About the Association
The Caravanning Industry Association (CIVD) has represented the interests of the industrial branch of the caravanning industry since 1962.
Among the 228 CIVD members almost all German and European manufacturers of leisure vehicles rank as well as considerable suppliers and service providers, public institutions, exhibition companies and allied federations from all ranges of the industry.
The representation of all interests of the caravanning industry vis-à-vis German and European representatives of politics, their committees, authorities and institutions plays a central role in the association’s far-reaching field of activity. In addition to issues of technology and standardization in vehicle construction, the focus here is on regulations and rules on consumer safety and environmental policy issues. As the mouthpiece of the industry, the CIVD also articulates the concerns, intentions and developments of the caravanning industry to the media and the public.
The detailed statistic information, which the CIVD has been compiling for decades in constantly rising extent, is considered as standard reading in the industry. The evaluated and prepared numbers, data and facts to the European and world-wide caravanning markets have become an indispensable part of the world-wide caravanning industry’s and international analysts’ work.
The CIVD subsidiary, Caravaning Informations GmbH (CIG), is responsible for the association’s award-winning PR and marketing efforts. Through a comprehensive 360-degree campaign, it plays a key role in shaping the positive perception of caravanning as a leisure activity. CIG’s image campaigns have been recognized multiple times for their success, including receiving the German Brand Award, two mediaV Awards, and the German Prize for Online Communication.
The international CARAVAN SALON in Düsseldorf plays a key role within the association’s activities. As the conceptual sponsor of the world’s largest trade fair for leisure vehicles, the CIVD creates important innovation and sales impulses for the European caravanning industry. In addition, the annual exhibition is an important multiplier for the positive image work of the association.
The CIVD is certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015.
Statutes of the Caravaning Industrie Verband e. V. CIVD (German Caravanning Industry Association)
(Updated: 25 August 2017)
The association is called “Caravaning Industrie Verband e. V.” (CIVD)
Registered office of the association is Frankfurt. The association is registered under entry VR 9589 in the Register of Associations of the county court of Frankfurt am Main.
Registered office of the association is Frankfurt. The association is registered under entry VR 9589 in the Register of Associations of the county court of Frankfurt am Main.
- The CIVD has the task of representing the general specialist and political-economic interests of the caravan and motor caravan manufacturers and those natural or legal entities or partnerships closest to these in the specialist or economic sense.
- The association can be a member in other associations.
- The association is entitled to hold stakes in companies or set up companies if this is in the interest of the association.
- The association has the following types of members:
– Group I: German manufacturers
– Group II: European manufacturers
– Group III: Industrial suppliers
– Group IV: Sponsoring members - German manufacturers are firms which run a production company as a commercial enterprise in the caravan and motor caravan construction field within the Federal Republic of Germany (Standard value: production of over 100 units p.a.), provided that the company is active itself in the manufacturing and conversion of standard industrial vehicles.
- European manufacturers are firms which run a production company according to paragraph 2 outside of the Federal Republic and within the European Union, which otherwise fulfil the prerequisites of § 3, paragraph 2.
- Industrial suppliers are firms which run companies coming closest in their specialist or economic task fields to the members of Group I (cf. § 3 Para. 2) and II (cf. § 3 Para. 3).
- Sponsoring members can be firms which are otherwise closely connected to the sector.
- The board decides upon admittance on written applications.
- Applicants for Group I and II may appeal to the board in writing to the attention of the chairman against a rejection of an admittance application within 2 weeks after receipt of the refusal notice. The next ordinary meeting of members shall make a final decision on this. For the rest the decision of the board is final.
- There is no claim to membership.
- Members are to promote the purpose of the association and refrain from doing anything which could hinder the activity of the association bodies which are in line with the rules. They are obliged to obey the rules and the decisions made in accordance with the rules of the association bodies.
- Only members of Group 1 are entitled to vote in the members meeting.
- Members of Groups I to III are entitled to, use all the association’s installations as allowed by the constitution and any possible special conditions attend association events make use of the association’s advice and counsel within the framework of the purpose of the association and submit applications to the meetings of members
- Members of group IV have access to all information and events. They do not have a right to vote.
- Members may use any possible association characters on their business paper as well as an indication of their membership in the association.
- All members have the same rights and obligations within the framework of their members’ group. Giving preferential treatment to individual persons or firms is not allowed.
- Member rights may only be exercised after paying the admission fee.
- All members are obliged to:
a. notify the association of any change in the company, its purpose and registered office as well as any change in the authorised representative and the general management,
b. punctually give accurate details on all information required for determining subscriptions
c. truthfully answer the inquiries, surveys, statistical research and the like for carrying out the tasks of the association,
d. pay member subscriptions and any apportionment punctually. - A breach of the obligations laid down in Para 8 may lead to membership rights being suspended upon decision of the board. In the case of severe violation exclusion from the association may also be considered by the board. 6 para 3 to para 6 apply accordingly.
- Membership ends upon:
a. Withdrawal or exclusion.
b. Termination or dissolution of the company
c. Opening bankruptcy proceedings or through refusal of opening of bankruptcy proceedings for lack of assets. - Withdrawal must be made in writing to at least one board member. It is permissible at the end of a calendar year whilst adhering to the period of notice of 3 months. Termination must be made by means of registered letter and must be received by the board at the latest on 30th September of the current year.
- A member may be excluded from the association if he is in serious breach of the interests of the association.
- Exclusion may also be considered on other important grounds, such as: revocation of the trading licence.
- The board will decide on the exclusion. The member is to be notified of the exclusion decision by means of a registered letter stating reasons. The concerned member is entitled to appeal in writing to the board, to the attention of the chairman against the exclusion within 2 weeks after receiving notification of the decision. A decision will be made about this at the next ordinary meeting of members. Member rights will be suspended until the decision is made at the meeting of members. A written statement by the concerned member is to be brought to the attention of the meeting of members. The board shall notify the member in writing of the final decision relating to the exclusion.
- Upon termination of the membership, the member loses all rights from their membership. There is no claim to a share of the association assets. The obligation to pay subscriptions and apportionments lasts until the end of the relevant calendar year.
- Members pay an initial subscription, annual membership fees with variable components, apportionments and if applicable special apportionments, the amount and payment dates of which are decided by the meeting of members respectively with effect for the following business year.
- The calendar year is the business year.
- The subscription rules govern full particulars.
- The meeting of members is solely responsible for the following:
a. election of the board
b. dismissal of the board or individual board members
c. acceptance of the annual accounts as well as the discharge of the board and general management
d. approval of the budget for the next business year
e. establishment of initial/annual subscriptions and (special) apportionments and determination of the subscription rules
f. decisions on claims against the rejection of admittance applications as well as on the exclusion of members
g. decision on constitutional alterations
h. decision on the dissolution of the association
i. selection of the auditor and acceptance of the audit report. - The meeting of members is entitled to stipulate basic guidelines for the management of the association to the board.
- An ordinary meeting of members is to be held once a year by September 30.
- An extraordinary meeting of members can take place, if the board decides to summon a meeting on important grounds or a tenth of members who are entitled to vote request this in writing from the board, stating reasons.
- The meeting of members will be called in writing with the agenda by the chairman or in the event that he is unable to do so the deputy chairman, with at least a 14-day period of notice. This period of notice may be reduced by up to a week for extraordinary meetings of members.
- The expiration period commences on the day after the invitations are sent out. The invitation is considered received by the member, if it was sent to the last address given to the representation board.
- Members from Groups I to III may request in writing to add to the agenda at least a week before the meeting of members starts. Applications relating to agenda additions which are submitted by members from these groups after this period expires and during the meeting of members may only be approved with a three-quarter majority of the votes upon decision of the meeting of members. Applications to add to the agenda are not allowed if the object thereof is to change the rules.
- The meeting of members will be called in writing with the agenda by the chairman or in the event that he is unable to do so the deputy chairman, with at least a 14-day period of notice. This period of notice may be reduced by up to a week for extraordinary meetings of members.
- The expiration period commences on the day after the invitations are sent out. The invitation is considered received by the member, if it was sent to the last address given to the representation board.
- Members from Groups I to III may request in writing to add to the agenda at least a week before the meeting of members starts. Applications relating to agenda additions which are submitted by members from these groups after this period expires and during the meeting of members may only be approved with a three-quarter majority of the votes upon decision of the meeting of members. Applications to add to the agenda are not allowed if the object thereof is to change the rules.
- The board consists of up to five members of the Group I and one member from Group III. The chairman and deputy chairman must be members from Group I.
- Task distribution of board members is laid down in the rules and regulations by the board.
- Board members must be owners or responsible representatives of a member. If a member of the board leaves the responsible management of the company represented by him or if the concerned company loses its membership to the association then the membership in the board of the association expires. It is not possible to elect more than two board members from affiliated companies.
- If a board member leaves during his term of office a replacement member is elected in the next meeting of members for the remaining period of office.
- Board members are elected in secret ballots by the meeting of members with a simple voting majority. First of all the chairman is elected and then the remaining members.
- The board is elected by the meeting of members for the duration of three years. The board remains in office until a new election.
- The chairman and representatives of Group III can only be re-elected once basically. The chairman and the representative of Group III may be re-elected for further terms of office with at least a two-thirds majority of the votes casted.
- The deputy chairman is elected in the first board meeting for a three year term following the election of the board with a simple majority of the board members who have already been elected.
- The representative of Group III in the board will be elected for a term of three years in a special meeting of Group III members. The above-mentioned constitutional regulations are analogously valid for holding this meeting as well as the election.
- The board manages the association in line with the rules and regulations.
- The board sets the principles and guidelines for the work of the association. It decides on all association matters which are not expressly reserved through constitutional conditions or rules for other bodies to make the decisions.
- Its tasks include the following in particular:
Implementation of decisions made by the meeting of the members,
b. Calling and preparation of meeting of members,
c. Setting budget plan for each business year, accounting, drawing up annual accounts,
d. Admittance of new members and involvement in exclusion of members
e. Conclusion and termination of employment contracts. - The board is responsible for the ongoing business and administration of the association. The board appoints and dismisses the general manager of the association and issues the necessary instructions for the internal business operation in rules and regulations for management.
- The board may set up committees for cooperation in accomplishing its tasks and delegating its tasks. It governs its composition.
- A board meeting must be called if at least 2 board members apply for this to the general management of the association. In this case the formal procedure and time period fixed in paragraph 8 can be waived.
- The board has a quorum in its meetings if all invited members and at least three members including the chairman or deputy chairman are present.
- The invitation to the board meeting including the agenda must be sent in writing by the chairman or deputy chairman at least 14 days before the meeting is to take place.
- Board meetings shall be chaired by the chairman and in absence thereof the deputy chairman. The board makes decisions with a simple majority of the valid votes made. If votes are equal, the vote of the chairman or in absence thereof, the deputy chairman is decisive.
- Minutes are to be kept of each board meeting and signed by the person chairing the meeting and are to be sent to the board members within 4 weeks.
- The minutes must include:
Time and place of meeting
b. Name of attendees and person chairing the meeting
c. A summary of resolutions and voting results - The board issues rules and regulations.
- For the implementation of resolutions, especially for the preparation and implementation of campaigns and events, the board may set up committees and agree upon tasks, members and occupancy of the committees.
- Committees may be formed and dissolved at any time and have persons belonging who are not members.
- The board may also assign the manning of the committees to a committee chairman which it appoints and is subject to subsequent confirmation of the members.
- Committees are subject to the supervision of a board member, which regularly reports the activity of the committees to the board. The report has to be made in the board meetings.
- Committees organise and manage themselves independently and document their work.
- The board in terms of § 26 BGB (Civil Code) (Representation board) is the chairman and the deputy chairman. The association is represented both judicially and extrajudicially by the chairman and deputy chairman. Each of them is authorised to represent solely, whereby the deputy chairman may only act if the chairman is prevented from attending in any way.
- The chairman and the deputy chairman are exempt from the limitations of § 181 BGB.
- The association will have a branch office to carry out current business transactions and administrative tasks.
- The branch office will be managed by the general manager who shall conduct business of the association in accordance with rules and regulations and individual instructions of the board.
- The managing director is exempt from the limitations of § 181 BGB.
- The meeting of members may elect an auditor for the term of up to three years. He shall audit the annual accounts of the board and shall grant its release.
- The board may assign the audit of the annual accounts to an accountant.
- The application to dissolve the association can be made by the board or by half of the members.
- If the dissolution of the association has been decided by the meeting of members pursuant to §10 Para 4 and Para 7, it can decide upon in a subsequent vote the use of the remaining association assets after fulfilment of the obligations of the association.
- The chairman and the deputy chairman are liquidators which are entitled to act solely.
- The afore-mentioned provisions apply accordingly in the case that the association is dissolved for another reason or it loses its legal capacity.
More Articles
Board
Internal management and external representation of the association - the Board of the CIVD bundles a multitude of competences and determines the orientation of the association.
Find out more
National and International Fairs
Get an overview of the national and international trade fair landscape here.
Find out more
Becoming a Member Company
The CIVD offers a range of services specially tailored to the member company`s needs.
Find out more