Chamber of Commerce (Liechtenstein)

The Liechtenstein Chamber ( WKL ), formerly Trade and Commerce (GWK) is a private association within the meaning of Article 246 et seq. PGR . It is the voluntary representation of the interests of businesspeople in trade, commerce and services.

General

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, now the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce, was founded in 1936. Membership in the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce is voluntary. It represents the interests of its members in the fields of trade and craft, trade, tourism and leisure, services, traffic and transport, industry, information and consulting.

The Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce is based in Schaan .

The communities of Eschen , Ruggell , Schaan , Triesen , Triesenberg and Vaduz are also members of the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce .

tasks

The focus of the tasks is on representing the members by actively helping to shape the economic framework in the country. This is achieved through advocacy, advice, service and training for the member companies.

Structure of the WKL

The comprehensive representation of interests of the Liechtenstein economy consists of:

Annual general meeting or, in its place, the delegates' meeting;
Presidential conference;
Association board;
Presidium;
Sections;
Section Boards;
Auditor;
Managing directors.

A term of office generally lasts 3 years.

Annual general meeting

The annual general meeting is the highest body of the Chamber of Commerce according to Art. 17 of the statutes and defines the essential guidelines for the realization of the purpose of the Chamber of Commerce.

According to Art 20 of the statutes, the annual general meeting can decide to set up an assembly of delegates. The delegates are elected by the sections, including the section president.

Presidential Conference

According to Art. 21 of the statutes, the President's Conference consists of the Association President and the Association Vice-President as well as all Section Presidents as full members. Additional natural persons can be elected as additional members. The managing director is a member of the presidential conference in an advisory capacity.

According to Art. 22 of the statutes, the President's Conference decides on all matters of the Chamber of Commerce that are not assigned to the Annual General Meeting or other organs of the Chamber of Commerce. In particular:

Election of the association board;
Appointment and dismissal of the managing director;
Setting of admission fees;
Approval of the annual budget;
Approval of additional credits not included in the annual budget, subject to approval by the annual general meeting.
Supervision and appointment of delegates and foundation boards for the self-help institutions belonging to the Chamber of Commerce;
Decision on the exclusion of members;

Association Board

According to Art. 23 of the statutes, the Presidents 'Conference appoints an eight-member board from the members of the Presidents' Conference to deal with urgent decision-making matters. The executive committee includes the association president and the association vice-president. The managing director is a member of the association's board in an advisory capacity.

Bureau

According to Art. 25 of the Articles of Association, the Presidium of the Chamber of Commerce is formed by the Association President, the Association Vice-President and the Managing Director and, according to Art. The Presidium represents the Chamber of Commerce externally.

Sections

Sections are set up as needed by the annual general meeting. The members can independently apply for the establishment of sections.

The members determine the main purpose of their company and are assigned to a section accordingly. The main purpose must be listed in the associated trade license.

The scope of the sections includes:

Participation in the design of teaching and further training;
Election of the section president, the section vice-president, the section board and the section delegates. The more detailed provisions, in particular the number of members of the section board, are regulated by each section itself;
Creation of economically responsible competitive conditions;
Submission of opinions on consultations;
Determination of the section contribution and approval of the section annual accounts;
participation in the conclusion of collective labor agreements.

Section boards

According to Art. 30 of the statutes, section boards can pass valid resolutions (with exceptions) on all matters that fall within the scope of responsibility of the sections at their own discretion for matters that require a quick decision.

Auditor

The auditor checks the correctness and correctness of the bookkeeping and reports on this to the annual general meeting in writing. The auditors are appointed by the annual meeting on the proposal of the association's board for a period of two years.

Managing directors

The management is responsible for the implementation of the resolutions of the organs as well as the management of the business of the Chamber of Commerce and its sections. A full-time managing director has been appointed.

The responsibilities of the managing director include:

Execution and implementation of the resolutions of the individual organs of the Chamber of Commerce;
Advising members;
Bookkeeping;
Keeping the membership register.

In order to do justice to the very heterogeneous structure of the members and to create a balance of interests in the economic chambers and to coordinate the similar but also the multitude of diverging, even conflicting interests, the economic chamber is organized into sections (specialist organizations), which in turn represent branch-related ones Care for individual interests.

The 30 sections represent a wide variety of industries.

Advocacy

Representing interests is seen by the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce as its core task. As an interest group, the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce represents the concerns of its members vis-à-vis other interest groups, the government or authorities. This is done, for example, through participation

when assessing draft laws and ordinances,
in working groups and commissions,
when concluding collective agreements (collective labor agreements).

The representation of interests also includes measures in the areas of public relations and business lobbyism as well as comprehensive information for members and through the network: "Entrepreneurs for Entrepreneurs"

Legal service

Consulting services are provided by the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce for its members in the legal areas:

Labor law and
Social law .

Further legal advice is provided by WKL contract law firms.

Publications

The Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce has published the association's own magazine "Unternehmer" (business magazine) since 2007, which appears ten times a year with a circulation of around 4,600 copies.

The responsible editor is the managing director of the WKL Jürgen Nigg. Isabell Schädler (Deputy Managing Director / Association Management) is responsible for the editorial management.

The annual “entrepreneur” subscription costs CHF 50.–.

The Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce publishes annual reports that are freely accessible and have been available online free of charge since 2001. Additional online services (resources) are only made available to members.

financing

The Chamber of Commerce is largely financed through membership fees. The membership fee of the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce is calculated according to the percentage of jobs in the respective company including the entrepreneur (without taking apprentices into account).

The basic membership fee is between CHF 250 and CHF 3,300. The admission fee is CHF 200. Depending on the section in which the member companies are classified, additional fees apply.

In addition to full membership, the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce can join as a free member. These free members are companies that do not have a trade license and are not necessarily active in the traditional commercial sector. However, the prerequisite is that the company is based in Liechtenstein. The amount of the fee is similar to that of regular membership. There is also the possibility of sponsoring and honorary membership.

Further sources of income are income from property, subsidies and other donations from the state or third parties or income from special services for members or third parties as well as income from events.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ See preamble to the statutes of the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce (WKL). At the end of 2004, the Liechtenstein State Court of Justice declared compulsory membership in the GWK to be unconstitutional and revoked it. Subsequently, the GWK was transferred as a corporation under public law with compulsory membership in the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce with voluntary membership.
↑ Art. 1 Para. 1 of the Articles of Association.
↑ The Liechtenstein communities Gamprin , Mauren , Schellenberg , Balzers , Planken are missing.
↑ See also Art 2 of the Articles of Association.
↑ Art 7 of the Articles of Association.
↑ Art 11 of the Articles of Association.
↑ A collective employment contract (GAV) is the contractual basis for all employment relationships in a certain industry. It usually stipulates working hours, holidays, notice periods and minimum wages. Each GAV is negotiated between the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce and the Liechtenstein Employees' Association for a certain period of time. GAK can be made generally binding by the government. These are then binding for all employers in Liechtenstein (domestic and foreign).
↑ Formerly called "GWK-Magazin". This was published 11 times a year.
↑ Self-reported by the publisher under: Unternehmer-magazin .
↑ Sole proprietorship.
↑ From 101 employees.
↑ See Art 3 of the Articles of Association.
↑ Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the Articles of Association.
↑ Art 3, Paragraph 3 of the Articles of Association.
↑ Art 6 of the Articles of Association.
↑ See Art 34 of the Articles of Association.

[1] See preamble to the statutes of the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce (WKL). At the end of 2004, the Liechtenstein State Court of Justice declared compulsory membership in the GWK to be unconstitutional and revoked it. Subsequently, the GWK was transferred as a corporation under public law with compulsory membership in the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce with voluntary membership.

[2] Art. 1 Para. 1 of the Articles of Association.

[3] The Liechtenstein communities Gamprin , Mauren , Schellenberg , Balzers , Planken are missing.

[4] See also Art 2 of the Articles of Association.

[5] Art 7 of the Articles of Association.

[6] Art 11 of the Articles of Association.

[7] A collective employment contract (GAV) is the contractual basis for all employment relationships in a certain industry. It usually stipulates working hours, holidays, notice periods and minimum wages. Each GAV is negotiated between the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce and the Liechtenstein Employees' Association for a certain period of time. GAK can be made generally binding by the government. These are then binding for all employers in Liechtenstein (domestic and foreign).

[8] Formerly called "GWK-Magazin". This was published 11 times a year.

[9] Self-reported by the publisher under: Unternehmer-magazin .

[10] Sole proprietorship.

[11] From 101 employees.

[12] See Art 3 of the Articles of Association.

[13] Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the Articles of Association.

[14] Art 3, Paragraph 3 of the Articles of Association.

[15] Art 6 of the Articles of Association.

[16] See Art 34 of the Articles of Association.