Members are invited to API-IPA’s annual general meeting on Tuesday 6 March, 2018 at 13.00h at the Residence Palace, Maelbeek Room.
(The assembly is for API-members only. Voting is only open to members who have paid their 2017 or 2018 membership fee. Members unable to attend may give aproxy vote, in the form of a hand written and signed note, to another member, to be presented to the API secretariat at least 24 hrs. beforethe meeting. Each member may have only oneproxy vote to cast).
Agenda: (final order of topics will be established at the beginning of the meeting):
- Presentation and approval of the annual accounts for the year 2017, report of commissioners; discharge of the API Board and auditors.
- Presentation and approval of the draft budget for the financial year 2018. The financial documents can be examined by members in the API office in the Residence Palace, Room #2224, 2nd Floor, on Monday-Wednesday-Friday mornings from 9:30-13:00h.
- Confirmation of the membership fee for the year 2018 (unchanged: €120 for employees and €70 for freelancers and active pensioners).
- Report of the secretary-general of API’s activities in 2017 and review of the year by API president Tom Weingärtner.
- Election of a new Vice-President. After fulfilling his second statutary two-year term Nagayo Taniguchi has to step down as one of APIs two vice-presidents. The assembly will have to elect a new VP in a secret ballot. There are two candidates: Eric Maurice, editor-in-chief of EUObserver, and Martin Alasor, correspondent for Middle East Diplomatic/Ararat News. Nagayo Taniguchi will stay on as API Treasurer and as an API Council member.
- Re-election of Thomas Friedrich as a Free Elected Member of the API Council. Thomas has come to the end of his two-year term, and has to be re-elected.
- The API Council proposes to accept a new Council-member representing the AudioVisual Media. The Council nominates Olivier Vandersleyen, who has already been present as an invited observer at recent Council meetings.
- Fake News is becoming a hot topic in Brussels too. The European Commission and the European Parliament have set up taskforces to study this phenomenon. The Commission has also launched a public consultation. What role can the Brussels correspondents – and API as their representative – play in this debate? A discussion.
- Any other business.
