Article 1 – Organisation

1. The name of the organisation shall be European Centre-Right LGBT+ Alliance (henceforth: the “Alliance”).

2. The Alliance aims to:
• Advance the rights in society for LGBT+ people based on the Christian Democratic and the centre-right concept of society and values such as freedom for persons and families, personal responsibility, dignity, and diversity
• Influence the political parties of the centre-right towards inclusivity of LGBT+-issues and people
• Influence the policies of centre-right parties to ensure that they are pursuing an agenda of individual freedom, diversity, and rights for LGBT+-people
• Contribute to a political environment where more LGBT+-people support centre-right political parties due to strong policies in relation to LGBT+-issues
• Strengthen co-operation between centre-right LGBT+-networks

3. The Alliance is a non-profit political organisation.

4. The working language of the Alliance is English.

Article 2 – Statutes

 

1. The operation and the activities of the Alliance are governed by these statutes.

2. The statutes will be interpreted according to the exact wording set in their text, and interpretation of any discrepancies or unclear points of the statutes will be determined by the board, until an amendment is made to the text of the statutes.

3. Changes to the statutes can only be approved at a quorate Annual Meeting and adopted by a 2/3 majority of the present and voting member organisations.

Article 3 – Membership

1. Full membership in the Alliance is open to political organisations affiliated or associated to or part of a political party that are a member (ordinary or associated) of the European Peoples’ Party working primarily or only with LGBT+-issues in order to advance the rights of LGBT+-persons.

2. Membership with observer status in the Alliance is open to any centre-right political organisations affiliated or associated to or part of a centre-right political party (which is not a member of the European Peoples’ Party) working primarily or only with LGBT+-issues in order to advance the rights of LGBT+-persons.

Membership with observer status is also open to individuals from parties within the European Peoples Party that do not have an LGBT+ network or organisation.

3. Membership of the Alliance is open only to organisations and individuals that share its aims and fulfil the criteria herein set for membership.

4. There is no membership fee. Notwithstanding, the Alliance may seek and secure funding from external sources to enable development, public consultations, and lobbying efforts.

5. New members are accepted or denied by a simple majority vote at a quorate Annual Assembly.

6. If an organisation wishes to become a member and applies between Annual Meetings, and that organisation fulfils the criteria necessary to become a member, the board can award the status of associate member until the Annual Meeting can have a final vote on the membership application.

7. A full or observer member organisation may be excluded from the Alliance if the organisation no longer fulfils the criteria herein set for membership or no longer shares the aims of the Alliance or acts in such a way that it harms the Alliance and its aims. Matters of exclusion are decided by the annual assembly and can only be decided by a majority of 2/3 of the present full member organisations at a quorate annual meeting.

8. A person that has contributed significantly to the development of the Alliance may be granted status as an honorary member by an Annual Meeting.

Article 4 – Internal organisation

1. The Annual Meeting is the highest governing body of the Alliance.

2. The Board elected by the Annual Meeting governs the Alliance between Annual Assemblies.

Article 5 – The Annual Assembly

1. The Annual Meeting should be held once every year in September, October or
November and organised by one of the member organisations.

2. At the Annual Meeting, all full member organisations have one vote each in the
decision of all matters at hand.

3. Individual members and organisations with observer status may take part in all discussion at the Annual Meeting but may not vote on the matters at hand.

4. At least 60% of the full member organisations must be present at the Annual Meeting for it to be quorate.

5. The annual meeting elects a President, a First Vice President, and a Second Vice President to lead the work and the Alliance according with Article 6.2

6. The Annual Meeting elects an Electoral Committee consisting of three persons. The persons cannot be members of the same organisations that are represented in the Presidency, must be from different member organisations among themselves and must not themselves wish to be elected to the Presidency. In the event of a resignation from the Electoral Committee, the member organisation will be asked to nominate a replacement to the Board who then appoints the new member.

The Electoral Committee shall in due time before each Annual Meeting consult the elected Presidency on their positions and prepare a suggestion for setting of a new Presidency for the Annual Meeting. The suggestion shall be distributed to the member organisations at least two weeks before the Annual Meeting.

7. The Annual Meeting shall take decisions necessary to develop and control the Alliance in accordance with the Aims of the organisation set up above.

8. All members of the board and of any committee and individual members and representatives of observer members within the Alliance shall have the right to speak at the Annual Meeting. Guests invited by the board may be granted the right to speak at the annual assembly.

9. All members of the member organisations delegation may speak at the Annual Meeting. The names of the delegates shall be registered beforehand at such a time as set forth by the board.

10. The Annual Meeting may specify an operational seat for the Alliance in accordance with the relevant law and regulations.

11. All member organisations (full and observers), individual members, appointed committees and the board may put forward motions and raise issues to be decided upon at the Annual Meeting. Such motions or issues should be circulated to all member organisations at least one week ahead of the Annual Meeting.

12. The Annual Meeting shall appoint an auditor for the Alliance.

13. At the Annual Meeting at least the following issues shall be on the agenda.

• Opening of the Annual Meeting by the Chairman
• Opening addresses
• Roll call
• Appointment of a secretary for the meeting
• Annual report including auditors report
• Discharge from liability for the board members
• Issues concerning the statutes
• Membership issues
• Appointment of the board
• Election of president, a first vice presidents and a second vice president
• Election of a financial auditor
• Election of an electoral committee
• Financial issues
• Motions from the board, committees, or members
• Calendar for the upcoming year
• Decision on organiser of next Annual Meeting
• Miscellaneous other issues raised by any attending member organisation, individual member, or the board notwithstanding that decisions on political issues or financial issues cannot be taken
• Closing of the Annual Meeting

14. The Annual Meeting may appoint someone as an honorary member for the great merits of this person to the Alliance or for the person’s important contribution to LGBT+ politics within the christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal conservative movement.

Article 6 – The Board

1. Each full member organisation appoints one board member.

2. The Annual Meeting elects a president, a first vice president and a second vice president to lead the Alliance. The president and the vice presidents must be elected among the appointed board members and stem from different organisations.

3. The President and Vice Presidents can be re-elected for a maximum of five terms, in accordance with the definition in article 6:4, section 1.

4. The term for the board is from Annual Assembly to Annual Meeting. Should an appointed board member step down the concerned member organisation shall appoint a substitute for the remainder of the term.

Should the president step down the board names one of the vice presidents as the acting president for the remainder of the term. Should a vice president step down no new vice president is named. Should both vice presidents’ step down the board may name an acting vice president for the remainder of the term.

5. Each board member has one vote and decisions are taken by simple majority, with the President having the deciding vote in case of a tie.

6. The board is responsible for running the Alliance on a day-to-day basis in such a way that the aims of the Alliance can be fulfilled.

7. The board may elect a Secretary General from any member organisation to assist the President and the board in their tasks. The Secretary General, the President and each Vice President must be from different organisations.

8. The board members may elect out of their number a Treasurer to deal with the finances of the Alliance. The Treasurer must be from a different organisation then the Secretary General if one has been appointed.

9. The board may make other appointments necessary to function efficiently and effectively.

Article 7 – Committees

1. The Annual Meeting or the Board may elect Committees (temporary or permanent) to assist their work.

2. Committees shall elect a chairman to lead the committee.

3. Committees may work under the accordance of these statutes, if necessary, they may define their way of working together by further internal statutes.

Article 8 – Dissolution

1. The Annual Meeting of the Alliance can dissolve the Alliance by a 4/5 majority of the votes cast by the full member organisations if there is a quorum of 4/5 of the full member organisations. A Motion for Abolishment must be circulated to all member organisations at least six weeks before the Annual Meeting.