EAFP Statutes

EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF FISH PATHOLOGISTS e.V.

Statutes

Dated 18.06.2021, amended by resolution of the authorised Council Board on 28.02.2022

§ 1 Name and Seat

  1. The association´s name shall be “European Association of Fish Pathologists e.V.” (EAFP).
  2. It shall be registered in the associations´ register under the aforementioned name.
  3. The associations´ headquarter shall be Berlin.
  4. The financial year is the calendar year.

§ 2 Purpose and Tasks of the Association

  1. The Association shall solely and directly pursue purposes of public benefit in the sense of the “tax privileged purposes” section of the fiscal code in the prevailing version. Purpose is the promotion of science and research.
  2. The purpose as laid down in the constitution is served in particular by promoting scientific cooperation and the exchange of knowledge by offering scientific teaching and lectures in the field of pathology of fish and shellfish and by publishing scientific works. Pathology in this sense comprehends activities on research, diagnostics, and control of diseases and disorders, as well as research on the welfare of fish and shellfish.
  3. The association pursues altruistic purposes, it does not act primarily to make a profit.
  4. Funds of the association may be only used for the statutory purposes. Members do not receive allowances from the associations´ means. The board may decide on a remuneration agreed upon as reimbursement for individual expenses according to § 3 Nr. 26a of the Income Tax Act (EStG) in force at the time of the association´s founding date.
  5. No person may benefit from expenditures that are not related to the purpose of the association, or through inappropriately high allowances.
  6. The association is politically and religiously neutral.

§ 3 Membership

  1. Members of the association may be
    a. natural and legal persons as well as organizations with legal capacity, who are scientifically, or through training, involved in the field of fish and shellfish pathology,
    b. students in the field of fish and shellfish pathology,
    c. legal persons as well as organizations with legal capacity willing to support the EAFP´s objectives,
  2. Members of the association are
    a. Regular members,
    b. Honorary members,
    c. Student members or
    d. Sustaining members.
  3. Regular member may be someone who holds at least a Bachelors´ degree or any comparable education, which may also have been acquired by extensive self-study. Regular Members shall be scientifically involved in the field of fish and shellfish pathology.
  4. Honorary member may be, someone who has become of exceptional importance due to their activities in the field of fish and shellfish pathology or due to their importance to the association itself. The appointment of an honorary member requires a unanimous decision of the board. Honorary members shall hold the same rights as regular members. They are non-contributory.
  5. Student members shall be enrolled as students of a subject related to the field of fish and shellfish pathology at university, college, or any other higher education institution. They may remain student members until the end of the calendar year of their academic graduation. PhD students may remain student members until the end of the second calendar year, which follows their academic graduation. Student members pay lower fees than ordinary members.
  6. Sustaining members may be any legal person as well as organizations willing to support the EAFP´s objectives. They shall not have a voting right.
  7. Membership must be applied for in text form, acknowledging the association’s statutes. The board shall decide upon the acceptance of new members.
  8. Membership expires
    a. by resignation, which shall be declared in written form or in text form to either the branch officer of the branch to which the member belongs to or to a member of the council board,
    b. by deletion from the membership list through the board, if the member has failed to fulfil his/her financial duties towards the EAFP for one full year or more,
    c. by majority decision of the board due to any important reason,
    d. by death of a member,
    e. for legal persons and organizations by loss of legal capacity.
  9. Members shall pay the full membership fee for every calendar year. The board decides the amount and settlement date of membership fees. Member fees contributed will not be paid back if a member leaves the association.
  10. A member expulsed by decision of the board shall apply for a judicial finding concerning the legal effectiveness of the expulsion decision within three months at the competent court. After this period even the appeal concerning the legal effectiveness of the expulsion decision shall be invalid. Membership rights of the expulsed member shall be suspended from the day of the receipt of the expulsion decision, if no legal action is taken in due time, until the three-months period has finished, otherwise until a final judicial decision concerning the legal effectiveness of the expulsion decision.

§ 4 Board

  1. The board shall manage the association´s affairs.
  2. The board shall consist of
    a. the president, who shall hold the chair of the board by hosting its meetings and represent the association on public events,
    b. the vice-president, who shall substitute the president as well as realize other tasks assigned to him by the board.
    c. the general secretary, who shall be in charge of administration and data management, providing all relevant data to the board, of membership requests, of updating the membership list, of organizing the election of board members as well as those of branch officers.
    d. the meetings secretary, who shall be in charge of organizing and coordinating the international conferences of the association and shall therefore be legitimized to summon members into local teams; the meetings secretary shall assure the financing of all the conferences and workshops in accordance with the board before announcing them;
    e. the publication officer, who shall be responsible for the editing and production of the „Bulletin of the European Association of Fish Pathologists“ and the realisation ,of other publications, which are of relevance to EAFP members,
    f. the treasurer who shall be in charge of the association´s financial administration and shall therefore take responsibility in particular for invoices, booking of membership fees, donations and other income of the association; the treasurer shall pay any of the association´s financial liabilities when due for payment, keep the accounting documents, take care of the tax declarations as well as the boards´ yearly financial report for purpose of disclosure to the associations´ members.
  3. The board according to § 26 of the German Civil Code (BGB) shall consist of the president, the vice-president and the treasurer. The association shall be represented by each of these board members alone. Internally, the consent of another member of the Executive Board within the meaning of §26 of the German Civil Code (BGB) is required for each act of representation.
  4. Every single board member shall be appointed by simple majority vote of the members´ meeting for a period of four years. They shall remain in office until the appointment of a new board. Reelection is permitted. No board member may remain in office for more than two legislative periods; the provision in sentence 2 shall remain unaffected.
  5. No more than two members of a regional branch may be board members at the same time.
  6. The election for president shall require that the candidate has been board member for at least two years.
  7. In case of early withdrawal of a member of the board, the board may decide on a successor to replace the withdrawn member until reelection. The election shall take place in the next member´s meeting. In case of premature withdrawal of a member of the board the board shall still have a quorum.
  8. Nominations for candidates willing to stand for election for the board shall be submitted to the general secretary latest one month before the election.
  9. The board shall appoint one or more members to webmaster. The webmaster shall be in charge of development, design and administration of the associations´ websites as well as social media accounts. The webmaster shall moderate the content on these platforms. The webmaster shall fully comply with the board´s instructions.
  10. The board shall strengthen the association´s connection to other international associations and organizations pursuing similar goals.
  11. A record shall be kept of the boards´ meetings and decisions, that record shall be signed by the minute keeper and the president, if they cannot attend by the vice president, if he/she cannot attend by another board member.

§ 5 General Assembly

  1. A general assembly of all members shall be held every two years on the occasion of the associations´ international conference. Furthermore, a general assembly shall be summoned if the associations´ interests do so require or at least 1/10th of the members demands an assembly in writing or in text form.
  2. Any general assembly summoned according to the statutes shall constitute a quorum.
  3. The general assembly shall be summoned in text form specifying the agenda within four to eight weeks before the assembly. Any request concerning the agenda put in after the invitations have been sent shall be treated at the following general assembly.
  4. The president shall be chairman of the general assembly, if he/she cannot attend the vice-president, if he/she cannot attend the general assembly shall decide on the chairman.
  5. A record shall be kept of the general assembly, which shall be signed by the chairman of the general assembly and the general secretary and if he/she cannot attend, by another board member.
  6. A general assembly may be held virtually (online-procedure) in a virtual room exclusively set up for members with their credentials and password. In case of online-procedure the password valid only for that very meeting shall be notified to members along with the invitation. An e-mail to the members´ latest address known to the board shall be sufficient to properly invite a member. Any member shall be obligated to not share his/her assigned password with any third parties and keep it confidential.
  7. The board may decide in the invitation to the general assembly, that members may participate virtually. In this case the regulations for online-procedure shall apply accordingly.
  8. In deviation from §32 paragraph 1 sentence 1 BGB, resolutions of the members may also be passed outside of a meeting, in particular for the election of the council board. The provisions of paragraphs 2,3 and 5 shall apply analogously, whereby the members must be given the opportunity to vote at least four, and at most eight, weeks after the call to vote by the board. In analogous application of the provisions of paragraph 6, the vote may also be cast electronically. In the case it calls for a vote, the council board shall determine the form in which the vote is to be taken and the related procedure.

§ 6 Regional branches and commissions

  1. At least five members in one country may found a regional branch in cooperation with the general secretary. Regional branches are organizational entities dependent on the EAFP. The members of each branch shall elect a branch officer from their ranks who shall remain in office until his or her resignation or the election of a new branch officer. The branch officer shall determine the election procedure, whereby democratic principles shall be considered; in particular, the possibility of participation of all members of the branch must be guaranteed. If the majority of the members of a branch demands a new election, this shall be held within 6 months. If the branch officer does not determine the election procedure, the last one applied according to the above rules shall be decisive. Every member of the EAFP shall automatically become a member of the branch of the state he/she lives in. If there is no regional branch in the relevant state, the general secretary shall decide, which of the regionally closest branches the member may belong to.
  2. The board may constitute commissions with regular and student members, who shall support the management and development of the association.

§ 7 Asset Commitment

In the event of the dissolution or abolition of the association, or of the lapse of the previous tax privileged aim of the association, the assets of the association are turned over to a public legal entity or another tax privileged corporation for the promotion of science and research.

The English version of these statutes serves exclusively for translation purposes. Legally binding is the German version.

Please click here to download the EAFP Statutes in English or in German.