In accordance with the Articles of Association, each member of the SETAC Europe can choose to be actively involved in the decision making or not, by becoming either

• a voting SETAC Europe member
• a non-voting SETAC Europe member

As a voting member, you will need to attend, either in person or by proxy, regular meetings convened for the voting members during the year. In all other respects, voting and non-voting Members shall have the same privileges and duties.

Members may change their status as voting or non-voting member from one year to the next.

The Internal Rules of SETAC Europe mention the following about voting members:

• The General Assembly shall be composed of all voting members.
• Full Members, Associate Members and Emeritus Members of SETAC Europe may become voting members.
• Each Full Member, Associate Member and Emeritus Member of SETAC Europe shall be invited to register as a voting member in February of each year.
• Voting members have the responsibility to participate in the General Assembly either in person or by proxy. Each voting member may hold five (5) proxy votes.
• All members can attend the General Assembly but only registered voting members can vote, each voting member having one vote.

The option for voting or non voting members is a result of the legal registration of SETAC Europe vzw in Brussels and the legal requirements to the general assembly. "The General Assembly may only validly deliberate if one-third (1/3) of the voting Members are present or represented. Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, if the number of voting Members is greater than one hundred (100), the quorum shall be thirty-three (33) plus one (1) additional voting Member for every ten (10) voting Members (or fraction thereof) in excess of one hundred (100)”. (Article 8.1 of the Constitution).

Since in the past it is shown that the General Assembly in general did not attract more then a few dozen participants, the quorum to deliberate validly may not be reached and the decisions to be taken will not be legally valid. To prevent this unfortunate situation, you may choose your status as a voting or non-voting member depending your wish to participate actively in the decision making in SETAC Europe. Each year in February you will have the option to change your voting status. To make your decision the agenda for the General Annual Assembly to be held in April-March (concurrent with the SETAC Europe Annual Meeting) will be distributed together with the request to consider your voting status.