TERMS & CONDITIONS


The British Chamber of Commerce | EU & Belgium

The name is ‘British Chamber of Commerce | EU & Belgium’ hereinafter called ‘BritCham’. BritCham is a non-profit association constituted as an Association Sans But Lucratif, ‘ASBL’ under Belgian law.


These General Terms and Conditions do not replace, amend, or annul the Articles of Association (‘Statuts’) of BritCham, rather these Terms and Conditions serve as a general reminder of some important aspects of Membership. A copy of the Articles of Association is available on request and is published in the Moniteur Belge/Belgisch Staatsblad


Membership Structure 

Membership is open to both individuals being in business on their own account and legal entities. Membership is intuitu personae and can neither be transferred or assigned. 


Full Members may be divided into groups as agreed by the Board of Directors. The Board can determine the services available for each membership group and the fees, and the Board can from time-to-time change these, create additional groups or abolish membership groups. 


Annual Subscription 

Each Member shall pay membership fees per year according to the group to which they belong, as decided by the Board of Directors. The amount of the membership fees and the calculation method of the membership fees for each Member shall be decided by the Board of Directors.


The Membership year runs from January 1 to December 31. Members joining part way through this period shall pay the calculated pro rata amount.[1]


Late payment may attract interest as determined by Board.


Membership Fees 2024 

The annual fees (excluding 21% VAT) are as follows: 

For BritCham EU:

Patron

€20,000

Corporate

€12,000

SMB

€6,000

Sole Trader

€3,000

For BritCham Belgium:

Patron

€10,000

Corporate

€3,500

SMB

€1,800

Sole Trader

€1,200


General Meetings and Voting Rights 

A General Assembly (AGM) will be held once a year within six months of the financial year end to review and approve the annual accounts. Each Full Member’s appointed representative shall have one vote at General Meetings, and this must be cast in person at the meeting or by proxy. 


The Board, Committees and Working Groups.

All Full Members may put themselves forward for election to the Board and for Committee and Working Group leadership. The process for the election of Board Directors is set out in the Articles of Association. The process for appointment to Committee and Working Group leadership and the responsibilities required are as determined by the Board. 


Resignation

​Members are free to resign by giving written notice to the CEO, or their representative, at the latest by September 30 of each year (being 3 months prior to the end of the annual renewal date) and such resignation will be effective on 31 December of the same year. 

The above process applies equally to a request to change the membership group.


A Member, being a legal entity, is deemed resigning if the Member is in one of the following situations:

  1. Voluntary/as of right/legal dissolution/liquidation,
  2. Bankruptcy or is subject to insolvency proceedings of a similar nature under the laws of any jurisdiction,
  3. Judicial administration/reorganisation,
  4. Merger (only if the concerned Member is the acquired legal entity),
  5. Transfer of a universality,
  6. It ceases to satisfy the definition of the membership category it belongs to as set out in Article 6 or Article 7 of the Articles of Association following a (partial) demerger or transfer of a branch of activity, and
  7. Failure to have paid its membership fees within thirty calendar days after an official final reminder has been sent to it by the CEO.

A Member, being a natural person, is deemed resigning if the Member failed to have paid its membership fees within thirty calendar days after an official final reminder has been sent to him/her by the CEO.


Such resignations shall be effective following a decision of the Board. Members have the right to defend their position as set out in the Articles of Association.  


Exclusion

A Member which; 

  1. ceases to satisfy the definition of the membership category he/she/it belongs to as set out in Article 6 or Article 7 of these Articles of Association, or 
  2. is not duly or timely or fully complying with these Articles of Association, the Bylaws, if any, and/or any decision validly taken by the bodies of the Association, or 
  3. infringes the interests of the Association, or 
  4. has substantially modified its activities, or 
  5. for any other reasonable cause, 

may be excluded from membership, upon recommendation of the Board of Directors to the General Assembly. 


Before recommending the exclusion of a Member to the General Assembly the Board shall provide the Member with details in writing in advance and the opportunity to remedy any breach. 


A Member which has resigned or has been excluded wishes to re-join BritCham may be considered as an applicant to membership. 


Rules and By-laws 

The rules and by-laws can be amended from time to time by the Board in accordance with the rules set out in the Articles of Association. In the event of contradiction, the Articles of Association will prevail.


Secretariat

BritCham’s offices are located at Boulevard Bischoffsheim 11, B-1000 Brussels. Members are welcome to come to the office at any time, but we request that you contact us in advance to ensure that we are available. 


For general inquiries and any more information, please contact us between 09:00 and 16:00, Monday to Friday. 


info@britcham.eu

D +32 (0)2 540 90 30

 

[1] The British Chamber of Commerce | EU & Belgium was incorporated on April 5, 2022. The transfer of assets, including all members, from the previous entity (the Belgian branch of the UK company the ‘British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium’) was completed on September 14, 2022. 

Some members who were transferred to the British Chamber of Commerce | EU & Belgium via the asset transfer, may have a membership year which is not from January 1 to December 31. In these cases, references to membership year will equally refer to any 12-month annual membership starting from any date. Resignation notice will equally refer to 3 months prior to the end of that 12-month annual membership.