Statutes
STATUTES OF THE INTERNATIONAL INPUT-OUTPUT ASSOCIATION
Approved by the ordinary General Assembly held on June 27, 2012
§ 1 Name, seat and activities of the Association
The name of the Association shall be “International Input-Output Association” (in German: “Internationale Gesellschaft für Input-Output-Analyse”) and it shall have its seat in Vienna. The activities of the Association shall not be restricted to Austria only.
§ 2 Objectives and purpose
The main objective of the Association shall be the advancement of research in and teaching of all areas of input-output analysis. The Association shall also promote the integration and use of input-output applications and techniques in other scientific disciplines.
The Association shall be non-profit making, its sole aim being the achievement of non-profit purposes as set forth in these statutes.
These objectives shall be achieved by:
Promoting the exchange of scientific experience between members of the Association.
Organizing public lectures and events, especially scientific conferences.
Publishing a scientific journal as well as other relevant scientific publications.
Supporting scientific studies.
Supporting relevant educational institutions and libraries.
Widening access to scientific publications and relevant statistical data.
Encouraging and promoting scientific research and teaching.
Co-operating with scientific associations and institutions of a similar kind and pursuing similar objectives.
Providing financial support to members.
Awarding prizes for outstanding scientific achievements.
Carrying out any other activities that are expedient with respect to achieving the object of the Association.
§ 3 Funds of the Association
The Association shall draw the necessary funds for performing its activities from membership dues, donations, subsidies as well as income and gains from the assets of the Association.
§ 4 Membership
The Association shall have regular, institutional and honorary members.
All scholars and other qualified (natural) persons, independent of sex, race, religion and nationality, who are actively engaged in the field of input-output analysis, input-output statistics and related scientific fields can become regular members of the Association.
Legal entities, irrespective of whether private or public, resident or foreign, as well as partnerships and institutions with legal capacity, in particular corporations under public law, companies, foundations, associations, etc. may become institutional members of the Association. Institutional members must pay a special, higher membership fee. These (institutional) members shall have the right to name up to three persons who will basically hold all rights and duties of regular members, with the exception of the payment of membership fees.
Persons who have made themselves particularly deserving with regard to the Association or its objectives may be appointed as honorary members.
§ 5 Rights and duties of the members
All members shall be committed to promoting the interests of the Association; institutional members shall contribute to these goals at least by paying the special membership fee.
Regular members (and the persons named by the institutional members) shall be entitled to participate in scientific events organized by the Association and to make use of its infrastructure. In addition, they shall be entitled to participate and vote in the General Assembly, and to hold the active and passive voting right to the Council of the Association.
Honorary members shall have the same rights as the regular members of the Association.
The members shall provide prompt payment of the membership fees in the valid amount set.
§ 6 Acquisition and loss of membership
Members shall be admitted by the Management of the Association. Institutional members shall also report the persons named by them (representatives) to the Management. If a representative is recalled from his/her function or leaves the Association, his/her successor must also be reported to the Management. If an institutional member ceases to be a member of the Association, its representatives shall also lose their membership rights.
If a member fails to pay its membership fees for two consecutive years despite a written reminder, its membership shall automatically be terminated. This shall, however, not affect the member's duty to pay the membership fees due.
Members who wish to leave the Association may do so as at December 31 of any year. The declaration of withdrawal in writing shall be sent to the Management of the Association by November 15 (date of receipt) at the latest. If the declaration of withdrawal is received at a later date, it shall become effective only as at the last day of the following year. This shall, however, not affect the member's duty to pay the membership fees due.
Membership shall also expire upon the death of a regular member and/or the loss of legal capacity of an institutional member.
In case of gross violation of its membership duties or dishonourable conduct, the Council may exclude a member. In the above case, the Council may also recall representatives from their function and revoke honorary memberships granted.
§ 7 Notifications
Notifications and invitations to the members as well as communications and notifications to the Association may be sent in writing, by fax or by e-mail. In case of doubt about the identity of the sender of an e-mail, the recipient of the message may require a confirmation of the message in writing or by telefax, with timeliness of the e-mail message being maintained if confirmation is sent promptly by the sender.
§ 8 Organs of the Association
The organs of the Association shall be the General Assembly, the Council, the Management and the Auditors.
§ 9 The General Assembly
An ordinary General Assembly shall be held at least every four years, if possible in the context of an international input-output conference. It may also be held outside of Austria. Reports of the Council and of the Auditors must be prepared annually and made available to the members in written form.
An extraordinary General Assembly must be held within four weeks upon application by at least one tenth of the regular members, and upon request by the Council, the Management or the Auditors.
All members must receive an invitation to attend the General Assembly, ordinary or extraordinary, including the agenda. The invitation shall be sent by the Secretary of the Association, and shall be dispatched at least three weeks before the date on which the General Assembly will be held.
If convened properly, the General Assembly shall be quorate if at least thirty members entitled to vote are present.
Elections and the passing of resolutions by the General Assembly shall generally require a simple majority of the votes cast. However, resolutions by which the statutes of the Association are to be amended or by which the Association is to be dissolved shall require a qualified majority of two thirds of the valid votes cast.
The General Assembly shall be chaired by the President; if s/he is not available, it shall be chaired by the Vice-President, or by the Managing Director, if the Vice-President is not available either.
§ 10 Tasks of the General Assembly
The following tasks shall be reserved for the General Assembly:
Approval of the management reports and the annual accounts (prepared since the last General Assembly).
Fixing of the membership fees.
Appointment of the Auditors.
Passing of resolutions on amendment of the statutes and on dissolution of the Association.
Dismissal of Council members.
Passing of resolutions on other motions or issues submitted to the Association by the Management or the Council.
§ 11 The Council
The Council shall consist of nine elected members, the members of the Management and one of the editors of a scientific journal (published, if applicable) as well as up to three co-opted members.
The nine members to be elected shall be elected from among the members of the Association, by all members and representatives who are entitled to participate in the General Assembly.
Elections shall take place in written form by letter, telefax or e-mail, or also by means of an electronic voting system that ensures confidentiality of the voting procedure.
The elected members shall serve for a term of three years, the term of office commencing in each case on January 1 of the year following the election; each year, three Council members shall be elected. Immediate re-election after expiry of a Council member's term of office shall be possible only once. If any Council members should, for whatever reason, resign during a three-year term, a number of members shall be elected for the remaining period of the term that ensures that the number of Council members elected is restored to nine.
In order to ensure a smooth transition from the rules concerning the Council terms applicable until June 2012 to the currently applicable rules, the following addendum to §11(4) shall apply:
Of the four Council members elected for the term starting in 2013, three will serve for a five-year term (2013-2017); the member elected with the smallest number of votes will serve a three-year term (2013-2015).
The three Council members elected for the term starting in 2016 will be elected for a four-year term (2016-2019).
Starting with the 2018 term, three Council members shall be elected each year, for a three-year term each.
Co-opted members shall serve for a restricted term of one up to a maximum of three years. Co-opted members may be re-appointed.
The Secretary shall manage the election of the Council members.
All members of the Association shall be entitled to nominate, by September 30 of each election year at the latest, up to three members of the Association as candidates for Council election; nominations shall be sent to the Secretary.
Within two weeks, the Secretary shall ask all persons nominated whether they are ready to run as Council candidates, and shall – within four weeks after expiry of the nomination deadline – prepare and send to all members a list of all candidates who are willing to run for Council election.
Each person entitled to vote may, within two weeks, elect up to three candidates; the (three) candidates winning most of the votes shall be elected. In the event of a tie between two or more persons elected, lots shall be drawn. The election results shall be made available to the Auditors and shall be checked by them.
Within two weeks after receiving the votes cast, the Auditor shall establish the election results, and the Secretary shall inform all members, in particular those elected as Council members, about the result of the elections.
After the election, the new Council shall elect a President and two Vice-Presidents from among the nine members elected. They shall represent the Council to the outside. The President's and the Vice-Presidents' term of office shall also commence on January 1; they shall serve for three years. The President and the Vice-Presidents may be re-elected only once.
§ 12 Council operations
The Council shall be chaired by the President, in case of his/her absence it shall be chaired by the older Vice-President; if the latter is also absent, it shall be chaired by the younger Vice-President.
The Council shall be quorate if more than 50 % of its members are present, in any case including the President and one of the Vice-Presidents. Council resolutions shall be adopted by simple majority of the votes cast. In case of a tie, the chairman shall have the casting vote.
The members of the Management shall not be entitled to vote in resolutions concerning the Management or including instructions issued to the Management.
(3) The Council shall operate on the basis of Bylaws drawn up by itself. Resolutions amending the Council's Bylaws shall require a qualified majority of two thirds of the valid votes cast.
(4) Issues that need to be dealt with before the next meeting may also be resolved by way of circular resolution or through an electronic voting system. All Council members need to be informed about such motions including reasons; as regards the quorum and the majority of votes required, para. 2 shall apply accordingly.
(5) Council meetings shall be convened by the President, and in case of his/her absence by one of the Vice-Presidents. They may instruct the Management to convene a meeting. In urgent cases, the Management, too, may convene a Council meeting.
(6) Council members shall hold honorary offices. They shall, however, be entitled to reimbursement of demonstrable costs incurred by them in the context of their activities for the Association, provided they have obtained the Secretary's or Treasurer's consent before actually incurring these costs.
§ 13 Council tasks
The following tasks shall be reserved for the Council:
The Council shall adopt the basic resolutions on the activities of the Association.
The Council shall appoint the Secretary and the Treasurer.
The Council shall approve the management report and the annual accounts as well as the annual budget.
The Council shall decide on all scientific matters of the Association, and shall in particular plan and organise the scientific conferences held by the Association.
The Council shall decide on publication of any scientific journal or other scientific publications. If a scientific journal is published, the council shall appoint its editors and a scientific advisory board, if required.
The Council shall decide on granting funds to scientists and the award of scientific prizes/distinctions/honours or prizes/distinctions/honours for outstanding services provided to the Association.
The Council may install committees or task forces that deal with specific tasks or projects.
The Council shall be entitled to invite non-members to attend meetings and events organized by the Association, and to pass on published material to non-members if this appears useful.
The Council shall decide on the exclusion of members, recall of representatives of institutional members, as well as on conferment and withdrawal of honorary membership.
If an Auditor resigns during his/her term of office, the Council may nominate a substitute, whose term of office shall extend until the next General Assembly.
The Council may give instructions to the Management in individual instances but also on how to run the Association in general.
The Council shall resolve on its Bylaws.
§ 14 Management
The Management of the Association shall include the Secretary and the Treasurer. The members of the Management shall be appointed for a term of five years; they may be re-appointed.
The members of the Management, too, shall hold honorary offices and shall be entitled to reimbursement of expenses incurred.
§ 15 Tasks of the Management
The Management shall be in charge of the management of the Association in all legal and administrative issues that are not under the responsibility of other organs of the Association. Its tasks shall include:
Preparation of activity and financial reports for the Council.
Preparation of an annual management report and annual accounts, as well as preparation of a budget for the next two years, within three months after the end of the year at the latest.
Preparation of the General Assembly.
Organization of Council elections.
Implementation of the Council's resolutions and decisions, as well as following its instructions.
Convention of a Council meeting according to § 12, as well as an extraordinary General Assembly acc. to § 9 (2).
§ 16 The Secretary
The Secretary shall be head of administration of the Association and shall be responsible for handling day-to-day business. S/he shall represent the Association to the outside and shall have sole signatory power in all matters concerning the Association.
In all matters that carry financial implications, s/he shall obtain the Treasurer's consent in advance. In cases involving amounts of up to € 1,500.00, the Secretary may also sign alone.
§ 17 The Treasurer
The Treasurer shall be responsible for administration of the Association's funds, for keeping its books, and for preparing the annual accounts and the annual budget, the latter in collaboration with the Secretary.
S/he shall have sole signatory authority for all matters in this context, in cases where an individual transaction amounts to less than € 1,500.00; in transactions involving higher amounts, the Treasurer shall sign jointly with the Secretary.
§ 18 The Auditors
The General Assembly shall elect two Auditors for a term of three years, one of whom must be a business trustee qualified to work in Austria. Reappointment shall be admissible. Persons who are not members of the Association may also be appointed as Auditors.
They shall be responsible for checking the financial management of the Association and for auditing the financial reports and the annual accounts. They shall report to the Council at least once a year, and otherwise to the General Assembly; in case of any noteworthy issues, they shall inform the Council (the President) without delay.
§ 19 The Journal
If the Association publishes a scientific journal or other scientific publications, these shall in any case be made available to its members at cost price or lower.
§ 20 The Arbitration Panel
(1) All disputes arising from the association shall be settled by an Arbitration Panel (not a court of arbitration under § 577 et seq. Civil Code).
(2) The Arbitration Panel shall consist of five members. It shall be constituted in such a way that each litigating party shall within ten days nominate two members (or representatives) as arbitrators to the Council. These arbitrators shall elect a Chairman of the Arbitration Panel from among all members, based on a majority of the votes cast. In case of a tie, the Auditor elected from the pool of business trustee qualified to work in Austria shall chair the Arbitration Panel.
(3) The Arbitration Panel shall take its decisions in the presence of all members, based on a simple majority of the votes cast. The Arbitration Panel shall decide to the best of its knowledge and belief, after having heard both litigating parties. Its decisions shall be final within the Association.
§ 21 Dissolution of the Association
Voluntary dissolution of the Association can only be resolved upon at a General Assembly convened for that purpose, and only with a majority of two thirds of the valid votes casts.
This General Assembly shall also resolve upon liquidation of the Association, provided it has assets. In particular it shall nominate a liquidator and pass a resolution as to whom the remaining assets shall be transferred after the Association's liabilities have been covered. To the extent that it is possible and permissible, these assets shall be transferred to a scientific organization which pursues purposes similar to or identical with those of the Association.
§ 22 Designations referring to persons
For all designations in these statutes referring to persons, the term chosen shall apply to both genders.
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