{"id":4167,"date":"2023-02-28T15:29:38","date_gmt":"2023-02-28T14:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifso-ec.refreshpixel.com\/?page_id=4167"},"modified":"2023-02-28T20:11:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-28T19:11:32","slug":"bylaws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/bylaws\/","title":{"rendered":"Bylaws"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><body><div class=\"block-buttons is-layout-flex block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"block-button\"><a class=\"btn nofavicon\" href=\"http:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/assets\/2023\/02\/bylaws-ifso-ec-october-2014-copia.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Download document<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>bylaws update 2014 &ndash; draft to bylaws committee<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR THE SURGERY OF OBESITY &ndash; EUROPEAN CHAPTER (IFSO-EC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>BACKGROUND<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Founding, Functions and Strategies:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the year 2004, the IFSO-European Chapter was unofficially founded during&nbsp;several personal meetings of leading European bariatric surgeons. At the IFSO European&nbsp;Symposium in Prague in 2004, the main goals and future activities of the Chapter were&nbsp;formulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chapter was subsequently officially approved by the Executive Council of IFSO at the IFSO World&nbsp;Congress in Maastricht, the Netherlands, in 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>IFSO-EC is an integral part of IFSO, acting in alignment with the bylaws and other&nbsp;official documents of IFSO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the main tasks and strategies of IFSO-EC are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"block-list\">\n<li>A special focus and interest in bariatric activities in Europe, where the enormous European&nbsp;scientific potential can be used as an important force for the development of bariatric&nbsp;surgery.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Coordination of scientific collaboration among various national European (and other)&nbsp;bariatric surgical organizations at the European level.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collaboration with the official authorities of the European Union (e.g. the European&nbsp;Parliament, EU Council, etc.), national governmental organizations and other international&nbsp;organizations, such as the WHO, on awareness and prevention of obesity, and treatment&nbsp;pathways.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Organization and coordination of broad European bariatric scientific activities, such as&nbsp;European bariatric congresses, national meetings, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collaboration with non-surgical obesity-focused organizations, such as EASO, IOTF and&nbsp;relevant patient advocacy groups.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collaboration with European health-care funding \/ health-care provider organizations on the&nbsp;health economics, safety and effectiveness of bariatric surgery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The Second Congress of the IFSO-European Chapter, with more than 350 attendees, was held in April&nbsp;2006 in Lyon, France, where the Bylaws below were recommended for approval by the General&nbsp;Assembly of IFSO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>BYLAWS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>PART I<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Definition and Goals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The IFSO European Chapter (hereinafter referred to as IFSO-EC) is an integral part of IFSO, acting in&nbsp;alignment with its bylaws and other official documents, but with distinct Officers, Executive Council&nbsp;and Assembly structure. IFSO-EC has a specialized focus and interest in bariatric surgery activities in&nbsp;Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Membership<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regular Body Members (RBM) of IFSO-EC can be any officially established national bariatric surgical&nbsp;organization(s), after official application and approval by the IFSOEC Executive Council, not only from<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>the European Union, but also from the entire European continent, the Mediterranean basin, Africa&nbsp;and the Middle East, on condition that the organization is already a member of IFSO or has applied&nbsp;to become a member. Regular individual members of each RBM of IFSO belonging to IFSO-EC&nbsp;automatically become Regular Individual Members of IFSO-EC. Affiliated Body Members (ABM) can&nbsp;be any organization active in the field of obesity management worldwide, which applies and is&nbsp;approved by the IFSO-EC Executive. Affiliate Individual Membership is available to any individual&nbsp;active in the field of obesity from a country where there is no recognized Regular or Affiliate IFSO-EC&nbsp;Body Member, upon approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2.1 Senior Membership<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senior Member (SM) is a member, who has previously been a Full Body Member (FBM) or an&nbsp;Affiliated Body Member (ABM), who has retired from clinical practice but wishes to remain within&nbsp;the Society. SM shall be non-voting and shall not pay dues to any Body to which the Society is&nbsp;affiliated or associated, nor will they enjoy the benefits thereof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Membership Book<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Executive Director shall be responsible for keeping an updated membership book, as set out below&nbsp;under&nbsp;<strong>Duties of Executive Director.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Official Language<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The official language of IFSO-EC is English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5. Official Journal<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>IFSO-EC may designate one or more official scientific journals. Currently these are Obesity Surgery&nbsp;and Obesity Facts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6. Activities<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a) Promoting and coordinating scientific collaboration among various national European bariatric&nbsp;surgical organizations (and others as defined above) on a European level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) Collaboration with other European and worldwide scientific and public organizations&nbsp;predominantly specialized in bariatric care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>c) Collaboration with the European Union official authorities (such as the European Parliament, EU&nbsp;Council, etc.), national government organizations, and other international organizations, such as the&nbsp;WHO, on obesity awareness, prevention, and treatment pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>d) Endorsing and participating as a European organization in bariatric surgery scientific activities,&nbsp;such as European bariatric congresses, national meetings, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>e) Collaboration with other non-surgical obesity-focused organizations, such as EASO, IOTF and&nbsp;relevant patient advocacy groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>f) Collaboration with European payer\/health-care provider organizations, on the aspects of health&nbsp;economics, safety and efficacy of bariatric surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>g) Holding an official IFSO European Chapter Congress, regulated as defined below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>PART II<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>7. Structure<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The European Chapter is fully aligned with the structure of IFSO, with its members&nbsp;retaining positions in the IFSO Executive and General Council, as well as in other&nbsp;respective IFSO bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>IFSO-EC is composed of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A) General Council<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>B) Executive Council<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>C) General Assembly<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7. A. 1 GENERAL COUNCIL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a) General Council is composed of the Executive Council plus two (2) Representatives from each IFSO-EC&nbsp;member country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) One Representative of each Affiliated Body Member, as well as the Affiliated Individual Members,&nbsp;can participate at the General Council meetings without voting rights,<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>c) Each member country has one (1) vote, which can be exercised by either of the two country&nbsp;representatives during a voting process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>d) Voting shall by secret ballot whenever more than one choice is proposed for voting (e.g.&nbsp;Presidential candidates, Congress sites, etc.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>e) Country Representatives will be nominated by each country for a 4-year term, and their names&nbsp;must be officially communicated by the President of each National Society to the IFSO-EC President&nbsp;and\/or Executive Director not later than 15 days before the annual IFSO-EC meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>f) The General Council will meet each year during the IFSO-EC Congress and during the IFSO World&nbsp;Congress when it is held in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>g) The General Council shall approve the Officers of the Chapter as set out below in section 7.B<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>h) The policies and activities of the Chapter shall be approved (or otherwise) by General Council&nbsp;through its usual business process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>i) The General Council has a right to veto or revise actions taken by the Executive Council between&nbsp;General Council meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7. B. 1 EXECUTIVE COUNCIL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Executive Council shall be composed of the Officers of the Chapter. The Executive Council acts&nbsp;for the General Council between General Council meetings, taking all decisions and actions deemed&nbsp;necessary to enable operation of the Chapter. One-half of the voting membership of the Executive&nbsp;Council shall constitute a quorum. The decisions shall be determined by a simple majority. In the&nbsp;event of an equal vote, the President shall cast the deciding vote. Each decision considered by the&nbsp;Executive Council of inter-regional importance shall be submitted to the next IFSO General Council&nbsp;for approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Executive Council shall meet, together with the General Council, every year at the EC Congress&nbsp;or at the IFSO Congress when it is held in Europe. Extraordinary decisions may be taken by electronic&nbsp;voting, called by the President or by at least one-half of the Executive Council membership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Executive and General Council agenda shall be presented by the President and\/or the Executive&nbsp;director at least 30 days in advance of meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7.B.2 IFSO-EC EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OFFICERS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Executive Council is composed of the following voting officers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>President&nbsp;<\/strong>&ndash; 2-year term (non re-electable)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>President-Elect&nbsp;<\/strong>&ndash; 2-year term (non re-electable)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Past-President&nbsp;<\/strong>&ndash; 2-year term (non re-electable)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Member- at-large &ndash;&nbsp;<\/strong>2- year term (Mechanisms of re-election rest with IFSO)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Upcoming IFSO-EC or IFSO World Congress President&nbsp;<\/strong>(when the IFSO Congress is being held in&nbsp;Europe) &ndash; 1-year term (not re-electable for 4 years)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Executive Director &ndash;&nbsp;<\/strong>4&ndash; year term (re-electable) for one further 4 year term<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Treasurer &ndash;&nbsp;<\/strong>3 &ndash; year term (re-electable) for one further 3 year term<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7.B.3. Non- voting members of The Executive Council are:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>IFSO-EC Secretary &ndash;&nbsp;<\/strong>indefinitely. May be replaced by IFSO-Secretary during meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Honorary President&nbsp;<\/strong>&ndash;&nbsp;indefinitely<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Representative of Official Journals<\/strong>&ndash;&nbsp;2 year term (elected \/ re-elected by Executive Council)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Chairs of Committees&nbsp;<\/strong>will not regularly be members of Executive Council. They will relate to&nbsp;Executive Director, who may ask them to attend Executive Council case-by-case<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Young IFSO Chapter representative&nbsp;<\/strong>determined according to the governance structure of young&nbsp;IFSO<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>EASO Rapporteur&nbsp;<\/strong>(or chair of interdisciplinary committee)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7. B.4 Nomination, functions and elections of IFSO-EC Executive Council Officers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. PRESIDENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>a) Presidential Candidates.&nbsp;<\/strong>Candidature is proposed to Executive Council by the Presidents of the&nbsp;National Member Societies, but the Executive Council is the only nominating body which can&nbsp;propose a candidate to the General Council. The General Council, however, is not obliged to accept&nbsp;the recommendations of the Executive Council, and may accept further nominations from the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If more than one candidate is nominated, a secret ballot will take place during the General Council&nbsp;meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>b) Duties of the President<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"block-list\">\n<li>To work in concert with the Executive Director and Treasurer, deferring to their expertise as&nbsp;appropriate, in pursuit of the aims and obligations of the chapter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To act as the representational Head of the Chapter in all external affairs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To assume an ambassadorial and advocacy role in the relations of the Chapter with industrial&nbsp;sponsors and potential professional allies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To support Congress Presidents and the relevant subcommittees chairs in developing the scientific&nbsp;quality of IFSO-EC operated or endorsed scientific meetings<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To be active in developing the policies and finances of the Chapter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Ex officio&nbsp;<\/em>to be a member of the Byelaws committee<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>As Past President to chair the Bylaws committee<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To chair and conduct meetings of Executive Council<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To speak at congresses as requested by a Congress President.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>c) Additional Privileges of the President<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"block-list\">\n<li>To use the title of President of IFSO-EC (President Elect, Past President as appropriate) in the&nbsp;personal and professional sphere throughout his\/her term of office.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>After the end of the term as past President an individual is authorised to continue to describe&nbsp;him\/herself as &ldquo;Late President IFSO-EC&rdquo;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>d) President-Elect<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Candidates are proposed to Executive Council by the Presidents of the National Member Societies,&nbsp;but the Executive Council is the only nominating body which can propose a candidate to the General&nbsp;Council. The General Council, however, is not obliged to accept the recommendations of the&nbsp;Executive Council, and may accept further nominations from the floor. If more than one candidate is&nbsp;nominated, a secret ballot will take place during the General Council meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The President &ndash; Elect can replace Existing President as a Chair of Executive Council meetings, General&nbsp;Council meeting, General Assembly in case of non-availability of existing IFSO-Chapter President to&nbsp;perform his (her) functions. The President-elect has a 2-year term after which he becomes President&nbsp;without further approval. President- elect may head one of the Chapter&rsquo;s Committees or perform&nbsp;other functions in the Chapter until his (her) Presidential term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>e) Past-President<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Remains a voting member of IFSO-EC 2 years after his (her) Presidential term. May serve as a Chair&nbsp;of an IFSO-EC Committee or in another designated function. After 2 years the Past President must&nbsp;leave Executive Council unless elected to another office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>II. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>a) Candidacy:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Executive Director &ndash; is elected for a 4-year term and is re-electable for one further 4-year &ndash; term<strong>.&nbsp;<\/strong>Executive Council is the only nominating body which can propose a candidate. The General Council,&nbsp;however, is not obliged to accept the recommendations of the Executive Council, and may accept&nbsp;further nominations from the floor. If more than one candidate is nominated, a secret ballot voting&nbsp;will take place during the General Council meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b)&nbsp;<strong>Duties of Executive Director<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"block-list\">\n<li>To be head of Committee Chairs. Ensure that fellow Officers and Executive Council operate the&nbsp;Chapter according to its constitution at all times.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To be active in developing the policies and finances of the Chapter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To ensure continuity and consistency of policy development and process of Executive Council and&nbsp;fellow Officers over time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To promote effective relations of the Chapter with industrial sponsors and potential professional&nbsp;allies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Calling meetings with due notice and process<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure that Administrative Secretariat circulates meeting agendas with due notice according to&nbsp;Bylaws \/ MOPP<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure that Administrative Secretariat keeps minutes of Executive Council and General Council&nbsp;meetings and that these minutes are circulated for review not more than 28 days after such a&nbsp;meeting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To ensure that the Administrative Secretariat maintains a current Membership Book and that this is&nbsp;used in compliance with data protection laws, so that the information is shared among Chapter&nbsp;members only for the legitimate purposes of the Chapter and its members. This book shall list all the&nbsp;Individual Members of the European Chapter, the Society Representatives, and the pertinent mailing&nbsp;addresses, phone, fax and e-mail addresses, updated at least annually.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensure that regular newsletters issued by Administrative Secretariat contain accurate calendar&nbsp;information and other material needed by members.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>c) Privileges of the Executive Director<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"block-list\">\n<li>To use the title of Executive Director IFSO-EC in the personal and professional sphere throughout&nbsp;his\/her term of office.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>After the end of the term an individual may continue to describe him\/herself as &ldquo;Late Executive&nbsp;Director IFSO-EC&rdquo;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>d) Executive Director Designate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Executive Council shall arrange for election of a new Executive Director with the title of Executive&nbsp;Director Designate to be completed no less than 1 year before he\/she takes over the Executive&nbsp;Director ship. The role of Executive Director Designate shall thus run for 1 year in addition t0o the 4-&nbsp;year term as Executive Director. The Executive Director Designate shall be a voting member of&nbsp;Executive Council and his\/her duties will mirror and be in support of the Executive Director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>III TREASURER<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>a) Candidacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Treasurer &ndash; is elected for a 3 year term and is re-electable for a further term of three years.&nbsp;The Treasurer is identified and elected by Executive Council. To be ratified by General Council in&nbsp;next session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b)&nbsp;<strong>Duties of Treasurer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"block-list\">\n<li>To be responsible for IFSO-EC funds treasure, income stream and expenses. He (she) shall&nbsp;present financial reports during EC and GC meetings.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To ensure that fellow Officers and Executive Council operate the Chapter according to prudent&nbsp;financial practice at all times.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To lead in developing the financial strength of the Chapter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To ensure membership dues are applied for the proper benefit of the chapter and its members.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To promote effective relations of the Chapter with industrial sponsors and respond to current&nbsp;restrictions in sponsorship.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To prepare annual accounts for approval by Executive Council and General Council and in concert&nbsp;with the Executive Director to ensure that these are circulated with the meeting agenda with proper&nbsp;notice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To secure annual external audit of the accounts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To administer the Chapter&rsquo;s bank account and apply finds therein to such activities as EC shall&nbsp;require.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To ensure sufficient funds for cover the Chapter&rsquo;s responsibilities &ndash; in particular its obligations to&nbsp;support the operation of the Administrative Secretariat.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To advise Executive Council in a timely way of potential shortfall or default.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>c) Additional Privileges of the Treasurer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"block-list\">\n<li>To use the title of Treasurer IFSO-EC in the personal and professional sphere throughout his\/her&nbsp;term of office.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>After the end of the term an individual is authorised to continue to describe him\/herself as &ldquo;Late&nbsp;Treasurer IFSO-EC&rdquo;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>d) Treasurer Designate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Executive Council shall arrange for election of a new Treasurer with the title of Treasurer Designate&nbsp;to be completed no less than 1 year before he\/she takes over the Treasury. The role of Treasurer&nbsp;Designate shall thus run for 1 year in addition t0o the 3-year term as Treasurer. The Treasurer&nbsp;Designate shall be a voting member of Executive Council and his\/her duties will mirror and be in&nbsp;support of the Treasurer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>IV&nbsp;<u>MEMBER AT LARGE<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Member at Large&nbsp;<\/strong>is a voting member of the IFSO-EC representing the Chapter with voting rights in the&nbsp;IFSO together with Chapter President. The Chapter is allowed to propose a list of five members to the&nbsp;Executive Board of IFSO, who will elect. However the Executive Board of IFSO is not obliged to choose&nbsp;one of the proposed candidates. The internal procedure to select the five candidates is a matter for the&nbsp;Chapter&rsquo;s Executive Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7.B.5. COLLABORATION BETWEEN OFFICERS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>President, Treasurer and Executive Director will maintain close dialogue in order to serve the interests of&nbsp;the Chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7.B.6. GENERAL DUTIES OF OFFICERS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"block-list\">\n<li>To represent in concert Executive Council (and General Council through the existing responsibility of&nbsp;Executive Council to General Council) and act on its behalf as required.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To act according to directions, needs and policies agreed at Executive Council, being answerable to&nbsp;Executive Council at all times.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To uphold within Executive Council the principle of final decision making by voting members, while&nbsp;taking into account the advice of all Executive Council members.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where decisions and actions are needed not previously discussed at Executive Council, Officers shall&nbsp;be accountable to Executive Council at the next Executive Council meeting. These actions shall&nbsp;remain provisional until ratified by Executive Council at such a meeting.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To uphold the interests and reputation of the Chapter at all times, both within IFSO and beyond.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>When invited \/ appointed to other professional, governmental or advisory, Officers will declare their&nbsp;role within the Chapter and promote its interests so far as is practical.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>To recognize that the Chapter exists primarily for the benefit of its members &ndash; national societal and&nbsp;individual &ndash; and to act wherever possible in support of them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7.B.7. RESIGNATION OF OFFICERS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any President, Treasurer or Executive Director may tender their resignation to Executive Council for&nbsp;personal or professional reasons giving 3 months notice and without prejudice to their personal or&nbsp;professional standing. In such cases the President Elect\/ Treasurer Designate \/ Exec Director Designate&nbsp;will act up until a new election\/ appointment has been put in place<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7.B.8. REMOVAL OF OFFICERS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Any President, Treasurer or Executive Director convicted of a criminal offence or found guilty of&nbsp;professional misconduct or therefore debarred from Clinical Practice by his\/her national professional<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>regulator will be dismissed by Exec Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Employment disputes or other allegations of misconduct will not constitute grounds for dismissal&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A motion to remove an officer on other grounds shall be notified to executive Council either by General&nbsp;Council or from within Exec Council 56 days prior to a General Council meeting. Such a motion can only&nbsp;be ratified by a 2\/3 majority of&nbsp;<em>all&nbsp;<\/em>voting members of General Council at a properly convened ordinary or&nbsp;extra-ordinary General Council meeting<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7.B.9. GENERAL PRIVILEGES OF OFFICERS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Officers may<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"block-list\">\n<li>Represent their position in personal and professional life but shall not abuse the position for personal&nbsp;gain.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enjoy the support and services of the IFSO-EC Administrative Secretariat to pursue their work on behalf&nbsp;of the chapter.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Enjoy registration free of Charge at congresses and conferences operated by or endorsed by the&nbsp;Chapter.&nbsp;Support for travel expenses is regulated by MOPP.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>7. C. 1 GENERAL ASSEMBLY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The General Assembly is composed of all Individual Members of IFSO-EC. The General Assembly&nbsp;meets every second year, when the IFSO-EC Congress is held, separately from the General Council&nbsp;meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The General Assembly is informed about the decisions taken by the Executive Council and the&nbsp;General Council during the last 2-year period. The General Assembly does not have to approve the&nbsp;decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>8. CONGRESS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a) The IFSO-EC Congress shall be held in each year that the IFSO World Congress is being held&nbsp;outside of Europe. The date shall be at least 4 months distant in time from the IFSO World Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) General Council members can propose (nominate) the country for the IFSO-EC Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>c) The place shall be chosen by the General Council based on bids from Regular Body Members of&nbsp;the Chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>d) The bid (including country, site, and Congress President) shall be officially delivered to the IFSO-EC&nbsp;President and\/or to the Executive Director at least 15 days prior to the scheduled General Council&nbsp;Meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>e) The General Council shall award the Congress by secret ballot on the bids received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>f) No more than the two next Congress sites will be decided upon at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>g) There must be at least a 3-year gap between bids potentially placed by an IFSO-EC country that&nbsp;has already organized an IFSO-EC Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>h) The Organizing Member accepts all financial responsibilities connected with the Congress. In case&nbsp;of a positive balance, the surplus shall be shared in 30:30:40 parts among the local organization, the&nbsp;IFSO-EC and the IFSO. In case of a negative balance, no financial obligation will belong to IFSO-EC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>i) Within 6 months after the end of the Congress, the Congress Organizing Committee shall submit to&nbsp;the Executive Council a full financial report of the Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>9. FINANCES<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>IFSO-EC finances shall be constituted by annual membership fees, donations, sponsoring by industry,&nbsp;income from the Congress, and possible income from any other sources that do not conflict with the&nbsp;goals of the Chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>9.1 IFSO-EC Finances<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a) Potential IFSO-EC Congress surplus shall be divided in a ratio of 30%:30%:40%, where the 30%&nbsp;parts go to the Congress organizers and to the IFSO-EC, and the 40% part goes to the IFSO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>d) The IFSO-EC account will be opened by the Treasurer, as an independent subaccount of the&nbsp;National Bariatric Society account. The Treasurer will manage the account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>e) IFSO-EC will decide upon research, travel and policy of sponsoring other grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>10 AMENDMENTS TO THE BYLAWS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>a) A two-third majority of votes of a duly constituted and quorate General Council shall be required&nbsp;for any alteration, amendment or repeal of the IFSO-EC Bylaws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>b) At least two-thirds of members present have to express their vote. If this participation is not&nbsp;achieved a final determination will be made by the voting members (only) of Executive Council.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>bylaws update 2014 \u2013 draft to bylaws committee INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION FOR THE SURGERY OF OBESITY \u2013 EUROPEAN CHAPTER (IFSO-EC) BACKGROUND&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4168,"parent":0,"menu_order":31,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4167","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/api\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/api\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4167"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/api\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4248,"href":"https:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/api\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4167\/revisions\/4248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/4168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifssoecbackup.ypo.pw\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}