Satzung

§ 1 Name and registered office
1. the association shall bear the name "KulturNetzKöln e.V."
2. the KulturNetzKöln e.V. shall be entered in the register of associations of the local court and shall strive for non-profit status.
3. the KulturNetzKöln e.V. has its registered office in Cologne.

§ 2 Objectives and tasks

1. the KulturNetzKöln e.V. is an interdisciplinary association that bundles the interests of independent art and culture in Cologne, discusses cultural policy, formulates demands, develops concepts, organizes events and campaigns. The association does not replace existing interest groups, but works in exchange with them. It serves communication and opinion-forming among each other, is supported by the importance of free art and culture in general and for Cologne in particular. In this sense, it represents the interests of its members towards politics, administration and the public.
2. the KulturNetzKöln e.V. aims to
- promote art and culture
- support the diversity and quality of the cultural infrastructure in order to strengthen Cologne as a city of culture in the region, throughout Germany and beyond;
- improve the exchange of information and experience between arts and cultural organizations
- formulate cultural policy interests and represent them in public and vis-à-vis the City of Cologne, political parties, administrations, the state government and parliamentary bodies, among other things with the aim of creating transparency and partnership.
- KulturNetzKöln e.V. is committed to diversity and cultural variety in the arts and cultural landscape.
3. the Kulturnetz Köln e.V. realizes these general objectives in particular by
- Informing its members and the public about current cultural and cultural policy developments;
- Organizing discussion rounds on current relevant topics, which are open to all those interested in art and culture;
- Developing, discussing and disseminating analyses, concepts, recommendations and demands in the cultural field;
- Advising members, political parties, committees and responsible ministries on cultural policy decisions that affect the development of art and culture in general;
- Organizing cultural and cultural-political events.

§ 3 Non-profit status
KulturNetzKöln e.V. pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes within the meaning of the section "Tax-privileged purposes" of the German Tax Code. It is selflessly active and does not primarily pursue its own economic purposes.
The association's funds may only be used for the purposes set out in the articles of association. Members do not receive any benefits from the association's funds. No person may benefit from expenses that are alien to the purpose of the association or from disproportionately high remuneration.

§ 4 Organs
The bodies of Kulturnetz Köln e.V. are
- general meeting
- sections
- Board of Directors

§ 5 Membership
1. legal and natural persons and associations, such as networks, groups, institutions, clubs, organizers, associations and connections of the Cologne independent art and cultural scene, as well as individuals who are connected with the purposes of the association mentioned in § 2 can become members of KulturNetzKöln e.V..
2. the application for membership must be made in text form. The Executive Board shall decide on the application for membership by simple majority. A resolution is also valid without a meeting of the Executive Board if the majority of the members of the Executive Board declare their approval in text form.
In the event of a written rejection - to be justified by the Executive Board - an objection submitted in text form by the applicant is permissible. The General Assembly then makes the final decision on this with a 2/3 majority.
3 Members shall assign themselves to a section.
4. membership expires
- upon termination by the member. This must be communicated to the Executive Board in text form and becomes effective upon confirmation of receipt;
- dissolution of the member organization;
- by exclusion. The General Meeting decides on this with a 2/3 majority.
- in the case of natural members, through death.
- in the event of the dissolution of KulturNetzKöln e.V.
5. the general meeting decides on a membership fee.

§ 6 General Assembly of Members
1. the general meeting consists of the members present as described under § 5. It shall meet at least once a year. Minutes shall be taken of the meetings.
2 The General Meeting has the following tasks:
- Decisions in all cases assigned to it by these Articles of Association;
- Discussing and passing resolutions on programmatic and cultural policy guidelines, declarations, demands and recommendations;
- Passing resolutions on amendments to the Articles of Association and the organizational framework. Amendments to the Articles of Association that are required by supervisory, judicial or financial authorities for formal reasons may be made by the Executive Board on its own initiative. All members of the Association must be notified of these amendments to the Articles of Association in text form as soon as possible.
- Establishment of new sections;
- Resolution on the dissolution of the Association;
- Election of the three-member Executive Board;
- Confirmation of the spokespersons of the sections;
- Approval of the Executive Board's activity report;
- Approval of the annual accounts;
- Resolution on financial planning;
- Election of two auditors and two substitute auditors for a period of two years. They may be re-elected. Auditors and substitute auditors may not be members of the Executive Board.
- Discharge of the Executive Board;
- Settlement of motions.
3. the General Meeting must be convened by the Executive Board in text form at least three weeks in advance, stating a proposed agenda. It is quorate regardless of the number of members present. Motions to the General Meeting must be received by the Executive Board in text form at least one week before the date of the meeting.
4 The General Meeting must also be convened by the Executive Board if compelling reasons make this necessary or if at least 3/10 of its members request this in writing, stating the reasons. The General Meeting shall be held within eight weeks of receipt of the request. Otherwise, items 1 to 3 apply accordingly.
(5) Minutes shall be taken of the resolutions of each general meeting by a secretary elected by the meeting. The minutes shall be signed by the chairperson of the meeting and the secretary.
6. persons who are not members of Kulturnetz Köln e.V. may also attend the general meeting at the invitation of the board. They have the right to speak but not to vote at the meeting.

§ 7 Sections
1. the KulturNetzKöln e.V. can be divided into sections:
- Visual Arts
- literature
- Film/ Media
- music
- dance
- Theater
- Contemporary Circus
- an open section.
The General Assembly decides on the establishment of new sections.
2. each member shall assign itself to the sections.
Each member, regardless of whether a legal or natural person, association, network, group, institution, club, organizer, federation or association of the Cologne independent art and culture scene or individual, is entitled to one vote in only one section.
3. the members of a section shall elect a spokesperson and a deputy spokesperson from among their number for the duration of the Board's term of office. The spokesperson is a member of the board of KulturNetzKöln e.V., subject to confirmation by the general meeting.
4. each section determines its own working methods. The section spokesperson informs the section about the work of the Executive Board.

§ 8 Board of Directors
1. the Executive Board shall be composed of
- the section spokespersons elected by the sections and additionally
- three executive chairpersons with equal rights, who are elected by the General Assembly from among its members. These should not be identical to the section spokespersons and should be drawn from different sections;
- an advisory "Diversity Officer", who is elected by the General Assembly of Members
2. the term of office of the Executive Board is two years; re-election is permitted. The Executive Board shall remain in office until a new Executive Board has been elected.
3. the chairpersons are members of the Executive Board within the meaning of § 26 BGB. They manage the business of the association and represent it in and out of court. Two chairpersons together are authorized to represent the association Kulturnetz Köln e.V. in accordance with § 26 BGB.
4. the board has the following tasks:
- It implements the ongoing tasks of KulturNetzKöln e.V. on the basis of the resolutions of the General Assembly and the full Board; - It prepares an activity report; - It draws up a financial plan and prepares annual accounts;
- It draws up and adopts cultural policy statements, demands and recommendations.
- It represents KulturNetzKöln e.V. vis-à-vis politics and administration as well as in committees and associations.
- It issues invitations to the general meeting and other meetings in good time.
- The Executive Board shall adopt its own rules of procedure
5. the Executive Board meets at least three times a year. It constitutes a quorum if it has been invited in text form two weeks in advance and more than half of the members of the Executive Board are present. Resolutions of the Board of Directors may also be passed by e-mail or telephone if none of the members object to this procedure.
6 The Board of Directors may delegate certain functions and tasks to another person, institution or organization.
7. if a member of the Executive Board within the meaning of Section 26 BGB resigns during their term of office, one of the remaining members shall take over the business of the resigning member by resolution of the entire Executive Board and shall continue to do so until the next General Meeting at which a new Executive Board member is elected. This member shall remain in office until the next regular Board elections.
8. the representative is entitled to vote in the absence of the spokesperson of the respective section.
9. if the workload of a member of the Executive Board in the context of a project obviously and clearly exceeds the usual level of voluntary work, he/she may be granted appropriate remuneration in accordance with the financial possibilities of the association. The full Board of Directors shall decide on the respective amount.

§ 9 Fundamentals
KulturNetzKöln e.V. cannot take decisions, cultural policy activities, events and decisions of a fundamental nature against the specialist interests of an individual section. This applies to or affects all levels of KulturNetzKöln e.V. (members, sections and board).
§ 10 General provisions
1. the financial year is the calendar year.
2. announcements of KulturNetzKöln e.V. shall be made in text form.
3. unless otherwise stipulated in these Articles of Association, the bodies of KulturNetzKöln e.V. shall constitute a quorum irrespective of the number of voting members present.
4. in the case of votes, the majority is calculated according to the number of yes and no votes cast. A simple majority is decisive, unless otherwise stipulated in these Articles of Association. In the event of a tie, a motion is deemed to have been rejected and an election is deemed not to have taken place.
5. the date of the postmark or the date of dispatch of the email shall apply to the calculation of all relevant deadlines in accordance with these Articles of Association, subject to other provisions of these Articles of Association.
6 All bodies may adopt their own rules of procedure.

§ 11 Dissolution
1. the dissolution of KulturNetzKöln e.V. or the decision on the use of its assets in the event of the discontinuation of tax-privileged purposes is only possible at a general meeting convened solely for this purpose.
The resolution on the dissolution of KulturNetzKöln e.V. or resolutions on the use of its assets require a majority of 2/3 of the votes of the member representatives present.
2. in the event of the dissolution of KulturNetzKöln e.V., the assets of the association shall be transferred to ArtAsyl e.V. (VR 18775), which must use them directly and exclusively for non-profit, cultural purposes in accordance with these statutes. The future use of the association's assets in the event of the dissolution of the association may only take place with the approval of the responsible tax office.

§ 12 Entry into force
These Articles of Association were adopted by the founding meeting on September 16, 2020 in Cologne. They shall enter into force upon entry in the register of associations.