EUROPEAN MICROLIGHT FEDERATION

1.1. The organisation bears the name "EUROPEAN MICROLIGHT FEDERATION", and is hereafter referred to as the “EMF”. It has its seat at 96 bis, rue Marc Sangnier 94700 Maisons Alfort, France. The Office of the General Secretary may be located in another European member country.

2.1. The general aim of the EMF is to promote and protect microlighting (using the description of a microlight to be found in paragraph (e) of Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1592/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 July 2002 on common rules in the field of civil aviation and establishing a European Aviation Safety Agency)[1]), which is taken to include all aircraft types, in Europe and to actively participate in the formulation of regulations and actions that may concern this activity so as to ensure its welfare and the free movement of microlights. In order to achieve this aim, as an independent, self-governing and non-profitmaking umbrella association for national microlight associations in Europe, the EMF seeks, in particular, to consult with all relevant regulatory authorities in Europe for the benefit of microlighting. It will endeavour to cooperate with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), with Europe Air Sports (EAS) and the European National Aero Clubs (NACs) or the national body representing microlighting when this is not the National Aero Club.

3.1. Either the President or the General Secretary may represent the EMF for legal purposes (whether in relation to court proceedings or otherwise), although the General Secretary may only provide representation in the President's absence.

4.1. Full Membership of the EMF is open to all microlight associations or microlight groups within National Aero Clubs in:

4.1.1. each Member State of the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom)

4.1.2. each New Member State of the European Union (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia)

4.1.3. each Member State of Applicant countries of the European Union (Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey)

4.1.4. each Member State of the European Economic Area (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein)

4.2. Associate Membership is open to other microlighting organisations which are not eligible for Full Membership as referred to in 4.1 above.

4.3. Admission of Members will be decided by the General Conference of the EMF. Organisations which wish to join the EMF shall apply to the General Secretary. The Executive Committee will examine this candidature and present the latter at the next General Conference. The General Conference may approve the Membership on condition that an official representative of the candidate country is present at this General Conference.

4.4.1. Written notice by the Member concerned; such a notice shall be given by registered mail to the Office of the General Secretary not less than two months before the end of the calendar year.

4.4.2. Exclusion by a two-thirds majority vote within the General Conference, in cases where the Member has breached the statutes or other provisions or resolutions of the EMF or else caused significant harm to the EMF or to any of its members.

5.1. All Members must pay an annual subscription, proportional to the number of votes to which they are entitled, the amount of which will be set by the General Conference. Members which have not paid their annual subscription fee by a date fixed for that purpose by the General Conference, have no right to vote until their accounts have been settled.

7.1. The General Conference is the assembly of Members’ delegates. Each Member will send a maximum of two delegates, of whom one is entitled to vote. These delegates will normally include the President of the Member association. The timings relating to the General Conference will be as follows:

7.1.1. The General Conference will meet at least once a year in the country of a Member association.

7.1.2. The date and place will be determined by the EMF President at least 3 calendar months in advance.

7.1.3. At least two calendar months before the date fixed for a meeting of the General Conference, the General Secretary will invite all Members to send him the points they wish to be included in the agenda of the next General Conference.

7.1.4. At least one calendar month before the date fixed for the meeting of the General Conference, the General Secretary will send all Members the agenda, including the items presented by the Members or by the Executive Committee, as well as the reports of specialist or other Committees.

7.2. Quorum of the General Conference requires at least one third of Full Members to have each sent a delegate. If no quorum is obtained at any time new invitations must be issued, whereby the new conference will be quorate regardless of the numbers of delegates attending.

7.3. The Work of the General Conference is to take all final EMF decisions on subjects relating to the EMF and its dealings and relationships with any other person or body and, in particular, to:

7.3.6. approve or rejects reports made by the Executive Committee and other EMF Committees

7.4. The Statutes may be approved, altered, modified or revoked by a majority of not less than 75% of the votes of Full Members present at a General Conference provided that due notice of any such proposals has been given in accordance with paragraph 7.1.4.

8.1. Once a year the General Conference must convene as an Annual General Meeting (AGM) to conduct the following tasks:

8.1.1. to elect, by a simple majority of the votes of Full Members present at the General Conference and entitled to vote, the following officers, to serve until the next AGM:

9.1. On request by at least one-third of the Full Members, an EGM will be held within three months of the date in which the President receives this request. The EGM shall have a notice period for invitation of at least two calendar months. The General Meeting conditions are applicable accordingly.

10.1. Each Full Member has one vote plus one further vote for each 500 paid-up microlight members at the end of the previous calendar year. Although a Full Member can permit another Full Member who is present to represent him by proxy, no Full Member may represent more than one other Full Member. In the event that a Full Member has outstanding debts in relation to the EMF and has not provided proof that these debts have been paid off by the time a meeting starts, the Full Member will forfeit his vote, is not entitled to be represented by proxy, nor can he represent anyone else.

10.2. When voting, a simple majority of votes cast by present and represented Full Members is necessary; and in the case of tied voting, the President has the casting vote. In the case of decisions affecting the national, legal, financial or structural matters of a Member, unanimity is required.

10.3. Voting must be carried out publicly, although in the case of elections or on request by a Full Member it may be carried out secretly.

10.4. Each year Full Members must provide the General Secretary with a statement of membership numbers verified by an independent auditor.

The Executive Committee is composed of the President, the Vice-President the General Secretary and the Treasurer. Its role is to enable day-to-day business that already has or does not require the approval of the Members to be conducted and to prepare for the General Conference, Annual General Meeting and any Extraordinary General Meetings. The President has the casting vote in Executive Committee decisions.

[1] (e) aeroplanes having no more than two seats, the stall speed or the minimum steady flight speed in landing configuration not exceeding 35 knots calibrated air speed (CAS), and a maximum take-off mass (MTOM) of no more than:

(i) 300 kg for a land plane, single seater; or

(ii) 450 kg for a land plane, two seater; or

(iii) 330 kg for an amphibian or floatplane single seater; or

(iv) 495 kg for an amphibian or floatplane two seater, provided that, where operating both as a floatplane and as a land plane, it falls below both MTOM limits, as appropriate;

EUROPEAN MICROLIGHT FEDERATION

Statutes - 25 January 2004