Charter of Governance

PRINCIPLES
  • 1. The Consortium subscribes to the principles shared by the member states of the European Union, especially with regard to human rights and democracy, gender issues and sustainable development. Accordingly, the Consortium is committed to assessing the impact of any of its initiatives, projects or activities with a view to these principles.
  • 2. The Consortium shall be committed to the principles of good governance, in particular to transparency in administering its common funds and use of shared resources.
  • 3. The Consortium is established in the spirit of the European Union Lisbon strategy and Bologna declaration, aiming to strengthen the European Research and Higher Education Area.

RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS
  • 4. The Consortium shall be respectful of its Members’ interests, and each Member shall be respectful of the interests of the Consortium as well as of the other Members. In particular, the Consortium shall not undertake any initiative that could potentially affect any of the Members’ academic or other institutional interests in Asia, without the express consent of the Member(s) concerned
  • 5. The rules of the Consortium shall have no incidence on the statutory rights and obligations, or the status of the legal property, of Consortium Members.
  • 6. The Consortium shall respect and uphold the identity and specificity of each Member institution.
  • 7. Each Member is responsible for the behaviour of the academic and technical staff and students whom it recommends to benefit from the centre’s facilities. In case of minor incidents, the centre’s operator shall seek to resolve the problem amicably. If the issue threatens to seriously upset the centre’s operation, for instance through declarations or publications offensive to groups or communities in the host country, or activities constituting a transgression of police or internal security regulations, the responsible Member shall take decisive measures, including immediate repatriation of the said staff or student(s), to repair any damage to the centre’s operations that may have been caused.

POLICY WITH RESPECT TO HOST COUNTRIES
  • 8. The Consortium shall not engage in internal political matters of the countries where the centres are located. However, the Consortium may decide to suspend its activity either for security reasons, or in order to express its disapproval of the political environment, especially with regard to the principles expressed above.
  • 9. The prime responsible body of each centre is the Member operating the centre (operator). The Consortium is aware that, in a number of matters, the operator may be obliged to comply with instructions issued by the operator’s national embassy.
  • 10. In the event of political unrest or threats to public health, including epidemics, the operator may unilaterally decide to suspend temporarily the activities of a centre and take any measures it deems necessary for the security of the centre and its staff. The Consortium will comply with such decisions. Conversely, if the operator decides to maintain the centre’s activity, the Consortium may have its own appreciation as to the security requirements of its Members and act accordingly. In such situations, the Consortium shall seek whenever possible to implement the recommendations of the European Union Delegation in the country concerned.