The undersigned European Commerce Registry authorities have agreed upon founding a non-profit, self-financing interest organisation for co-operation in Europe, according to these statutes:

EUROPEAN COMMERCE REGISTERS FORUM

ARTICLE 1
Name

The name of the organisation shall be the European Commerce Registers Forum (ECRF) , hereinafter referred to in these statutes as the "Forum"

ARTICLE 2
Purpose

The purpose of the Forum shall be to increase the competitiveness of the European business and industry, and to encourage and assist improvement in the administration of technical and practical procedures, laws and regulations administered by the business and commerce registers, through mutual cooperation, education, benchmarking and exchange of ideas, conferences and working groups.

ARTICLE 3
Membership

3.1 Application for membership
Application for membership of the Forum must be sent to the Steering Committee. This application shall thereafter be circulated among the members and decision taken on the next General Assembly.
The official public authority responsible for the business enterprise and/or legal entities register in European countries may be members of the Forum.
In countries divided into multiple jurisdictions, they have to elect their representative as member of the Forum. No more than three delegates may represent the Member at the Forum. Each country has one vote at the General Assembly.

3.2 Termination of membership
A member may terminate the membership by notice to the Steering Committee.

3.3 Membership fee A yearly membership fee can be proposed by the Steering Committee and decided according to article 6.

ARTICLE 4
Organisation

4.1 General Assembly
The General Assembly is the highest authority of the Forum. The General Assembly are constituted by all members of the Forum. The General Assembly convenes ones a year, in accordance with the Annual Conference.
The General Assembly shall be held before the end of June.
The following business shall be dealt with at the General Assembly:

• Approval of the annual accounts and the annual report.
• Adoption of the Forums operation plan, budget and annual fee for the next year
• Appointment of the Steering Committee
• Appointment of two auditors
• Adoption and amendments of the Statutes
• Approval of the admission of new members
• Termination of membership
• Dissolution of the Forum
• Other business duly referred to the General assembly
  
  With the exception of decisions according to article 8, all decisions are taken with simple majority by the members present.

4.2 Steering Committee
The Forum shall be managed by the Steering Committee, which shall be the governing and planning body of the Forum. The Steering Committee shall be comprised of the immediate past President of the Forum, and four other general officers appointed at the General Assembly.
The general officers shall be:
The President, who shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the Forum. The President shall preside over the Annual Conference and chair all meetings of both the members and the Steering Committee. The President and his national organisation have the responsibility to hold office for the Forum until the close of the next General Assembly.
The Vice-president, who shall perform the duties of the President in his absence, and who shall plan and coordinate the program of the Annual Conference, and shall chair a program committee for that purpose if the President appoints such a committee.
The Treasurer, who shall be responsible for the collection, disbursement, recording, and custody of all funds of the Forum.
The Secretary, who shall record the minutes of each meeting of the members and each meeting of the Steering Committee, and shall provide a copy of such minutes to all members.
The next coming President may participate at the Steering Committee as observer if he wants so.
All the officers will be honorary.

The Steering Committee shall be empowered to organise the Annual Conference and General Assembly, expend moneys and transact general business of the Forum. The Steering Committee shall:

• Have the power to designate the times and places of the succeeding Annual Conference and General Assembly and to make all arrangements therefore.
• Transact all business of the Forum between and at the Annual Conference and General Assembly.
• Have the responsibility for the annual accounts of the year under which they are in Office.
• Finalise the annual report of the year under which they are in Office and send it to the next Steering Committee within 2 months from the end of the Annual Conference.

4.3 Sections
The Forum shall establish three sections: The general management section, the legislation section and the information technology section. The purpose of each section shall be to strive to improve service to the public and to promote uniformity among jurisdictions with regard to procedures that have impact upon the public. A section shall engage in activities and have powers reasonable necessary to accomplish the section's purpose. To achieve this purpose, each section shall engage in activities including, but not limited to, activities identified in the operation plan adopted by the Forum.
A member of the Forum or its appointee may become a member of a section by applying at the time of becoming a member or renewing membership in the Forum or any time thereafter.
Each section shall have a chairperson, appointed by the Steering Committee. The chairperson shall be a member of the section, and shall not serve on the Steering Committee of the Forum during a term as chairperson. The chairperson may attend meetings of the Steering Committee to report on the activities of the section. No person shall serve as chairperson for more than two consecutive years.
If a section adopt statutes, they shall not be inconsistent with the statutes of the Forum.

ARTICLE 5
Meetings and activities

5.1 Annual Conference
The main activity of the Forum will be the Annual Conference. All members have the right to participate at the conference. The Steering Committee may invite non-members and sponsors to the conference. The Steering Committee may also limit the number of participants from each country to the conference.

5.2 Section meetings
The sections may arrange their own meetings to achieve the purpose of the section. Before the Annual Conference, each section shall arrange an annual meeting to sum up the activities of the section during the last year. Each section shall give a report about the activity to the Annual conference.

5.3 Working groups
The Steering Committee and the sections may establish working groups on specific topics. The participation in the working groups is on voluntary base. A working group report to the body that have established it.

ARTICLE 6
Financing

The Forum will be financed through payments made by the members, through the Annual Conference fees and through contributions.
The annual membership fee will be decided by the General Assembly. That fee shall be paid before the end of January every year. A member cannot attend the General Assembly if the annual fee has not been paid.
The Annual conference fee shall be set by the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee may also set a conference fee for non-members who are invited to be observers and for sponsors.
The Forums annual expenses are planned, organised and executed in accordance with the annual budget, approved by the General Assembly.
The Forums accounts are audited by two auditors, appointed to this purpose by the General Assembly.

ARTICLE 7
Languages

The customary language of the Forum is English.

ARTICLE 8
Amendments and dissolution

Proposal of amendments shall be sent to all members with the minimum of three months notice before the General Assembly. Amendments to the statutes and dissolution of the Forum are validated by the General Assembly if 3/4 of the members are present. The decision requires the vote of 3/4 of the members present.