European Board of Ophthalmology

Statutes and Bye-laws approved by U.E.M.S. Central Council
Paris, 20th February, 1993.

Statutes | Bye-Laws | Addendum 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

STATUTES

I          Introduction

           Article 1.0

The Union of European Medical Specialists (U.E.M.S.) entrusts its specialist sections with the formation of their own European Boards for their respective specialities. Members will be leading representatives of the national organisations representing their country on a professional, scientific and university basis.

The board shall be constituted in accordance with the statutes and rules of procedure of the U.E.M.S. and the specialist sections of the U.E.M.S.

The European Boards shall open up new dimensions in promoting both high quality specialist medicine and the free movement of doctors in the European Union (E.U.).

II        Objects

           Article 2.0

The aims of the European Board in Ophthalmology shall be as follows;

2.1       The main objective is to guarantee the highest standards of care in the field of ophthalmology in the countries of the E.U., by ensuring that the training of the Ophthalmologist is raised to the highest possible level.

           This aim shall be achieved by the following means:

2.1.1    The board shall recommend the standards required for the training of Ophthalmologists as defined by national regulations, and for the maintenance of these standards.

2.1.2    They shall make proposals for the quality of training and for the ‘core’ syllabus in ophthalmology.

2.1.3    They shall recommend procedures to assist the free movement of specialist doctors throughout the E.U.

2.1.4    They shall recommend the minimum standards to which the training centres and trainers must conform.

2.1.5    They shall assess the content and quality of training in the different countries of the E.U.

2.1.6    They shall facilitate the exchange of their specialist trainees and teachers between training centres of the various countries of the E.U. to ensure harmonisation and quality of training.

2.1.7    They shall set up a system for voluntary recognition of qualifications. This is to be known as the ‘Diploma of the European Board of Ophthalmology’ (E.B.O.D.).

2.2       The European Board shall be considered as being a working group of the specialist section of the U.E.M.S.

2.2.1    Through the intermediary of the specialist section, it shall report to the Executive Bureau of the U.E.M.S. and also the Advisory Committee for Medical Training (A.C.M.T.).

2.2.2    The Executive Bureau of the U.E.M.S. shall currently be entrusted with communicating all opinions issuing from the specialist sections of the European Boards to the Commission of the E.U. and the Advisory Committee for Medical Training.

2.2.3    The Executive Bureau of the U.E.M.S. shall officially communicate with the specialist section and the European Board on behalf of the E.U. bodies.

2.3       The specialist section shall submit to the U.E.M.S., for ratification, draft statutes relating to the membership and functioning of their Board so as to ensure cohesion between the various specialities.

III      Definitions

           Article 3.0

3.1       The European Board in Ophthalmology shall recommend the minimum requirements of training programmes in ophthalmology.

3.2       Full membership of the European Board in Ophthalmology shall be confined to representatives as laid down in statute 4.1. In addition there shall be one representative from the European Professors of Ophthalmology (E.U.P.O.), and one member from the Permanent Working Group of Junior Hospital Doctors (P.W.G.). The other European countries may be invited to take part in the European Board if they are associated members of the U.E.M.S. accepted as observers by the Council of Management of the U.E.M.S.

3.3       Recognition of qualifications (Diploma of the European Board of Ophthalmology).

3.3.1    The European Board in Ophthalmology shall issue a diploma.

3.3.2    Only Ophthalmologists who satisfy the training requirements of the European Board may apply for recognition.

3.3.3    This recognition shall give the candidate the right to the Diploma of the European of Ophthalmology (E.B.O.D.).

3.4       Concerning the movement of specialists in the E.U.:

3.4.1    The Diploma of the European Board of Ophthalmology is optional and shall not be a condition for free movement in the European Union.

3.4.2    The Diploma of the European Board of Ophthalmology shall be considered by the authorities as a proof of the quality and relative equivalence of the content of training.

IV       Composition

           Article 4.0

4.1       The European Board shall comprise two representatives of the speciality of ophthalmology for each country. One delegate must represent the practising profession and one must represent the universities and/or academic bodies. They shall be nominated by the recognised national professional organization of ophthalmology. If there are two organizations, one representing the academic and university bodies, each organization shall nominate the appropriate representative.

           In addition there shall be, ex-officio, a member each from E.U.P.O., and the P. W. G.

4.2       One of the two representatives of each country shall be a member of the national delegation to the specialist section of ophthalmology of the U.E.M.S.

4.3       Countries not belonging to the E.U. but having observer status in the U.E.M.S., may also send two representatives to the European Board. They shall have the right of consultative status.

4.4       The Board shall be administered by an elected Executive Committee: President, four Vice-Presidents, Secretary General and Treasurer.

4.5       The Board may form working committees.

V        Members of the European Board

           Article 5.0

5.1       Members of the Board shall be elected for a four year period by the national professional association or associations of ophthalmology. This term of office may be renewed only once.

           On reaching the age of 65 all delegates should retire and the appointed alternative members should then replace the retiring delegate until the next elections are held.

5.2       The Board may call upon one or more experts who shall not have the right to vote.

5.3       Voting rights

5.3.1    Each delegate shall have one substantive vote. Each delegate must have a fully nominated and recognised alternate.

5.3.2    Ex-officio E.U.P.O. and P.W.G. members shall have one vote each subject to the payment of the annual subscription.

5.3.3    For each delegate the right to vote is subject to the payment of the annual subscription.

5.3.4    Observers who represent associate European Countries have consultative status.

5.3.5    All voting for elections within the European Board of Ophthalmology shall be by secret ballot. A secret ballot will be held on any personal matter or if, at any time, it is requested by any voting member of the European Board.

5.3.6    The office of a member of the Board shall be vacated (other than by the passage of time);

(a) if he ceases to be a member of his national society

(b) if by notice in writing to the Secretary he resigns his office

(c) if he becomes incapable by reason of mental disorder

(d) if he shall fail without good reason to attend three consecutive meetings

The national organization shall then be notified by the Secretary General.

VI       Executive Committee

           Article 6.0 (as amended in 2002)

6.1       Election of the Executive Committee. The Board shall elect an Executive Committee from among its members. The Committee shall comprise the President, a President-Elect, the four Vice-Presidents, the Secretary General and the Treasurer. The Executive Committee shall establish the rules of procedure to be communicated to the Secretary General of the U.E.M.S. It shall undertake the organisation of meetings and the execution of decisions.

6.2       Duration of terms of office of the Executive Committee. The President shall be elected for a period of two years and will further serve the board for another two years as past-president. The President-Elect will be elected for two years prior to taking up office as President and the four Vice-Presidents shall normally remain in office for four years and the Secretary and Treasurer for four years. Only the Secretary General and Treasurer may remain in office for a second period of four years.

Statutes | Bye-Laws | Addendum 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

BYE-LAWS

Meetings

1.1       Meetings of the European Board of Ophthalmology:

1.1.1    The E.B.O. will hold its Annual General Meeting (Plenary Session) once a year. Additional meetings may be convened by the Executive Committee, on the request of one third of the Members of the European Board of Ophthalmology.

1.1.2    Items for the agenda may be proposed by the Executive Committee, the Chairman of Committees, the Members of the E.B.O., the U.E.M.S. Management Council or its Secretary General.

1.1.3    The agenda of the E.B.O. plenary meetings shall be communicated to the members before every meeting.

1.1.4    Minutes of the meetings, resolutions, recommendations, opinions, studies and all other relevant documents will be forwarded to the E.B.O. members, to the Secretary General of the U.E.M.S. and to the Specialist Section of Ophthalmology Secretary General before the next meeting.

1.2       E.B.O. Executive Committee meetings:

1.2.1    The E.B.O. Executive shall meet at least every 6 months.

1.2.2    Meetings of the Executive Committee are convened by the President and/or by the Secretary.

1.2.3    The agenda and relevant papers will be distributed to the members of the Executive Committee at least one month before the meeting.

Voting

2.0       The eleeted representatives, or his/her duly authorised alternative, of each full member country shall have one deliberative vote each that means two votes for each country.

2.1       The voting procedure described in the U.E.M.S. Rules of Procedure of 2.10.1987 (addendum 1) in Article 14 and speaking rights in Article 16 are to be followed.

Financing

3.0       Funding comes from the U.E.M.S. and other sources will facilitate the financial activities of the European Board of Ophthalmology.

3.1       The financial committee, under the chairmanship of Treasurer, is responsible for all financial matters relating to the E.B.O., subject to the approval and the control of the Executive Committee.

3.2       The Treasurer will present a budget to the Annual General Meeting for approval.

3.3       The accounts of the E.B.O. will be audited by an Audit Committee of two members of the Board appointed annually at the Annual General Meeting.

3.4       All works performed on account of or on behalf of the E.B.O. by the Secretary General’s office are to be paid to the Secretary General of the E.B.O.

Committees

4.0       The following committees shall be established by the Council of the E.B.O.

4.1       The Executive Committee. This committee is in charge of the organisation of the activities of the E.B.O. It also has the function of ensuring that all decisions agreed by the Council are acted on. All the committees will report directly to it through the Secretary General. It is composed of the following officers - the President, the four Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer and the Secretary General.

           The following additional committees will be established:

           A.    Residency Review Committee

           This committee will define minimum requirements for ophthalmological training programmes and the appropriate facilities in training units. It will be responsible for site visits to be carried out at the request of training units requesting recognition of their programme of training as suitable for recognition by the E.B.O.

           B.     Education Committee

           This committee will define the core knowledge and skills expected of a European ophthalmologist on completion of training. It will organise the E.B.O. qualifying examination to allow successful ophthalmologists to become Diplomats of the European Board of Ophthalmology.

           C.     Residency Exchange Committee

           This committee will organise and supervise an exchange programme of trainees and trainers between E.B.O. recognised training units.

           D.    Manpower Committee

           This committee will devise methods of estimating the number of ophthalmologists required in each E.U. country. It will advise on the number of training posts needed in each country.

           E.     Finance Committee

           The Chairman of this committee will be the Treasurer. This committee is responsible for the financial affairs of the E.B.O. It will raise money as it sees fit. It will recommend suitable examination fees. All monies raised will be administered for the good of the E.B.O. as the Council decides.

4.3       Committees can be established or wound up as the Council decides.

4.4       All countries are entitled to at least one representative on all committees except the Executive Committee. Representatives may be either of their Council members or nominated ‘experts’ as the national representative of each country decides.

4.5       All committees except the Executive Committee and Finance Committee shall be chaired by a Vice-President of the Council.

4.6       A Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary to each committee shall be nominated or elected from the Council members as Council decides.

4.7       Minutes of all committee meetings shall be recorded and transmitted to the Executive Committee through the Secretary General as soon as possible after each meeting.

4.8       All members of the Council may, on request, attend any committee as an observer.

4.9       Meetings of the committees may be called by the Chairman or Secretary of the committee or the President or Secretary General of the Council of the E.B.O. as often as deemed necessary.

Relationship with National and European Ophthalmological Associations.

5.0       The European Board of Ophthalmology will achieve its objectives by setting up standards and by encouraging health authorities, national and scientific ophthalmological societies through the specialist section, training institutions, ophthalmologists in charge of training and trainees, to live up to such standards.

           Other European Scientific associations may request that they be allowed to send an observer to the meeting of the E.B.O. A decision on this request will be made by the Executive Committee.

5.1       The E.B.O. does not seek any legislative or executive power with the European Community Countries (Article 13 of U.E.M.S. statutes) (addendum 2).

5.2       The E.B.O. will keep informed about national rules and regulations which concern the areas covered by its objectives. Conflicting rules and situations will be registered. The E.B.O. plenary session will be the appropriate assembly to discuss such situations and to work out recommendations and amendment procedures.

5.3       E.B.O. will conduct site visits of institutions that have formally agreed to live up to European standards as set by the European Board of Ophthalmology. Site visits will be carried out only with agreement of the visited institutions. Site visits may result in certification as E.B.O. recognised training institutions. In countries where residencies are already reviewed by national institutions, the E.B.O. could co-operate with such activities. Appeals against the decisions of the Residency Committee will be heard in the E.B.O. Council.

Amendments and dissolution

6.0       The procedure for amendments of statutes and rules of procedure and for the dissolution of this foundation are identical to those described in Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the U.E.M.S. Statutes (Addendum 3).

Addendum 1 Rules of procedure of the U.E.M.S., Lisbon 2.10.1987, Articles 14 & 16.

Addendum 2 Statutes of U.E.M.S., Brussels 20.7.1958, Article 13 affirmed Lisbon 2.10.1987.

Addendum 3 Statutes of U.E.M.S., Brussels 20.7.1958, Articles 14, 15 and 16 affirmed Lisbon 2.10.1987.

Addendum 4 Rules of Procedure of the U.E.M.S., Lisbon 2.10.1987, Article 8

Statutes | Bye-Laws | Addendum 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Addendum 1 - Articles 14 and 16 of Rules of Procedure of U.E.M.S., Lisbon, 2.10.1987

Article 14

Voting Procedure

I          Voting is done verbally, country by country, or show of hands, in three stages: one for those ‘for’ one for those ‘against’ and one for those ‘abstentions’. However, the President may, on his own initiative or at the request of a full member, decide to proceed with a vote by secret ballot.

II         Any vote relating to persons shall be carried out by secret ballot,

III        Decisions are taken by absolute majority of validly expressed votes, except for contrary provisions in the Statutes or the Rules of procedure.

IV        When a vote implies a formal stand to be taken by U.E.M.S. in relation to a third party as well as for a vote on the amount of the annual subscription and the breakdown key, the majority of two-thirds of full members present or represented is required, when the two-thirds are calculated, if the figure includes a decimal, it is agreed that the figure shall be rounded off to the nearest unit.

V         The procedure for voting by secret ballot for the election of members of the EXECUTIVE is supervised by an election committee (‘Bureau de vote’). The election committee is formed by three delegates representing three full member countries present in the Assembly, excluding members of the Executive in office and candidates for office subject to ballot.

           These three delegates are chosen in relation to their length of service within the Management Council and also seniority in terms of age: they appoint among themselves the person who shall assume the office of President of the Election Committee. The Election Committee is responsible for the correct compliance with the voting procedure, in particular the circulation, collection and sorting of ballot papers.

           Once the Election Committee is formed and throughout the whole duration of the vote, the President of the meeting shall relinquish his place in favour of the President of the Election Committee who declares the vote open, once he has ensured that all candidates have effectively left the meeting room and are located in a room where it is impossible for them to hear the discussions and a fortiori, intervene in them. After the candidates have departed, the President of the Election Committee reads the list of candidates’ names for each office and asks the Assembly to give its opinion on the validity and acceptability of each candidate. If a candidature shall be submitted to a vote, the vote takes place by secret ballot.

Once the voting procedure has started, no candidature shall be withdrawn or introduced. However, between two rounds of voting, the President of the Election Committee may propose that the Assembly allows the voluntary withdrawal of a candidate.

To be declared elected, a candidate shall receive the absolute majority of votes of full members present or represented. If no absolute majority emerges at the first round, a second round shall take place at the end of which if no candidate has received the majority required, a third round is organised between the two candidates having received the largest number of votes in the previous round.

If no majority emerges, the candidate with the longest service within the Council is declared elected. If the length of service is equal, the older candidate is elected.

Once the collection and sorting of ballot papers is carried out, the President of the Election Committee proclaims the result which is entered in the minutes, after which, he declares the vote closed and relinquishes his place in favour of the meeting President who recalls the candidates absent during the vote and informs them of the result of the vote.

Article 16

Speaking Rights

A         The delegates and their alternates have the right to ask the President for the floor at any time when they want to address the Plenary Assembly (except in the cases provided at Art. 8 of these Rules of Procedure). The accompanying experts may only speak with the agreement of the President if they are proposed by the head of the delegation or his alternate.

B         Guests and observers may be admitted to Plenary Assemblies with the Executive’s permission. They may only take the floor when the President expressly asks them to do it: their statement shall be concise and strictly confined to the subject under discussion.

Statutes | Bye-Laws | Addendum 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Addendum 2 - Article 13 of Statutes of U.E.M.S., Brussels 20.7.1958

Article 13

I          The U.E.M. S. may create, within its association, study sections at the level of each speciality at the rate of one section per speciality. The status of specialist doctor effectively practising the speciality concerned is required to represent a full or associate member within these sections which shall be named ‘specialist sections of the European Union of Medical Specialists’.

II         Each specialist section exists solely as a group of specialist doctors expert in their speciality expressly mandated by the Management Council acting in the name of the European Union of Medical Specialists. Each specialist section is responsible to the Management Council, and exclusively to the latter, and must regularly report on all its activities. It does not enjoy therefore, any autonomy whatsoever.

III        Each specialist section develops its activities strictly within the terms of reference specified for it by the Management Council. Initiatives which it is called upon to take must directly or indirectly relate to the speciality which it represents. It shall not have direct relations with third parties external to the European Union of Medical Specialists, without the express agreement of the Executive or the Management Council, the latter forming the obligatory intermediaries for referring any motion to third-parties or for any action taken in the broadest sense of the term.

Statutes | Bye-Laws | Addendum 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Addendum 3 - Articles 14, 15 and 16 of Statutes of U.E.M.S., Brussels 20.7.1958

Article 14

I          The Statutes can only be amended upon the proposal of the Executive or upon a written proposal of more than one-third of full members. The full text of the amendments proposed will be taken up in the agenda of an Extraordinary Plenary Assembly of the Management Council which will be called specially for this purpose.

II         The amendment will be passed if a two-thirds majority is obtained from the full members.

III        To avoid any mistakes in interpretation, all modifications proposed will be drafted in the language of the original text.

The language used by the European Union of Medical Specialists for papers which it publishes shall be French or English.

Article 16

The dissolution of the U.E.M.S. can be proposed by the Executive, or upon written request, by more than half the full members of the U.E.M.S.

It may only be pronounced by an Extraordinary Plenary Assembly of the Management Council convened specially for this purpose and will be conditional upon a two-thirds majority of full member countries.

Statutes | Bye-Laws | Addendum 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Addendum 4 - Article 8 of Rules of Procedure of U.E.M.S., Lisbon 2.10.1987

Article 8

Any irregularity in the payment of the subscription entails suspension of the right to vote. The irregularity shall be submitted to the Management Council which shall decide upon other measures to take, notably the prohibition to speak at meetings.

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