1. Opening of the General Assembly and roll call

The President welcomed the delegates. The President especially thanked the Scottish Youth Hostel Association (SYHA) for their excellent hospitality. The President also thanked the delegates from Serbia & Montenegro, Estonia and Malta for attending EUFED General Assembly and welcomed in particular Philip Lawson, Honorary EUFED President and Harish Saxena, IYHF President.

Harish Saxena declared that he was looking forward to hearing about the General Assembly’s deliberations and being briefed by IYHF Board on topics and issues developed during the meeting.

The President presented the Agenda which was accepted.

2. Minutes of the General Assembly of 26th November 2005 (Toledo, Spain) and matters arising

Karina Schilte asked for clarification on the collaboration development with the VisitEurope portal. It was replied that no further progress has been made.

Christian Dorph asked to receive the Minutes shortly after the General Assembly. Bernd Dohn replied that they were usually sent  4  to 8 weeks after the meeting.

The minutes were adopted.

3. President's remarks

The President stated that many discussions and bilateral meetings took place during 2006 in order to redevelop EUFED and find new approaches to meet the needs of EUFED Member Associations and work closer together. EUFED has two main objectives: youth policies and youth tourism. EUFED is also acting as coordinator and therefore will improve and further develop networking and communication as part of its strategy. The President highlighted some first steps in 2007 towards a new approach.

The President summarized the 2007 Action Plan and expressed his appreciation for the support he had received during the year from the Executive Committee Members and the Secretariat.

Chris Boulton stated that he was pleased with the Hannover meeting and that relationship between EUFED and IYHF should be resolved in sorting out the common elements of our mission. The President replied that EUFED will aim to combine one Europe  strategy with IYHF.

Edith Arnoult-Brill noted that the President’s remarks and the 2007 Action Plan well summarized  Members’ expectations. She stated her appreciation of EUFED taking new directions and being at a crossroad for collective and more efficient approaches and that EUFED ought to think how best to combine international and European matters.

Philip Lawson stated that the relationship between EUFED and IYHF experienced some delicate developments and went through some difficulties in the last years. He underlined the need to look into the interest of European Associations more closely and in their different points of view. The President replied that EUFED will aim to harmonize together with IYHF.

4. Draft Annual Report 2006

Angela Braasch-Eggert asked about the outcomes and feedback of the e-learning modules. It was answered that the modules were used but that EUFED did not directly received comments.

Edith Arnoult-Brill mentioned that the eco-hostelling module was used during a FUAJ environmental seminar in Mirow (Germany) and stated that it was an easy tool to learn about eco-management.

The 2006 Draft Annual Report was then approved by the General Assembly.

5. Audited Accounts 2005

The Treasurer presented the 2005 accounts. He stated that to avoid a deficit , the Secretariat Grant was necessary. However the grant was not received in 2005 and generated a deficit of about € 32.000.

The Audited Accounts 2005 were then approved.

6. Statutory Matters

• Appointment of external Auditor
  The renewal of the current Auditor DGST was approved.
• Proposed amendment to Constitution
  The President declared that the General Assembly was adjourned to commence the Extraordinary General Assembly.

7. Expenditure Accounts for the first nine months of 2006

The Treasurer presented the expenditure accounts for the first nine months of 2006. He explained that it had been  necessary to restructure EUFED secretariat to avoid a financial crisis.

Christian Dorph asked why the budgetary line “membership fees paid” was not 75% instead of 100% which were shown in the first nine months 2006 figures. The Treasurer confirmed that it was the usual budgetary way.

Victor Bourne congratulated the Treasurer and the Board for securing  financial stability. He welcomed Mario Mohr and said that he was looking forward to future developments.

Christian Dorph enquired about the financial responsibility of EUFED Member associations. The Treasurer replied that, from a legal point of view, the Member Associations of a Belgian ASBL are not liable, only the Administrators (Members of the Executive Committee) are responsible.

Christian Vanderwinnen added that, though rather expensive, insurance was available to protect against this kind of risk.

The General Assembly then accepted the accounts.

8. Proposed Budget 2007, proposed Membership Contributions 2007

The Treasurer explained that the proposed 2007 budget allows to recover a flexible budgetary situation which would take account of  the possibility of not  receiving  the Secretariat Grant. The Project Manager salary is calculated on a 60 % part-time hypothesis.

Following the presentation by the Treasurer, the proposed budget and proposed Membership Contributions for 2007 were approved by the General Assembly.

9. Discussion on proposed Action Plan 2007

The President presented the proposed 2007 Action Plan and highlighted the 20th EUFED Anniversary event and strengthening the network and profiles of YHAs.

Report on Hannover HI Europe meeting

Bernd Dohn underlined the prompt reaction of EUFED after the Davos Conference. He then summarized the main outcomes of the Hannover meeting:

• Enlargement of the structures of EUFED and implementation of mechanisms to meet the expectations of Member Associations
• Harmonization: customers and EU Institutions aspects. Age limit and membership fees harmonization: to define action.
• Preferred access model: necessity to have guidelines from Member Associations.
• Marketing: Europe as a destination, to define the structures.
• The Third Way: how to agree on and work with a new model.

The President informed the participants that three Task Groups will be created, each of them chaired by a Member of the EUFED Executive Committee:

• Peter Kaiser: the Third Way and strategic direction
• Bernd Dohn: Harmonization
• Roger Clarke: Marketing issues
• EUFED Treasurer, Patrick Bernard, will oversee the administration of EUFED and  the financial implications.

For economical reasons, any meetings of these Task Groups will be scheduled together with other EUFED meetings.

The President mentioned that EUFED Member Associations will be contacted  shortly so EUFED can present solutions for the next General Assembly in Zürich in 2007.

Philip Lawson asked about HI Marketing Europe. The President replied that Karina Schilte will develop the concept later.

Chris Darmon asked if the 2007 budget reflect the programme. The Treasurer replied that the budget was endorsed before the Conference in Davos. He said that there are other ways of communications, via electronic correspondence and teleconferences as well as synergies with other “physical’ meetings. The Treasurer also underlined that the new budgetary line “new projects” could finance new activities such as the Task Groups.

Bert Stal asked about EU funding possibilities. The President answered that there are many different programmes and that funding streams depend on EU funding structures and on assessment of project applications.

Roger Clarke then explained that e.g. funding is directly received by EUFED for European-wide project such as the EU Youth Programme Seminar or the Secretariat Grant and that financial support for Associations is received via the Structural Funds and funds for social programmes; and that the task of EUFED is to inform Member Associations about funding possibilities.

Bert Stal referred to the financial support from Member Associations in order to partly cover projects and that it would be worthwhile to give an idea about that value. Bernd Dohn answered that e.g. DJH is receiving money from the German Government and that, although EUFED is not directly involved in the process, it would be an excellent idea to show the Associations’ achievements. The President stated that benefits can not always easily be shown and Bert Stal asked if it would be possible to highlight them in the future. Mario Mohr therefore advised that Member Associations ought to send information to EUFED on obstacles encountered and success factors.

The Action Plan was accepted.

Report on Youth Mobility International Seminar – Edinburgh 23rd/24th November 2006

Marco Yseboot reported that 21 delegates from 12 Organisations in 11 European countries participated in the Seminar. The issue was the need for information on international work exchange. The main outcomes will help to encourage the exchange of staff and to find a better way to organise and communicate information. This will consequently improve the image of the Organisations as well as appropriately help young people in geographical and job mobility. An Action Plan was set up in order to implement the outcomes of the Seminar.

Report on Citizenship International Seminar – Klagenfurt 27th/28th April 2007

Peter Kaiser reported that 17 Organisations participated in the Seminar including the Polish and Albanian YHAs. The objectives were to bring participants together to create new partnerships for multilateral and cross border projects, not only between EUFED Members but also with like-minded NGOs.

Dražen Gečević remarked that the Seminar led to better cooperation with other NGOs and to implementation of youth policies and certain values.

Edith Arnoult-Brill stated that Seminars are important for the good future of the Youth Hostelling movement and their role in civil society. She said that it is an evidence at the national level from FUAJ’s experience and that EUFED lobbying helps to develop partnerships in Europe with like-minded NGOs. Edith Arnoult-Brill informed the delegates that FUAJ was having talks for a new platfom with 16 NGOs involved in tourism and social affairs.

Mario Mohr remarked that EUFED had contacted the Committee on Culture and Education of the European Parliament to have the possibility to express our needs.

Victor Bourne mentioned that the Seminars do not target all levels and that he was wondering if the groups discussed financial barriers. Roger Clarke answered that it was an East to West discussion to help young people to overcome difficulties (language, cultural, personal, etc.) and that young people working in Youth Hostels are also a means  to achieve the YHA mission.

10. Any other business

- Bernd Dohn informed the participants about the application procedure for the web “.eu” domains. He mentioned that DJH applied for 40 addresses and only received 5. He warned the participants that commercial traders were now selling “.eu” and he declared that DJH wants to alert the governmental  authorities on this issue.

• The President presented the request from the Macedonian YHA to become affiliate member of EUFED. The application was unanimously accepted and it was decided to write a letter to the President of the Macedonian YHA to inform him of the decision.
• Zarko Gvero, Serbia & Montenegro YHA, gave a short presentation about his Association and requested the status of Affiliate Member. The application was unanimously accepted.

11. Date and place of next meeting(s)

• Stephan Kurmann confirmed the Swiss Youth Hostel Association proposal to host the 2007 EUFED General Assembly and European Regional Conference in Zürich Youth Hostel on  24th and 25th November 2007.
• Following the invitation received from LAJ to host EUFED 2008 General Assembly in Namur, Belgium, on the occasion of the Association’s 75th birthday, Christian Vanderwinnen presented a film on the city of Namur. The Assembly welcomed the invitation to Namur in 2008.

The President thanked the participants and concluded in wishing that EUFED will meet the expectations of Member Associations and put them into practice.