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12 JULY 2013. - An Act to amend the Act of 20 July 1955 to establish a National Council for Cooperation (1)

ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 78 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. Article 1^er of the Act of 20 July 1955 establishing a National Council for Cooperation is replaced as follows:
“Article 1^er. For the purposes of this Act:
1° cooperative society: the cooperative society referred to in Book VII of the Code of Societies, including the cooperative society with social purpose referred to in Book X of the Code of Societies, the European cooperative society referred to in Book XVI of the Code of Societies, as well as any society with an equivalent form in another Member State of the European Union;
2° grouping: any organization or entity designated by at least two registered cooperative companies to represent them in the National Council of Cooperation;
3° cooperative corporation not affiliated to a group: any registered cooperative corporation that has not designated a group to represent it on the National Council of Cooperation;
4° Competent authority: courts and tribunals or administrative authorities responsible for regulating and controlling corporate law. »
Art. 3. In the same law, an article 1 is inserted.^er/1 to read:
“Art. 1^er/1. A National Council for Cooperation is established, whose mission is to:
1° to study and promote all measures to disseminate cooperative principles and ideals as defined by the International Cooperative Alliance;
2° send to a minister and, in the matter of his or her jurisdiction, to the Central Council of the Economy, either at their request, or by initiative and in the form of reports expressing the various views expressed within him or her, any opinions or proposals concerning matters relating to cooperative activity. »
Art. 4. Section 2 of the Act is replaced by the following:
“Art. 2. The National Council of Cooperation has for bodies the General Assembly and the Bureau. »
Art. 5. Section 3 of the Act is replaced by the following:
“Art. 3. The General Assembly is composed of representatives of groups and cooperative companies not affiliated to a group, approved under the conditions set out in Article 5 and its enforcement measures.
Each cooperative corporation not affiliated to a group may designate a representative. Groups, however, have the right to designate two representatives to the General Assembly. The same applies to cooperative companies not affiliated to a group with more than 100,000 partners. Each representative has a voice.
The General Assembly shall meet at least once a year on the convocation of the office. ÷ this meeting, the office presents an activity report for the past year. This activity report is made public. The office also presents to the General Assembly its plans for the coming year.
The office also convenes the General Assembly for a special meeting when it must give its opinion on legislation or regulations directly affecting the existence, operation or tasks of the National Council of Cooperation. The office presents a draft opinion to the General Assembly for this purpose.
At the proposal of the Bureau, the General Assembly shall establish the rules of procedure of the National Council of Cooperation. It provides the practical modalities for the functioning of the General Assembly, the Bureau and the commissions. It is transmitted by the office to the Minister with the Economy in his or her powers for approval.
The General Assembly approves in their entirety the proposals submitted by the Bureau by a two-thirds majority or rejects them completely. When a project is refused, the office may resubmit this project to the General Assembly after amendment, or withdraw it.
Members of the General Assembly exercise their mandates free of charge. »
Art. 6. Section 4 of the Act is replaced by the following:
“Art. 4. § 1^er. Subject to paragraph 2, the office shall be composed of not more than twenty members with an equal voice, appointed by the King on the proposal of the General Assembly, as follows:
1° where there are fewer candidates than seats to be filled, only the seats for which nominations are made;
2° each grouping or cooperative corporation not affiliated to a grouping has a maximum office seat;
3° five seats are allocated to candidates representing groupings representing the largest number of registered cooperative societies;
4° five seats are allocated to candidates representing groups or cooperative companies not affiliated to a grouping, with the largest number of partners in a registered cooperative society. When a registered cooperative corporation has among its partners, a cooperative corporation not affiliated to a group, to any degree, the partners of that cooperative corporation not affiliated to a grouping are considered for the purposes of this article to be directly associated with that registered cooperative corporation;
5° three seats are allocated to candidates representing cooperative companies not affiliated to a group with more than 250,000 partners;
6° seven seats are allocated to groupings or cooperative companies not affiliated to a grouping that do not fall into the categories taken from points 3° to 5°.
§ 2. Derogation from paragraph 1^er, the King may increase the number of members of the office and decide on the terms and conditions of allocation of these additional seats in order to allow new areas of activity to be represented in the National Council of Cooperation. »
Art. 7. In the same Act, an article 4/1 is inserted as follows:
"Art. 4/1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 3, the office is competent to carry out all the tasks that the law entrusts to the National Council of Cooperation.
It shall make its decisions by a simple majority of votes, except in respect of matters relating to legislation or regulations directly to the existence, operation or tasks of the National Council of Cooperation, as well as to the rules of procedure of the National Council of Cooperation, which shall be decided by a two-thirds majority of the votes.
The King determines the operating rules of the office. It determines the remuneration of the President and the amount of the attendance tokens of office members, as well as the conditions for reimbursement of their travel expenses. »
Art. 8. In the same Act, an article 4/2 is inserted as follows:
"Art. 4/2. A maximum of three standing committees whose purpose is to prepare opinions or to analyse specific issues may be established by the General Assembly or the Bureau.
Temporary commissions may also be established by the General Assembly or the Bureau to respond to an ad hoc request in a specific sector.
The King shall determine the operating rules of the permanent or temporary commissions. It determines the remuneration of the President and the amount of the attendance tokens of the members of the permanent or temporary commissions, as well as the conditions for reimbursement of their travel expenses. »
Art. 9. Section 5 of the Act is replaced by the following:
“Art. 5. The statutes and operations of registered cooperative companies affiliated or not to a group are in accordance with cooperative principles, i.e., they include:
(a) voluntary and open membership;
(b) the equality or limitation of the right to vote in the General Assembly;
(c) the appointment by the General Assembly of the members of the Board of Directors and the Commissioner;
(d) a moderate interest rate, limited to social shares;
(e) modalities for the economic participation of members.
The King sets out, in accordance with these principles, other conditions of accreditation and the procedure by which groupings and cooperatives affiliated or not to a grouping may be approved to designate a representative to the General Assembly of the National Council of Cooperation.
Accreditation may be refused to a cooperative corporation when it has been established by a Belgian competent authority or a competent authority of the State where the company has its head office that the statutes or functioning of the cooperative society are not in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Societies or the law of the societies in the State where it has its head office. »
Art. 10. Section 5bis of the Act, inserted by the Royal Decree of November 28, 2006, is repealed.
Art. 11. Section 6 of the Act is replaced by the following:
“Art. 6. Among the members of the office, the King appoints, on the proposal of the office approved by the General Assembly, a President and a Vice-President. The president and vice-president hold a French-language diploma for one of the two and Dutch for the other. The president chairs both the office and the general assembly. In the event of the President's failure, the Vice-Chair replaces him. »
Art. 12. Section 7 of the Act is replaced by the following:
“Art. 7. The mandates of the members of the General Assembly, the Bureau, the President and the Vice-President are six years. They're renewable.
In the event of a vacancy, the group or non-affiliated cooperative corporation may designate another representative, who replaces its former representative and who completes the current mandate.
However, if this vacancy concerns the chair or vice-president of the office, a new appointment will be made in accordance with section 6. »
Art. 13. Section 8 of the Act is replaced by the following:
“Art. 8. The terms and conditions of appointment and resignation of members of the General Assembly, the Bureau and permanent or temporary commissions are determined by the King. »
Art. 14. Section 9 of the Act is replaced by the following:
“Art. 9. The secretariat of the National Council of Cooperation is provided by officials designated for this purpose by the Minister who has the Economy in his or her responsibilities.
The expenses caused by the operation of the council are borne by the budget of the Federal Public Service Economics, P.M.E., Average Classes and Energy. »
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 12 July 2013.
ALBERT
By the King:
Minister of Economy,
J. VANDE LANOTTE
Seal of the state seal:
The Minister of Justice,
Ms. A. TURTELBOOM
____
Note
(1) Session 2012-2013.
House of Representatives.
Documents. - Bill, 53-2758 - No. 1. - Report, 53-2758 - No. 2. - Text corrected by the commission, 53-2758 - No. 3. - Text adopted in plenary and transmitted to the Senate, 53-2758 - No. 4.
Full report. - 12-13 June 2013.
Senate.
Documents. - Project not referred to by the Senate, 5-2147 - No. 1.