(1) The Association is open to all manufacturers of gas metering equipment and/or gas pressure regulators with associated safety devices and other associated gas equipment/systems, provided that the following requirements are met:

a) The manufacturer must have the legal personality of a manufacturing company established within the EU or in a potential candidate country for accession to the EU.

b) The manufacturer must have been active for an uninterrupted period of at least two years in the development and manufacture of gas meteringequipment and/or gas pressure regulators and associated safety devices. (An exclusive trading activity is excluded).

c) The manufacturer must actively support the work of the technical committees.

(2) On the recommendation of the President, the applicant shall be admitted to the Association by resolution of the Plenary Meeting by a threequarters majority.

(1) FARECOGAZ is an international association and represents the interests of the manufacturers named in § 2. The registered office of the association is in Cologne.

(2) The association's financial year is the calendar year.

(3) The language of the association is English.

(1) The scope of FARECOGAZ covers all technical and related matters concerning gas metering equipment, gas pressure regulators and associated safety devices relevant to the gas infrastructure in Europe.

(2) FARECOGAZ provides a forum for the exchange of views on a common approach to the regulatory framework (European directives, standards, codes of practice, guidelines, reports, etc.) within the framework of the above-mentioned remit, in a spirit of equality between all members and in accordance with the principle of consensus:

• to promote the safety, quality, reliability, costeffectiveness, sustainability and environmental compatibility of gas metering equipment, gas pressure regulators and associated safety devices
• to actively promote and support the standardization work on gas meters, gas pressure regulators and associated safety devices carried out by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the European Cooperation on Legal Metrology (WELMEC), the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) and others, in order to ensure that the interests of its members are safeguarded
• to identify, monitor and influence technical legislation at EU level, including vis-à-vis the European Commission and the European Council, the European Parliament and European regulatory authorities
• to promote harmonization of regulations regarding common technical aspects of gas measuring equipment, gas pressure regulators and associated safety devices (e.g. implementation of PED, ATEX 1 and 2, inservice monitoring)
• to promote cooperation with other associations representing the European gas industry or with associations from other sectors
• to examine all technical issues of interest to its members and to undertake further research activities.

(3) The Association attempts to achieve the objectives through various measures, including:

• Representation vis-à-vis EU authorities, important organizations (e.g. Marcogaz, ESMIG, ORGALIM), standardization bodies and other stakeholders
• Cooperation with and development of European working groups on important standardization topics
• Participation in important European activities: conferences, workshops, technical committees, working groups, coordination groups
• improving internal and external communication on all issues relating to the association's remit
• supporting technical and economic progress by evaluating new scientific research methods
• monitoring drafts of new European regulations in the field of technical regulation and proposals for the inclusion of new technical regulations in the national regulations of the EU member states if these European or national regulations relate to gas equipment.

(4) The Association shall adhere to a strict standard of compliance with all relevant legislation, including all antitrust regulations. The Association shall take appropriate measures to ensure strict compliance in all its activities and shall inform its members of all compliance obligations in advance of any activity, meeting, assembly or other important event.

The bodies of FARECOGAZ are the Plenary Meeting, the Executive Committee, the General Secretariat and the Technical Committees.

(1) The highest decision-making body of FARECOGAZ is the Plenary Meeting. It is the meeting of the representatives of the member companies. It decides on the following matters:

• Amendment of the statutes
• Approval of the work of the Association's administrative bodies
• Determination of the budget
• Determination of the annual membership fees for the various groups (Annex 1)
• Approval of the work of the Presidium and the General Secretary
• Election of the President and Vice-President
• Election of the internal auditors
• Special requests from members
• Approval of the work programs of the Technical Committees
• Dissolution of FARECOGAZ
• Establishment of technical committees and ad hoc working groups

(2) The regular Plenary Meeting shall take place annually.

(3) The President shall decide whether to convene the Plenary Meeting. The meeting shall be convened in writing. The invitation must be sent at least 6 weeks before the relevant date; it must be accompanied by the agenda. Further motions for the agenda must be submitted to the general secretary at least 4 weeks before the date of the Plenary Meeting. An amended agenda must be distributed at least three weeks before the date of the Plenary Meeting.

(4) Each member company shall have the number of votes corresponding to its membership fee group in accordance with Annex 1. Members that are more than 50% controlled by another member have no voting rights.

(5) Each member is entitled to be represented at the Plenary Meeting by a responsible person from their company, who must have all decision-making powers. In addition, further representatives of the company may be delegated.

(6) A member who does not participate in the Plenary Meeting may transfer his legal powers to another member. However, a member may only be authorized once.

(7) The Plenary Meeting shall only constitute a resolution if at least 50% of the votes of the Association are duly represented.

(8) If the number of votes required to pass a resolution is not reached, a new Plenary Meeting may be convened, which shall take place at the earliest 4 weeks after the invitation has been sent out.

(9) In this case, this new Plenary Meeting shall constitute a resolution irrespective of the number of votes represented.

(10) A three-quarters majority of the votes cast is required for the following resolutions:

• Election of the President and Vice-President
• Acceptance of the proposals for the chairmanship of the technical committees
• Election of the General Secretary
• Amendment of the statutes
• Exclusion of members
• Determination of the budget and membership fees
• Dissolution of FARECOGAZ

A simple majority of the votes cast is sufficient for all other resolutions.

(11) The Plenary Meeting may only decide on matters listed on the agenda. However, it may also discuss matters that are not on the agenda if all members present or represented decide unanimously to discuss these matters. Resolutions on these matters are only valid if the members do not present at the general meeting are also invited to vote within 4 weeks.

(1) The President, the Vice-President and the Chairmen of the technical committees are members of the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee shall convene when the President convenes a meeting. A meeting of the Executive Committee is duly convened and constitutes a resolution if more than half of its members are present. Resolutions are deemed to have been passed if they are adopted by a simple majority.

The President and the Vice President are elected for a term of office of two years during the Plenary Meeting in accordance with item 6 (10). They shall remain in office until the Plenary Meeting has elected a new President and a new Vice-President. Re-election is possible.

(3) The President and the Vice President are the Executive Board (Vorstand) of FARECOGAZ within the meaning of § 26 of the German Civil Code (BGB). They are both authorized to represent the association individually. The President takes care of the day-to-day business. He is authorized to attend the meetings of the various committees and must be regularly informed by the representatives of the committees concerned.

(4) The Executive Committee examines applications for membership and submits them to the Plenary Meeting a final decision.

(5) The Executive Committee is responsible for all matters of the Association, unless they are assigned to another body of the Association by the Articles of Association.

(1) The President shall propose the General Secretary

(2) The duties of the General Secretary include correspondence with the members of the Association and, if necessary, with third parties, the main preparations for the Plenary Meetings and other meetings and the dispatch of the minutes of the Plenary Meetings.

(3) Association members who wish to have a question or topic placed on the agenda of the Plenary Meeting must notify the General Secretary in accordance with Item 6 (3).

(4) Requests for topics on the agenda relating to the Executive Committee or the Technical Committee must be submitted in writing by the members to the General Secretary.

(5) The resolutions of the Plenary Meeting and the Executive Committee are recorded in the minutes, which are generally written in English.

(1) Technical committees shall be set up to appointed gas measurement and gas pressure regulation and associated safety devices.

(2) The technical committees shall be chaired by the chairpersons of the technical committees, who shall be elected by the members of the technical committees for a term of office of two years and confirmed by the Plenary Meeting in accordance with Item 6 (10) letter b). Re-election is possible. The chairmanship of several technical committees by one and the same person is not permitted. The chairman of a technical committee may appoint a secretary. The secretary is responsible for all organizational tasks insofar as they relate to the technical committee.

(3) Each member is entitled to delegate an expert to the respective technical committee. The expert must be willing and able to actively support the work of the technical committee. The expert delegated by a member may be assisted by a second expert who, however, has no voting rights.

(4) The task of the technical committee is to implement the work program of the Plenary Meeting, discuss the recommendations, propose the updated work program and discuss other issues that arise.

(1) Every member must comply with the Association's statutes and observe resolutions duly passed by the Plenary Meeting and the Executive Committee; they must actively support the work of the technical committees and behave loyally towards other members when dealing with technical information provided by the committees.

(2) Association members are responsible for ensuring that their employees and representatives acting on their behalf comply with the requirements set out in the above paragraph.

(1) Every member has the right to resign from the Association with a notice period of 6 months to the end of the financial year. It must inform the General Secretary of this by registered letter.

(2) The Plenary Meeting is entitled to exclude members from the Association who do not fulfill their obligations or violate the competition rules.

(3) The rights and obligations of the member shall continue to apply until the end of membership.

Venice, October 10th ,2024