§ 1 Name and place of registration
(1) The name of the association shall be: “European Association of Dental Public Health e.V.” (EADPH e.V.). The association shall be registered in the Register of Associations.
(2) The Association is to be registered in Marburg/Germany.
§ 2 Objectives of the Association, Charitable Character
(1) The objective of the EADPH e.V. is the promotion of dental public health, which is defined by the association as the science and art of preventing oral diseases, promoting oral health and improving the quality of life through the organized efforts of society. This concerns not only actions directed at populations as a whole, but also at the groups and individuals that make up populations.
(2) The association has significance within all of Europe and attracts members in all European countries. The objective will, inter alia, be achieved by:
– the promotion of effective oral health and oral health strategies within Europe;
– advising on oral health issues;
– the support of oral health initiatives within the counties;
– raising the profile of oral health by developing links with the European Commission;
– working towards the development, recognition, teaching and academic base of this
area within Europe;
– the promotion of research into oral health and oral health services and the
encouragement of the application of research findings into practice;
– working constructively with the industry by providing a network and expertise in the
evaluation of products and to harmonise advice on products impacting on oral health
across Europe;
– working and liaising with other international organisations in the field of oral health.
(3) The association only pursues charitable purposes in accordance with the section ”Steuerbegünstigte Zwecke” (tax-privileged purposes) of the Abgabenordnung (German Fiscal Code). The association is selfless; the association shall not primarily conduct business for its own economic advantage. The assets of the association shall only be used for the promotion of the constitutional objectives. Members shall not receive financial allocations out of the association’s assets. Nobody shall benefit from expenditures which are not in accordance with the objectives of the association or by excessive remuneration.
§ 3 Financial year
The financial year of the EADPH e.V. is the calendar year. The first incomplete financial year will finish on 31st December 1999.
§ 4 Membership
(1) The association has full members, honorary members and supporting organisation members.
(2) Full membership is available to any natural person having a special interest in the dental public health and community dentistry and who has a dental or medical qualification recognized within the European Union or another qualification approved by the Board. It is expected that members of the association will include dentists, doctors, health professionals, statisticians, health economists and epidemiologist with interest in the objectives of the association.
(3) Honorary membership may be conferred upon persons recommended by the Executive Board. Honorary membership will be conferred by a two third majority vote of the members present at the Annual General Assembly of Members. Honorary membership will be a rare privilege conferred only on those, who have significantly advanced the objectives of the association.
(4) Supporting organisation member is a category of membership which will allow groups and organisations to be affiliated to the European Association of Dental Public Health e.V. on approval of the Board.
§ 5 Admission of Members
(1) Unless otherwise stipulated in the constitution, an application for membership shall be in writing and directed to the Executive Board of the association.
(2) The Executive Board decides on the application at their absolute discretion. If the Board rejects an application, it is not obligated to give reasons for their decision.
§ 6 Termination of Membership
(1) Membership in the association terminates with the death of the member, exclusion, deletion from the list of members and/or resignation of the member. This also includes non-payment of membership fees.
(2) A member can be expelled from the association by decision of the Executive Board if the member deliberately and seriously violates the interests of the association. The member in question has a right to be heard before the Executive Board takes a decision. The decision must specify reasons in writing and be sent to the member. The member may to lodge an appeal against the decision to the General Assembly of Members. The member must lodge the appeal at the Executive board within one month after receiving the decision. The General Assembly of Members will decide upon the exclusion at its next ordinary or extraordinary meeting.
(3) A member can be deleted from the list of members by decision of the Executive Board if the member is in arrears with the payment of membership fees or levies and has been reminded in writing twice. The deletion may be carried out if the member is at least one year in arrears with the payment and one month has elapsed after posting the second reminder to the last written communicated address of the member. In the second reminder the member is to be threatened with his/her deletion from the list of members. The decision of the Executive Board shall be communicated to the member.
(4) The Member may resign by written notice to the Executive Board. Resignation is only possible to the end of the financial year whereby a two month period of notice must be observed.
§ 7 Membership fees
(1) The association will be financed by a yearly membership fee. A levy may be collected for the realization of special purposes or elimination of financial difficulties of the association.
(2) The General Assembly of Members shall specify the amount and the time of payment of the yearly membership fees and levies.
(3) Honorary members are not obliged to pay membership fees and levies.
(4) Upon a motion of the member, the Executive Board may, in justified cases, allow the payment of fees or levies to be deferred or partly or wholly released.
§ 8 Institutions of the Association
Institutions of the association are the Executive Board and the General Assembly of Members.
§ 9 Executive Board within the meaning of section 26 BGB (German Civil Code)
(1) The Executive Board within the meaning of section 26 BGB consists of the President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer and the Secretary.
(2) The association shall be represented by any two jointly acting members of this Executive Board.
(3) The Treasurer shall have sole authority to dispose of banking transactions up to an amount of 10,000 Euros.
§ 10 Extended Executive Board
The extended Executive Board consists of the Co-President, the Immediate Past President, the Associate Editor, the Executive Officer Special Interest Groups, the Executive Officer Membership and the Executive Officer Communications. If necessary, the Board can be extended to include a Deputy Communication Officer and an Innovation Officer. Others may be co-opted for specific tasks or actions.
§ 11 Competence of the Executive Board
(1) The Executive Board has the competence for all business matters of the association, unless certain matters are assigned to another body of the association by this constitution. The board is responsible for the preparation and convocation of the General Assembly of Members as well as the specification of the agenda for this meeting, the execution of the resolutions passed at the General Assembly of Members, the bookkeeping, the preparation of the annual balance sheet, the preparation of the budget and the decision on applications for membership.
(2) The President shall work together with the members of the Executive Board to develop policy and effective working methods for the association in order to pursue the association’s stated objectives. The President shall preside at all meetings, decide upon questions of agenda and sign the Minutes of all meetings. In the event of controversial issues, he/she shall determine the meaning of the constitution. In the event of absence of the President his internal functions are to be observed by the Vice-President and, in the absence of the Vice-President, by the Immediate Past President. The President shall, ex officio, be a member of all committees of the association. The Vice-President will succeed to the Presidency at the end of their term of office, when the President succeed to be the Immediate Past President.
(3) The Co-President is responsible for the organisation of the Annual Congress. The Co-President will work with the members of the Executive Board to develop a programme for the Annual Congress and put in place all necessary local arrangements.
(4) The Secretary shall be responsible for all business of the association and act as Secretary to the Executive Board. The Secretary shall be responsible for the minutes of all meetings, conduct the correspondence and work closely with the Executive Officer for Membership.
(5) The Treasurer shall be responsible for the administration of finances of the association. With the approval of the Executive Board, the Treasurer will settle all obligation of the association. He/She shall prepare the annual balance sheet for the General Assembly of Members which shall be audited by two auditors. The Treasurer shall, ex officio, be a member of all committees of the association.
(6) The Associate Editor shall represent the European Association of Dental Public Health e.V. on the Editorial Board of the journal Community Dental Health. The Associate Editor shall be responsible for all matters relating to the publication of the congress abstracts and reports. He/She shall work closely with the Executive Officer for Communications.
(7) The Executive Officer– Special Interest Groups shall, ex officio, be a member of all Special Interest Groups of the association. Special Interest Groups shall be established by the General Assembly for certain fields and assist the business of the association. The Executive Officer –Special Interest Groups shall co-ordinate the Special Interest Groups. He/She shall support their work and receive an annual report from the Chairman of each group.
(8) The Executive Officer–Membership shall be responsible for maintaining the membership register and shall work closely with the Treasurer and Secretary.
(9) The Executive Officer–Communications shall be responsible for the development and maintenance of relation with other organisations with similar objectives and interests within Europe. He/She will liaise with Board members to collate items for the quarterly news page and work closely with the Associate Editor.
(10) The Deputy Communication Officer attends the Board meetings and assists the Executive Communication Officer in developing and maintaining relations with other organisations with similar objectives and interests within Europe. The Deputy Communications Officer will liaise with Board members to collate items for the quarterly news page.
(11) The Innovation Officer attends the Board meetings and shall support the EADPH vision and EADPH strategy development and implementation.
§ 12 Nomination, Election and Term of office of the Executive Board
(1) Candidates for the Executive Board, with the exception of the President, the Co-President and the Immediate Past President, for the succeeding business year must be proposed and seconded by members in writing. Nominations must be made in writing and must be received by the Secretary 30 days prior to the annual General Assembly of Members. If no nominations for the Executive Board positions are received by the Secretary, the General Assembly of Members may confirm the existing member of the Executive Board in post, if he/she is still eligible for re-election.
(2) The election of officers of the Executive Board shall, if necessary, take place by at the annual General Assembly of Members. The Executive Board is to be determined by ballot if at least 10 members make such a request. Only full members are eligible for the Executive Board.
(3) Unless otherwise provided for in the constitution, the members of the Executive Board will be elected for the following business year. The term of office of the President, the Vice-President and the Immediate Past President shall be 2 business years. The term of office of the Co-President as senior organiser of the annual congress shall be 1 year. The Co-President shall join the Executive Board one year prior to the annual congress of which he/she is the senior organiser. The term of office of the Treasurer, the Secretary the Executive Officers (Special Interest Groups, Membership, Communication and Deputy Communication, Innovation) and the Associate Editor shall be 3 business years.
(4) A member of the Executive Board may resign from office by notifying the Secretary, the Secretary by notifying the President, in writing. Upon termination of the membership, the office at the Executive Board shall also terminate.
(5) If any position in the Executive Board falls vacant, the Board shall be empowered to fill the vacancy for the current business year. By resolution the vacant position may equally be filled with an existing member of the Executive Board.
§ 13 Meetings and resolutions of the Executive Board
(1) The regular meeting of the Executive Board shall take place twice in a business year. The first meeting in the year should usually take place in the spring in order to allow consideration of the congress programme. The second meeting is in the autumn and should coincide with the annual Congress of the association. The President, the Vice-President, the Treasurer and the Secretary can convoke special sessions on justified grounds. In these cases a 1 week period of convocation shall be observed.
(2) Interim online Executive Board meetings may also be held.
(3) A quorum of the Executive Board shall consist of 4 of its members. A decision of the Executive Board will be made by majority of the members voting. In the event of equality of votes, the vote of the President, upon absence of the President, the vote of the Vice-President shall decide.
(4) The Executive Board may decide in written procedure, if all members of the Board have accepted the written procedure for resolution to be passed.
§ 14 The General Assembly of Members
(1) The ordinary annual General Assembly of Members shall take place during the annual congress every year. This General Assembly of Members may be held in person, virtually or as a hybrid meeting. The exact date of General Assembly of Members shall be determined by the Executive Board.
(2) At the General Assembly of Members, every member is represented by one vote.
(3) Unless otherwise provided for in the Constitution, the General Assembly of Members has the exclusive competence in following matters:
Approval of the budget for the next business year, acceptance of the report of the Executive Board;
Determination of the annual membership fee;
Election and removal of the Executive Board;
Resolutions on proposed changes of the constitution and the liquidation of the association;
Resolutions concerning the appeal against a resolution by the Executive Board to exclude members;
Appointment of Honorary Members.
(4) Any proposed amendment of the constitution of the association shall be submitted in writing to the Secretary. The proposal must be received by the Secretary at least 60 days before the date of the General Assembly of Members. On the convocation of the General Assembly, the Secretary shall inform every member that an amendment of the constitution has been requested and shall submit the proposed amendment. The Assembly may accept the proposal by secret ballot with a majority vote of two third of those members present at the General Assembly of Members.
§ 15 Convocation of the General Assembly of Members
(1) The General Assembly of Members shall be convened by the Executive Board under compliance with a period of one month and specification of the agenda. The period is observed if the invitation is posted in due course to the last address of each member specified in writing.
The agenda for the General Assembly shall be determined by the Executive Board. The agenda shall include:
The acceptance of the Minutes of the previous General Assembly of Members;
Announcement of new members;
Report of the President;
Report of the Secretary;
Report of the Associate Editor;
Report of the Treasurer;
Report of the Auditors
Acceptance of the report of the Executive Board;
Report of the Working Groups
Election of members of the Executive Board
Selection of the Auditors
(2) Every member has the right to move for an amendment of the agenda in writing to the Secretary up to two weeks prior to the General Assembly of Members. Any request for amendment will be announced at the beginning of the Assembly by the Chairman. The Assembly votes upon any request for amendment.
§ 16 Special Assembly of Members
The Executive Board will convene a Special Assembly of Members if the interests of the association require this or at least one tenth of the members request such an Assembly under specification of the purpose and reasons in writing.
§ 17 Resolutions of the Assembly of Members
(1) The chairman shall determine the method of voting. Unless otherwise provided for in the constitution, the voting shall be carried out by ballot if one third of the members present request this.
(2) Voting may be conducted as live voting during the general meeting or within an election window of a maximum of 6 hours from the start time of the general meeting.
(3) For General Assemblies as face-to-face events, all EADPH members present in the room shall be entitled to vote.
(4) For General Assemblies as virtual or hybrid meeting all EADPH members who have registered for the Congress shall automatically be granted access to all virtual and hybrid General Assemblies. Other EADPH members who do not attend the congress but wish to participate in the general meeting must notify the EADPH e.V. secretary in writing 7 days before the General Assembly of Members and will then also receive virtual access to the General Assembly of Members and voting.
§ 18 Congress
The timing of the regular annual Congress of the association shall coincide with the General Assembly of Members.
§ 19 Liquidation of the Association
(1) The General or Special Assembly of Members can vote for the dissolution of the association by a majority of two third of the valid votes of the members present at the Assembly.
(2) Unless otherwise provided for by resolution of the Assembly, the Executive Board will determine the authorized liquidators.
(3) After liquidation or lapse of tax-privileged purposes, the remaining assets of the association will be transferred to “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kinderzahnheilkunde” and shall only be used for charitable purposes, especially for the promotion of the Dental Public Health services within Europe.
(4) The above provisions apply mutatis mutandis, if the association will be dissolved for a different reason or looses it legal capacity.
§ 20 Authoritative Version
In case of doubt, the German version of this constitution shall prevail.
§21 Honorary activities and compensations
The board members are executing their function principally on an honorary base. The general assembly can decide that a appropriate compensation is paid to board members for their activity in the board.
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