Governance documents
The statutes, the member code of conduct, the conflict of interest policy and the annual accounts are provided on request to members, and to journalists and researchers on request.
About
Governance
Who decides what, with what mandate, and who is excluded from deciding. The last part is the one that matters most for an organisation that sits between public authorities and their suppliers.
Bodies
Five bodies, with distinct mandates.
Advisory bodies advise. Deciding bodies decide. The distinction is kept explicit so that a working group cannot become a route to influence an assessment.
| Body | Composition | Mandate | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Assembly | All members. Voting rights held by public authority members. | Adopts the statutes, elects the board, approves the annual accounts and the work programme. Industry members and strategic partners attend without a vote. | Annual |
| Board of Directors | Elected from and by public authority members. | Sets strategy, approves the budget, appoints the executive, and decides on strategic partnerships against the published partnership principles. | Quarterly |
| Executive Office | Employed staff, led by the President. | Runs the programmes, the pipeline and Intelligence. Editorial decisions on published content sit here and are not subject to member approval. | Continuous |
| Sector Working Groups | Cities, public authorities, industry members and experts in a given sector. | Discuss requirements, standards and delivery practice openly. Advisory only: working groups do not decide what ESCA publishes or assesses. | Per sector, at least twice a year |
| Ethics and Independence Review | Board members with no commercial interest in the matter under review. | Handles conflict of interest declarations, complaints about ESCA conduct, and decisions to terminate a membership. | As required |
Decision rights
Who decides what.
- Who decides what appears in the project pipeline?
- The Executive Office, on the basis of what the submitting authority confirms. No member, partner or funder can require an entry to be added, changed or removed.
- Who decides what Intelligence publishes?
- The Executive Office. No member sees an item before publication. Factual corrections are made on evidence, from any source.
- Who decides on strategic partnerships?
- The Board, against the published partnership principles. Any board member with an interest in the proposing organisation withdraws, and the withdrawal is recorded.
- Who can vote?
- Public authority members. Industry members and strategic partners have no vote and no board seat.
- Who can terminate a membership?
- The Board, on a recommendation from the Ethics and Independence Review, for breach of the member code of conduct.
People
Who holds these positions.
Named office holders are published once appointments are confirmed and each person has agreed to their entry.
- President
- Eduard Dumitrascu
- Board of Directors
- To be published DEMO
- Ethics and Independence Review
- To be published DEMO
Positions marked "to be published" are deliberately left blank rather than filled with placeholder names. A governance page with invented office holders would defeat its own purpose.
Governance
Cities decide. That is the point of the structure.
An organisation that helps public authorities specify contracts cannot be governed by the companies bidding for them. City membership carries the vote.