The General Assembly is the supreme body of all members of the company who are present. An ordinary general meeting must be convened once a year. In order to enable the barrier-free participation of as many members as possible in the General Meeting, the General Meeting should generally be held by means of electronic communication (e.g. by telephone or video conference) or in a mixed meeting consisting of those present and video conference/other media/telephone. The Executive Board shall decide on exceptions. In the case of online participation, members' rights (voting rights, participation in discussions, right to submit motions, etc.) can be exercised by means of electronic communication. The date of the General Meeting shall be announced in writing, electronically or via the Association's publication at least eight weeks before the General Meeting, stating the provisional agenda. It is convened by the President. The meeting shall be convened in writing, electronically or via the Association's publication at least four weeks before the meeting, stating the final agenda. The President chairs the meeting. He/she may appoint another person to chair the meeting. Every duly convened general meeting constitutes a quorum.

The General Assembly is responsible for the following tasks in particular:

Receipt and approval of the annual report and annual accounts for the past financial year;

Receipt and approval of the auditors' report with discussion;

Discharge of the Board of Directors and management;

Resolution on the budget for the coming year;

Approval of the membership fee regulations;

Resolution on a levy for one-off special expenses on the recommendation of the Executive Board;

Election of the members of the election committee for the Executive Board election;

Election of the members of the Court of Honour on the recommendation of the Executive Board;

Election of the auditors. of the auditors. These must be ordinary members of the company and may not belong to a body of the company or have an employment relationship with it;

Resolution on the appointment of honorary members based on a proposal from the Executive Board;

Any member may be represented at the General Meeting by another member or may represent one and only one other member. This requires a power of attorney in text form. The power of attorney must be issued separately for each general meeting.

Resolutions of the General Meeting are passed by a simple majority of the votes cast by the members present, unless otherwise stipulated by law or the Articles of Association. A tie vote is considered a rejection.

A report must be prepared on the General Assembly of Members, which must be signed by the President or the President's deputy and the person taking the minutes.

The General Assembly is not open to the public. The chair of the meeting may admit guests.

Extraordinary general meetings are convened:

• if the Executive Board deems it necessary;
• if at least one tenth of the members request it in writing.

The extraordinary general meeting must be held within eight weeks of receipt of the request. The members must be invited in writing at least ten days in advance, stating the agenda.

The next GDCh General Assembly will take place online on Monday, 20 October 2025 .

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