Association charter

(in the version of January 28, 2010)

§ 1 Name, Seat and Fiscal Year

The association bears the name “Host Nation Council Spangdahlem e.V.”. The seat of the association is Bitburg. The association is registered at the district court of Bitburg. The business year corresponds to the calendar year. The 1st fiscal year is a short fiscal year and ends on 31.12.2003.

§ 2 Purpose and goals

Purpose of the association is:

  • the promotion of an international spirit, tolerance in all areas of culture and the idea of international understanding
  • the promotion of art and culture
  • the promotion of education, national and professional training
  • the promotion of fire protection, occupational safety, disaster prevention and civil protection as well as accident prevention
  • the promotion of sports
  • the promotion of the preservation of local history and local lore

In particular, the association pursues the following purposes:

  • Strengthening of German-American relations through the cultivation and intensification of friendly contacts with the American soldiers and their families
  • Organization of cultural, sporting and social events in the regional environment of the American airfield Spangdahlem
  • Promoting the exchange of culture and language
  • Establishing and maintaining contacts with American institutions and decision-makers

The association strives for close cooperation with the American community of Spangdahlem Airfield and with the German communities in the vicinity of the airfield.

§ 3 Non-profit status

The Association shall exclusively and directly pursue charitable purposes within the meaning of the section “Tax-privileged Purposes” of the German Tax Code. The Association shall act selflessly and shall not primarily pursue its own economic purposes. The Association’s funds may only be used for purposes in accordance with the Articles of Association. No person may be favored by expenses that are alien to the purpose of the corporation or by disproportionately high remuneration. Members shall not receive any benefits from the funds of the Association.

§ 4 Means of the Association The association receives funds for the fulfillment of its tasks through

  • Contributions of the members,
  • donations in cash and in kind,
  • proceeds from events,
  • public subsidies.

§ 5 Membership

Natural and legal persons can become members of the association. The application for membership has to be sent in writing to the board. The board decides on the admission by resolution. If an application for membership is rejected by the board, the reasons for this must be communicated to the general meeting upon request. Membership in the Association shall be terminated by the death of a member or the dissolution of the legal entity, by voluntary resignation or by expulsion from the Association. Ein freiwilliger Austritt aus dem Verein ist dem Vorstand schriftlich mitzuteilen. Er kann nur zum Ende des Kalenderjahres unter Einhaltung einer Dreimonatsfrist erfolgen. The board can exclude a member if he violates the statutes or has not paid the membership fee for more than one year or if he behaves in a way that is detrimental to the association.

§ 6 Bodies of the Association

Organs of the association are

  • the general meeting,
  • the board of directors,
  • the auditors

§ 7 General Meeting

The general meeting shall be convened by the chairman in consultation with the board at least once a year. An extraordinary general meeting must be held if 10 percent of the members request this in writing, stating the items to be discussed. The general meetings are to be convened at least two weeks before the date, stating the agenda, by means of the “Kreisnachrichten Bitburg-Prüm” and the “Kreisnachrichten Bernkastel-Wittlich”. Each properly convened general meeting constitutes a quorum. Resolutions of the General Meeting shall be passed by a simple majority; in the event of a tie, a motion shall be deemed rejected. Die Mitgliederversammlung wählt und entlastet den Vorstand, wählt die Rechnungsprüfer und fasst Beschlüsse über alle grundsätzlichen Angelegenheiten des Vereins. Auf der jährlichen Mitgliederversammlung ist jeweils vom Vorstand ein Rechenschaftsbericht und ein Kassenbericht zu erstatten. Die Rechnungsprüfer erstatten der Mitgliederversamm-lung hierzu einen Prüfbericht. Über jede Mitgliederversammlung ist ein Protokoll zu fertigen, das vom Vorsitzenden der Versammlung und vom Schriftführer unterzeichnet wird. Every member is entitled to inspect the minutes.

§ 8 Board of Directors

The board consists of

  • the chairperson
  • a maximum of three deputy chairpersons
  • the secretary
  • the treasurer
  • a maximum of twelve assessors

The board members are to be elected by secret ballot and in separate ballots. The general meeting can decide with 2/3 majority of the present members to carry out the elections in open ballot. The following are members of the board as born members, who are not to be elected by the general meeting:

  • the district administrators (or a deputy appointed by him/her) of the districts of •  Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm, •  Bernkastel-Wittlich district, •  Trier-Saarburg district, •  County of Vulkaneifel
  • dthe Lord Mayor of the City of Trier (or a deputy appointed by him/her)
  • dthe mayors of the municipalities of Speicher and Wittlich-Land
  • the mayors of the municipalities of Binsfeld and Spangdahlem as representatives of the member municipalities on whose territory the US Air Base is located.

The executive board in the sense of § 26 BGB (German Civil Code) is the chairman and the vice-chairmen. They represent the association judicially and extrajudicially. Each of them is authorized to represent the association alone. According to the internal regulation of responsibilities of the board, the deputy chairpersons are in principle only appointed to represent the association if the chairperson is prevented or if they are commissioned by the chairperson. The term of office of the Executive Board is 3 years. It remains in office until the statutory appointment of a new board. The board has a quorum if at least the chairperson and four other board members are present. If the board is not quorate at a properly convened meeting, a further board meeting may be convened within 14 days, which shall then be quorate irrespective of the number of board members present. This procedure must be pointed out in the invitation. The board of directors has to fulfill the following tasks: a) the management of the association, b) the preparation of the General Assembly and the implementation of its resolutions, c) the administration of the association’s assets, d) the appointment of committees for special purposes. The Board may appoint a Managing Director to manage the business of the Association. If necessary, the Executive Board may adopt rules of procedure. The board makes its decisions by simple majority.

§ 8a Honorary chairmanship

The General Assembly may elect natural persons who have rendered outstanding services to the Association and are members of the Association as Honorary Chairperson of the Association. The elected honorary chairperson is a member of the association’s board with voting rights.

§ 9 Audit of accounts

The General Assembly shall elect two auditors from among its members, who may not be members of the Board. The term of office of the auditors is identical to that of the board. The task of the auditors is to check the proper financial management of the Association. They shall report on this annually at the General Meeting.

§ 10  Contributions

The general meeting decides on membership fees. Staggered contributions may be levied. The General Meeting shall decide on the levying of an admission fee.

§ 11  Amendments to the charter

Amendments to the charter require a majority of at least 2/3 of the members present.

§ 12 Dissolution of the Association

The dissolution of the Association can only be decided in a General Meeting specially convened for this purpose with a 2/3 majority of the members of the Association. In the event of a lack of quorum, a new general meeting with the same agenda must be convened within 4 weeks in accordance with the regulations, which can then decide on the dissolution with a simple majority of those present, irrespective of the number of members present. This procedural provision must be pointed out in the invitation. The liquidation is carried out by the board of directors. In the event of the dissolution of the Association or the discontinuation of the tax-privileged purpose, the assets of the Association shall fall to the district of Bitburg-Prüm and the association municipalities belonging to the Association or the towns not belonging to the Association, proportionately in accordance with the membership fees paid by these bodies (annual membership fee – in the case of association municipalities including the associated local municipalities). The funds are to be used by the beneficiaries exclusively for charitable purposes.

§ 13 Entry into force

The charter shall come into force as soon as they have been duly adopted by the founding meeting (general meeting). The 3rd amendment by resolution of the General Meeting on January 11, 2007 (§ 8) shall enter into force retroactively as of January 1, 2007. If you need further information, please feel free to contact us via our contact form.

Greeting

Here you can find a greeting from the 1st chairman Jan Niewodniczanski, who emphasizes the importance of our association work.

Board members

In this section we would like to introduce all board members and their activities in the Host Nation Council Spangdahlem e.V.

Association goals

The objective of Host Nation Council Spangdahlem e. V., to strengthen German-American relations, can be found here.

Association charter

You can view our current association charter here. For further information, please feel free to contact us.

History

Information about the founding of the association, the founding members and their statements about our HNC association can be found here.