ECA Statutes (As Amended October 2025)

PREAMBLE

• It was agreed in 1997 that the four established European Carbon Groups (British, French, German and Spanish) wished to see the formation of an Association. This Association was named the European Carbon Association (ECA).
• Since then, three additional groups (Polish, Ukrainian and Portuguese) have been created and joined the Association, and the French group has been extended to be the French-speaking Carbon group (including regions/countries out of France).
• The agreements which follow are an amendment of the agreements established in 1997 and were subject to approval by the Committees / Councils of the existing National Carbon Groups.
• The Association remains known as the: EUROPEAN CARBON ASSOCIATION (ECA).
• Each national group is responsible for ratification of statutes as per their national rules.
  
  STATUTES

1. The ECA is established for an unlimited period of time.
2. The ECA is composed of seven groups: British, French-speaking, German, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Ukrainian.
3. The President and Vice-President are designated for a period of three year. By default, the President of the ECA is the President/Chair of the group that organized the last World Conference on Carbon (designated here as “Conference”) in Europe. The Vice-President is the President/Chair of the group that will organize the next Conference in Europe. The change is effective at the closing of each Conference.
4. A Vote of No Confidence in the ECA President may be proposed by any national group and seconded by another.  If passed on a super-majority of 2/3rds of votes cast, the Vice President shall become Acting President until the next Conference held in Europe or until a new President / Chair is elected by the national group holding the ‘presidency’.
5. The three-year term is determined by rotation of the Conference between the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe. If by international agreement or by extraordinary events, e.g. pandemic, the interval changes, the term of the President / Vice President will automatically change to coincide with the Conference in Europe.
6. The ECA committee is composed of 2 representatives from each group.  Normally, this is the President/Chair and a second representative from each group. This second person is designated by each of the groups, internally, and should be notified to the President of the ECA.
7. Extraordinarily, if the President/Chair or the second representative of a group is unavailable for the meeting, each group may designate an alternative officer of the national group.
8. ECA statutes, committee composition and information related to the ECA activities are displayed on the ECA website (http://europeancarbon.eu).
9. At least two meetings of the ECA committee per year are organized: one during the Conference, and one approximately 6 months later. The organization of the meetings is under the responsibility of the ECA President. Any member of the ECA committee can request an extraordinary meeting, subject to the agreement of at least 50% of the committee members. Meetings may take place in videoconference. Any associated costs of the delegates in attending these meetings will be under the responsibility of the individual groups and not the ECA, which shall not hold nor require funding (other than seeking contributions towards prizes or awards). The Notes for the Record are approved by the committee and stored on the ECA website.
10. All decisions to be made by the ECA committee is based on voting. A super majority of 2/3rds of the votes is necessary for approving any proposal. Voting is normally by an open voting system (‘show of hands’) in meetings. By exception, members may request a secret ballot, subject to a simple majority of the members, in which case the President and Vice-President of the ECA (or their designates) shall act as returning officers. Where voting is required outside committee (as in the case of Awards or Prizes), the President of the ECA or their designate will act as returning officer and a confidential ‘postal’ ballot will be held subject to any rules of the Award or Prize, but votes must be sent simultaneously to both the President and the Vice-President to be valid.
11. The roles of the Association are:
    1. To promote and disseminate the science and technology of carbon and to foster interactions between European groups, as well as with Carbon Groups across the world.
    2. To decide the schedule of the Conference when organized in Europe, according to world-wide triennial cycle agreed upon with the American Carbon Society (covering the Americas) and the Asian Carbon Association (including Oceania). By default, the schedule follows the order of the previous Conferences: Polish, German, Spanish, British, French-speaking, Portuguese and Ukrainian Carbon Group. The non-organization of the Conference by a group when its turn comes should be by exceptional circumstances. In that case, the next group on the list is solicited. The decision of the ECA will be binding on the national carbon groups that are members of the ECA.
    3. To scientifically support each other, disseminate knowledge, and available resources for achieving scientific progress and advance mutual applying for projects and/or securing international funding of the ECA members and members’ affiliated organizations.
    4. To encourage progress in the field of science and technology of carbon in all its aspects, including but not exclusively research, teaching and applications, as well as to foster any other activity pertinent thereto.
    5. To foster, disseminate, and encourage good practice in the science and technology of carbon, including nomenclature, analysis, safety, and applicability.
    6. To elect the ECA Award winner (see the definition and procedure here).
    7. To consider the adoption of any new member of the ECA.
12. Additional groups within Europe may be considered for membership of the ECA, provided that an identified group with established scientific activity is founded with a formal constitution, membership representative of multiple institutions and organisations within country and audited / regulated financial affairs.  Before ECA approving the addition of the group to the World Carbon Conference cycle, it would normally be the case the new national group would offer a meeting or workshop open to scientists across Europe. Only one group per country is permitted.
13. The organization of the Conference within Europe is fully under the responsibility (including financial) of the group in the host country. At least one ECA committee representative from outside the host country shall be invited to serve on the organizing committee.
14. The organization of the Conference in Europe does not preclude the organization of additional workshops and symposia on specialized topics in Europe the same year. However, the members of the ECA must commit not to compete with the Conference or conflict with dates / travel in any way.
15. ECA members should advise, at the earliest opportunity, other groups of scientific conferences and workshops in the field of carbon science and technology open to international colleagues.  Where possible, ECA members should seek to schedule events to avoid clashes with planned events elsewhere that might provide for competition within any specialised area.
16. Where any group folds, becomes financially unviable or ceases to exist through any regulated national structures, they immediately cease to be members of the ECA and lose any voting rights. The status of the former group will be ratified by the ECA committee.
17. Failure to abide by statutes listed here may lead to censure by the ECA via a motion and approved by a super majority of 2/3rds. Non-compliance with statutes may result in the group being suspended by the ECA for a period of time.

          October, 2025

Previous ECA Status