As previous years, the Congress will be preceded by an ELF seminar, this year on the topic of the Liberal Fightback (how liberal parties like FDP fought their way back after major losses), on April 5-6. There will also be working groups on resolutions Friday afternoon before the opening of the Congress. Please note that there is a separate registration for the seminar.

• Congress Programme
• Proposed Agenda
• Berlin Congress Documentation Page
• Elections Page
• Practical Guide Berlin Congress

The Congress fee is € 120, which includes accommodation from Friday to Sunday and meals. Seminar and Congress (accommodation Thursday – Sunday and meals included) fee is € 140. If you are already based in Berlin or for other reasons are not in need of accommodation, the participation fee for Congress is € 60. The invoices will be sent after the attendance is confirmed by the office. All participation fees should be paid before the start of the congress. The accommodation is in twin/double rooms. If you have a preferred roommate, please let us know when registering (there is a field for comments and requests in the registration form). If you for some reason require a single room we recommend you register for congress without accommodation and book your room yourself. We will not be able to assist in booking single rooms or extra nights.

Please note that there are limited places both to the seminar and the congress. We guarantee 3 spots for full member organisations and 2 spots for associate member organisations for congress, the rest will be distributed among the organisations in accordance to voting rights. IMS are guaranteed spots for the three delegates and six individual members on top of that, selected in accordance with this criteria. For the seminar we can only guarantee one representative per organisation. Member organisations are encouraged to register all their delegates before the deadline as the bureau will distribute the remaining spots on top of the guaranteed ones at the Bureau Meeting on Sunday 18 February. Late registrations or additions after the deadline can therefore not be considered.

The application deadline will be on Friday, 16^th February, 23:59 CET. Applications are to be submitted through the registration form. Member organisations should clearly indicate the order of preference (priority) of the delegates.

LYMEC reserves the right to charge a late cancellation fee (up to € 75) for all cancellations made later than 2 weeks ahead of congress. Thus, any cancellation after Friday the 23rd of March is subject to a fee. Moreover, LYMEC charges a no-show fee (€ 100) for no-shows and cancellations later than 48 hours prior to the event. Any late cancellations and no shows are potentially occupying the spots for people on the waiting list and are a financial burden for LYMEC.

The Bureau is happy to be able to continue the use of the LYMEC Freedom Fund, making it possible for even more member organisations to be present at our congresses!

The Freedom Fund will provide financially strained member organisations with a travel reimbursement for participation in LYMEC congresses. The aim is to increase the democratic aspect of the congress by enabling more member organisations to exercise their voting rights and take part in the highest decision-making body of the organisation. Deadline for applications is 16^th of February, 23:59 CET!

This is an electoral congress, meaning we will elect a new leadership for LYMEC.

According to the statutes, the process is the following:

Article 22 – Composition and election of the Bureau

(1) The Bureau consists of:

• The President
• The Vice President 
• The Treasurer 
• Four other Bureau members

(2) Candidates for the Bureau may be put forward by full member organisations or an individual member. All members of full member organisations and individual members of LYMEC can be put forward as a candidate for the Bureau.

(3) Candidates to the Bureau must be between 18 and 33 years of age on the date of the election. A mailing, introducing all candidates that supplied the secretariat with the necessary material at least four weeks prior to the Congress, shall be sent out at the latest 2 weeks before the Congress.

(4) Members of the Bureau are elected by secret ballot for a regular Bureau period of two years according to the procedure specified in the Congress Rules. Bureau members elected in a by-election serve until the end of the regular period. The introduction of all candidates shall be arranged by the Chair during the Congress.

(5) Bureau members who have not attended at least half of the meetings in the twelve months following their election will be subject to a vote of confidence by the next Congress.

(6) The Secretary General shall be permanently invited to the meetings of the Bureau with no voting rights and acting as secretary of the meeting.

For further information on the electoral procedures, please see chapter VII of the Electoral Rules.

In order to facilitate the electoral process, an Election website will be created. To be included in the website, the candidates must send the following information to [email protected] by Friday, March 9^th, 12 pm (noon) CET:

• Motivation letter clearly stating what position (president/vice president/treasurer/bureau member) the person is running for
• CV
• Picture
• A short (max 60 words) statement on why they are running (for the website)
• A nomination letter from the Member Organisation (not applicable for Individual Members)

Resolutions deadline is 9 March, and the resolutions are to be submitted using the Resolution Tool. Please follow the instructions and do not forget to select the right chapter for your resolution! There is no automated confirmation when the resolution is successfully submitted, you will simply return to a blank form. For any questions regarding the resolution tool, please contact Vice President Svenja Hahn (svenja(at)lymec.eu).

Deadlines for the Spring Congress:

Friday 9 February 2018 • Location of the Congress • Proposed agenda of the Congress • Proposal of Statutory changes • Proposal of changes of Congress Rules • Applications for full membership • Application for associate membership • Changes in member organisations • Membership fee invoices • Call for IMS elections • Proposal to expel or suspend membership

Friday 9 March 2018 • Annual Financial Report with external Auditors report • Annual Budget (if applicable, only if updated from Autumn Congress) • Annual report • Bureau reports • Motions and resolutions • Applications for reduced membership fees and payment arrangements • Proposal of the new Secretary General (if applicable)

Friday 23 March 2018 • Internal auditors’ report

Friday 30 March 2018 • Amendments to motions and resolutions

Before the start of the Congress • Amendment to amendments of motions and (urgent) resolutions • Urgent resolutions

Please note that you have to be logged in to register. Deadline for registrations is Friday, February 16th, at 23:59 CET. Individual members register themselves, member organisations’ delegations can ONLY be registered by the International Officer.  Delegates should be 18 years of age at the start of the event for insurance reasons.

Please make sure that you know your username and password as these are needed to login and register. If you have trouble with the registration, please contact the office. The requests will be handled as soon as possible during office opening hours (Mon-Thu 09-17, Fri 09-14:30), so please check that your credentials are working before the deadline!

If you are in need of a Visa to travel to Germany we can provide an invitation letter, please contact the office for further instructions.

Also please note that there is a separate event and registration for the pre-congress seminar!