EFJ RULES 

EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS (EFJ) - RULES 

PREAMBLE

The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is a regional organisation of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). It is created within the framework of  the IFJ Constitution and represents the interests of journalists' unions and their members within the industrial, economical, social, cultural, legal and political framework of Europe, particularly the European Union and the Council of Europe.

The European Federation of Journalists shall work in all parts of Europe to enforce trade unionist and professional matters and to protect and defend freedom of expression and information as well as journalists' human rights, as laid down in the European Convention of Human Rights, Article 10 (1).

The European Federation of Journalists is an autonomous body according to the Rules of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). As a member of the ETUC the European Federation  of Journalists is officially accredited by the European Union.
 

1. SEAT

The European Federation of Journalists has its seat in Brussels.

2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

2.1  The European Federation of Journalists will co-ordinate the activities of IFJ-affiliated unions in Europe. It will develop and promote common interests in the fields of social, economic, cultural and media policy, and fight for the aims and objectives being defined in the IFJ Constitution.

2.2   The European Federation of Journalists shall work closely with the ETUC, other trade unions and with relevant NGO's and social partners in working out general principles and guidelines for common trade union policy in the field of media, information and for the promotion of press freedom.

2.3   The European Federation of Journalists shall also seek broad trade union support for professional and industrial policy regarding the development of media and full access to information for all citizens with the Council of Europe, the European Union, and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

2.4 The European Federation of Journalists promotes understanding and solidarity among European unions affiliated to the International Federation of Journalists and supports the setting-up and strengthening of journalists' unions, who share the aims of the European Federation of Journalists.

2.5 The European Federation of Journalists promotes equality of gender and exercises non-discrimination in its activities.

3. COMPOSITION

IFJ members in Europe are entitled to be members of the European Federation of Journalists.

The SC should decide upon new applications from IFJ unions regarding their affiliation.


4. TASKS
 
4.1  The European Federation of Journalists under its own responsibility shall elaborate a working programme in line with IFJ policies and principles. According to the working programme adopted by the General Meeting (GM), the Steering Committee shall determine priorities of work in representing and working for journalists in membership of affiliated unions and for journalists unions' interests in Europe.

4.2 The European Federation of Journalists reports to the IFJ Executive Committee.

5. GENERAL MEETING

5.1 The General Meeting (GM) shall normally meet every third year in advance of the IFJ Congress. It shall be composed of one delegate from each member union who shall have the right to vote and the members of the Steering Committee. The IFJ President and IFJ Executive Committee members elected from Europe shall have the right to participate. Each member union has the right to send observers. Observers from ETUC and other organisations may be invited.

The Steering Committee may convene an extraordinary GM at any time if three fourths of the members vote in favour. The Steering Committee shall convene an extraordinary GM if half of the member unions make such a demand in writing.     

The voting system at the GM shall be the same as the voting system at the IFJ Congress. There shall be no voting by proxy. Member unions who have not paid their membership fee according to provisions shall not have the right to vote or to submit candidates for the Steering Committee.

5.2 The working languages of the GM shall be English, French and German.

5.3 The Steering Committee will prepare the agenda of the GM and decide on voting rights. The invitation and draft agenda has to be sent to member unions at least two months before the GM. 

5.4  The GM has its own working rules. A report on decisions of the GM will be prepared immediately and sent to member unions. The minutes will be confirmed by the Steering Committee. They shall be kept on record in the secretariat.

5.5 The GM shall:

a. elect - a Presidium of three people to chair the GM;
                   - an electoral commission.

Members shall not be members of the Steering Committee nor candidates for the next Steering Committee.

b. confirm the agenda, changes of the working rules proposed by the Steering Committee and the voting rights of the unions;

c. decide on the admission of urgent motions and table urgent points or motions to the agenda only with the approval of at least two-thirds of the voting delegates present. Urgent motions can be presented until the opening of the meeting;

d. approve the minutes of the last GM resp. of the last AM;

e. decide on membership of unions failing to meet the EFJ financial obligations;

f.   approve the report of the Steering Committee, which will be presented by the President;

g. consider the reports of the Expert Groups;

h. approve a report of audited accounts and finances presented by the Honorary Treasurer and consider the report of the Finance Commission;

i. consider a report on the activities of the IFJ Project Division;

j. adopt a budget plan for the following year and the framework for a three years' budget;

k. decide on motions for activities of the European Federation of Journalists. Member unions with voting rights and the Steering Committee have the right to submit motions. Motions from member unions must be submitted to the Steering Committee at least one month before the GM and shall be sent to member unions at least two weeks before the GM;

l. decide on motions for changes of the rules of the European Federation of Journalists. These motions must be submitted to the Steering Committee at least two months before the GM and shall be sent to member unions at least one month before the GM. To be adopted they must be accepted with the approval of at least two-thirds of the voting delegates present. New rules shall be promulgated by the Steering Committee no later than three months after the conclusion of the GM.

m. adopt the working programme of the EFJ.

n. decide on the establishment of expert groups.

o. decide on membership fees for EFJ member unions.

p. elect the President and Vice-President.

q. elect the other members of the Steering Committee.

r. elect reserves for the Steering Committee.

s. elect the members of the Finance Commission.

Member unions which would like to host a General or Annual Meeting must submit their invitation including information on transport, facilities, costs, conditions and sponsors 6 months in advance of the meeting to the Steering Committee.

6. ANNUAL MEETING

6.1 Between the General Meetings, there shall be an Annual Meeting (AM), which shall focus on a subject in line with the priorities of work of the EFJ. 

6.2 The AM shall be composed of one delegate from each member union who shall have the right to vote and the members of the Steering Committee. The IFJ President and IFJ Executive Committee members elected from Europe shall have the right to participate. Each member union has the right to send observers. Observers from the ETUC and other organisations may be invited.

6.3 The working language of the AM shall be English, French and German.

6.4 The AM is prepared by the Steering Committee in cooperation with the EFJ secretariat.

The invitation and draft agenda has to be sent to member unions at least two months before the AM.

6.5 In a statuary part, the AM shall

a) elect a Presidium to chair the AM and a motions' commission
b) confirm the agenda and the voting rights of the unions
c) add urgent points to the agenda with the approval of at least two-thirds of the votes
d) approve the minutes of the last GM resp. of the last AM
e) approve the report of the Steering Committee, which will be presented by the President
f) consider the reports of the Expert Groups
g) consider a report on the activities of the Project Division
h) approve a report of audited accounts and finances presented by the Honorary Treasurer and consider the report of the Finance Commission
i) adopt a budget plan for the following year
j) decide on motions. Member unions with voting rights and the Steering Committee have the right to submit motions which are of journalists' and journalists' unions' interest in Europe. They must be submitted to the Steering Committee at least one month before the AM and shall be sent to member unions at least two weeks before the AM. The voting system shall be the same as the voting system at the EFJ General Meeting. Urgent motions can be submitted until the opening of the AM and must be accepted with the approval of at least two-thirds of the votes. Motions at the Annual Meeting cannot deal with EFJ rules.

7. THE STEERING COMMITTEE

7.1 The Steering Committee is the working body which shall be responsible for the co-ordination and supervision of the European Federation's activities. It shall propose a working programme to the GM and shall be responsible for the execution of the GM and AM decisions. The coordination includes the work of the IFJ Project Division, as far as Europe is concerned.

7.2 The Steering Committee has nine members and a mandate of three years. They shall be elected by the GM. They can be reelected to the Steering Committee for a maximum of two additional periods. Vacancies in membership of the Steering Committee will be filled by the reserves in the order of votes received at the last GM. If a member of the Steering Committee fails to attend half of the meetings within a year without good reasons, he/she will also be replaced by a reserve.

7.3  The member unions have the right to propose delegates for the list of candidates. No union and no country  may have more than one representative in the Steering Committee. The list of candidates will be closed one month before the GM and circulated among member unions three weeks before the GM. It can be reopened again only in the event of an unsufficient number of candidates. All candidates must be registered as delegates or observers and must have a written mandate from their home union which commits to pay the expenses connected to the function.

7.4. The members of the Steering Committee and the reserves shall be elected by secret ballot. These elections will be chaired by an electoral commission set up at the GM; it will consist of three voting delegates, who are not members of the Steering Committee or candidates for election.

7.5 The Steering Committee must have a minimum of six elected delegates or reserves to constitute a quorum at any committee meeting.   If a vote is required on any matter, a simple majority of votes by delegates will decide in favour or against.   In the event of an equal number of votes being recorded, the chair of the meeting will be allowed a casting vote.

7.6 The Steering Committee elects a Honorary Treasurer from its members.

7.7 The IFJ President and IFJ Executive Committee elected from Europe shall have the right to participate in the meetings of the Steering Committee without the right to vote.

7.8 The working language of the Steering Committee shall be English.

8. THE PRESIDENT

The EFJ President is the leading political representative of the EFJ. He/She cares for the execution of the Federation's rules and decisions. He/She represents the Federation externally, and in consultation with the secretariat, convenes the meetings of the Steering Committee and chairs them. 

9. THE VICE-PRESIDENT

9.1 The EFJ Vice-President assists the President in his/her duties and replaces the President when he/she is not available.

9.2 In the event of the Vice-President leaving the Steering Committee during the three-year elected period, SC members will elect a new Vice-President from among remaining members of the committee.   The period of office will end at the same time that all elections are held for the new Steering Committee.

10. THE HONORARY TREASURER

The Honorary Treasurer supervises the financial developments of the EFJ and reports to the Steering Committee, the General Meeting and the Annual Meeting.

11. THE ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE

The President, Vice-President and Honorary Treasurer form the Administrative Committee of the EFJ.  In conjunction with the secretariat they prepare agendas for EFJ Steering Committee meetings.  In the event of matters of urgency they are responsible for making decisions which should be reported to SC members as soon as possible.

12. FINANCE COMMISSION

12.1 The objective of the Finance Commission is to review the EFJ accounts. The Finance Commission must report to the General Meetings and give status reports to the Annual Meetings.

12.2 The Finance Commission consists of three lay auditors. None of them belong to any other elected body of the EFJ.

13. SECRETARIAT

13.1 The General Secretary is appointed by the Steering Committee.

13.2 The International Federation of Journalists is responsible for providing the General Secretary and staff to execute work for the EFJ within the framework proposed by the Steering Committee. Staff are appointed by approval of the SC and are responsible to the SC and shall participate in meetings of the Steering Committee, the GM and AM without voting rights.

14. EXPERT GROUPS

14.1 EFJ-Expert Groups work by mandate of the Steering Committee and shall report to the Steering Committee and the IFJ Executive Committee. 

14.2 EFJ-Expert Groups are working bodies of the Steering Committee. The Steering Committee appoints its members and decides on the aims and objectives of the work. The Expert Groups are open to experts from outside Europe.

14.3 Members must be experts proposed by member unions which commit to pay the expenses connected to the function.

14.4 The Expert Groups must give a report of their work to the Steering Committee at least two times a year. They also report to the General Meeting and the Annual Meeting. The Expert Groups shall, in cooperation with the European Office, make relevant information available on the IFJ/EFJ-websites. The working language of the expert groups is chosen by the members of the expert groups and is German, English, or French.

15. FINANCES

15.1 The activities of the EFJ will be financed through the EFJ/IFJ membership fees and other sources.

The financial year of the Federation shall be from January 1 to December 31.

15.2          Member Unions shall pay fees according to the decision of the GM. The fees shall be paid by April 30 each year. Members admitted to the EFJ during a year shall pay fees for that year on a pro rata calculation for the unexpired period of the year.

15.3          Activities in line with the EFJ working programme, the GM and the AM can - in coordination with the Steering Committee - be executed and financed by the IFJ Project Division.

15.4           Unions failing to pay their fees or failing to seek special arrangements with the Steering Committee, have their membership terminated by the GM. They will be accepted back into the European Federation of Journalists on payment of fees owed.

16.  DISSOLUTION

The European Federation of Journalists may be dissolved only by decision of a General Meeting called specifically for this purpose and with at least three quarters of the EFJ membership present. A vote on the dissolution of the EFJ shall require a majority of 75 per cent in favour among the voting delegates. In the event of a vote in favour of dissolution, the GM shall determine the allocation of funds to appropriate trade union work within the IFJ. 

Adopted in Zagreb, 2007
Edited in Berlin, 2008