E.F.C.C.A. Bylaws

EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF CROHN'S & COLITIS ASSOCIATIONS BYLAWS

As amended Strasbourg on 7 September 1993, Marbella on- 7 October 1994,
London on 16 –18 October 1997 and Berlin on 12 June 2003. The Bylaws were also re approved in total at the 12 June meeting in Berlin

The following rules are introduced for the better management of EFCCA and are to be read in conjunction with, but subject to the Constitution. You will find an attachment below which gives the up to date Bylaws and the Appendix showing Relationships with Pharma.

1. Officers

1.1 i) Officers and deputies shall hold office for a 2 year period but are eligible for re-nomination for further periods. Should other nominations be received for the same office (position on the Executive Committee) then as necessary a competitive and secret ballot will be held at the Board’s Annual Meeting.

1.1 (ii) The Board may, at its Annual Meeting, appoint, for a period of one year, up to two delegates as Substitute Officers (’Substitutes’) and shall nominate which of the Substitutes shall be the First Substitute. The Substitutes may attend meetings of the Executive Committee, but shall have no right to vote at such meetings, except that if any Officer shall be unable to attend any meeting of the Executive Committee, the First Substitute shall have the right to vote in his/her place and if a second Officer shall be unable to attend, the remaining Substitute shall have the right to vote in his/her place. It must be understood that by becoming a Substitute Officer that it is expected that those elected will in due course offer themselves for nomination to fill Officer and Deputy vacancies on the Executive Committee.

1.1 iii) All Board members are to be encouraged to participate from time to time in the affairs of EFCCA by serving on the Executive Committee.

1.1 iv) If it is the intention of any member to change either (or both) of its representatives to the General Assembly and Board and its existing representative(s) are duly appointed Officers of EFCCA, it shall give at least 12 months notice of such intention to enable a new Officer to be appointed at the next General Assembly in place of the Officer who is to he replaced.

1.2 The Officers (as the Executive Committee) may co-opt from time to time such Board Members or other qualified persons as they think fit to attend their meetings and to advise them.

1.3 The Executive Committee shall meet at least twice in any year in addition to any meetings held at the time of the annual Board and General Assembly.

1.4 The quorum for such meetings shall be at least three Officers (including Deputies) and decisions shall be taken by simple majority. A Deputy shall only attend on the invitation of the Chairman and shall not vote except in the absence of his or her principal Officer.

1.5 A report will be prepared of any such meeting and circulated to Member Associations as soon as reasonably possible after such meeting.

1.6 The Officers and Deputies will communicate to one another all important information affecting EFCCA.

1.7 The proper expenses of any Officers, Deputies and other co-opted persons in undertaking their duties, including attending any meetings, shall be re-imbursed by EFCCA.

2. Chairperson

2.1 The Chairperson shall conduct all meetings of the Board, of the General Assembly and of the Executive Committee.

2.2 The Chairperson shall act as the primary spokesperson of EFCCA and shall be responsible for the conduct of external affairs of the Federation. The Executive Committee may, from time to time appoint or co-opt any other qualified person to assist the Chairperson in this task. with such title as may be appropriate

2.3 The Chairperson shall report to the Member Associations at least three times a year upon the state of affairs of EFCCA. This may be through the medium of a newsletter, but shall include a report on the activities of the Officers and the state of the finances of EFCCA.

2.4 The Vice-Chairperson shall act as Chairperson in all the foregoing matters whenever the Chairperson is unable to do so.

3. Secretariat

3.1 The Secretary is responsible for undertaking all the organisational responsibilities referred to in the Constitution not allocated to another Officer and in particular, for convening all Meetings of the Board, General Assembly and Executive Committee.

4. Financial Affairs

4.1 The bank account for the time being shall be the Girobank plc located in the United Kingdom and such account shall be under the control of and operated by the Treasurer. It is anticipated that in the future, such account will be transferred to the Girobank in the territory in which the Treasurer for the time being resides.

4.2 Any transaction involving an amount up to and including Ecu 200 shall be authorised in writing by at least one Officer. Any transaction involving an amount in excess of Ecu 200 shall be authorised by at least two Officers. An Officer who may be the beneficiary of any transaction shall not be entitled to authorise such transaction. A transaction includes writing any cheque or other financial instrument, or entering into any contract or undertaking which might involve EFCCA in any payment. In calculating the value for the purposes of the above mentioned limit of Ecu 200, any series of payments due under a contract or arrangement shall be aggregated. No transaction will be entered into outside the normal course of business without the approval of the Board.

4.3 The accounts prepared by the Treasurer for the Annual Meeting shall be audited by a suitable person approved by the Board and shall be signed as approved by such auditor before presentation to the Meeting and the Treasurer shall report to the Meeting any comments on the accounts made by such auditor. Such auditor shall be entitled to such remuneration as may be agreed by the Executive Committee and may be invited by the Executive Committee to attend the Annual Meeting at the expense of the Association.

5. Project Groups

5.1 The Board or the Executive Committee may appoint any Board Member together with any other suitable persons to constitute a Project Group to undertake any specific task on behalf of EFCCA.

5.2 Any Project Group appointed by the Executive Committee shall require to be subsequently approved by the Board at its next meeting and shall continue until determined by the Board.

5.3 Any Project Group shall report on its activities and expenditures not Iess than twice in any year to the Board, through the Executive Committee.

5.4 A Budget for each Project Group shall be prepared and approved by the Executive Committee before it shall incur any liabilities. The Executive Committee shall not authorise any expenditure for Project Groups where the total expenditure on all Project Groups would exceed the amount provided therefor in the Budget for the year approved by the General Assembly, unless special financing shall have been arranged by way of sponsorship or otherwise.

5.5 The proper expenses of the members of any such Project Group shall be reimbursed, subject to the foregoing provisions.

6. Members

6.1 If any National Association which qualifies to be a member of EFCCA under paragraph III of the Constitution applies to become a new member, such application shall be considered by the Executive Committee who shall take into account whether the applicant has itself a sufficient number of members, has been in existence for such reasonable length of time and conducts its affairs in such reasonable manner as is likely to ensure that it will make a suitable member of EFCCA. The Executive Committee shall make recommendations to the next General Assembly on such application.

BYE-LAWS -- Appendix ’l’

RELATIONSHIPS WITH PHARMACEUTICAL AND OTHER COMMERCIAL ORGANISATIONS

It is an important principle for EFCCA that it shall not, nor shall it be seen to, endorse the product(s) or service(s) of any particular pharmaceutical or other commercial organisation. For this reason, the following general rules should be observed in any dealings with such organisations.

1. In the following paragraphs, the following definitions shall apply:
· the product(s) or service(s) described above are together referred to as ’Product(s)’
· the organisations described above are referred to as the ’Organisation(s)’
· the Executive Committee is referred to as the ’ExCom’.
· drugs trials or other research or information gathering or disseminating projects are together referred to as ’Research Projects’

2. No person shall, on behalf of EFCCA, without the prior approval of the ExCom, agree to circulate any information relating to any Product, or agree that EFCCA or any of its Member Associations shall participate in any Research Project(s).

3. The ExCom shall not accept any inducement from any Organisation, whether to be given to EFCCA or to any other party, as a consideration for giving its approval thereto, but this shall not preclude EFCCA from accepting any payment or other benefit from the Organisation at any time after it shall have given its approval.

4. The ExCom, in deciding whether to agree to any Research Project, shall take into account:
· the likely benefit to its Member Associations and their members from any recommendation it may make as to participation in the Project(s) and
· the extent to which any such agreement may be consistent with the objectives of EFCCA and
· the standing and competence of the applicant Organisation,
Any agreement by the ExCom shall also be subject, so far as it affects any Member Association, to the further agreement of that Member Association.

5. Any person seeking the approval of the ExCom shall apply to the Secretary (or Deputy Secretary in her absence) and the matter will be dealt with at the next Officers’ Meeting except that, in case of urgency, the Secretary (Deputy Secretary) may canvass the views of at least three other members of the ExCom and shal1 take the majority view of such members as approval or rejection of the Research Project concerned.

6. Nothing above stated shall preclude EFCCA from circulating its Publicity material, including its list of Member Associations, from time to time to as wide an audience as it thinks fit, including to any Organisation, nor sha11 it preclude EFCCA from approaching any Organisation for sponsorship of any of its activities, except while the ExCom may be considering an application for a Research Project from such Organisation.

Relationships Policy Document adopted during the Board Meeting, London, October 16/18th, 1997

INTERNET

In changing our web address to www.efcca.org and redeveloping the EFCCA site we have reviewed and revised the EFCCA Internet Policy Document first approved by the Executive Committee on January 10 1998

The EFCCA website is available for anyone with access to the Internet. Since anyone can access this information, we have to ensure that it is as accurate as we can make it. At the same time, it is necessary for us to point out that we can accept no responsibility for its use, The purpose of our site is informational and educational only and is not a substitute for medical advice. Any person in need of medical advice should consult a doctor or other health professional.

With this in mind and to protect ourselves against unauthorised or misleading information, we must advise you that no Member Association of EFCCA, nor indeed any other person, is permitted to publish any information under the EFCCA logo or title, or which may otherwise be deemed to be published by or with the authority of EFCCA, on the Internet or through any other medium except following the prior written consent of EFCCA. This consent may only be given by its Chairman or Secretary and on such conditions as they think fit.

If you wish to publish any material under the EFCCA logo or title, please send a copy to the Secretary in sufficient time to enable it to be properly considered.

Revised Internet Policy document January 2004

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