STATUTES

Adopted May 2008

CHAPTER 1: NAME. REGISTERED OFFICE

Article 1 – An Association governed by the French law of 1st July 1901 and the French Decree of 16th August 1901, having as its name the European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education (E.A.E.V.E.), hereafter called the Association, shall be founded by those agreeing to the present Statutes.

Article 2 – The Registered Offices of the Association shall be, in the first instance, at the National Veterinary  School of Alfort, 94704 MAISONS-ALFORT. They may be transfered by a decision of the General Assembly.

CHAPTER 2: OBJECTIVE

Article 3 – The objective of the Association shall be to promote and develop veterinary  education. It shall reinforce, particularly in Europe, co-operation between Establishments for Higher Education in Veterinary Science and other relevant bodies. It should also act as a Forum for the discussion of matters for Veterinary Education, in order to improve and harmonize veterinary education among the members. It will manage the European System of Evaluation of Veterinary Training, based on the mandate given by the Commission of the European Communitee [01-02-1994].

Its primary tasks shall be:

• To facilitate the exchange of information on teaching and research between the European Establishments teaching veterinary science, as well as with Establishments in other parts of the world.
• To develop exchanges of teaching staff between these teaching Establishments.
• To promote mobility of students between these Institutions.
• To promote the development and distribution of teaching materials for use in Veterinary Education at all levels, undergraduate, postgraduate   and continuing.
• To organise meetings having as their objective the study and organisation of the aforementioned points.
• To present useful proposals in these various areas to the European Commission.
• To develop a “List of Evaluated and Approved Institutions” for veterinary education in line with the European System of Evaluation of Veterinary Training. This List should be published on the EAEVE website under the supervision of the Executive Committee.

CHAPTER 3: MEMBERS, ADMISSION AND EXCLUSION.

Article 4 – The Association shall be composed of Members who shall be the establishments for Higher Education runing courses in Veterinary Education, as indicated in Article 3. Only members are entitled to vote.

Article  5 – Members shall be eligible for Membership, on condition they adhere to the present Statutes, pay an Annual Membership Fee and comply with the Evaluation System promoted by the EAEVE. They should also comply with the principle of periodic international peer-group evaluation of their functioning as an academic institution according to defined protocols, in particular as regards the standard undergraduate training.

All Establishments represented at the Constitutive Assembly of the Association shall be Founder Members.

Article 6 – Qualification for Membership entails:

• Fullfilling the conditions defined in Article 5.
• Requesting admission from the President of the Association.
• Being admitted by the General Assembly after self-presentation.

Article 7 – Membership shall cease under the following  circumstances:

• By written resignation presented to the President. The resignation will take effect at the end of the year corresponding to the last Membership Fee paid.
• By exclusion pronounced by the General Assembly under proposal of  the Executive Committee as a result of non-payment of Fees for two consecutive years.
• By exclusion pronounced by the General Assembly under proposal of the Executive Committee as a result of non-compliance with the principle of the European System of Evaluation of Veterinary Training (article 5).
• By exclusion as a result of a decision of two-thirds of the members. present, or represented, at the General Assembly.

CHAPTER 4: FUNDING

Article 8 – The payment of Membership Fees shall constitute the basic funding of the Association.

Furthermore the Association may receive grants from organisations and donations from individuals with a view to financing its activities and all other contributions as authorised by the law.

CHAPTER 5: ORGANISATION

Article 9 – The bodies of the Association shall be:

• The General Assembly
• The Executive Committee
• The Association shall appoint auditors (two) to assist the General Assembly.

A. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Article 10 – The General Assembly shall be the supreme body of the Association. It shall have at its disposal all the powers necessary for the running and administration of the Association [see also article 19]. It shall define the general policies of the aforesaid Association.

To this effect, the General Assembly:

• Shall first elect by a secret poll, with two ballots if necessary, the President. The mandate of the President shall be two years renewable twice.
• Any nomination of a candidate for President must be received, in writing by the Secretary of EAEVE two months before the date of the General Assembly for that year.
• Candidates for President must be a Dean (or Rector or Head of School) or an ex-Dean (or ex-Rector or ex-Head of School) of a positive evaluated member Establishment of EAEVE.
• The Curriculum Vitae of a nominated candidate as well as the electoral manifesto of the candidate will be provided by a nominated candidate and will be sent to all EAEVE members at least one month prior to the General Assembly.
• In the election of the president every Member shall vote for one candidate. Those Members unable to attend or to be represented at a General Assembly may delegate their power to another Member or to his/her Representative. No one can represent the delegated powers of more than two persons Members.
• If no candidate obtains the absolute majority of votes required for election in the first ballot, a second ballot will be held in which the candidate who obtains the simple majority of votes will be elected.
• The Members of the Executive Committee are elected by the geographical group area (annex 1), trying to keep a rotation among representatives of different countries. Eligible are only representatives of evaluated establishments.
• The Vice-President should be elected by the General Assembly after a proposal of the President from the Members of the Executive Committee. The function of Vice President of EAEVE can only be fulfilled by a head or former head of a veterinary educational establishment.
• Shall define the groups within the Association. The Association shall have maximally ten geographical groups in which its Members are organized (Annex 1). The President will not represent his/her geographical group area.
• Shall establish the limits of power it delegates to the Executive Committee.
• Shall adopt its own rules of procedure and those of the Executive Committee (Annex 2).
• Shall adopt proposed modifications to the Statutes by a two-thirds majority of the Members present or those having valid representation. If there is more than one proposal for a modification of the Statutes concerning the same item presented, only the absolute majority of the member establishments present or having valid representation is required for the adoption of one proposal.
• Can create or disactivate Working Groups to realize any of the objectives described in Article 3. This may include Working Groups which the EAEVE collaborates formally with other appropriate organizations.
• Shall adopt the annual membership fee.

Article 11 – The General Assembly shall be composed of the Deans or the equivalent official or their nominated Representatives, of the Member Establishments. They may be accompanied by one of their colleagues whose presence they deem useful given the agenda in question.

Should a matter be put to the vote, each Member Establishment shall
dispose of a single vote.

An Ordinary Session of the General Assembly shall be called once every year on the initiative of the President who shall chair and determine the Agenda in conjunction with the Executive Committee. The date and place shall be decided by the General Assembly itself or by the Assembly approving a proposal from the Executive Committee.

The General Assembly may only enter into valid deliberation on condition that the number of votes the Members physically present or represent, taking into account the delegation of powers they have disposed, shall be equal to or more than half of the Membership of the Association. Should the Quorum not be reached, a second meeting of the Association shall be called, at which deliberation may take place, irrespective of the Quorum.

At each session:

• There shall be a President´s Report.
• The Treasurer shall make a financial Report and submit the accounts to the Assembly for approval. The auditors shall also report to the General Assembly and apply for the relief of the Executive Committee.
• The Treasurer will also present a budget for the next year, which must be approved by the General Assembly.

With the exception of those deliberations relative to the modification of the Statutes as stated in Article 10, decisions shall be taken by simple majority vote of those Members present or validly represented. In the case of a tied vote, the President´s vote shall be decisive.

Article 12 – If needs be, or upon the request of half of the Members plus one, an Extra-ordinary Session of the General Assembly may be called by the President, as laid down in Article 11.The place and date shall be decided by the Executive Committee The rules concerning quorum, delegation of powers, and the validity of the deliberations as laid out in the aforesaid article also apply.

B. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Article 13 - The Association shall be managed by the Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is composed of the President and the representatives the geographical group areas. The Secretary, and Treasurer are elected by members of the Executive Committee from representatives of each group area.

• The Vice President is chosen by the Executive committee from their committee members.  The Vice President is proposed to the General Assembly for approval.
• The mandate for the Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Executive Committee Members shall be two years renewable once.

Article 14 – In the case of absence of the President, he/she shall be replaced by the Vice-President.

Article 15 – The President shall call a meeting of the Executive Committee at least once a year and shall also be responsible for drafting the Agenda.

Article 16 - The Executive Committee shall be answerable to the General Assembly for the running of the Association, and shall present a report of their work to them.

The particular responsibilities of the Executive Committee shall be:

To prepare the Agenda for the Sessions of the General Assembly, the Programme of Activities and the Budget.

• To propose the Annual Membership Fee.
• To implement the decisions of the General Assembly.
• To ensure the smooth running of the Association between the Sessions of the General Assembly.
• To nominate the EAEVE members of any Working Group
• To supervise the implementation and running the List of Evaluated and Approved Institutions

Article 17 – The President shall be responsible for the implementation of the decisions of the General Assembly. He represents the Association.

The Secretary shall be responsible, amongst other things, for drawing up:

• The Minutes of the Sessions of the General Assembly.
• The Minutes of the Meetings of the Executive Committee.

He/she shall be responsible for their distribution to the members of the Association.

The Treasurer shall be responsible for making all payments, receiving the funds of the Association, and, for keeping the Association´s accounts.

CHAPTER 6: RULES OF PROCEDURE.

Article 18 – The Rules of Procedure shall be established by the General Assembly.

These Rules of Procedure shall have as their objective the determination of any miscellaneous points not foreseen by the Statutes, particularly those relating to the internal administration of the Association. They shall specifically cover:

• The time limit for the summoning by the President of the Members concerned to Sessions of the General Assembly and to Meetings of the Executive Committee.
• The time limit within which the members concerned may propose to the President matters for inclusion in the Agendas of the above-mentioned meetings.
• The procedure whereby proposed modifications to the present Statutes may be addressed to the President.

CHAPTER 7: CONSTITUTION.  DISSOLUTION.

Article 19 – The present Statutes come into effect as of their adoption by the Constitutive Assembly of 27th May, 1988, at the National Veterinary School of Alfort, with ammendments approved in the General Assembly of 16 May 2002 in Thessaloniki, Greece.

• The measures that result from modifications adopted by the General Assembly take effect immediately.

Article 20 – In case of Dissolution being pronounced by at least a two-thirds majority of members present at a General Assembly, or in case of termination of its activities, for whatever reason, the assets of the Association shall be shared out among Members at a General Assembly specifically called to this effect. The devolution of the assets by the Liquidator (s) nominated by this General Assembly shall be carried out in accordance with Article 9 of French law of 1st July, 1901 and the French Decree of 16th August, 1901.

ANNEX 1

Geographical group area

Each member of the Executive Committee must come from a different geographical group area. Presently,these should be grouped as such:

Group 1: UK and Ireland and The Netherlands
Group 2: Spain and Portugal
Group 3: Italy, Greece and Albania, Israel and Romania
Group 4: France and Belgium
Group 5: Germany, Austria and Switzerland
Group 6: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithunania
Group 7: Slovak Republic, Czech republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Poland and Croatia
Group 8: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, FYROM, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Turkey

ANNEX 2

RULES OF PROCEDURE

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1. Notification of the arrangements for Ordinary Sessions of the General Assembly must be sent by the President/Secretary to Members not later than eight weeks prior to the date of the Session.
2. The Agenda for an Ordinary Session of the General Assembly must be sent by the President/Secretary to Members not earlier than four weeks after the date of the Notice of the Session and not later than two weeks prior to the date of the session.
3. Members may propose to the President, either directly or by their Regional Representative on the Executive Committee, items for inclusion on the Agenda of an Ordinary Session, at any time other than during the four weeks preceding the relevant session.
4. The President may put additional items on the Agenda of an Ordinary Session, on the day of the Session, if he thinks it is appropriate and the Members agree. In  cases of dispute the matter shall be decided by a ballot of those present.
5. An Extraordinary Session of the General Assembly may be called by the President at any time provided the Notice for the Session and the Agenda are sent to members on the same date which must be more than two weeks before the date of the session.
6. Proposals for Modifications to the Statutes must be sent to the President, in writing, in time for inclusion on the Agenda of the next Session of the Assembly. The letter containing the Modification must be signed by a proposer and a seconder who are Full Members.
7. That any modification or change to statutes becomes effective immediately in the General Assembly in which they are approved.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

1. Notification of the arrangements for Meetings of the Executive Committee must be sent by the President/Secretary to Members of the Committee not later than eight weeks prior to the date of the Meeting.
2. The Agenda for a Meeting of the Committee must be sent by the President/Secretary to Members not earlier than four weeks after the date of the Notice of the Meeting and not later than two weeks prior to the date of the Meeting.
3. Members may propose to the President, either directly or through the other members of the Committee, items to be considered for inclusion on the Agenda of a Meeting, at any time other than during the four weeks preceding the relevant Session.
4. The President may put additional items on the Agenda of a Meeting of the Committee, on the day of the Meeting, if he thinks it is appropriate and the Members of the Committee agree. In cases of dispute the matter shall be decided by a ballot of those present.
5. The General Assembly can select items for inclusion on the Agenda of Meetings of the Executive Committee.
6. Only constitutional Members of the Executive Committee will have the right to vote should a ballot be necessary.
7. All officers of EAEVE should still have an active appointment at a Veterinary School ie an official function ends upon retirement, completing the mandate.
8. The EAEVE member of the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) should normally be a veterinarian.
9. The EAEVE members of the Joint Education Committee can either be a head or former head of a visited and approved establishment or a person who chaired a visiting team.

EAEVE Austrian Statutes

Statuten des Vereines