Bylaws of the European Federation of Societies for Microsurgery (EFSM)

On the 10^th of February 1990, a group of countries expressed their intention to create the European Federation of Societies for Microsurgery (EFSM).

Art. 1 THE NAME OF THE FEDERATION

The name of the Federation is the EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF SOCIETIES FOR MICROSURGERY (EFSM), and it represents the interest in and the orientation of the members of the Federation towards organized training in the field of microsurgery across Europe and organizing courses and meetings, as well as promoting exchange programs for the practitioner surgeons.

The name used in international relations will be EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF SOCIETIES FOR MICROSURGERY.

Art. 2 LEGAL FORM OF THE FEDERATION

The Federation is set up as a legal entity, it is a non-profit and apolitical body organized around the principle of non-profit and whose activity is according to the law and the law norms of the European Union.

Art. 3 HEAD OFFICE OF THE FEDERATION

The actual address of the head office of the Federation will be Abatorului Street no.168, Post code 407280, Floresti, Cluj County, Romania, this being the address of the actual Secretary General.

The Delegates' General Assembly can decide on a different address of the head office. The Federation can set up different offices in other towns in Romania or in other countries that the members of the Federation come from, it can establish collaboration relations with similar organizations or can join different unions or federations with other institutions and legal or natural persons, in order to accomplish its aims.

Art. 4 THE DURATION OF THE FEDERATION

The Federation is established for an unlimited period starting with the date of the official registration.

Art. 5 THE FEDERATION'S AIM AND PURPOSES

The European Federation of Societies for Microsurgery (EFSM) is an organization that represents national societies for microsurgery in Europe.

The main aim of the EFSM is to promote and rationalize training in microsurgery throughout Europe, and to develop microsurgical resources by advising National and European authorities concerning the requirements and quality of microsurgical technique.

Art. 6 WORKING METHODS

EFSM organizes courses and scientific meetings, promotes and sponsors educational exchange programs for surgeons in course of training and research programs between accredited microsurgical centers.

Art. 7 MEMBERSHIP

7.1 There are four types of members:

1. Founding members

Founding members need to fulfill the rules of the Federation. They must be full members of the Council of Europe and recognized as Society or Group of Microsurgery.

The founding members are the following societies:

Hellenic Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (Greece)
Italian Society of Microsurgery (Italia)
Romanian Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (Romania)
Spanish Society of Microsurgery (Spain)
Turkish Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (Turkey)

These societies decided to establish EFSM, they agreed on the bylaws and signed accordingly. The founding members are automatically full members.

2. Full membership

Full members need to fulfill the rules of the Federation. They must be full members of the Council of Europe and recognized as Society or Group of Microsurgery. They pay fees, take part in the Delegates' General Assembly and have the right to vote through their delegate.

3. Associate membership

Associate Membership is available to National Societies of Microsurgery or Groups with common bonds in the first two years after they applied for Full Membership. During these two years they do not pay fees, take part in the Delegates' General Assembly, but do not have the right to vote.

4. Corresponding membership

Corresponding membership is available to societies whose nations do not belong to the Council of Europe. These societies or groups are entitled to be informed about EFSM activities, to participate in all the scientific activities, to have a delegate in the Delegates' General Assembly. They do not pay fees and have no voting rights.

7.2 Application of new Societies to join the Federation

The Federation welcomes the application from non-member National Societies of Microsurgery or Groups with common interests to become full members of the Federation.

The application for membership must be complete and received by the Secretary General of the Federation at least eight months prior to the Delegates' General Assembly.

If the application is approved, the Society or the Group becomes Associate Member of the Federation for the next two years. During those two years, the Society or the Group must prove to the Council and to the General Assembly of Delegates its dedication to microsurgery, including the participation to congresses, publications, education.

Three months before the Delegates' General Assembly in which full membership of the Society is under discussion, the Society or the Group must send a report to the Secretary General, outlining its activities. The election of a Society to become a full member requires an unanimous vote, minus one, of the General Assembly of Delegates.

7.3 Representation of the Members by Delegates

The Societies or Groups belonging to the EFSM control the Federation through the Delegates' General Assembly. The Delegates represent the Full Member Societies or Groups, the Associate Member Societies or Groups and the Corresponding Member Societies or Groups, but only the Delegate(s) of a Full Member Society or Group has voting right.

The member Societies or Groups with less than 100 members have the right to one delegate, 100-199 members are entitled to two delegates, and those with 200 members or more to three delegates.

The delegates are elected by their National Societies for a period of 4 years. They can be reelected but the maximum term is of 8 years.

7.4 Loss of full membership

The loss of full membership may occur under the following circumstances:

The decision of the Society to withdraw from the EFSM. The resignation from the EFSM must be done at the end of a year by sending written notice of resignation to the Secretary General at least three months before the end of the year.
The structural changes that no longer allow the Society to fulfill the rules of the Federation
Failure to pay the fees for a period of more than three years. Failure to organize the National Congress for a period of three years.

In any of these cases, the Delegates' General Assembly takes a decision at the recommendation of the Council.

7.5 Privacy

Member societies or groups can give the contact details of their members for publication on the web-site of the EFSM.

Delegates contact details will be published on the EFSM homepage.

7.6 Rights of the Federation's members

To take part to all the activities organized by EFSM, and to benefit from all the specific facilities provided by the organizers;
To have their interests related to their specialization represented and promoted in relation to the national and international groups;
To be periodically notified by the Council regarding scientific events important to their specialization, as well as about different issues regarding the Federation;
To support motions regarding any problems which occur in the activity of the Federation, and which need an official reaction from the Council;
To make suggestions for change of the provisions mentioned in the bylaws of the Federation;
To benefit from material support (according to existing resources) and official support in the cases when they want to attend national and international events;
To nominate 1-2 members (according to the number of members of the society) who should represent the interests of the Society in the EFSM Delegates' General Assembly;
To benefit unconditionally from 90% of the amount of sponsorships brought to the account of the EFSM;
To elect, through their delegate, and by direct and secret vote the members of the Council (except for the associate members and the suspended members);
To nominate, through their delegate, members of the Society to be elected in the Council (except for the associate members and the suspended members).

7.7 Members' obligations

To attend the biennial Congress of the Federation;
To pay the annual fee to EFSM;
To take part actively in the activities of the EFSM , by presenting different projects in scientific events, local and abroad, organized or announced by EFSM;
To offer feed-back to the periodical newsletters issued by the Council regarding important scientific events in microsurgery, as well as different problems in relation to the Federation;
To take part periodically in the organizing of EFSM activities, based on the principle of alternative location, willingly as well as at the request of the Council, thus benefiting from recognition of their work on the part of the Federation;
To fairly represent and actively promote the interests of the EFSM, in relation to national and international organizations when the situation occurs;
To support the Federation financially;
To bring no prejudice to the image and reputation of EFSM.

Art. 8 THE PATRIMONY OF THE FEDERATION

The initial patrimony is established through the financial contribution of the founding members, contribution of 850 RON.

Art. 9 ORGANISATION

9.1 Delegates' General Assembly

The Delegates' General Assembly is organized on the occasion of every scientific Congress of EFSM, and in the years between the congresses, on the occasion of the congress of one of the member National Societies or in a location established by the Secretary General, and easy to access by all the delegates. When the Delegates' General Assembly cannot be organized in the period between congresses, the voting will take place online.

An Extraordinary Delegates' General Assembly may be called by the Council or upon resolution of the Executive Council.

A notice of an ordinary or extraordinary Delegates' General Assembly shall be made in writing and sent by e-mail and shall contain the agenda of the meeting and be given at least thirty days for an Ordinary Meeting or ten days for an Extraordinary Meeting prior to such a meeting.

The Delegates' General Assembly has the following duties:

decide on the host organization and the location of every Congress;
approve the annual reports and the annual accounts;
decide the number and the interests of the Committees, which will work on specific subjects for a defined period of time, and nominates the Chairmen of the Committees;
assume responsibility for the actions of Council, Executive Committee and, if needed, all other Committees;
elect the President and the Secretary General of the Federation;
elect the Treasurer and the Chairmen of the Committees;
decide on the amount of the fee;
make the other decisions regarding the functioning of the Federation;
choose the members of the Council;
be the contact body for any contacts, agreements etc. made with the Federation.
dissolve the Federation.

The members can vote by proxy in a form approved by the Executive Committee to another delegate or to a member of the Council by written notice. The Treasurer has the duty to control the register of the delegates and collect written notices.

The chairmen of the standing and temporary committees can attend the Delegates' General Assembly only by invitation of the Executive Committee, but don't have the right to vote.

Decisions are taken by a straightforward majority of votes. The vote is made by raising hands, but if a single person will ask can be a secret vote.

In case of a tie, the vote of the Secretary General shall be final.

9.2 The Executive Committee

The Executive Committee represents the Federation externally and manages its ongoing business. It is composed of:

The Secretary General which chairs the committee
The Previous Secretary General, until a new Secretary General will start his mandate.
The Elected Secretary General, in the last two years of the mandate of the Secretary General
The Treasurer
The President of the upcoming Congress of the Federation
The Historian

The Executive Committee has the right to invite other council members, national delegates or committees' members to their meetings or actions.

The Executive Committee has the following duties:

shall meet at least once a year, before the Delegates' General Assembly, in order to draft some proposals in order to be voted by the Delegates' General Assembly, and to establish an Activity Report; one of their meetings can be on-line
the Executive Council will be organized and chaired by the Secretary General
can invite the chairmen of the Standing Committees to report about their work
to recommend to the Delegates' Assembly the elections of officers or any other important events
to recommend the next Secretary General and the Treasurer to the Council
to manage the affairs of the Federation
to control, generate and disburse the funds of the Federation
to keep proper accounting reports
to represent the Federation
to appoint the Federation's Managing Office and to determine their remuneration and working conditions
to appoint or dissolve the committees upon ratification of the Delegates' Assembly
to recommend the Chairmen of the committees to the Council
to determine the persons authorized to sign and their signatory power.

Other participants, with observatory status, can be invited by decision of the Executive Council. The representatives of the managing office or other employees shall be invited but have no voting rights.

9.3 Committees

The Federation will have four standing committees:

The International Relations Committee
The Education and Training Committee
The Research Committee
The Clinical Committee

There can be temporary committees necessary on different occasions.

The chairmen of the committees are elected by the Delegates' General Assembly.

The chairmen of the standing committees are required to submit each year to the Executive Committee a report on the activities of their committees.

9.4 The Secretary General

The Secretary General will be elected from the members of the Delegates' General Assembly, which proved organizational commitment and internationally recognized scientific impact.

The election will take place every 4 years. The election will be held in the middle of the mandate of the Secretary General. A Secretary General can be reelected for a further period of 4 years. The role of the Secretary General will be to:

If the Bylaws of some of these societies/federations has some restrictions regarding the duration of the mandate in their Councils, the EFSM ExCo should elect another representative until the mandate of a new Secretary General will begin.
execute the decisions of the Delegates' General Assembly and act at meetings as President of the Delegates' General Assembly;
provide the communication between the member Societies and the President;
maintain an updated e-mailing list of all the Societies members of the Federation;
establish a working fund for the Federation;
assist in the organization of the biennial meeting as required by the President;
sign, on behalf of the Delegates' General Assembly, the necessary contracts, agreements, etc. that are required, after being discussed by the Council in a meeting of the Delegates' General Assembly.

9.5 The Previous Secretary General

The previous Secretary General will assist the new Secretary General in the first 2 years of his mandate.

9.6 The Elected Secretary General

The elected Secretary General will join the Council in the last two years of the Secretary General's mandate.

9.7 The President

The President is appointed by the Delegates' General Assembly and is represented by the organizer of the biennial congress of the Federation. His/her mandate will include the two years preceding the meeting.

The president will organize all aspects of the meeting, including location, accommodation, exhibitors, guest speakers and the scientific program.

9.8 The Treasurer

The Treasurer will be elected every 4 years and can be reelected for a further period of 4 years. The Treasurer shall be responsible for supervising the bookkeeping and financial accounting of the Federation and must present annual financial statements to the members each year at the Annual Delegates Assembly.

9.9 General Assembly of the Federation's members

A General Assembly, open to all the member societies of the EFSM is organized on the occasion of every scientific congress of EFSM, to present the activities and decisions of the Council and those of the Delegates' General Assembly.

Art. 10 THE FUNDS OF THE FEDERATION

The funding of the Federation is mainly derived from:

Membership fees from the member societies, which are based on the number of members of each society. The membership fee is determined by the Delegates' General Assembly. Fees are paid each year for the current year.
Revenues from congresses: the Organizing Committee of each Scientific Congress of EFSM pays to the Federation a fixed percentage of the income realized from the participation fees to the congress. This percentage is decided by the Delegates' General Assembly.
Donations from legal and natural persons
National and international sponsorships
Other sources of funding, represented by money or mobile and fixed goods, in conformity with the legislation.

Art.11 THE ACCOUNT OF THE FEDERATION

The funds which belong to the Federation will be placed into a bank account. These funds will be used as follows:

To promote the interests of EFSM at national and international level;
To purchase informative resources;
To support the scientific activities organized by EFSM;
To deal with administrative and protocol issues.

Art. 12 CONGRESSES

The Federation will organize a biennial Congress. The venue of the Congress will be decided 4 years prior to the Congress. The President of the Federation will organize the meeting with the assistance of the Secretary General. The Society elected to organize the biennial Congress will not hold a National Congress during that year. The President of the Federation has the responsibility to prove to the Federation that the scientific content of the Congress is appropriate and that the Congress is financially viable.

If the application of a society to organize a Congress and its suggested location are approved, the President of the local Organizing Committee must write a formal letter of acceptance to the Secretary General, attaching an outline of the meeting and of the commitment towards the Federation. A detailed plan of the Congress must be presented to the Council one year prior to the Congress.

All the proposals for organizing future congresses are discussed in the Delegates' General Assembly. Proposals should be sent to the Secretary General 6 months before the Delegates' General Assembly, where they will be discussed.

Art. 13 COMMUNICATION

Communication will be supported through a website containing the bylaws, the history and the data of the Federation, the newsletters on courses, congresses and other activities of the Federation. An Informatics Committee will be responsible for the website.

The President of the Federation will ensure the fees for the administration of the website in the two years of his/her mandate and/or for the preparation of the Federation's Congress, from the funds existing in the account of the Congress.

Art. 14 LANGUAGE

The scientific works organized by the Federation will be held in English and in the official languages of the European Community.

Art. 15

As a legal entity, the Federation is represented by the Secretary General. When the latter is not available then the previous Secretary General (in the first 2 years of mandate) or the elected Secretary General (in the last 2 years of mandate) will take his /her place if they are directly appointed by the Secretary General or by the Delegates' General Assembly, or in the case of physical impossibility of the Secretary General.

Art. 16

In case the Federation breaks up, the Delegates' General Assembly will decide on the future of material goods and of the patrimony, according to legal provisions.

These bylaws can be completed and/or modified by a decision of the Delegates' General Assembly.