STATUTE ASSOCIATION
“FORUM OF ADRIATIC AND IONIAN CITIES”

Article 1- Name, objectives and Headquarters

1. The Forum of Adriatic and Ionian cities (further referred to as: Forum) is a voluntary transnational unprofitable association, governed by Italian Law, of cities which belong to the territory of Adriatic and Ionian Macroregion. Other agencies and organizations, public and private, who share the premises and activities, may join the association in the capacity of supporting members.

2. The Forum has following objectives:

• evaluate cultural patrimony, historical identity and share geographic and economic peculiarities amongst people that live in Adriatic and Ionian basin, getting from the said basin potential and synergies for the development and progress of their communities;
• give a concrete contribution to realization of processes of European integration and enlargement, to protection of human rights, development of highest standards of security and lawfulness, as well as promotion of equal opportunities between men and women;
• support territorial cohesion between cities that belong to the Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion;
• activate initiatives of crossborder cooperation in protecting and evaluating the environment, as well as initiatives in various sectors of social, economic and cultural life;
• foster relations and exchange between various components of civil society, with particular attention to youth and schools, sports and voluntary associations and social entrepreneurship, supporting the realization of partnerships, crossborder networks, and every form of active participation in the life of Forum, aiming to providing vitality and cohesion of territories.

Forum can promote and join associations, networks and international bodes with same objectives.

3. Forum’s headquarters are in the City of Ancona. Forum may have secondary offices in every country belonging to the area of its concern.

Article 2 – Enrolment, dissolution, declining

1. Ordinary members of Forum are cities – signatories of Chart of Ancona, dated April 30, 1999 and municipalities that declare to join and to agree with the present Statute.

2. The admission of municipalities and other bodies to Forum occurs upon submission of an official request and a decree of the competent body, presented by the legal representative of the submitter, and after a formal issuing of a decree by Executive Board. The supporting members can not be admitted in executive bodies. However, they can attend their meetings as observers without the right to vote.

3. The admission is intended at undetermined period of time, except in case of dissolution. The dissolution must be communicated in written, by a registered letter and a return receipt and sent to the Association before October, 31. It will enter into force on January 1st the following year.

4. The member is committed to payment of annual membership fee after one year in terms and rules instituted by special Regulation.

5. In the case of non-payment of membership fee for 2 consecutive years, the General Secretariat will send a notice which reminds that, in case of non-payment persistence, the Executive Board at the first following meeting, will propose the exclusion of a member.

6. The representatives of the body which has decided to withdraw, or those that have been revoked from membership, are declined from the bodies of Forum.

7. The representatives of Fora of Chambers of Commerce and Adriatic and Ionian Universities, members of coordination bodies instituted in Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion and members of supra-local authorities qualified and delegated by their national laws, may participate as observers at plenary sessions of the Assembly, or other specific initiatives.

8. Each member is responsible for the obligations assumed by the Association to the extent of the paid membership fee, except for the responsibility of persons who represent the Association pursuant to ex. art. 36 ff. of Italian Civil Code, in case its legal personality is not recognized and it is not included into the Register of legal entities.

Article 3 – Duties

1. In order to facilitate and develop the activities of its Members and to achieve its own purposes, the Forum shall have the following duties:

• foster economic, social, cultural and scientific integration of the Adriatic – Ionian Macroregion, facilitating crossborder flows;
• create a global, comprehensive and cohesive image, within and outside of Adriatic – Ionian area;
• represent before the bodies of European Union and assume the role of advocator of crossborder cooperation of the territories, cities and civil society in its various forms for a more efficient and effective management of the resources allocated and implemented activities.

2. In general, it may carry out all the activities that may be reconnected to the aforementioned duties which are likely to facilitate their realization. With this objective, the Forum will promote:

a. urban, rural and coastal development;
b. development of spirit of entrepreneurship, small and medium enterprises and tourism, promote local development and employment;
c. the integration of the labour market and social inclusion;
d. sharing of human resources and facilities in the field of research, technological development, of education, culture, youth mobility, communications and health sector;
e. environmental protection, energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources; f. improving networks and services in the field of transport, information and communication, as well as water supply systems and energy;
g. cooperation in the legal and administrative sectors;
h. cooperation between public, voluntary and private social organizations and institutions;
i. management and organization of communication activities, public relations, promotional activities, as well as studies and projects;
j. for the realization of purposes referred to above, use funding of any kind and, in particular, EU funds;
k. cooperation and synergy with Fora of Chambers of commerce and Adriatic and Ionian Universities, with the Permanent Secretariat for the Adriatic – Ionian Initiative and any other transnational body the purpose of which is to increase the cohesion of territories belonging Adriatic and Ionian area.

 Article 4 -Requirements for election in bodies of Forum

1. The city mayor or his mandatory – a council member, a president or a legal representative of another associated entity, may be elected to the bodies of Forum.

2. The accomplishment of these positions is free of charge and, therefore, is not subject to any kind of remuneration and / or compensation.

3. The members elected in bodies of Forum shall hold office for the duration of the mandate pursuant to Art. 7 of this Statute, except in case of a voluntary resignation.

Article 5 – Bodies

The bodies of the Association are the following:

a. Assembly
b. President
c. Secretary General
d. Executive Board
e. Board of Auditors

Article 6 – Assembly

1. The Assembly is the governing body of the Forum, it gives broad political and policy programs, adopts Regulations and amendments to the Statute proposed by the Executive Board with the affirmative votes of the absolute majority of present members, elects the President and Vice President, elects the members of the Executive Board and Board of Auditors, approves the budget and the annual report. The presence of at least 50% of ordinary members is required for the amendments of the Statute.

2. Each Ordinary Member shall be entitled to one vote and may take part with his legal representative or his delegate.

3. The Assembly is convened by the President, upon resolution of the Executive Board that determines the agenda and the work performance.

4. The Assembly is convened at least once a year to approve the economic and financial report for the previous financial year and to approve the budget estimate for the successive year.

5. The Assembly may establish permanent committees to make proposals, in order to discuss the strategic topics related to institutional activities, as well as special committees to complete, with the same aim, the specific objectives. The composition of the commission, and the specific mandate given,will be decided by the Assembly at the time of its constitution. A President, responsible of their activities, will be appointed to each of the committees and will guarantee to the Assembly the realization of the entrusted tasks. Permanent and temporary Committees will periodically report on the outcome of their specific activities to the Executive Board and, on occasions of the plenary sessions of the Assembly.

6. Each Ordinary Member shall be entitled to one vote, which may be exercised officially by presenting a power- of attorney affixed at the bottom of the convocation notice. It is allowed to vote by a letter. If applicable, the statutory rules governing the activities of institutional bodies apply also for the function of Commissions.

7. The Assembly of members convocation is made by e-mail, with acknowledgement of receipt.

Article 7 – President

1. The President represents the Forum and is the guarantor of implementation of the Statute and the Regulations. The Vice President assists the President and substitutes him in case of absence or impediment.

2. The President convenes and presides over the Assembly and the Executive Board and executes the decisions of these bodies, maintaining relations with the European and international bodies responsible for policies and financial instruments for the development of cooperation, with particular regard to the Permanent Secretariat for Adriatic – Ionian Initiative, Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR).

3. The President and the Vice President shall hold office for a two-year-period and may not be reelected to the same office for the following two years. In any case, the office of the President can not be attributed for two consecutive mandates to a representative of the same member state.

4. The President may delegate the Secretary-General to carry out, by means of selected treasury service, the Association’s own financial transactions.

Article 8 – Executive Board

1. The Executive Board, in compliance with the policies and programs of the Assembly, ensures the permanent operability of the Forum, makes all the decisions concerning the implementation of operational projects to achieve the statutory purposes and promotes the co-financing required for the implementation of projects and programs.

2. The Executive Board decides in particular on the following:

a. admission of new members;
b. constitution of secondary offices;
c. accession to International entities;
d. appointment of Secretary General;
e. identification of a Treasury service.

3. The Executive Board, at any rate, takes care of all the tasks not explicitly assigned to other bodies.

4. The Executive Board remains in office for two years and is composed of the President, the Vice President and 13 members, including the outgoing President. The Board meetings are attended by the Secretary General of the Forum, taking care of the formalities referred to in Art. 10.

5. The Executive Board may delegate assignments and special missions to its members.

6. The meetings of the Executive Board can also be held through video-conferencing system or any other appropriate system.

Article 9 – Secretary General

1. The Secretary-General takes care of the administrative and functional aspects of the Forum. In particular, the Secretary General is responsible for drafting, taking care and keeping of minutes, registers and archives. The Secretary-General prepares the budget proposal and annual financial report, to be submitted to the competent bodies.

2. The Secretary-General has a Secretariat that is responsible for organizing regular meetings of the Association, in collaboration with the city designated for the venue, as well as for administrative tasks and coordination necessary to ensure the continuity and the consistency of activities.

Article 10 -Treasury service

The financial resources of the Association shall be kept and handled exclusively by a legally recognized credit institution, to be identified as a Treasury service.

Article 11-Board of auditors

1. The auditors shall monitor compliance with the laws, articles of association and rules, with special reference to the correct accounting procedures. In particular, the Board of Auditors shall report to the Assembly on the accounting of the previous year and on the budget of the current year.

2. The Board is composed of three effective and one substitute member, appointed by the Assembly. They remain in office for two years. During the first plenary meeting , the Board of. Auditors will appoint one of its members as President, chosen among those enrolled in Register of Accounting Auditors.

3. Should one of the members of the Board of Auditors resign or loose his rights, the members in office shall replace him by the substitute member. Should candidates not be available, the Executive Board shall summon the Meeting to elect substitute(s) within six months.

4. The members of the Board shall be reimbursed travel and accommodation expenses, borne and documented.

5. Considering the origin of the members from various countries, the meetings can also be held through video-conferencing or other similar appropriate systems.

Article 12 – Funding

1. The funding of the Forum is constituted of:

a. annual membership fee (Ordinary Members and Supporting Members) established by the Executive Board and calculated pursuant to percentage of population recorded in the last official census proportional to a share of national GDP;
b. contributions of associations of cities;
c. public funding;
d. funding by international bodies;
e. contributions by public and private institutions;
f. sponsorships.

2. The methods of management of financial resources will be determined by a special regulation.

Article 13 – Financial year

The financial year opens on January 1 and ends on December 31 of each year. As a rule, the Council submits to the Assembly, within the first six months and in the occasion of the Annual Forum session, the final budget of the previous year and the budget for the current year. Profits or surpluses, if any, can not be distributed amongst members but remain deposited to the bank account of the Association and must be used exclusively for purposes defined in Art n. 1.

Article 14 – Dissolution

1. The association, in the event of its dissolution for whatever reason, has the obligation to devolve its assets to other non-profit organizations with similar objectives or for purposes of public use, after consultations with the control body referred to in Article 3, paragraph 190 of the Law of December 23, 1996 n.. 662, unless otherwise required by the law.

Article 15 – Arbitration clause

1. Any dispute arising in execution or interpretation of this Statute, which may be subject to a compromise, will be left to judgement of an arbitrator who will judge fairly and without any formal procedure, giving place to informal arbitration. The arbitrator will be chosen by the contending parties, by mutual agreement. In the lack of such agreement, the discretion to appoint the arbitrator will be left to the President of the Council of Notaries of Ancona, who will provide to the appointment of an arbitrator.

Article 16 – Applicable law

1. In order to regulate whatever might not be specified in this Statute, reference must be made to the rules regulating entities, contained in the Book I of the Civil Code and, as alternative, rules contained in Book V of the Italian Civil Code.

Note: amended text as approved by the General Assembly of December 16th, 2021.

Here you can find the Greek version.

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