The event will take place between Friday, 22 March 2024 (starting in the morning) and Sunday, 24 March 2024 (end of the Congress on Saturday night). The newly elected Bureau members should expect to hold an in-person handover Bureau meeting between the two Bureau on Sunday, 24 March 2024 between 10 h and 12 h am CET (Brussels time). 

This event is co-funded by the Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament. 

REGISTRATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED! 

Please do not book any travels before receiving a confirmation by the Secretariat that your application has been accepted. This should happen after the registrations are closed by the 8 weeks deadline on Friday, 26 January 2024.

The agenda of the Congress is available here!

The general timeline is as follows:

• Wednesday, 3 January: Opening of the registrations
• Monday, 22 January at 14:00 pm CET: Deadline to register 
• Friday, 26 January: 8 weeks deadline to Congress 
• Tuesday, 20 February at 18:30 pm CET: Online Q/A - information session on Openslides + Newbies 
• Friday, 23 February: 4 weeks deadline to Congress
• Friday, 8 March: 2 weeks deadline to Congress
• Friday, 15 March: 1 week deadline to Congress
• Saturday, 16 March starting 10:00 am CET : Online Working Groups on resolutions and amendments + MO applications 

Please note that just like any other Congress, there are limited places to this hybrid Congress in Brussels, Belgium.

If you live in Brussels, please do not use the provided hotel option so more people can be hosted at our Congress. 

We guarantee for member organisations:

• Full members get 3 spots for delegates available in-person
• Associate members get 2 spots for delegates available in-person
• Additional 3 delegates per organisation can connect online for full members
• Additional 2 delegates per organisation can connect online for associate members 

Full member organisations can therefore have a maximum amount of 6 delegates while there is a maximum of 4 delegates for associate member organisations. Applicant and observer organisations should register one representative to attend in-person. 

In case further spots are available after the registration process ends for in-person attendance, we will allocate the available spots starting with 'Delegate 4' of the full member organisations with most members (January 2024 data). 

We guarantee for the IMS:

• 3 voting delegates in-person
• 2 steering Committee members in-person 
• 2 extra individual members in-person, selected in accordance with this criteria
• 4 additional individual members on top of that to be selected to attend online in accordance with the same criteria

By registering for this event you agree to our updated privacy policy and understand that your personal data will be shared with the European Liberal Forum -for administrative purposes since we are this time using their registration system- as well as with the Congress hotel. 

Delegates should be of 18 years of age because of insurance reasons (and not older than 35 years at the moment of the event). We ask the International Officers to register their respective delegations (please only do it one time through the form). 

If you have trouble with the registration, please contact the office ([email protected]). The requests will be handled as soon as possible during office opening hours (Mon-Thu 09-17, Fri 09-14:30).

Participation fees

The fee will cover accommodation, meals, conference room, staff and logistical costs. 

• The fee for the Congress including accommodation in double rooms Friday-Sunday and meals, is 140 EUR. 
• If you are already based in Brussels or for other reasons are not in need of accommodation, the participation fee for Congress is 60 EUR (including meals). If you live in Brussels, please do not use the provided hotel option so more people can be hosted at our Congress, this is then your option to pick in the form. 
• Reduced participation fee can be requested with proper explanation and justifications on the reasons of the request through the registration form - 50 EUR fee would apply if granted by the Bureau. 
• No participation fee will be collected from online participants. 

The application deadline for reduced participation fee is on Monday, 22 January 2024 at 14 h 00 pm CET at the registrations deadline through the form directly (not via email). 

Freedom Fund

The Bureau is happy to consider the use of the LYMEC Freedom Fund, making it possible for even more member organisations to be present at our Congresses! The Freedom Fund can provide financially strained member organisations with a travel reimbursement (or at least partially) 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.

If you need support from the Freedom Fund, please apply by formally contacting us via email at [email protected] AND [email protected] by Monday, 22 January 2024 at 14 h 00 pm CET.

Please make sure that the request includes: 

A) Amount of delegates in need of support 

B) Type of request: (1) delegation support (all delegates) or (2) specific delegate(s) 

C) Amount requested per delegate(s)/delegation 

Applications will be assessed by the Bureau and decisions made on a case by case basis. 

This is an Electoral Congress, meaning we will elect a new leadership for LYMEC. According to the statutes, the process is the following: Article 18 – Composition of the Bureau and Article 20 - Composition of the Bureau - roles and elections:

The association is administered by the Bureau composed of seven (7) members. The Bureau is elected and appointed by the Congress for a mandate of two (2) years. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the event of an appointment, a run-off vote is taken between the candidates who have obtained the most votes. The Congress can terminate at any time, with immediate effect the mandate of each Bureau member. 

The Bureau consists of:

• The President;
• The Vice-President; 
• The Treasurer; 
• Four other Bureau members.

Candidates for the Bureau may be put forward by a full member organisation 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. 2) 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 maximum 2 weeks before the Congress. 3) 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 Congress Chair during the Congress.

For further information on the electoral procedures, please see the Congress Rules. In order to facilitate the electoral process, an Election website will be created. To be included in the website and mailing, the candidates must send the following information to [email protected] and [email protected] by Friday, 23 February 2024 applications can still be received at a later stage but they won't be published:

• 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)

Besides the President, Vice President, Treasurer and four Bureau Members, the Spring Congress in Brussels will also elect: 

• two Internal Auditors and their substitutes;
• the LYMEC representative to IFLRY’s Bureau. 

For these positions as well, we ask candidates to provide a motivational letter, CV and nomination letter (for MO representatives) by Friday, 23 February 2024  if they want to be included in the Congress mailing and elections website. Applications can still be received later but they won't be published anymore. 

Please refrain from including sensitive and personal information in your CV and motivation letter as they will be published on the website! 

Statutory Deadlines:

8 weeks before the Congress - Friday, 26 January 2024: 

• Date and 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
• Proposal to expel or suspend membership 

4 weeks before the Congress - Friday, 23 February 2024:

• Application to become member of the Bureau and other positions (to be featured on elections website) 
• Annual Financial Report 2023
• Financial Report Jan-Feb 2024
• Annual Budget update 2024 
• Bureau reports 
• Motions and resolutions
• Applications for reduced membership fees and payment arrangements

2 weeks before the Congress - Friday, 8 March 2024: 

• Internal auditors’ report for 2023
• External Audit report for 2023
• Presentation of the Bureau candidates

1 week before the Congress - Friday, 15 March 2024:

• Amendments to motions and resolutions 
• Mergers of Proposed Motions & Resolutions

Before the start of the Congress - Friday, 22 March 2024: 

• Amendments to amendments of motions and resolutions
• Amendments to Merged Proposed Motions & Resolutions 
• Urgent resolutions   

Cancellation and fees:

If a participant cancels participation within three (3) weeks before the starting date of the
event, the participant will be charged a cancellation fee of:

• 50 euros, if participation is cancelled between two (2) and three (3) weeks prior to
  the start of the event;
• 75 euros, if participation is cancelled between two (2) weeks and forty-eight (48)
  hours prior to the start of the event. 

Cancellation within 48 hours prior to the event is considered a no-show:

• If a participation fee was charged for the event, a no-show fee of 50 euros will be charged on
  top of the participation fee.
• If no participation fees were charged for the event, a no-show fee of 100 euros will be
  charged.

Visa

LYMEC can assist with Visa applications for those in need. LYMEC can't cover these extraordinary expenses but will help the participants with the application processes (invitation letters). Please reach out to [email protected] if you have such a request! 

Privacy and GDPR

Events organised by European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) may be audio- and video-recorded as well as web-streamed. A photographer and/or a cameraman, contracted by LYMEC, may have access to the meeting room in order to take pictures and videos for communication and publication purposes. Videos and pictures taken by the photographer and/or cameraman, contracted by LYMEC, may also be published on the LYMEC website and on related social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc.). They may also be used in other media and means of communication in order to pass on information about the event and activities of LYMEC. The European Liberal Forum might also use the pictures, video or audio in their communications. By registering, you consent your data to be available for administrative and financial purposes only to both the European Liberal Forum and the Renew Europe Group. 

***Disclaimer: By registering for this event you give your permission for LYMEC to use your picture in their promotional campaigns and materials and communication about the event. Please make clear in advance if you do not wish your picture to be used by LYMEC***