On the occasion of the 45th Lisbon Congress, held in March 2023, we convened an INTA General Assembly. This assembly decided to extend the mandate of the Board of Directors for an additional year and to approve the new INTA statutes in the interim. This procedure was followed, and since no objections to the new INTA statutes were received, we must consider them approved.

The President, in accordance with the statutes, convened a General Assembly on Friday, March 22, from 2 PM to 5 PM, with a hybrid in-person/remote setup. Members who attended the General Assembly physically gathered at 111 Boulevard Brune, 75014 Paris.

o-o-0-o-o

Agenda

The agenda was prepared and adopted in the context of a preparatory meeting for the General Assembly.

1. General update on the state of INTA by the President and financial report
2. Open discussion on the association’s development strategy
3. Presentation of a list of candidates for the election of a new Board of Directors
4. Voting

Participants

• INTA members present: 7
  Fernando NUNES DA SILVA, Jacques GALLY, Étienne LHOMET, Helle JUUL, Sabina MUJKIC, Mauro PARILLI, François NOISETTE
• Association members via video conference: 12
  Andreas SHUBERT, Louis HENRY, Branca DAS NEVES (représentant la mairie de Lisbonne), Jean-Michel EVIN, Maurice CHARRIER, Francesc VENTURA, Luis BUEZO DE MANZANEDO, Robert OLIVIER, Didier DRUMMOND, Jean-Yves CHAPUIS, Kerri FARNSWORTH, Germanico PINTO
• Total attendees at the General Assembly: 19
• Total votes: 19

1/ Activity Report and Discussions on the Association’s Future Strategies

The President provided an overview.
We have stabilized the main operating costs and are financially stable. However, there are still issues hindering the proper development of INTA. We do not have enough funds to launch initiatives that could attract more attention and more members. This is our primary concern at the moment.
Another issue is, that the Board of Directors needs to be much more active and engaged in execution. The renewal of INTA’s board members is crucial to our ability to propose initiatives. This is a key problem.

Note : A more detailed transcript of the debates has been made available to the participants in a separate document.

2/Report on the financial situation of the association

Jacques Gally presented the latest figures:

1. The financial statement for 2023 is being finalized. The final document will be communicated to the association by the accounting firm Stengelin on April 15, 2024. However, the following figures are known:
   1. Total balance: 41,300 euros
   2. Profit for the year: 16,200 euros
   3. Operating income: 29,000 euros, including approximately 20,000 euros from membership fees
   4. Operating expenses: 13,300 euros
2. The cash situation as of the date of the General Assembly is good: the association has 52,660 euros in cash.
   1. HSBC Bank balance: 17,500 euros
   2. Crédit Mutuel Bank balance: 35,160 euros
3. It has been decided to transfer funds from HSBC Bank to Crédit Mutuel Bank, which has much more favorable management fees. The transfer is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2024, once all suppliers direct debits have been secured.

Discussion and votes:

Following these presentations, the management of the association was approved by all members present and via video conference.

3/Presentation and Election of the Association’s Board of Directors

The President recalled the key elements of the new statutes adopted in 2023:

• The composition of the Board of Directors is as follows:

1. Voting members: between 9 and 12 members
2. Former presidents, without voting rights
3. Non-voting invited members on the Board: 3 qualified individuals
4. Depending on the sessions and the agenda: additional non-voting guests

• The composition of the Executive Committee is as follows: the President, the Treasurer, and 3 members.

The President recalled the preparatory work that justified the presentation of this list of candidates.
Many of our members and Board of Directors members are already retired, as are our contacts. Today, things need to be different. This means we need to bring in people who are more actively engaged in professional life and who can bring more interesting ideas and contacts to the board. What we are trying to do with this new board, after a year of discussions since the Lisbon Congress last year, is both to bring in new people and to retain some who have already worked for INTA, to ensure some continuity in terms of contacts and ideas.

The idea of this board list is:

• To bring fresh blood to the board while maintaining contact with a few people who have been more active in the past,
• And to cover, as much as possible, the diversity of situations, people, and regions of the world.

• The list of candidates running for the Board of Directors election on March 22, 2024, is composed of the following members of the association. A brief introduction of these candidates is available by clicking ➡️  here.
  • Luis BUEZO DE MANZANEDO (Peru)
  • Jean-Michel EVIN (France)
  • Louis HENRY (France)
  • Helle JUUL (Denmark)
  • Etienne LHOMET (France)
  • Robert OLIVIER (Canada)
  • Sabina MUJKIC (Slovenia)
  • Germanico PINTO (Ecauador)
  • Alejandra RODRIGUEZ (Colombia)
  • Guido VALDIVIA (Peru)
  • Francesc VENTURA (Spain)

• The list of presidents of INTA: Budiarsa Sastrawinata, Maurice Charrier, Fernando Nunes da Silva,  will also sit on the Board of Directors, but without voting rights.

Discussion and votes:

At the end of the debate, these proposals were approved by a large majority:

• In favor: 16 votes
• Abstentions: 2 votes
• Against the proposal: 1 vote

​

Two members raised the issue of the quorum required for this decision to be effective.

It should be noted that, according to Article 10, Paragraph 4 of the bylaws, “all deliberations are made by a majority vote of the members present or represented.” Therefore, the question of the quorum does not arise.

However, to avoid any doubt, the effective representation of this General Assembly has been doubly verified:

• Representation: knowing that the maximum number of paying members in recent years was 42 in 2019. Considering the current number of 30 paying members or those exempt from payment in the past, the participation rate at the General Assembly in Paris was 2/3 of the total number of members or 45% compared to the maximum reached in 2019.
• Contributions paid by all candidates for representation on the Board of Directors: verified.

In this context, there is no reason to question the votes of the General Assembly, and the new Board of Directors can therefore elect its president and vice-presidents and begin its work.

The President closes the meeting at 5:00 PM.