies", abbreviation FENStatS.
2. The Federation is an independent European scientific organization with non-profit and non- political motives.
3. The seat of the association is in Luxembourg.

Art. 2 - OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

1. The Federation promotes mutual communication, co-operation and interchange of views among all those interested in statistical sciences, in their scientific principles, in a broad sense and in as wide a range of applications as possible.
2. The Federation serves as an agency for the dissemination of technical and scientific information among the National Statistical Societies forming the federation, promoting their mutual collaboration and those activities that can augment the research scientific impact of the Members, including international conferences, journals, books and other publications.
3. The Federation encourages crossed participation in national events to increase international exchanges of experiences and research and to organize joint meetings on specific topics of interest for at least two European Member Societies.
4. The Federation supports the immersion of doctorate and post-doctorate students in statistics in international research networks, and actively cooperates with ECAS (European Courses in Advanced Statistics).
5. The Federation proposes actions to the European Commission, other European institutions and supplementary donors to secure funds for projects in research and education in statistics. Furthermore, FENStatS prepares and presents projects that cater to research and education needs in statistics and requires its delegates to serve in panels and committee where funding is decided.
6. The Federation collaborates with international statistical associations and in particular with the ISI (International Statistical Institute) and European Societies with statistical interests such as ENBIS (European Network for Business and Industrial Statistics).
7. The Federation of European Statistical National Societies is web-based, with interactions and management mainly via the Internet; services, news and newsletters are made available on the Internet.

Art. 3 - MEMBERS - APPLICATION, ADMISSION AND RESIGNATION

1. The Federation of European National Statistical Societies is an association whose Members are:
   1. European National Statistical Societies,
   2. Corporate Members.
2. An existing European Scientific National Statistical Society may apply as a new Member of FENStatS. A formal request completed with the information on the objective, organizational structure and membership of applicant should be sent to the Secretary General of FENStatS.
3. Institutions that are not European National Statistical Societies (like the European Statistical Office, or any other institution dealing with or interested in statistics) may become corporate Members of FENStatS. A formal request should be sent to the Secretary General of FENStatS.
4. The General Assembly has the authority to accept a new Member with a majority of two-thirds. The application for membership completed with the information on the size of the new society and its internal structure must be distributed to the General Assembly at least three weeks before the voting procedure takes place.
5. Membership ends by the resignation of a Society with a written declaration to the President of the Federation, by the Representative of this Member. Membership ends by termination by the General Assembly with a majority of two-thirds, together with severe and clear reasons for this termination.

Art. 4 - ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

1. The organizational structure of the Federation shall include the General Assembly and the Executive Committee

Art. 5 - GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1. The General Assembly represents the entirety of all Members and is the highest authority of the Federation. It shall make all policy decisions, in particular concerning the aims and scopes of the Federation.
2. The General Assembly is made up of individuals each acting on behalf of one Member Society or representing a Corporate Member. Representatives are formally notified to the Executive Committee.
3. The General Assembly submits any vital question to the Members of the Federation for discussion and decides on the basis of the returned proposals. It shall act upon proposals submitted to it by the Executive Committee.
4. The General Assembly shall be composed of
   1. The Presidents, or his/her representatives, of the Member Societies.
   2. The representatives of corporate members, who do not participate in the voting of the General Assembly.
   Member Societies participate in the voting with one vote per country.
5. The meetings of the General Assembly may be business meetings, or virtual meetings (online conferences, etc.). The convening notices to the General Assembly containing the agenda shall be sent by e-mail or post to each Member at least three weeks before the meeting.
6. The General Assembly shall gather every year for a business meeting with the Executive Committee. This meeting is prepared by the Executive Committee and chaired by the President.
7. A quorum of the General Assembly is constituted if a simple majority of Member Socie-ties is represented at a meeting. If no quorum is attained, decisions shall be taken by a mail (or email) vote.
8. Votes can be performed during a business meeting, or by a mail vote or email. If voting is to take place at a business meeting, Members can delegate her or his vote to another person.
9. A motion is accepted if it obtains
   1. In a mail or e-mail vote: a simple majority of all Members who vote;
   2. In a business meeting: a simple majority of the voting Members who are present and voting, including proxies provided that the quorum has been attained. If the latter condition is not fulfilled or no majority attained, any decision must be ratified by a mail vote. E-mail votes must be returned within two weeks of notification by the Secretary General. Mail votes must be returned within three weeks of notification by the Secretary General.
   3. In case a motion concerning sensitive issues for a country-member, the representative of the Member Society from the said country has the right to ask a majority of two-thirds of the Members of the General Assembly.
10. If the Executive Committee receives a mail vote proposal by one of the voting Members, it cannot reject it without serious reasons or without a detailed explanation.

Art. 6 - THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

1. The Executive Committee is the governing body of the Federation, which implements the policy and decisions approved by the General Assembly. The Executive Committee manages the affairs of the association and represents it in all judicial and extrajudicial acts. It may, under its responsibility, delegate its powers to one of its members or even, if the statutes or the general meeting so authorize, to a third party.
2. The members of the Executive Committee are the following individuals:
   1. the President,
   2. the Vice-President,
   3. the Secretary General,
   4. the Treasurer
   5. the Webmaster
3. In cases of temporary unavailability, the tasks of Secretary General, Treasurer, may be combined or merged. The outgoing President is considered “Vice-President” in order to ensure continuity in the activities of the Federation.

Art. 7 - THE PRESIDENT

1. The President is the official representative of the Federation. He/she carries out the decisions of the General Assembly and chairs meetings of the Executive Committee and the General Assembly.
2. The offices of President and Vice-President are interlocking in the following way: The General Assembly shall elect a President who has not earlier served a term as President and finally shall serve a further term as Vice-President.
3. A vacancy in the Presidency shall be filled by the Vice-President with the same duty and responsibility. A vacancy in the Vice-Presidency shall be filled by the Secretary General.
4. A vacancy in the office of the Secretary General shall be filled by the Treasurer. A President or Acting Secretary General coming to office in this manner shall exercise the full duties and responsibilities of the office until the General Assembly shall have taken steps to the appropriate succession of office, whichever shall be later.

Art. 8 - THE SECRETARY GENERAL, TREASURER, AND WEBMASTER

1. The Secretary General manages the day-to-day business in accordance with the decisions of the Executive Committee.
2. The Treasurer, in consultation with the President and Secretary General, authorizes the expenditures. He/she is responsible for the submission of the financial statements and budget to the Executive Committee and General Assembly. During the second half of the fiscal year, he/she shall liaise with the Secretary General in order to prepare the balance sheet, the revised forecast for the current year and the budget proposal for the coming year.
3. The Webmaster is responsible for maintaining the websites of the Federation ensuring that the web servers, hardware, and software are operating accurately, designing the website, generating and revising web pages.

Art. 9 - ELECTION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTE

1. The President, the Secretary General, the Treasurer and the Webmaster shall be elected by the General Assembly upon proposals of the Member Societies of the Federation.
2. If the representative of a Member Society in the General Assembly is elected to become President, Secretary General, Treasurer, or Webmaster he/she should be replaced by the newly representative of its Member Society.
3. If a member of the Executive Committee (except the President) or an additional member of the General Assembly resigns, the General Assembly elects a new person for this office for the rest of the term.
4. Elections should be held sufficiently long in advance of the end of their terms. Term of office to any position, excluding the webmaster, is three years, renewable for a second term.
5. The Secretary General, the Treasurer and the Webmaster may be candidates from the General Assembly or beyond.

Art. 10 - FINANCES

1. The resources of the Federation derive from:
   1. Membership fees of National Societies. Membership fees are proposed by the Executive Committee and approved by the General Assembly. They must not exceed an annual maximum of 10.000 € per individual Member Society.
   2. Corporate Members and donors: that is, persons or firms/companies or other organizations which are willing to support the Federation by means of an annual or ad hoc financial contribution the amount of which shall be fixed by the board of this association in accordance with the Corporate Member or donor.
   3. Any support for, and income from, conferences, courses or workshops, funding programs, etc. The regular budget may be complemented by separated budgets for special funding programs.
2. The Federation's financial management rules are submitted by the Executive Committee and adopted by the General Assembly. The rules include above all the mandate of the Executive Committee, the duty of transparency and accountability to the Members as well as the provisions in case of dissolution of the society. These rules are defined in the form of by-laws.
3. The financial year starts 1 January and ends on 31 December, except for the first year of incorporation. The Treasurer shall submit a proposal for a budget before the beginning of each fiscal year, which, after approval by the Executive Committee, has to be formally accepted by a vote of the General Assembly.
4. No remuneration for officials is considered. Reimbursement of the expenses, although not guaranteed, aiming at facilitating the activities of the officers connected with their actions can be authorized by the Treasurer on a proposal of the Executive Committee.

Art. 11 - AMENDMENTS TO THE STATUTES, TERMINATION OF THE SOCIETY

1. Amendments to the Statutes of this Federation are possible with two-thirds of the Members of the General Assembly. Amendments to other working documents and guidelines are possible with a simple majority of the General Assembly.
2. The society can be dissolved by a two-thirds majority. It requires a business meeting of the General Assembly.
3. In case of dissolution, the General Assembly will appoint one or more liquidators. Its legacy will be donated to a similar association or charitable organization, upon the proposal of the Executive Committee.

Art. 12 - BY-LAWS

1. The Federation can adopt its own rules of procedure in a By-Law, which shall be made public. A simple majority is necessary to adopt a By-Law of the Federation.

Art. 13 - GENERAL PROVISIONS

For all that is not regulated by the present statutes, it is referred to as the law of 21 April 1928 on associations and non-profit foundations as it has been modified, as well as to the internal rules of procedure in force.

Bamberg, 17. October 2018

English version, French version, German version.