Per AER Statute and Procedures, the AER Election Committee will inventory and prepare for the elections at the General Assembly and the Committees. The time-table is as follows:
AER Spring Committe Plenaries, 20 March 2018
- Call for nominations: 23 January 2018
- Candidate’s applications: The Election Committee will accept applicants until 23 February 2018
- Candidate’s portfolios distributed: 6 March 2018
AER General Assembly, 22 May 2018
- Call for nominations: 27 March 2018
- Candidate’s applications: 10 April 2018
- Candidate’s portfolios distributed: 8 May 2018
The AER secretariat will not be in a position to answer questions relating to the election process. All applications and questions relating to the elections should be addressed to:
Kurt Ake Hammarstedt, +46 70 527 83 50
Elections at the General Assembly
The Election Committee will nominate candidates for the elections at the General Assembly by listing all nominees from the AER Members and nominate one candidate for each position. If necessary, the Election Committee may nominate candidates of its own.
The Executive Board
The members of the Executive Board have a term of two years. The current members were elected in 2017, so the positions are up for elections at the General Assembly 2019.
The Bureau
The Bureau consists of the members of the Executive Board and two representatives per State represented within the AER. They have a term of two years and may be re-elected for a second consecutive mandate. Upon proposal by the Regions within a State, they can serve a third consecutive term.
The members of the Bureau and their substitutes are suggested by the Regions of the different states represented in AER and ratified by the General Assembly. The AER Election Committee will present the nominations at the General Assembly, without further processing.
The Monitoring and Evaluation Group
The members of the Monitoring and Evaluation Group have a term of three years. The current members were elected in 2016, so the positions are up for elections at the General Assembly 2019.
The Election Committee
The members of the Election Committee have a mandate for one year, so the positions are up for elections at the General Assembly 2018. The current members are:
- Brian Greenslade, Devon (UK) (Chair)
- Gloria Vitaly, Oppland (NO)
- Johan Edstav, Uppsala (SE)
Each member of the Election Committee must be nominated by an AER member and hold a regional political mandate, in accordance with AER Statute 1.8.
Elections at the Committees
Per AER Statute 9.3, the Committees may prepare, decide and implement initiatives in the framework of their assignments, including assigning ad hoc Working Groups and Task Forces to assist in their activities. Each Committee is chaired by a President with a term of two years, renewable once. The committee Presidents are also members of the Executive Board.
The Committee Presidium consists of the President and the Vice-Presidents of the committee and will take a joint responsibility for the planning of the committee’s activities.
Please note that delegates in all bodies of AER must hold a regional political mandate, in accordance with AER Statute 1.8. They may give due written authorization for a representative.
The Election Committee will nominate candidates for the elections at the Committees by listing all nominees from the AER Members and nominate one candidate for each position. If necessary, the Election Committee may nominate candidates of its own.
At the Committee Spring Plenaries 2018 the following positions are up for elections:
Committee 1 for Economy & Regional development
- Vice-President for Economic Development and Mobility
- One female and one male representative for the Equal Opportunities Group
- Chair of the working group on Energy and Climate Change
- Chair of the working group on Rural Development
Committee 2 for Social policy & Public health
- One female representative for the Equal Opportunities Group (her role should be to share a vision for the Committee and provide the necessary impulse for action, advise the Committee President on Equal Opportunities issues as well as insure info flow towards Equal Opportunities Group from Committee 2)
- Vice President for Inclusion & Social entrepreneurship (the Committee 2 Vice Presidents advise the Committee 2 President on policy and strategy and support him to represent AER and speak at external events)
Committee 3 for Culture, Education & Youth
- President (the current holder, Dag Rønning, Hedmark (NO) has stepped down)
- Chair of the Sub-Committee on Education and Training
AER Statute and Procedures about nominations
Per AER Statute and Procedures, the following is applicable to nominations to the General Assembly and the Committees:
In general
Statute 1.5: The bodies of AER are:
- a) The governing bodies: The General Assembly and the Executive Board;
- b) The Bureau for political discussion, debate and decision making as basis for lobbying and advocacy;
- c) The Thematic Committees for exchange and dissemination of best practise and running of programmes and projects.
The composition of all AER bodies should respect a geographical and gender balance.
Statute 1.7: The working language of AER is English.
Statute 1.8: Delegates in all bodies of AER must hold a regional political mandate. They may give due written authorization for a representative. In case of absence or should a delegate’s regional mandate be lost, the Executive Board is, after a period of a maximum of six months, charged to assign a substitute until the next General Assembly.
Statute 1.9: All votes in all AER bodies are by simple majority, defined as more than 50% of those present and voting, unless otherwise specified in the present statute. All elections are carried out by secret ballot, unless a unanimous decision to the contrary is made by the body in question. Other decisions are taken through a vote by show of hands, unless a member requests otherwise. In the event of a tied vote, on issues other than elections, the President of the body in question has the casting vote.
Statute 1.10: Common practice of political assemblies shall be applied to all AER meetings. Decisions are, in principle and whenever possible, adopted by consensus of opinion. The consensus should be understood as being the absence of any objection formulated and submitted by a member which may constitute an obstacle to the decision in question.
The General Assembly
Statute 4.3: Each Full member of AER, after paying the membership dues, has one vote at the General Assembly. The vote will be expressed
- a) Directly by one of the representatives of the member region present;
- b) By proxy from one absent region to one region present.
Procedures 4.1: Proposals to be presented at the General Assembly, can be submitted up to the evening before the start of the Executive Board meeting preceding the General Assembly.
Procedures 4.1.1: The Executive Board will give its opinion on the proposals to the General Assembly.
The Committees
Statute 9.5: Each Committee is chaired by a President, elected by the General Assembly on proposal by the committee itself and with a term of 2 years, renewable once. The President is responsible for the committee’s smooth running.
Procedures 11.2: Each Committee President’s region is charged to appoint a seconded officer to act as committee secretariat in liaison with the secretariat and, ideally, at the AER office in Brussels. The seconded officer is responsible for:
- Co-organise events and projects in collaboration with the secretariat;
- Manage the content of the meetings;
- Draft speeches and policy contributions
Procedures 11.3: The Committee Presidium consists of the President and the Vice-Presidents of the committee and will take a joint responsibility for the planning of the committee’s activities.
Contact person
The Election Committee is in charge of the organisation of the election process. Mr Brian Greenslade, President of the Election Committee has appointed Mr Kurt Ake Hammarstedt as the contact person. Therefore, all applications and questions relating to the elections should be addressed to:
Kurt Ake Hammarstedt
+46 70 527 83 50
The AER secretariat will not be in a position to answer questions relating to the election process.
