DRAFT FOR A CONSTITUTION OF EPA

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UNEPSA
UNION OF NATIONAL EUROPEAN PAEDIATRIC
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS

Draft for a constitution of EPA of 3^rd September 1998:

The Founding Constitution of the European Paediatric Association (EPA):

Article 1: Name

The name of this association shall be: European Paediatric Association (EPA).

The association is registered with the Court of Registry for Associations, Societies and Clubs (Registergericht) in Munich, Germany.

Article 2: Objectives

A.	To represent the interest of the healthy, acutely and chronically ill children in Europe.
B.	To represent the interest such as training and continuous medical education of paediatricians of the national and international paediatric organisations with the national governments and international organisations.
C.	To encourage co-operation between European paediatricians working in primary, secondary and tertiary paediatric care and between paediatric subspecialties in Europe in their trik to promote child health and comprehensive paediatric care. Paediatric care is defined as the medical care of the human being during and up to the completion of growth and development.
D.	To obtain information concerning paediatrics at the national level from societies and associations, and to make it available to its members.
E.	To stimulate research in paediatrics.
F.	To co-operate with Paediatric Associations world-wide, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and with other national and international organisations in the f"ield of child health.
G.	To sponsor meetings of its members, of presidents of national paediatric societies, and of presidenta of the European paediatric subspecialties in Europe and to promote the policy laid down by its General Assembly.
H.	The EPA wants to collaborate dosely with the national paediatric societies and associations by affiliating them with European paediatric subspecialties. The EPA does not, however, want to interfere with matters arising from the aforesaid activities.
I.	The EPA aims at representing European paediatricians in the International Pediatric Association (IPA).

Article 3: Membership

Membership is open to National Paediatric Societies/Associations and to the Societies of Paediatric Subspecialties. Membership is also open to any certified paediatrician in Europe who is a member of the Paediatric Society/Association of his own country or a member in a Society of Paediatric Subspecialty The individual primary, secondary and tertiary care paediatrician can exercise his/her membership rights in the EPA indirectly through his/her National Paediatric Society of his/her country of residence and through his/her Society of Paediatric Subspecialties.
Application for membership of national societies/associations and for membership of Paediatric Subspecialty shall be addressed to the Secretary-General of the EPA to be voted on at the next General Assembly.
Application for individual membership shall be processed through the National or European organisations.

The member Societies/Associations shall pay dues to the amount of which will be determined by the General Assembly. Individual members will not be charged.
Membership can be terminated by making a declaration on this matter.

Article 4: General Assembly

The General Assembly is composed of one endorsed representative for each country and each European paediatric subspecialty. Each representative shall have one vote. If two or more national societies/associations exist in one country, they must themselves decide who is to be their sole representative in the General Assembly.
Said Association/Societies shall communicate their unanimous decision to the EPA Secretary General at least two weeks prior to the meeting of the General Assembly. Failing to do so, the said country shall forfeit the right to vote in the General Assembly.

The functions of the General Assembly are:

A.	To elect the President of the EPA.
B.	To elect two Vice-Presidents. One Vice-President shall be the President of a National Paediatric Society. The other shall be the President of a European Paediatric Subspecialty.
C.	To elect the Secretary General.
D.	To elect the Treasurer.
E.	To elect two more Councillors.
F.	To elect one Auditor and one Controller.
G.	To decide on the admission of new members.
H.	To lay down policies of the EPA in accordance with article 2 D, E and F.
I..	To decide the annual membership fee of the EPA.
J.	To delegate to the Council the authority to deal with any matter to be handled between the meetings of the General Assembly.

Candidates for each post in the Council may be proposed by any country or paediatric subspecialty and shall be endorsed by their National Society/Association. Voting will be by secret ballot at the General Assembly.

The General Assembly is convened by the President. It shall take place annually. Convocation shall be done in writing not less than six weeks before the date of the General Assembly, calculated from the day of dispatch.

The Secretary General is responsible for drawing up minutes of the proceedings of the General Assembly. They must be signed by him or by another member of the Board.
Individual members of the EPA may attend the General Assembly but have no vote.

Article 5: Council of the EPA

The Council shall consist of 7 elected members reflecting the various regions of Europe and the various paediatric subspecialties. It shall consist of:

The President of the EPA
Two Vice-Presidents
The Secretary General
The Treasurer
Two Councillors.

The President shall carry out the policies that are laid down by the General Assembly. He chairs the General Assembly and the Committees of the EPA. In case of his absence, he appoints one of the Vice-Presidents to replace him as Acting President.

The Secretary General shall be in charge of the administrative and the Treasurer for the financial affairs of the EPA. They will carry out such functions and authorities that may be delegated to them by the Council or the President.

The President may - for a special purpose or in general - delegate to each member of the Council matters to be handled by him as the President or by the Council. The Council shall elect the Candidate for the Standing Committee of the International Paediatric Association, and carry out such policies that are laid down by the General Assembly.

All Members of the Council will serve for 2 years. The President, Vice-Presidents and the two Councillors will be eligible for re-election for one period of 2 years only, and thereafter will be ineligible to occupy the same post. The Secretary-General and the Treasurer may be re-elected for two further periods of two years, each making a total tenure of six years possible. No person may be a member of the Council in any capacity for more than six years. The President of the forthcoming Congress is a member of the Council ex officio.

Candidates for post as President, Vice-President, Secretary-General, Treasurer and other Councillors may be proposed in writing, and handed to the Secretary-General at least one hour prior to the scheduled time of the Assembly Meeting.

The quorum for voting in the General Assembly shall be one third of its members. The requirement for voting in the Council shall be two thirds. A simple majority of the cast votes shall be decisive in the General Assembly and the Council. In the event that the vote is tied, the President shall cast the deciding vote.

Article 6: Amendment of the Constitution

Proposals for changing the constitution shall be sent to the Secretary General, signed by representatives of at least three member societies/associations not later than three months prior to the next ordinary General Assembly meeting of the EPA.

In the event of an amendment in the constitution, half of the members shall be present in the General Assembly. A two-third majority is required for amending the Constitution.

Article 7: Regula transitoria (Transitional rule)

The EPA assumes the commitments related to congress and cultural activities previously taken on by the Union of National European Paediatric Societies and Associations (UNEPSA). The EPA is not the legal successor to the UNEPSA; it shall not be held liable for any debts or liabilities incurred by UNEPSA or its officers or organs.

Article 8: Non-profit Organisation(Eintragung als gemeinniitziger Verein).

A. The EPA will be registered at the Court of Registry for Associations, Societies, and Clubs (Registergericht) in Munich, Germany, as a „Non-Profit Organisation".

The Secretary-General will represent the EPA at the Court of Registry for Associations, Societies, and Clubs (Registergericht) and exercise the "judicial power of attorney (Vertretungsrecht".

The Secretary-General* will inform the Court of Registry for Associations, Societies, and Clubs (Registergericht) annually about the General-Assembly, providing information in both English and German on:

1. The Agenda (Tagesordnung),
2. The name of the person writing the protocol (generally the Secretary-General)(Protokollfúhrer)
3. The „existence of a quorum" (Beschlul3fáhigkeit),
4. The „agreement" on the Agenda (Annahme der Tagesordnung)
5. The amendments of the Constitution and
6. of the elections of the Council (Vorstand) (including the numeric results of the elections).

* The report written by the Secretary General has to be certified by a German „Notary Public". The translation of this report finto German has to be done by a certified "sworn-in" translator.
* Every three years the Secretary-General and the Treasurer will write the „Finanzbericht fúr das Finanzamt fúr Kárperschaften" (Financial report for the tax office for non-profit organisations in Germany).

B. The EPA exclusively and directly pursues non-profit objectives in accordance with the paragraph „Steuerbegúnstigte Zwecke„ of the tax regulations of the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as to corresponding decrees of other European countries.

C. The EPA acts unseliishly; fit does not, pursue own personal objectives.

D. The means of the EPA shall only be used for objectives in accordance with the constitution. EPA members shall not receive allowances from the funds of the EPA. In the event of their withdrawal or with the dissolution or suspension of the EPA, the members do not receive a refund of the dues paid by them, nor do they have any claim to the fortune of EPA. No person shall profit from expenses not relating to the objectives of the EPA, nor from disproportionately high reimbursement.

E. All officers of the EPA act unpaid.

F. In the event of dissolution or of the suspension of the EPA, or in the case of cessation of its objectives, the fortune of the EPA shall devolve upon the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund - UNICEF - represented by Deutsches Kommittee fair UNICEF, 50670 K~ln, Steinfelder-Gasse 9, for the direct and exclusive use in non-profit objectives.

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