CONSTITUTION OF UNEPSA

Logo UNEPSA

UNEPSA
UNION OF NATIONAL EUROPEAN PAEDIATRIC
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS

European Paediatric Association/Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations
EPA/UNEPSA

CONSTITUTION
(As amended on September 28^th 2006 and August 27^th 2007)

Article 1: Name

The name of the association shall be the “European Paediatric Association" (EPA) followed by “UNEPSA”, i.e., “European Paediatric Association – UNEPSA” (henceforth “EPA-UNEPSA).
EPA-UNEPSA is in continuity with the Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (UNEPSA) for all its activities, and maintains the logo, rights and duties assumed by UNEPSA.
The association is registered with the Court of Registry for Associations, Societies and Clubs (Registergericht) in Munich, Germany.
The EPA-UNEPSA's seat is located in Berlin, Germany.

Article 2: Objectives

A.	To encourage co-operation between National Paediatric Societies/Associations in Europe and between European paediatricians working in primary, secondary and tertiary paediatric care in Europe, in order to promote child health and comprehensive paediatric care. Paediatric care is defined as the medical care of human beings during and up to the completion of growth and development, from birth up to 18 years of age.
B.	To stimulate collaborative research in paediatrics in Europe.
C.	To improve the quality of paediatric patient care in all European countries including both members and non-members states of the European Union.
D.	To promote the exchange of national experiences in the various fields of patient care and make national practices known to others. To obtain information about paediatrics from national societies and associations, and to make it available to EPA-UNEPSA members. To this purpose, EPA-UNEPSA owns a website and promotes the use of updated communication technology.
E.	To co-operate with paediatric associations worldwide, the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, the World Bank, and any other national or international organisations or foundations operating in the field of child health.
F.	To organize congresses for its members, and meetings of Presidents of European National Paediatric Societies/Associations.
G.	To implement any policy that promotes paediatrics that may be laid down by the General Assembly, such as forming ad hoc expert committees to study and make recommendations on important issues of paediatric interest in Europe.
H.	EPA-UNEPSA shall represent European paediatricians in relation to the International Paediatric Association (IPA), in continuity with the representative role of UNEPSA.
I.	EPA-UNEPSA may be affiliated to other related European Societies/Associations provided that its independence is assured.

Article 3: Membership

There shall be two categories of membership:

Society/Association Membership. Any European Paediatric Society/Association that represents a whole nation shall be eligible to become a Member Society of EPA-UNEPSA. One additional Society/Association for each European nation may become a member of EPA-UNEPSA if, according to its constitution and its membership, its main aims are promoting research, education and health care in the field of primary and/or secondary paediatric care.
Individual Membership. Certified paediatricians in Europe who are members of a Paediatric Society/Association Member of EPA-UNEPSA are eligible for Individual Membership.

Article 4: General Assembly

The General Assembly is constituted by:

a.	the President or Vice-President or General Secretary of each National Paediatric Society/Association member;
b.	one or two additional representative(s) nominated by a National Paediatric Society/Association if more than 15% and 30% respectively of its members are also individual members of EPA-UNEPSA. The aforesaid percentages shall be calculated based on the number of members of the National Society/Association upon closure its last annual meeting.

Each participant in the General Assembly shall have one vote.
The General Assembly is convened by the President. It shall take place annually. It will be convened in writing not less than six weeks before the date of the General Assembly, calculated from the day the Agenda is dispatched.

The functions of the General Assembly are:

A.	To lay down EPA-UNEPSA policies in accordance with Article 2 of this Constitution.
B.	To elect the EPA-UNEPSA President.
C.	To elect two Vice-Presidents.
D.	To elect the Secretary General.
E.	To elect the Treasurer.
F.	To elect two more Councillors
G.	To elect one Auditor and one Controller.
H.	To decide on the admission of new members.
I.	To decide the venue and the President of the forthcoming European Congress.
J.	To decide the annual membership fees of EPA-UNEPSA.
K.	To delegate any matter to be handled between General Assembly meetings to the Council.

Candidates for each position in the Council may be proposed by any Society/Association Member. Voting shall be by secret ballot at the General Assembly.
One Vice President shall be the President of a National Paediatric Society/Association. The other Vice President shall be elected from among the components of the General Assembly. Any paediatrician who belongs to a Society/Association Member can be proposed as candidate for the other Council positions and for the Presidency. The quorum for voting in the General Assembly shall be constituted by one-third of its members. A simple majority of the votes cast shall be decisive in the General Assembly. In the event of a tied vote, the President of the General Assembly will have the casting vote.

Article 5: Council

The Council shall consist of seven elected members who reflect the various regions of Europe. It consists of:

The EPA President
Two Vice-Presidents
The Secretary General
The Treasurer
Two Councillors
The Past President
The President of the forthcoming Congress shall be an ex officio member of the Council.

The Council shall promote the policy laid down by the General Assembly.
The Council shall elect two EPA-UNEPSA candidates for the Standing Committee of the International Paediatric Association.
All Members of the Council will serve a term of two years. They will be eligible for re-election to the same post for two further periods of two years.
The quorum for voting in the Council shall be two-thirds of Council members. A simple majority of the votes cast shall be decisive in the Council. In the event of a tied vote, the President will have the casting vote.
The President shall carry out the policies that are laid down by the General Assembly and by the Council. He/She chairs the General Assembly of EPA-UNEPSA. In case of his/her absence, the President appoints one of the Vice-Presidents to serve as Acting President.
The Secretary General shall be responsible for the administrative affairs and the Treasurer for the financial affairs of EPA-UNEPSA. They will carry out such functions that may be delegated to them by the Council or the President.
The President may, for specific purposes, delegate matters to members of the Council.
The President, the Secretary General and the Treasurer represent officially the EPA/UNEPSA. The President may delegate other Members of the Board to represent officially the EPA/UNEPSA for specific matters.

Article 6: Amendment of the constitution

Proposals to change the constitution, signed by representatives of at least three Member Societies/Associations, shall be notified to the Secretary General at least three months before the next ordinary General Assembly meeting EPA-UNEPSA.
Amendments to the constitution are voted upon at the General Assembly, and in the event of an amendment to the constitution, the quorum shall be half the total number of members enrolled in EPA-UNEPSA. A two-third majority vote is required to amend the constitution.

Article 7: Non-profit organization (Eintragung als gemeinhitziger Verein)

EPA-UNEPSA will be registered at the Court of Registry for Associations, Societies, and Clubs (Registergericht) in Munich, Germany, as a “Non-Profìt Organisation”.
The Secretary-General will represent EPA-UNEPSA at the Court of Registry for Associations, Societies, and Clubs (Registergericht), and exercise “judicial power of attorney” (Vertretungsrecht).
The SecretaryGenera1 shall inform the Court of Registry for Associations, Societies, and Clubs (Registergericht) annually about the General Assembly by providing the following information in German:

1	The Agenda (Tagesordnung),
2	The name of the person who writes the minutes (generally the Secretary-General) (Protokollfùhrer),
3	The existence of a quorum (Beschlulsfàhigkeit),
4	Approval of the Agenda (Annahme der Tagesordnung),
5	Amendments of the Constitution,
6	The elections of the Council (Vorstand) (including the numeric results of the elections).

The report written by the Secretary General must be certified by a German Notary Public. The translation of this report into German must be done by a certified sworn-in translator.
Every three years, the Secretary-General and the Treasurer will write the Financial report for the tax office for non-profit organisations in Germany (Finanzbericht fìir das Finanzamt flir Kòrperschaften).

EPA-UNEPSA exclusively and directly pursues non-profit objectives in accordance with the paragraph "Steuerbegûnstigte Zwecke” of the tax regulations of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as to corresponding decrees of other European countries.

EPA-UNEPSA shall not pursue self-serving interests or personal objectives.

The finances of EPA-UNEPSA shall be used only for objectives that are in accordance with the EPA-UNEPSA constitution. The EPA-UNEPSA members shall not receive allowances from EPA-UNEPSA funds. In the event of their withdrawal, or upon dissolution or suspension of EPA-UNEPSA, members shall not receive a refund of the dues paid by them, nor shall they make any claim against EPA-UNEPSA. No person shall claim expenses not related to the objectives of EPA-UNEPSA, nor disproportionately high reimbursement.

EPA-UNEPSA officers are unpaid.

In the event of dissolution or of suspension of EPA-UNEPSA, or in case of cessation of its objectives, EPA-UNEPSA finances shall be devolved to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) represented by the Deutsches Kommittee für UNICEF, 50670 Kòln, Steinfelder-Gasse 9, for the direct and exclusive use in non-profit objectives.

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