Abstract
This chapter investigates the formal aspects of representativeness. As a reminder, this comprises the organisational locus, legal status, and membership structure of CSOs. It also includes the formal rules through which authorisation by and accountability to members is established. Finally, constituency size and geographic scope are further elements of the formal dimension of CSOs’ representativeness, in correspondence with the analytical framework set out in chapter 2.3. They are investigated here as well. The mentioned aspects will be examined through a descriptive analysis of CSO statutes and an evaluation of information published on CSO websites.
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- 1.
http://www.ejustice.just.fgov.be/cgi/welcome.pl (last accessed 16 February 2013)
- 2.
This does not preclude a CSO whose purpose has an international dimension to register as an ASBL if it wishes to do so.
- 3.
A two-thirds majority of all members present or represented is necessary to change statutes. For decisions aiming to change the purpose of the organisation, a majority of four-fifths is required (Loi sur les asbl 1921, Art. 8).
- 4.
An organisation is considered a network or federation if the members are autonomous organisations, i.e. their registration has to be legally independent of the mother organisation. For example, the branches of Pax Christi Australia (e.g. Pax Christi Victoria) are registered as independent organisations. Therefore, Pax Christi International is considered an organisation with federatively organised members, in addition to individual member organisations.
- 5.
Some NGO networks also call themselves “platforms”, but as the distinction between the terms is not clear-cut, and to avoid terminological complexity, I will stick to the term “network”.
- 6.
This is also true for EuroCommerce, which unites national chambers of commerce. Membership in national chambers of commerce is mandatory in some European countries, for example in Germany and France, and voluntary in others, for instance in the UK and Sweden (Fedetov 2007).
- 7.
Most of the CSOs also use the term general assembly on their websites and referred to it during the interviews, which shows that it is actually utilised in reality.
- 8.
The general assembly may alternatively be called council of presidents (BusinessEurope) or annual meeting (EN.CPS), but it fulfils the same functions.
- 9.
The executive committee may also be called steering committee (EPLO), steering group (EN.CPS), board of administration (EuroCommerce), board of directors (Solidar), board (WIDE), or council (QCEA).
- 10.
This is the case at BusinessEurope, EuroCommerce, QCEA, and WIDE.
- 11.
http://www.npeurope.org/about/organizational-structure/executive (last accessed 14 November 2011)
- 12.
EPLO Statutes, www.eplo.org/assets/files/1.%20About%20us/Decision-making/EPLO_Internal_Statutes_1003XX.pdf, p. 3 (last accessed 16 February 2013)
- 13.
ETUC Constitution, www.etuc.org/IMG/pdf_CES-Statuts_CES-Uk_def-3.pdf, p. 17 (last accessed 16 February 2013)
- 14.
EPLO Statutes, p. 3
- 15.
The Pax Christi president used to be a cleric. Since 2007, the presidency is shared by a bishop and a laywoman. (http://paxchristi.de/news/kurzmeldungen/one.news.km/index.html?entry=page.news.km.246, last accessed 16 February 2013)
- 16.
Alternatively, reference is made to the office (QCEA), secretariat (EPLO, ETUC), or director (EPLO, FoEE, NP).
- 17.
namely in the internal statutes of ETUC, EPLO, and NP
- 18.
NP’s international assembly meets every three years to agree on the long-term strategy; Pax Christi’s triennial world assembly determines common priorities and objectives of the movement.
- 19.
www.etuc.org/IMG/pdf_CES-Statuts_CES-Uk_def-3.pdf (last accessed 16 February 2013)
- 20.
They are the BDA/BDI (Germany), CBI (UK), COEO (Spain), Confindustria (Italy), and MEDEF (France).
- 21.
The executive bureau meets as necessary and is presided over by the president of BusinessEurope. It has three main tasks: to follow the progress of activities according to the annual programme and promote the coordination of activities among member federations, to supervise the correspondence between the organisation’s tasks and the use of its resources, and to draw attention to urgent issues to be solved in between meetings of the council of presidents and of the executive committee and take measures to solve them.
- 22.
In January 2013, www.businesseurope.eu/content/default.asp?PageID=604 (last accessed 17 February 2013)
- 23.
http://www.eurocommerce.be/media/docs/Public/Statutes/2010StatutesFinalEN.pdf (last accessed 8 June 2011) (The statutes seem to have been revised recently. While the same version of the Euro-Commerce statutes is available on the CSO’s website in November 2011, namely the one approved by the GA in June 2010, the detailed information about the composition of the ExCom is no longer included.)
- 24.
Ibid.
- 25.
http://www.en-cps.org/Resources/EN.CPS_documents?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=rules_and_procedures_-_april_2007.pdf (last accessed 16 February 2013)
- 26.
www.esf.be (last accessed 9 February 2013)
- 27.
http://www.esf.be/new/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/esf-memorandum-of-understanding.pdf (last accessed 9 February 2013)
- 28.
The total number of members in a given country should be treated with caution, because a high number of member organisations can also be the result of historical differences, for instance in the national trade union structures (such as decentralised versus centralised) (Kahmann 2003).
- 29.
Interview CSOs # 6, 9
- 30.
Interview CSO # 12
- 31.
Interview CSO # 4
- 32.
Interview CSO # 4
- 33.
Interview CSO # 13
- 34.
Information from conversation with representative of CSO # 13 on 18 June 2010 in Brussels
- 35.
Information from conversation with representative of CSO # 3 on 18 June 2010 in Brussels
- 36.
Interview CSO # 3
- 37.
Information from conversation with representative of CSO # 3 on 18 June 2010 in Brussels.
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Rodekamp, M. (2014). The Formal Dimension of CSO Representativeness. In: Their Members’ Voice. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-02213-6_4
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