§ 1 Name and Headquarters

1.1 The name of the organisation is "Europäisches Verpackungsinstitut e.V." or "European Packaging Institute"
1.2 The headquarters of the organisation are in Leipzig.
1.3 The organisation pursues purposes which are exclusively and immediately of benefit for the public in the sense of the section "Tax-deductible Purposes of the Tax Law".
1.4 A financial year is a calendar year.

§ 2 Purposes of the Organisation

The organisation has the following purposes:

2.1 To promote exchange and co-operation in every question related to research and de-velopment in the field of packaging in Europe and to make accessible to its members new findings and experiences from Europe and countries outside Europe.
2.2 To develop the co-operation in research as well as in education and further education on the national and the international level and to organise the elaboration of studies of the level of expertise as well as the level of education and further education.
2.3 To test new ways of co-operation in order to solve current problems of packaging by bringing together scientists and people with practical experience.
2.4 To support consumer protection by investigating the use of packaging and a systematic public relations work.
2.5 To organise conferences, symposia, courses and seminars for the exchange of expert knowledge and for further education and to publish important advances in research and practice. The work of the Institute concerns all questions of packaging from the development of pack-ages to their recycling. The Institute is available to the organs of the European Union, the authorities of the European countries and other institutes and organisations working in Europe as a means of contact. The information provided by the Institute is neutral and objective.

§ 3 Charitable Status

3.1 The activities of the European Packaging Institute are selfless. It does not pursue eco-nomic purposes in the first place.
3.2 Funds of the European Packaging Institute must only be used for purposes ac-cording to the rules of the EPI.
3.3 The members do not receive funds on the basis of their membership of the EPI.
3.4 Nobody must be aided and abetted by expenses which are alien to the pur-poses of the Institute or by unreasonably high reimbursements.
3.5 In the case of a disbanding of the Institute or the discontinuation of tax-deductible purposes the property goes to a public body or another body with tax-deductible purposes in order to use it for scientific purposes of benefit to the public.

§ 4 Membership

4.1 Every natural or artificial person who is willing to support the purposes stated in §2 above can become a member of the EPI. Membership includes individuals, institutes, unions, companies, and honorary members.
4.2 The Institute has full members and sponsoring members.
4.3 The application for membership must be presented to the board in writing.
4.4 The annual membership fee is fixed by the board.
4.5 Membership ends with leaving, death, deletion from the list of members, or ex-clusion. The board decides on the admission, deletion or exclusion of members. Membership can be cancelled by a letter to the board sent by registered post and with a period of notice of six months.
4.6 Every member has the right to make use of the services of the institute, to make suggestions, and to demand information on the activities of the Institute.

§ 5 Organs

The organs of the European Packaging Institute are the following:

5.1 the general meeting,
5.2 the board
5.3 expert groups and work groups

§ 6 The General Meeting

6.1 The ordinary general meeting takes place at least once in three years.
6.2 The general meeting is called by the board in writing with an eight-week period.
6.3 A general meeting must be called if a third of the members demands it and states the reasons for the meeting.
6.4 The meeting is presided by a member of the board.
6.5 Decisions are taken by ballot if at least ten members demand it.
6.6 The purpose of the general meeting is the discussion of the results of the Insti-tute's work and the aims followed in future work. In connection with this the meeting discusses the report of the Institute, decides on its authorisation, elects the board and discusses changes of the rules.
6.7 Each member has one vote in the general meeting; each co-operative member has two votes. Decisions need a single majority of the members present. Other members can be authorised to make a proxy vote in writing. The authori-sation must be given to the member carrying out the proxy vote for each meet-ing separately. Members who are entitled to two votes can only vote uniformly.
6.8 The decisions of the general meeting have to be taken down in a record that has to be signed by the secretary and the president.

§ 7 The Board

The board is elected by the general meeting for a period of three years, beginning with the day of election. They remain in office until the next election. Re-elections are per-mitted. If a member of the board leaves the board during the period of office, the board is permitted to choose a replacement for the time until the next general meeting.

7.1 The board consists of the president, two vice presidents, the secretary, the treasurer, and other people the number of which is determined according to the number of the countries who participate in the work of the Institute.
7.2 The board determines the guidelines for the work of the Institute on the basis of the decisions of the general meeting and convokes the general meeting.
7.3 The president, his deputies, and the secretary represent the Institute in a court of law and out of court. Each of them is entitled to represent the Institute on their own at any time.
7.4 The board can appoint a managing director.
7.5 The board can establish expert and work groups for the purposes mentioned in § 2.
7.6 The board set up guidelines for the work of the expert and work groups, deter-mines the tasks and aims of these groups and co-ordinates their co-operation.

§ 8 Financial Affairs

The financial affairs must be checked every fiscal year by auditors appointed by the general meeting.