You can be an Individual LYMEC Member!

In some European countries there are no liberal youth organisations that could provide young liberally minded people the access to LYMEC. Also, some European idealists would like to work directly on the level of European politics even if they are already members of their national liberal youth organisations.

To those people the Individual Members’ Section (IMS) is a great opportunity to get direct access to LYMEC and its events. They can contribute to LYMEC working-groups and have the right to attend and speak at the congress.

Individual members, together with the Member organizations form the backbone of liberal youth politics in Europe. They elect their delegates to the congress via an online election in advance to the spring congress. All individual members that have paid their membership fee can vote at this election of the IMS-delegates to the LYMEC congress. The amount of IMS-delegates depends on the membership figures of the IMS. The more IMS there are, the more IMS-delegates can be elected.

Ready to team up with us?

Become an individual member

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Ahmed Mehmedov

Clara Puig de Torres-Solanot

Background

Established in the 70’s, LYMEC originally was a pure umbrella organisation of national liberal youth organisations, i.e. LYMEC’s members were national liberal youth organisations only.

However, the political environment in Europe has changed incessantly within the last decades. Nowadays more than 80% of legislation in the European Union is made on the European level and then transformed into national law. Therefore a focus on solely national issues is not sufficient anymore to ensure a strong influence of liberal thinking in the European decision making processes. In order to cope with these challenges LYMEC as early as 1997 established the Individual Members Section (IMS) for expanding its workforces and providing more young liberals a platform to stand for liberal matters on the European level. In fact, the idea to enable individuals to get involved in European politics and thus assume public responsibility is a truly liberal approach and not applied in other European parties yet.

Moreover the entire situation is rather unique as never before in modern history democratic parties faced decision making going beyond their field of activity in that extend.

The Potential

The dialogue with civil society becomes more and more important for corporate and public decision making. The more influence multinationals and transnational institutions gain the more they depend on external expertise in order to find appropriate solutions for complex problems. The European Commission for instance engages external proficiency to carry out “Impact Assessments” in order to judge major impacts of complex decisions throughout the European Union.

These trends put LYMEC in quite a similar situation as the political challenges that Europe faces in future will require more than separate part solutions on the national level. The Individual Members Section is the key element for LYMEC to profit from the experience and knowledge of people from many different backgrounds. Furthermore these people will share the experiences they gained in LYMEC with others in civil society and thus spread liberal ideas and publicity for LYMEC. The IMS must be attractive to people who cannot rely on being integrated into LYMEC by a national party.

IMS Internal rules

We are pleased to say that after several months of work, the IMS Working Group has concluded the Individual Members’ Section Internal Rules.

It results from the contributions of over ten members, Delegate and the Bureau representative for the IMS. The process was as open and transparent as possible, with communications being made to individual members, showing the drafts and asking for comments and further contributions. In cooperation with the Bureau, it was ensured that the present document was consistent with all LYMEC official documents.

The changes introduced to LYMEC Statutes in the Sinaia Congress 2010 created new challenges, brought by new rights and responsibilities. The Individual Members’ Section has now the instrument to deal with it.

Membership fee

Like Member organisations, Individual members need to pay membership fee. Once you have been approved by the LYMEC Bureau you will be required to pay the membership fee.

One year of membership: 18 Euro

Five years of membership: 60 Euro

Permanent membership (until 35 years of age): 100 Euro

Please note that in light of high Paypal fees, you need to add a 2 EUR processing fee on top of your membership fee.

If you have any questions in regard to LYMEC individual membership, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Steering Committee

IMS Delegates

Types of membership

The association consists of member organisations (MO) and individual members (IM). LYMEC has two types of member organisations: full members and associate members. LYMEC shall have a minimum of three full member organisations.

Full membership
Full membership

(1) The association consists of member organisations (MO) and individual members (IM). LYMEC has two types of member organisations: full members and associate members. LYMEC shall have a minimum of three full member organisations.

Delegates of full member organisations of LYMEC have the right to:
- attend LYMEC events;
- speak;
- propose motions or resolutions;
- propose amendments;
- vote;
- participate in a LYMEC working group;
- put forward candidates for any election
To become a full member of LYMEC, any organisation must comply with the following criteria:
- The organisation must be a national youth organisation, or a sub-national youth organisation that is not part of a national organisation;
- The organisation is not a member of any other pan-European political organisation that is not based on liberal, radical democratic ideas;
- It must be run by and for young people;
- It must be democratically organised;
- It must be based in a European country;
- It must agree with the aims of LYMEC as expressed in these Statutes and broadly agree with its Manifesto and Policy Book;
- It must have been an associate member organisation of LYMEC
Furthermore, in order for an application to be considered by the Congress, the following requirements must have been fulfilled:
- The applicant organisation must provide a copy of its Statutes or Constitution in its original form and a copy in the working language of LYMEC;
- The applicant organisation must provide a copy of its Political Program, Manifesto or ideological standpoints in its original form and a copy in the working language of LYMEC;
- The applicant organisation must have been present at a minimum of four events, which shall include at least one statutory meeting, organised by LYMEC prior to the Congress where the application is considered;
- The applicant organisation must provide details of its membership figures. The applicant must also state how it defines membership;
- The applicant must declare any links (direct or indirect) with any other organisations and explain in full detail what form that link or dependence takes;
- The applicant organisation must provide information on its sources of finance, this must include details of any State funding, party funding, membership fees, annual turnover and the budget;
- At least one statutory event organised by the applicant organisation must be visited by a member of the LYMEC Bureau, the Secretary General, or the internal auditors.
Applications for full membership by the applicant organisation, as well as a Bureau report on the fulfillment of the above stated requirements must be submitted in writing to the Secretariat at least eight weeks prior to the Congress. All written material must thus be provided by the said deadline, and must be sent out to all members at least four weeks prior to the Congress. The application must be announced in the agenda of the Congress.

The Congress will decide upon the application by a two-thirds majority of those present and voting.
APPLY FOR MEMBERSHIP
Associate membership
Associate membership

(1) The association consists of member organisations (MO) and individual members (IM). LYMEC has two types of member organisations: full members and associate members. LYMEC shall have a minimum of three full member organisations.

Representatives of associate member organisations of LYMEC have the right to:
- attend LYMEC events;
- speak;
- propose amendments;
- participate in a LYMEC working group;
To become an associate member of LYMEC any organisation must comply with the following criteria:
- The organisation must be a national youth organisation, or a sub-regional youth organisation that is not part of a national organisation;
- The organisation is not a member of any other pan-European political organisation that is not based on liberal, radical democratic ideas;
- It must be run by and for young people;
- It must be based in a European country;
- It must agree with the aims of LYMEC as expressed in these Statutes and broadly agree with its Manifesto and Policy Book;
Furthermore, in order for an application to be considered by the Congress, the following requirements must have been fulfilled:
- The applicant organisation must provide a copy of its Statutes or Constitution in its original form and a copy in the working language of LYMEC;
- The applicant organisation must provide a copy of its Political Program, Manifesto or ideological standpoints in its original form and a copy in the working language of LYMEC;
- The applicant organisation must provide details of its membership figures. The applicant must also state how it defines membership;
- The applicant must declare any links (direct or indirect) with any other organisations and explain in full detail what form that link or dependence takes;
Applications for associate membership by the applicant organisation, as well as a Bureau report on the fulfilment of the above stated requirements must be submitted in writing to the Secretariat at least eight weeks prior to the All written material must thus be provided by the said deadline, and must be sent out to all members at least four weeks prior to the Congress. The application must be announced in the agenda of the Congress.

The Congress will decide upon the application by an absolute majority of those present and voting.
APPLY FOR MEMBERSHIP