[seedig] Your support needed to take SEEDIG work forward

Tue Sep 17 16:25:35 CEST 2019

Dear everyone, 

While thanking Ana, Frédéric, Dusan and Nenad for the quick reactions, I
would like to add here a few points. 

When starting internal discussions on how to best set up the legal
entity, the Executive Committee has actually acted upon many questions
and requests from community members and supporting organisations (most
recently reiterated at the public meetings we held on the margins of the
EuroDIG 2019 meeting). We took these requests as an indication of broad
support to go ahead on this path, for reasons already underlined on this
list. This is why we have not launched a separate consultation process
on whether to establish a legal entity. 

In response to the questions raised, below is a list with possible pros,
challenges and costs associated with the creation of a legal entity. I
have put this together quickly based on all previous discussions, but
happy to elaborate further, if needed. 

Best, 

Sorina 

--- 

FINANCIAL COSTS & RESOURCES FOR REGISTERING THE ENTITY 

 	* Fees for registering a legal entity in SEE+ countries: not more than
a few hundred EUR, varying across the region.
 	* Possible costs for legal advice in drafting the incorporation
documents: again, a couple of hundred EUR.

PROS FOR ESTABLISHING A LEGAL ENTITY 

 	* FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY. Up to now, SEEDIG has relied on generous
financial and in-kind contributions from international organisations and
entities in the host countries of annual meetings. While these
contributions have made it possible to run the annual meetings, other
activities have hardly been backed by financial support. To be able to
allocate funds to its intersessional activities (and strengthen the
annual meetings), SEEDIG needs to go beyond its traditional network of
sponsors and donors. A legal entity would facilitate this by ALLOWING
SEEDIG TO APPLY FOR FUNDS AND PROJECTS TO SUPPORT EXISTING AND NEW
ACTIVITIES.
 	* FUNDS MANAGEMENT AND LEGAL ASPECTS. A legal entity would allow
SEEDIG to conclude agreements with partners and manage funds from
sponsors and donors on its own. So far, sponsorship agreements were
concluded and funds were collected via the EuroDIG Association or
through local entities in the host country of an annual meeting.
Although the funds were always spent as decided by the  Executive
Committee, managing funds indirectly and through multiple entities has
been a challenging process.

CHALLENGES/ISSUES TO BE CAREFULLY CONSIDERED (as I would not call them
cons) 

 	* Once the entity is established, it would indeed involve costs to run
in. So more financial resources will be needed. And this goes back to
the points above on financial sustainability.
 	* The current SEEDIG model based solely on voluntary work would
require some adjustments. And additional commitments would be needed
from the person(s) entrusted with managing the legal entity's
operations.
 	* Another challenge, related to the process of setting up the entity,
is in identifying the most suitable model for the structure and
governing of this entity (membership, decision making, governing bodies,
community involvement etc). The choice of jurisdiction comes next; in
any case, the applicable legal provisions seem to be largely similar
across countries in the region. 

On 2019-09-17 17:11, Nenad Marinkovic wrote:

> It is easy to buy BMW, lot of drivers and passengers, maintenance is real problem and costs 
> 
> Pozdrav/Regards 
> 
> Nenad 
> 
> FROM: seedig [mailto:seedig-bounces at lists.rnids.rs] ON BEHALF OF Dušan Stojicevic
> SENT: utorak, 17. septembar 2019 15:11
> TO: 'Frédéric Donck'; 'Sorina Teleanu'
> CC: 'Seedig'
> SUBJECT: Re: [seedig] Your support needed to take SEEDIG work forward 
> 
> Hi, 
> 
> Ah... Always when I see this topic, it brings memories from couple of years ago, when I was young(er) ... 
> 
> Back then, I was almost there to register legal entity for SEEDIG in Serbia, and... 
> 
> The rest is history - my resignation, elections and ... we are there AGAIN. Wow, the circle is closed J 
> 
> Of course that "the gang" of the exe com, they know well how it should be done and what they need to do. Once, they almost did it. 
> 
> I bet that they have pro & cons about (not only one) jurisdiction, but there is a catch> the choice of jurisdiction simply can't be that rationally made... 
> 
> History is a great teacher: back then, even community decided, but irrational things happened. 
> 
> So, you were asking about the money - what's the cost of oppening legal entity? Let me try to answer. 
> 
> The cost of oppening, including all expences, is irrelevant compaired to the cost of irrational, wishful thinking („SEEDIG in his/her country and he/she as legal representative - he/she will be billionaire!!!") and nerves spent. 
> 
> Money makes the World go round... ;) 
> 
> My two cents (use them wisely, to pay the opening of legal entity) 
> 
> Dusan 
> 
> FROM: seedig [mailto:seedig-bounces at lists.rnids.rs] ON BEHALF OF Frédéric Donck via seedig
> SENT: 17. септембар 2019. 14:13
> TO: Sorina Teleanu <sorina.teleanu at seedig.net>
> CC: Seedig <seedig at rnids.rs>
> SUBJECT: Re: [seedig] Your support needed to take SEEDIG work forward 
> 
> Hi
> 
> Thanks for sharing this information. Even though it is a little bit disappointing to hear that no clear progress has been made here. 
> 
> IMHO the Exec Cttee of SEEDIG should be able to come up with a Pro/cons list on whether (or not) it is interesting to establish a legal entity. 
> 
> I have seen Anna R. comment a few minutes ago and she is making *excellent* points: registering SEEDIG as a legal entity would allow it to engage in more formal ways with other entities, including with EU (depending on the HQ) 
> 
> But there are indeed, cons as well as eg. the costs of establishing such an entity and the costs to run it. 
> 
> So: can we have a better idea of the pros and cons- please. 
> 
> Then, when the strategic decision is being made to proceed -- or not to proceed, the rest, including where SEEDIG should be established is a decision to be taken by the EXEC of the Organization (which might indeed decide to consult the wider community to see whether such a decision proves problematic to some stakeholders in the community) 
> 
> This is what an Exec Cttee is supposed to do: execute. 
> 
> Thanks 
> 
> Best Regards
> 
> Frédéric
> 
> Frédéric Donck
> Director, European Regional Bureau
> Internet Society 
> 
> Office:
> Avenue du Dirigeable 17
> 1170 Brussels
> Belgium
> 
> Direct Mail: donck at isoc.org 
> Office : eubureau at isoc.org 
> 
> www.internetsociety.org [1] 
> 
>> Le 17 sept. 2019 à 13:50, Sorina Teleanu <sorina.teleanu at seedig.net> a écrit : 
>> 
>> Dear SEEDIG community, 
>> 
>> As Chair of the SEEDIG Executive Committee, I call on you to get involved in taking SEEDIG work forward. 
>> 
>> Over the past few months, the Executive Committee had a series of discussions on creating a SEEDIG legal entity (as many of you have asked for). We are not there yet, as opinions within the Committee are diverse on how to move forward. Due to this, little progress has been made on other SEEDIG tracks of work. 
>> 
>> But since we are now only a few weeks away from the SEEDIG 6 cycle, discussions and decisions on related issues need to advance. 
>> 
>> One of SEEDIG's biggest strengths is the community-based approach that gives us the legitimacy to take decisions even without being organised as a legal entity. Therefore, your support in continuing work and taking decisions on pending and future matters is essential. 
>> And I trust we will have lively discussions here on the mailing list and in online meetings. 
>> 
>> To start with, I will soon be sending a separate e-mail on the planning process for SEEDIG 6, asking for your input. Meanwhile, talks are resumed with possible hosts for SEEDIG 6. 
>> 
>> With your involvement, we will hopefully confirm the host of our 2020 meeting soon. As for the SEEDIG legal entity, we might want to consider creating an open working group to explore options and propose a way forward. 
>> 
>> Thank you in advance for your support! 
>> 
>> Best regards, 
>> 
>> Sorina 
>> 
>> -------------------------
>> 
>> SORINA TELEANU 
>> 
>> Chair | SEEDIG Executive Committee
> 
> [2] 
> 
> Virus-free. www.avast.com [2]

Links:
------
[1] http://www.internetsociety.org
[2]
https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=emailclient
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