En Espanõl  

At the 109th Session of the Executive Council, members :

• Adopted the minutes of its 108th session
• Approved the Audited Statement at December 31, 2005, as reported by the Treasurer
• Approved the 2006 Budget
• Examined the 2007 Draft Budget projections and asked that these be adjusted to reflect discussion/decisions during the meeting, and the final 2007 Draft Budget submitted to Council electronically before December (target date end of September) 2006.

After having received the reports from ICOM’s Standing Committees, Council:

(Legal Affairs Committee)

• Agreed to shorten the name of the Legal Affairs and Properties Committees to Legal Affairs Committee and to revise the Committee’s mandate to read as follows: “examine and advise Council on the broader environment of evolving legal issues affecting museums, museum professionals and the wider cultural heritage sector …” ;
• Accepted the Legal Affairs Committee opinion that since ICOM is legally constituted in France, the French text of the Statutes must be followed as the definitive version when cases of interpretation arise.

(Finance and Resources Committee)

• Approved the Policy on the Designation and Use of ICOM’s Reserve Fund as recommended by the Finance and Resources Committee
• Approved the creation of an Investment Sub-committee to be composed of the Chair of the Committee, the Treasurer, the Secretary General, another member from the Finance Committee and two investment specialists. The mandate of the Sub-committee is to develop an investment policy and to advise on global investment strategies for ICOM
• Approved the Finance and Resources Committee recommendation that a policy establishing allocation principles for ICOM's accumulated surplus be implemented
• Approved expansion of the Committee, if and when considered necessary by the chair, to include the President of the ICOM Foundation, and other expertise as desired.

(Ethics Committee)

• Agreed to urgently identify and propose a Spanish-speaking member for the Ethics Committee;
• agreed in principle to its request for another meeting in 2006, if needed, and to the need to establish archives for the Ethics Committee.
• Agreed that the Ethics Committee address issues of the Glossary in the Code of Ethics, of recording case studies, and that the Committee should report on the possible promulgation of ICOM’s 1970 Code of Acquisitions.
• That any future revision of the Code of Ethics be submitted to the Legal Affairs Committee before being presented to the General Assembly

• Accepted in principle, to give priority to the request for the provision of adequate resources for the three Standing Committees, and requested Secretariat to examine this matter in depth and to report on its resource implications to the Treasurer and Council.

• Agreed to improve the visibility of the three Standing Committees on the website and in ICOM News to facilitate communication with the same.

In relation to Task Forces and Working Groups, Council took the following decisions:

(Working Group on Statutes)

• Referred to the Group currently working on the revision of the Statutes the task of ensuring that the English text is completely in line with the French one, and that the final draft, to include the most recent points raised in Council, should be submitted to Council in its December 2006 meeting.
• That the Operating Policies for Documents and Publications, on the ICOM Logo and on Sponsorship should be revised to reflect national committees and Council members’ concerns and comments.

(Cross Cultural Task Force)

• That a new ICOM Cultural Diversity Charter and Action Plan be submitted for approval in Vienna.

(National Committees and Regional Organizations)

• That the Rules for National Committees and Regional Organizations be revised to take into account comments from the national committees, regional organizations and Council.

On membership, Council

• Agreed to freeze all membership fees for 2007 at the 2006 level and to reduce Student fees to the level of Retired Professionals.
• That the principle of publishing membership fees only in euros be approved for 2007 onwards, with the implications being studied immediately by the Membership sector, for confirmation of this decision.
• Approved the recommendations by the Membership sector on National Committees status and subsidies.

On other matters, Council agreed to the following:

• That the proposal for the International Academy of Museologists be revised to take into account Council comments and concerns.

• That Executive Council discussion on Advisory Committee matters focus exclusively on its recommendations to Council.

• To contract an external audit of the UNESCO-ICOM Information Centre, to be carried out in 2006.

• Ratify approval of the mandate for the Publications Advisory Group and that nomination for membership in the same be submitted as soon as possible.

• Approved in principle the composition of the following:

Resolutions Committees, 2005 – 2007 Strategic Plan Review Committee; 2008 – 2011 Strategic Plan Working Group, and Publications Advisory Group, with additional members to be proposed for designation by the President.

• Approved the proposal for an initial framework for partnership with the International Bar Association.

• Approved in principle the designation of the Legal Affairs Committee as the primary contact for the partnership with WIPO.

That the next Executive Council Sessions be set for the following dates:
110th Session: 4, 5, 6 December 2006, in Paris
Extraordinary Session (if necessary): 16, 17, 18 April 2007, (to be confirmed)
111th Session: 18 August 2007, in Vienna (Austria)