Bylaws of the
European Paediatric Surgeons’ Association

1. Article 1: Membership
1.1 Membership categories
1.1.1 All applications for Membership are made directly to the Secretary of EUPSA as a
member of the Executive Board (EB). The Secretary shall consider the qualifications of
all candidates, and shall recommend to the EB those suitable to be approved as
members. The EB decides about the acceptance of applicants as members of EUPSA.
1.1.2 The application for active membership has to be endorsed by two Active Members of
the EUPSA.
1.1.3 Application for trainee membership has to be endorsed by one active Member of the
EUPSA and shall be accompanied by a letter from the chief of his/her department
indicating that he/she is a paediatric surgeon in training. Upon registration as paediatric
surgeons. Trainee Members must inform the Secretary to become Active Members.
1.1.4 Application for corresponding membership has to be endorsed by two Active Members
and shall be accompanied with a curriculum vitae and other pertinent information. The
Executive Board will take the decision and inform the General Assembly.
1.1.5 Any member can propose a person to the EB for a honorary membership. The
Executive Board will take the decision and inform the General Assembly.
1.2 Membership Fee
1.2.1 All members, except Senior Members and Honorary Members shall be charged
membership fees in an amount proposed by the EB and approved by the General
Assembly. Any member who, after appropriate notification, does not pay membership
fees within two years will loose the membership.
1.2.2 Discharged members may request reinstatement – after payment of any back fees owed
– subject to the approval of the EB
1.3 Membership Privileges
1.3.1 All members shall receive a document that certifies their membership within the EUPSA
as well as the type of their membership
1.3.2 The Mission Statements, the Statutes and the Bylaws as well as a roster of membership
are regularly published on the EUPSA website.
1.3.3 All members are entitled to participate in the EUROPEAN CONGRESS of Paediatric
Surgery –at a reduced registration fee
1.3.4 All members are entitled to participate in EUPSA accredited or organised symposia and
workshops – if applicable at a reduced registration fee
1.3.5 All members are entitled to apply for support, fellowship, grants, awards and prizes in
association with the EUROPEAN CONGRESS and postgraduate activities the EUPSA,
as well as for funding of European or international multi-centre research studies.
1.3.6 All members are entitled to apply for support in the broadest sense from the EUPSA as a
scientific organization
1.4 Termination of membership
Membership terminates
1.4.1 on death of a member
1.4.2 on receipt of a written resignation of the member
1.4.3 unpaid membership fee for two years
1.4.4 when the member ceases, for whatever reason, to be a registered paediatric surgeon
whether in Europe or elsewhere
1.4.5 when a member fails to fulfil his statutory obligations to the EUPSA, acts against the Bylaws
or the ethical standards in paediatric surgery, or prejudices the Association in any
way. This kind of termination of membership must be recommended by the Executive
Board and approved by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the eligible members present
and voting at the General Assembly
1.5 Communication with Members
1.5.1 Communication with Members occur primarily via the website and by e-mail.

2. Article 2: Executive Board
· The EB is the decision-making organ and is responsible for all administrative and
management functions. Delegates of the Executive Boards of other Associations may be
affiliated as Members of the EB (without active voting rights).
· The EB proposes programmes and formulates new strategies to improve and strengthen
the EUPSA.
· The EB decides the candidates for Honorary Lectures to be delivered, and for the Rehbein
Medal to be awarded at the EUROPEAN CONGRESS and decides about the type of prize
or the quantity of money for the EUROPEAN CONGRESS prizes (young investigator
award, best oral presentation, best poster presentation).
· The EB shall install special Offices and subsection of Offices to fulfil the EUPSA strategies
and their members.
· The EB is entitled to install Committees for paediatric surgical subspecialties such as
trauma, cancer, paediatric urology, etc. These Committees shall focus their work on
research, good practice and the progress of that subspecialty.
· All members of the EB shall serve for the term specified in the Statutes and at the expiry of
such term or terms new members shall be appointed following proposition of EB and
approval of a majority of votes of the General Assembly.
· Members elected by a majority vote of the EB may fill vacancies that occur in any of the
Offices for the unexpired term.
· The EB shall, from time to time, have the power to employ paid or unpaid agents, staff or
advisers to the Association, which may include a Senior Executive. Such persons would
have charge of the administration of the Association, and would work to further the aims of
the Association as determined by the EB. All staff including the Senior Executive will be
responsible to the President of EUPSA
2.1 President
2.1.1 The President shall serve as Chair of the EB and shall serve on all Offices.
2.1.2 The President convenes and presides over the meeting of the General Assembly and is
responsible for the Agenda of the meeting.
2.1.3 The President convenes and presides over meetings of the EB and is responsible for the
Agenda.
2.1.4 The President represents the EUPSA on all occasions in national and international
organizations.
2.1.5 The President is responsible for all correspondence related to the Association and
administers the archives.
2.1.6 The President manages the affairs of the Association, signs the contracts and at all times
acts as its principal representative. The President coordinates all activities and collects reports
from the Offices of the Association.
2.2 President Elect
2.2.1 The President Elect gains for two years experience as a leading person of the EUPSA
2.2.2 The President Elect supports the activities of the President and works in close collaboration
with the President
2.2.3 The President Elect is Co-chairman of the General Assembly and is member of all Offices
2.3 Past President
2.3.1 The Past President may advise the President and supports his activities by his experience
2.3.2 The Past President is Co-chairman of the EB and a member of all Offices
2.4 Secretary
2.4.1 The Secretary is responsible for the minutes of the meeting of the EB and the General
Assembly and shall provide the minutes to all members
2.4.2 The Secretary shall, not less than 4 (four) months, prior to the date notify all members of the
Association of the venue and date of the General Assembly and invite all members to submit
comments, suggestions and/or recommendations to the President or to the Secretary, or
nominations for elections if appropriate.
2.4.3 The Secretary shall send out, not less than 4 (four) weeks prior to the General Assembly,
the formal invitation to all members of the Association to attend the General Assembly. The
Invitation shall include the Agenda and anonymous ballot sheets for elections.
2.4.4 The Secretary is a member of the Media Office.
2.4.5 The Secretary is responsible for keeping the homepage up to-date stage, with special
regard to oncoming nominations for elections.
2.4.6. The Secretary shall publish the EUPSA-Newsletter of the Association in close collaboration
with the President and the Members of the EB.
2.4.7 The Secretary distributes the appropriate certification of membership to new members.
2.4.8 The Secretary shall prepare the certificates and medals for the EUROPEAN CONGRESS
awards and the honorary lectures and lifetime achievement medals.
2.4.9. The Secretary is responsible for contracts of any person or Organization cooperating with
EUPSA together with President and Treasurer.
2.5 Treasurer
2.5.1 The Treasurer shall be the custodian of the assets of the association and shall adhere to
the principles of appropriate bookkeeping and accounting.
2.5.2 The Treasurer is responsible for the collection of the subscriptions of the Association.
2.5.3 The Treasurer shall work with the President and the EB-members in overseeing all general
accounting and financial record keeping functions of the Association.
2.5.4 The Treasurer shall assure that all funds of the Association are audited each year by two
independent Auditors and shall present the report of this audit to the EB and to the General
Assembly.
2.5.5 The Treasurer shall make proposals to the General Assembly for investing not for working
purposes required money.
2.5.6 The Treasurer is a member of the Scientific Office.
2.5.7 . The Treasurer is responsible for contracts of any person or Organization cooperating with
EUPSA together with President and Secretary.
2.6. Webmaster
2.6.1. The webmaster shall be responsible for the development and the updating of the EUPSA
website
2.6 Congress Chairman
2.6.1 The Congress Chairman is elected by the EB; he is responsible for the local organization of
the EUROPEAN-CONGRESS and shall build up a local organizing team.
2.6.2 The Congress Chairman has to adhere to the principles of appropriate bookkeeping and
accounting in close collaboration with the Treasurer
2.6.3 The EUROPEAN-CONGRESS shall achieve possibly a net income. 70% of that income
belong to the EUPSA assets while 30% remain with the local organizing team
2.6.4 The term of the Congress Chairman begins one year before the appropriate congress and
ends after having presented the congress balance to the EB and the report to the General
Assembly.
2.7 Chairmen of Offices
2.7.1 The Chairman of an Office is a member of the EB. The Congress Chairman is a member of
the EB without voting right.
2.7.2 The Chairman of an Office is elected by the members of that Office; this can be done one
year in advance the beginning of his/her term.
2.7.3 The Chairman of an Office shall stimulate, coordinate, promote and organize the special
purpose of the Office together with the proposed members.
2.7.4 The Chairman of one Office cannot chair a second Office.
2.7.5 The Chairman is responsible for the minutes of the Office meetings. The minutes have to be
sent to the Secretary and distributed to the Members of the EB.
2.7.6 The Chairman shall present a report at least once a year to the General Assembly.

3. Article 3: The EUPSA Offices
Offices are institutions of the EUPSA with special purposes to fulfil the aims of the Association.
Offices shall assist the EB.
If a proposed member of any Office fails to attend the meetings without any serious reason or
does not reply within a certain sensible time to the request of the chairman of the Office, he/she
can be asked to resign and the Chairman proposes a new member.
The President, the President Elect and the Past President are members of all Offices and are
therefore not specially mentioned in the following paragraphs.
3.1 The Education Office
It consists of up to 12 (twelve) members including 2 (two) Trainees. The members elect a
chairman.
The aim of the Education Office is to support and promote the organization of the postgraduate
education, lectures, scholarships, exchange of colleagues between institutions and countries,
EUPSA-surgical workshops, etc.
The Education Office shall formulate good practice standards in paediatric surgery in
collaboration with the UEMS-Section Paediatric Surgery, which shall be published in the EUPSAwebsite.
Every question, request or initiative concerning education received by the EB will be transferred
to the chairman of the Education Office and will be dealt with within a reasonable period of time.
The Education Office decides whether courses or scientific meetings may receive the EUPSA
accreditation.
The term for appointed members is 3 (three) years, one reappointment is possible.
The Education Office prepares evaluation procedures for congresses, courses, Meet the Expert
Lunches etc.
The Education Office presents the results of the evaluations to the local organizers and to the EB.
3.2 The Scientific Office
It consists of up to 12 (twelve) members, including the Congress Chairman and the Treasurer.
The Editor of European Journal of Paediatric Surgery is, by his function, a member of the
Scientific Office. The members elect a Chairman. The aim of the Scientific Office is to maintain
the Association’s scientific production at the highest level.
Every question, request or initiative concerning the scientific matters received at the EB will be
transferred to the chairman of the Scientific Office and will be answered within reasonable time.
3.2.1 The Scientific Office is responsible for scoring and acceptance or rejection of the
anonymous submitted abstracts.
3.2.2 The Scientific Office proposes the special topics of the EUROPEAN-CONGRESS, the
invited speakers, and other scientific features of the congress. These decisions must be endorsed
by the EB.
3.2.3 The Scientific Office decides about the recipients of the EUROPEAN CONGRESS awards:
3.2.3.1 - 2 (two) young investigator awards (for the best research works; the recipients must not
be older that 35 years)
3.2.3.2 - 3 (three) best poster presentation awards (for the best posters)
3.2.4 The Scientific Office approves the scientific content of post-graduate courses and other
EUPSA-organized meetings, as well as official scientific publications of the EUPSA.
3.2.5 The Scientific Office suggests, promotes, and supports and approves multicentre EUPSAStudies
on all fields of clinical work and basic research from European countries. The members
elaborate the needed financial support for EUPSA-Studies and submit the financial plan to the
Funding and Financial Affairs Office.
3.2.6 The Scientific Office approves or rejects submitted international research studies between
countries of Europe and other continents and may suggest funding to the Funding and Financial
Affairs Office.
The term for appointed members is 3 (three) years, one reappointment is possible

4. Article 4: The EUPSA Committees
The EB shall install Committees with the aim of promoting research, good practice standards and
progress within defined subspecialties of Paediatric Surgery.

5. Article 5: Honorary Lectures and Lifetime Achievement Awards
To honour distinguished paediatric surgeons who have contributed significantly to the progress
and international acknowledgment of paediatric surgery in Europe and in the world the EUPSA
shall award those outstanding contributions on the occasion of the EUROPEAN CONGRESS.
The decisions are made by the EB
• The European Congress Lecture
for outstanding contributions in the field of paediatric surgical research
• The European Journal of Paediatric Surgery Lecture
for outstanding contributions in the field of paediatric surgery
• The Duhamel Memorial Lecture
for outstanding contributions to the progress of clinical management
• The Rehbein Medal
for outstanding lifetime achievements in paediatric surgery

6. Article 6: Language
The official language of the Association is English

7. Article 7: Congresses
The EUROPEAN CONGRESS will be organized annually at a location decided by the EB. The
EUROPEAN CONGRESS is open for all paediatric surgeons and other interested parties and
individuals. The Scientific Office is responsible for the scientific program of the congress and the
EUROPEAN CONGRESS awards. The Congress Chairman is responsible for the management
of the congress and the specified structure according to the rules set into the Congress Manual.
A contract containing a business plan and financial modalities of the congress is worked out and
agreed at least 2 years before the congress between the Congress Chairman and the Treasurer.
The financial responsibility will remain with the Congress Chairman, who has to adhere the
principles of appropriate bookkeeping and accounting in close collaboration with the Treasurer.
The definitive goal shall be to achieve a positive balance in order to improve the financial position
of the Association.

8. Article 8: Official Journal
The official Journal of the EUPSA is the European Journal of Paediatric Surgery.

9. Article 9: Disagreements
The Members are obliged to promote friendship and fraternity. In the worst case of a serious
disagreement between members or failure to uphold the ethical guidelines of the Association, the
EB shall nominate 5 Delegates from the Senior and Honorary Members which shall investigate
independently the case and present a written report to the EB. The EB will then present a
proposal to the General Assembly, which may be approved or rejected by a simple majority of
votes of eligible members present and voting at the General Assembly.