I – GENERAL RULES

Article 1 – Name:

An international non-profit association is being founded, called the “European Music Therapy Confederation”.

This association is being founded in accordance with the Belgian law of 2 May 2004.

Article 2 – Domicile:

The domicile of the association is : Fiscamar SCRL, Klauwaartslaan 3, 1853-Bever, Belgium

The domicile may be transferred to any other location within Greater Brussels by decision of the Board, adopted by simple majority and published in the same month in the annexes of the Moniteur Belge.

Article 3 – Social Objective:

The objectives of the exclusively non profit-making associationare :

  • the recognition of the music therapy profession at a national and European level;
  • the promotion of the quality and the practice of music therapy;
  • the representation, in this framework, of the music therapy profession with the authorities of the European Union and of any other authority and/ or organization that deals directly or indirectly with issues related to music therapy ;
  • and any other activity that may support or favour the accomplishment of the objectives mentioned above.

Article 4 – Duration

The association is being founded for a permanent period of time

II MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION

Article 5 – Admission of members:

Members cannot be admitted without examination and approval of their application by the Board of the association.

All admission decisions with regard to a member must be made by the Board by a simple majority of its members (present or represented).

Article 6 – Types of membership:

The European Music Therapy Confederation is open to any legal entity that adheres to the objectives of the association that are mentioned in article 3.

The association consists of four categories of members:

6.1          Active members :

The active members participate actively in the activities of the European Music Therapy Confederation and contribute to the activities of the association. The active members have the right to vote.

They are the only persons concerned by the clauses of the actual bylaws relative to the General Assembly and the Board.

The European Music Therapy Confederationconsists of a minimum of three active members.

Associate members :

The associate members are those who support the activities of the association without the will to participate in an active way.

Any relevant music therapy organization from a European country can become an associate member.

Associate members cannot be members of the management body of the association, nor can they vote.

Observing members :

Any relevant music therapy organization of a non-European country can become an observing member, without the right to vote.

Ex-officio members :

The President, the Secretary-General and the Treasurer are ex-officio members and do not have the right to vote.

Article 7 – Representation:

7.1          Each member must appoint their unique representative, who is a physical person, for the association. The members based in the same country must proceed for the nomination of a national representative for the association.

7.2          In the case of death, resignation or exclusion of a representative, the legal entity involved must elect a new representative.

Article 8 – Resignation and exclusion of members:

8.1          Each member who wishes to withdraw from the association must inform the Board by registered letter.

8.2          The resignation takes effect at the end of the current fiscal year.

8.3          Any member that fails to pay the membership fees six months after notification, can be suspended or excluded by the Board by a simple majority of its members, present or represented.

8.4          The Board can decide to readmit the suspended or excluded member by a simple majority of the members, present or represented, after having paid the membership fees due.

8.5          Any member may be excluded by a motion (or proposal)  of the Board adopted by a simple majority of the Board adopted by a simple majority if one

  • no longer fulfillsthe general conditions of admission ;
  • commits an act that is susceptible to cause damage to the interests of the association;
  • does not comply with the rules and regulations or any other acts adopted by the association.

8.6          The vote relating to the exclusion of a member may only be taken after the hearing of the respective member.

8.7          The resigned or excluded member has no right to fiscal savings.

III THE BRANCHES OF THE ASSOCIATION

Article 9 – The Branches:

The branches of the association are :

  • The General Assembly ;
  • The Board ;

A – The Ordinary General Assembly:

Article 10 – Generalities:

10.1         The Ordinary General Assembly possesses full authority, allowing the realization of the objectives of the association as defined in the bylaws.

10.2         It is called together by the board once a year, which decides on its location, date and time.

10.3         The Ordinary General Assembly must be called together by letter or e-mail stating the agenda of the meeting, the invitation to be received a minimum of 15 days before the date of the meeting, on pain of nullity.

Article 11 – Authorities:

The Ordinary General Assembly possesses full authority, allowing the realization of the objectives of the association as defined in the rules and regulations.

The following decisions are reserved for the General Assembly :

  • exclusion of members ;
  • appointment and dismissal of members of the Board;
  • adoption of the financial statements and budgets ;
  • setting the amount of membership fees ;
  • adoption of confederation rules and regulations ;
  • modification of bylaws;
  • relief given to the members of the Board;
  • dissolution of the association and allocation of its assets after payment ofthe debts.

Article 12 – Voting Modalities:

12.1         The General Assembly is constituted valid if half of the national members having the right to vote are present or represented.

If this quorum has not been reached, the Ordinary General Assembly can be called together a second time, in which case it will be constituted valid if only a quarter of the national members having the right to vote are present or represented.

Finally, if this last quorum has not been reached, the Ordinary General Assembly can be called together a third and last time, in which case it will be constituted valid whatever the number of present or represented national members having the right to vote.

12.2         Each active member has one vote within the Ordinary General Assembly. The votes of the national representatives are counted in accordance with the confederation rules and regulations.

12.3         The resolutions are made by a simple majority of the national members composing the quorum.

12.4         The resolutions of the General Assembly are written in the minutes, which are distributed amongst the members.

12.5         The decisions relating to the modification of the bylaws and of the confederation rules and regulations must be made by a ¾ majority of the expressed votes.

Article 13 – Representation:

13.1         If a national representative, as described in article 7.1 of the current bylaws, cannot take part in the tasks to be accomplished and in expressing the votes in the framework of the meeting of the Ordinary General Assembly, he/ she can give authority to another national representative to represent him/ her.

13.2         A national representative can receive only one mandate.

The associate members, observing members and ex-officio members cannot be represented in the Ordinary General Assembly.

13.3         B- Extraordinary General Assembly :

Article 14 – General:

14.1         An Extraordinary General Assembly can be called together by the President of the Board or by a minimum of 1/5 of the national representatives having the right to vote any time the interestsof the association call for it.

14.2         The Extraordinary General Assembly is called together in the same way as the Ordinary General Assembly.

14.3         The resolutions of the Extraordinary General Assembly are only valid if a minimum of 2/3 of the national representatives are present or represented in a valid way.

Article 15 – Authorities:

15.1         The Extraordinary General Assembly possesses the exceptional authority to make, amongst other things, the decisions in regards to the  preservation or the discontinuation of the International Association.

15.2         The following decisions are reserved for the Extraordinary General Assembly :

  • modification of the bylaws if proposed by the Board.
  • agreement with the proposal of the Board with regard to the discontinuation of the association and the allocation of its assets after payment of any debts.

Article 16 – Voting Modalities:

16.1         The Extraordinary General Assembly is constituted valid if 2/3 of the national representatives having the right to vote are present or represented.

In case this quorum has not been reached, the Extraordinary General Assembly can be called together a second time, in which case it will be constituted valid if half of the national representatives having the right to vote are present or represented.

Finally, in case this last quorum has not been reached, the Extraordinary General Assembly can be called together a third and last time, in which case it will be constituted valid, whatever the number of present or represented national representatives having the right to vote.

16.2         Each national representative of the association, as described in article 7.1 of the current bylaws, has one vote within the Extraordinary General Assembly.

16.3         The resolutions are made by 2/3 majority of the national representatives composing the quorum.

16.4         The resolutions of the Extraordinary General Assembly are written in the minutes, which are distributed amongst the members.

Article 17 – Representation

17.1         If a national representative cannot participate in the tasks to be accomplished or in voting within the framework of the meeting of the Extraordinary General Assembly, he/ she can give authority to another national representative to represent him/ her.

17.2         A national representative can receive only one mandate.

17.3         The associate members, observing members and ex-officio members cannot be represented in the Extraordinary General Assembly.

C – The Board:

Article 18 – Composition

18.1         The international association is led by a Board.

18.2         The Board is composed of a President, a Secretary-General, a Treasurer and three Vice-Presidents.

Article 19 – Duration of the mandate:

The members of the Board are elected by the Ordinary General Assembly for three years in accordance with article 12. They are eligible for re-election.

Article 20 – Suspension, revocation or resignation:

20.1         If an active member is suspended or excluded by the General Assembly in application of the confederation rules and regulations, he/ she is automatically excluded or suspended from the Board under the same conditions.

20.2         In case of the revocation, resignation or death of a member of the Board, the Board can propose to the Ordinary General Assembly a successor from among the active members of the international association, who must elect him/ her or another one in accordance with article 12 of the present bylaws.

20.3         The President and the Vice-Presidents can be dismissed from their functions by the Board, making this decision with a ¾ majority of its members.

20.4         If the position of the President becomes vacant, the Board must nominate by a simple majority his/her temporary successor within one month of the vacancy.

The association must proceed, in any case, with the election of a new President, within a maximum of three months of the vacancy.

Article 21 – Representation

A member of the Board can be represented by another member of this Board. However this person may not have more than one mandate.

Article 22 – Decisions:

22.1         The decisions of the Board are made according to the rules in article 23.2 of the present bylaws.

22.2         The resolutions are written into a register signed by the President.

22.3         A protocol is produced and signed by the President or one of the Vice-Presidents.

22.4         The President must sign all decisions regarding the European Music Therapy Confederation or if he/she is unable to do so, by the Vice-President who is the longest-serving member of the international association.

Article 23 – Voting Modalities

23.1         The Board is constituted valid if 2/3 of its members are present or represented.

In cases where this quorum has not been reached, the Board can be called together a second time, in which case it will be constituted valid if only half of the members are present or represented.

Finally, if this last quorum has not been reached, the Board can be called together a third and last time, in which case it will be constituted valid whatever number of members is present or represented.

23.2         The decisions of the Board are made by 2/3 majority of the members composing the quorum, according to the previous paragraph, except when contrary to the bylaws or causing damage to the dispositions of the confederation rules and regulations.

Article 24 – Authorities:

24.1         The Board has all managerial and administrative authority under restriction of the authority of the General Assembly. The Board manages the patrimony of the association and represents it in all judicial and extra-judicial activities, with intermediation of its president.

24.2The association shows fairness in all proceedings and expects this conduct of its President or of another member assigned by the Board.

24.3         The Board has the authority to make resolutions and judgements in the name of the international association, with the exception of those reserved for the General Assembly.

Only the Board has the authority to set membership fees.

24.4         The Board decides on the admission of new members by simple majority.

Article 25 – Engagement:

All acts that engage the international association are signed by the President or, if he/she is unavailable, by two members assigned by the Board.

VI BUDGETS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Article 26 – Fiscal Year:

The fiscal year runs from 1 January till 31 December, except from th♀e first civil year that runs from 1 June to 31 December 2004

Article 27 – Financial Statement:

27.1 The Board is obliged to submit the financial statement of the past fiscal year and the design of the budget of the next fiscal year to the approval of the General Assembly.

27.2         The treasurer is in charge of the reports.

VI FINAL DISPOSITIONS

Article 28 – Effects:

28.1         The modifications to the bylaws are only effective after acknowledgement by Royal  Decree and if the conditions of publication requested by law are fulfilled.

28.2         The General Assembly will set the ways of dissolution and liquidation of the association.

Article 29 – Supplementary Dispositions

All points that are not included in the present bylaws will be regulated in accordance with the dispositions of the rules and regulations or, for want of them, by law.