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CONSTITUTION OF THE EUROPEAN CURLING FEDERATION

1. DENOMINATION, HEAD OFFICE AND DURATION

 

  1. Under the name “EUROPEAN CURLING FEDERATION” (hereinafter “ECF”) a non-profit making corporation has been formed regulated by the present Constitution and accessorily by the articles 60 and following of the Civil Code of Switzerland.
  2. The registered office of the ECF is in Berne (Switzerland).
  3. The ECF is founded for an unlimited period of time.
  4. The ECF can decide its dissolution at any time.

 

2. MISSION

 

  1. To unite members throughout Europe
  2. To conduct any annual European Curling Championships.
  3. To select the venue, set the date and agree the conditions with the Host Committee of the selected venue for these Championships.
  4. To encourage the development and promotion of Curling throughout Europe and uphold the interests of  European curling.

 

3. MEMBERS

 

  1. Only one Curling Association from each European Nation shall be eligible for membership of the ECF.
  2. Each Member Association shall have a distinctive title and shall be governed by officials elected in accordance with a recognised constitution.
  3. Membership of the ECF shall require approval by a majority of not less than two thirds of the Member Associations represented at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) or the Semi-Annual General Meeting (SAGM).
  4. Each Member Association shall recognise and accept this Constitution.
  5. The ECF shall recognise the autonomy of its Member Associations.
  6. A Member Association may at any time withdraw from membership of the ECF by a written letter to the Executive Board.
  7. The Annual General Meeting or the Semi-Annual General Meeting may expel or temporarily suspend a Member Association for any one of the following reasons:
    1. non-payment of subscriptions or any other debts due to the ECF
    2. infringement of the Constitution or Rules
    3. any other peremptory justified reason

The Annual General Meeting or the Semi-Annual General Meeting will give its decisions after having heard the Representatives of the Member Association concerned, if present in the Meeting. The decision has to be supported by a majority of not less than two thirds of the Member Associations represented in the Meeting.

 

4. SUBSCRIPTIONS

 

  1. Member Associations shall pay an annual subscription, the amount of which shall be fixed at the  AGM.
  2. The net amount of annual subscriptions shall be paid by 31st March each year at the rate fixed at the previous AGM. Notices of subscription shall be mailed to Member Associations by 31st January of each year.
  3. If a Member Association's subscription, including arrears, is not paid by the due date, that Member Association may not play in the European Curling Championships and its voting rights shall be suspended until three (3) months after payment in full is received.
  4. Each Member Association shall inform the ECF by the 31st October each year of its number of registered Curlers.
  5. If a Member Association withdraws from membership or is expelled or suspended by the AGM or SAGM after having paid the annual subscription or entry fees for the European Championships for the ongoing year, none of those payments will be returned.

 

5. LANGUAGE

 

The language of the ECF shall be English.

 

 

6. MANAGEMENT

 

  1. All policy decisions shall be taken by the Member Associations at the AGM.
  2. The business of the ECF shall be managed by a President, a Vice-President, a Secretary General, a Director of Finance and an Executive Board who shall have and exercise during the period between AGM's all the authority of the ECF except those matters which are explicitly the responsibility of the AGM.
  3. The Executive Board shall select the venues for all European Curling Championships.
  4. On the proposal of the Executive Board it shall be competent for the ECF to appoint committees with delegated powers on specific matters.

 

7. REPRESENTATION

 

  1. The joint signature of the President and another member of the Executive Board is necessary to validly bind the ECF in any contractual relationship.
  2. The signature of any contract or document binding the ECF shall be approved by the Executive Board.
  3. Any contract of a duration of more than one (1) year, other than European Curling Championship hosting contracts or contracts that refer to it, shall be ratified by the next General Meeting.

 

8. RESPONSIBILITY

 

  1. Liabilities of the ECF are only guaranteed by its assets.
  2. No liabilities may be incurred by a Member Nation or its Representatives.
  3. The Members of the Executive Board are responsible only for their personal illegal acts.

 

9. FINANCE

 

a.       The financial year of the ECF shall be July1-June30

b.       The income of the ECF consists of:

 

      • annual subscriptions
      • contribution from sponsors
      • donations
      • proceeds from rights or from sales
      • hosting fees from European competitions
      • miscellaneous

 

10. PRESIDENT

 

  1. The President of the ECF shall be elected by the Member Associations at an AGM. The President may be nominated by any Member Association with the approval of his/her Member Association.  The President shall be elected for two years and may be eligible for re-election.
  2. An election for President shall be notified to Member Associations at least four months before the date of such an election.
  3. Nominations for office of President must be made in writing by Member Associations to the Secretary General at least sixty (60) days before the AGM and all Member Associations must receive from the Secretary General detailed information about the nominations at least thirty (30) days before the date of the election.
  4. The President shall chair all General Meetings. The President shall have no deliberative vote but shall have a casting vote in cases of equality of voting.
  5. The President shall chair all Executive Board Meetings.  The President shall have no deliberative vote but shall have a casting vote in cases of equality of voting.
  6. In the event of absence or incapacity of the President, the Vice-President shall preside and shall have all the authority and voting rights of the President during the period of that meeting.

 

11. VICE-PRESIDENT

 

  1. The Vice-President of the ECF shall be elected by the Member Associations at an AGM. The Vice-President may be nominated by any Member Association with the approval of his/her Member Association. The Vice-President shall be elected for two years and may be eligible for re-election.
  2. An election for Vice-President shall be notified to Member Associations at least four months before the date of such an election.
  3. Nominations for office of Vice-President must be made in writing by Member Associations to the Secretary General at least sixty (60) days before the AGM and all Member Associations must receive from the Secretary General detailed information about the nominations at least thirty (30) days before the date of the election.

 

12.   SECRETARY GENERAL

 

  1. The Secretary General of the ECF shall be elected by the AGM. The term of office shall be two years but may be, subject to re-election, for an unlimited number of two year terms.
  2. The Secretary General shall prepare Minutes of all meetings and distribute such Minutes to all Member Associations, Executive Board Members and Past Presidents within sixty (60) days following each meeting.
  3. The Secretary General shall be entitled to reasonable annual remuneration. The amount to be recommended by the Executive Board and approved by the AGM.

 

13. DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

 

  1. The Director of Finance of the ECF shall be appointed by the Executive Board. The term of office shall be two years but may be, subject to re-appointment, for an unlimited number of two year terms.
  2. The Director of Finance shall keep accurate accounts and shall produce financial statements showing the financial affairs of the ECF. The funds of the ECF shall be lodged in a bank account in Bern (Switzerland) under the name of European Curling Federation where monies may be drawn or deposited by orders signed by the President and/or the Director of Finance. The financial accounts of the ECF shall be open for inspection to all members of the ECF for one week prior to the Annual General Meeting and to members of the Executive Board at all times.
  3. The Director of Finance shall produce a balanced financial statement annually on the 30th June and the budget for the ensuing 18 months for consideration and approval at the AGM.
  4. An external Auditor approved by the AGM controls the annual financial statement and the report is presented to the AGM.

 

14.   EXECUTIVE BOARD

 

  1. The ECF shall every two years elect an Executive Board. The  Executive Board shall consist of representatives of the following four regions:
  • Great Britain & Ireland  
  • Northern Europe
  • Eastern Europe
  • Western Europe

 

The members of each region are listed in a by-law.        

 

  1. Each region shall elect one Executive Board member from nominations made by the Member Associations within that region.
  2. Three members shall be elected on the basis of their knowledge, experience and expertise, irrespective of which nation or region they belong to. These members shall be elected by the General Meeting from nominations made by any Member Association or region.
  3. An election for the Executive Board members shall be notified to Member Associations at least four months before the date of such an election.

e.   Nominations for office of Executive Board members must be made in writing by Member Associations to the Secretary General at least sixty (60) days before the AGM and all Member Associations must receive from the Secretary General detailed information about the nominations at least thirty (30) days before the date of the election.

f.    The Executive Board shall comprise the President, the Vice-President, and the seven elected representatives. Executive Board Members may not be represented by proxy at the Executive Board Meetings.

  1. To conduct Executive Board business a quorum of five Executive Board Members is required.
  2. The Secretary General with discussion privileges but no vote shall attend all Executive Board Meetings.
  3. The Executive Board shall have and exercise during the period between AGM's all the authority of the ECF as qualified in paragraph 6.b.
  4. Executive Board Meetings may be called by the President or at the request of any three Executive Board Members.
  5. No Executive Board Member shall be paid any remuneration for their services as a Board Member to the ECF. Members of the Executive Board may be reimbursed for expenses incurred in attending meetings or other business on behalf of the ECF.

 

15. THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)

 

  1. The AGM of the ECF shall be held during the period of the European Curling Championships. The date of the meeting shall be notified to all Member Associations at least 90 days prior to the meeting.
  2. Notification of business and motions for inclusion in the Agenda of the AGM shall be in the hands of the Secretary General at least 60 days prior to the date of the meeting.
  3. The Secretary General shall transmit to each Member Association the notice calling the meeting along with the Agenda and an Abstract of the ECF's annual accounts 30 days prior to the meeting.
  4. Each Member Association may send two representatives, only one of whom shall be eligible to vote. Member Associations shall notify the Secretary General in writing the name of the representative carrying their vote and possible proxy vote.
  5. A Member Association may confer proxy to the representative of another Member Association. No representative may carry more than one (1) proxy. To assure voting rights a proxy shall be notified in writing to the Secretary General, stating the Member Association carrying the proxy vote. It shall be competent for a delegate carrying his Member Association's vote as well as a proxy vote, to vote differently for his proxy as for his own Member Association.
  6. Executive Board Members are entitled to vote only if they are the named representatives of their Member Association as stated in paragraph 15.d.
  7. Voting on all matters, except the elections, at this meeting shall be by show of hands. Voting on elections shall be done by secret ballots. A simple majority of those voting shall suffice to carry the decisions of the meeting with the exception of changes to the ECF's Constitution and approval, expelling or suspending of membership of the ECF which shall require a majority of two thirds of the votes cast, and elections which shall on all occasions require an absolute majority.
  8. The AGM of the ECF shall only properly exercise its functions if a quorum of not less than one half of its Member Associations are represented in person by their named representative.

 

16. SEMI-ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

 

A Semi-Annual General Meeting (SAGM) may, at the discretion of the AGM or the Executive Board, be held each year. Procedures shall be as for an AGM.

 

17. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETINGS

 

Special General Meetings (SGM) may be called by the President with the agreement of a majority of the Executive Board or when a petition signed by at least one third of the Member Associations is received by the Secretary General.

 

18. COMPROMISSORY CLAUSE

  1. Any decision made by the General Meeting of the ECF or by the Executive Board of the ECF may be the object of appeal arbitration proceedings in accordance with the Code of sports-related arbitration of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. The time limit for appeal is twenty-one (21) days following the communication of the decision concerning the appeal. All recourse to ordinary courts is excluded.
  2. Swiss law applies.

 

19. CHAMPIONSHIPS

 

  1. The Rules of Competition, the Playing System for each Championship and the Rules for Advertising shall be distributed annually to each Member Association.
  2. The Rules of Play shall be published in the latest edition of the WCF Official Handbook unless otherwise stated.
  3. The Medical Code of the International Olympic Committee shall apply in all cases relating to the misuse of drugs or medicaments.

 

20. COMMUNICATION

 

All communications with the ECF shall, in the first instance, be through the Secretary General.

 

21. DISSOLUTION       

 

The General Meeting, having pronounced the dissolution, is entitled to decide by simple majority of the voting members the allowance of the remaining assets of the ECF, which have to be allocated to a non-profit and of public interest corporation in benefit for curling.

 

22. ENTRY INTO FORCE

 

The present constitution, adopted by the General Meeting on December 4, 2007 comes into force on January 1, 2008.

 

 

BY-LAWS OF THE EUROPEAN CURLING FEDERATION

By- Law No 1.

LIST OF MEMBER NATIONS AND ALLOCATION TO THE VARIOUS ZONES

 

Great Britain & Ireland:

England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales

 

Northern Europe:

Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland

 

Eastern Europe:

Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech-Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Ukraine

 

Western Europe:

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece,  Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg,  Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland,

 

 

By-Law No 2

Agenda of the Annual General Meeting

 

  1.  Reading of Notice of Assembly.
  2.  Report on Credentials of Representatives and Quorum.
  3.  Exclusion/suspension of a Member Association.
  4.  Additions to the Agenda.
  5.  Approval of the Agenda.
  6.  Reading of the Minutes of the last General Assembly and approval thereof.
  7.  Business arising out of the Minutes.
  8.  Report of the President.
  9.  Report of the Executive Board and Committees.
  10.  Report of the Director of Finance.
  11.  Report of the Auditors.
  12.  Approval of the Financial Statement
  13.  Appointment of the Auditors.
  14.  Approval of the Budget
  15.  Approval of annual subscriptions
  16.  Changes to the Constitution and Bye Laws
  17.  Resolutions.
  18.  Further business.
  19.  Elections.
  20.  Acceptance of a new Member Association.
  21.  Date and location of next General Assembly.

 

 

 

 

 

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