Minutes of the General Assembly

Tom Stiris introduced the meeting and welcomed delegates, including a number of new national and specialist delegates. Bernard Maillet (UEMS Treasurer), Andrew Long (RCPCH Vice-President) and Jane Valente (RCPCH examination officer) were also introduced.
Minutes from the Spring meeting were aproved.
Matters arising. There were no matters arising

UEMS update. Bernard Maillet from the UEMS presented a review of the UEMS. He described the historical background and structure of the organization. The slide set used is available to all EAP members. The new structure within the UEMS includes three groupings – broadly a medical, surgical and other group. This has led to a need to revise the voting arrangements within UEMS, and the creation of an Advisory Board. He also reviewed the activities of EACCME, who have streamlined their procedures, as well as extending their scope to include Allied Health Professionals (AHPs), improved quality control, and a review of the scheme of ‘Trusted providers’. Tom Stiris raised the need for closer dialogue between the EAP and UEMS to promote the specific issues of children especially in areas (such as statements on pain) where the paediatric viewpoint may only have limited exposure.

President’s report. Tom Stiris thanked Bjorn Wettergren for his hard work over many years for the society. He reviewed progress on the exam for Core Training, and emphasized the need to maintain up to date syllabi in all specialties. He spent some time emphasizing the need for all delegates to be actively involved in the society, and to promote our values. He mentioned the annual statements from the EAP and the need for greater engagement with UEMS. He reviewed a SWOT analysis of our strengths and weaknesses – in particular the huge wealth of experience and knowledge that we collectively own, but also the limitations on our time.

Report of the Secretary-General. Adamos Hadjipanayis reviewed the activity of the society over the year. He showed the new website, and discussed our link to the European Journal of Paediatrics who have agreed to publish 6 EAP statements each year. Adamos encouraged delegates who had statements they felt were important to submit them to the Executive Committee for dissemination. He reviewed our links over last year with Colgate, with whom we have run a Webinar, conducted an on-line survey and supported a lecture on dental health in Dublin. He also discussed the European Medicines Agency (EMA) with whom several projects have been conducted, and our developing links with the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA). We have agreed a one-year trial membership of EPHA who will be seeking our input into paediatric health issues that are relevant to the EU. Lastly he reported statistics from the last year showing a small fall in membership numbers (which had been elevated due to the EAP meetings).

Report from the European Board of Paediatrics. Following the prolonged discussion at EBP on the previous day, Jean-Christophe Mercier gave a brief report on the developments with the RCPCH, thanking them for their support and reflecting on progress made.
Financial report. Arunas Valiulis presented the EAP-UEMS SP finances. The bank account is in a very healthy position. The accounts had been reviewed by our auditors ahead of the meeting but there was discussion about the appropriate presentation of the accounts to the GA. It was agreed that the annual accounts should be presented (following audit) to the Spring Meeting and that information should be sent out to all delegates at least a month ahead of the meeting. Plans for a provisional budget should separately be sent round early for discussion, possibly ahead of the winter meeting.
Bye laws. The proposed new Bye Laws were discussed . The GA voted to adopt them (22:0:0).

Primary/Secondary care.
Tertiary care. Brief reports from each working group were made. Details of those meetings are available within the minutes from the group.

Working groups. Brief reports to the GA were received from the Advocacy, Rare Diseases, EAPRASnet, Ethics, Adolescent Care and Health and Vaccination groups. It was noted that the co-chair from the vaccination group had been unable to attend as primary care doctors found funding difficult.

Liaison Officer. Stefano del Torso reviewed the activity of his team over this year. Cleverland had been helping us be more effective within the EU. The report from that work is available on the EAP website. In a webinar, colleagues showed interest in the work, but were not able to help with seeking grant funding – although positive about issues such as providing expert opinion. Action points for 2017 are to create an EU advocacy working group, to build EU contacts, and to map the potential allies for the EAP. With EPHA we have attended a meeting at the Parliament. We are looking to join the EU Health Policy Platform, as a route to be more involved in the development of child related policy.

Social media and the EAP. Lenneke Schrier reviewed the EAP core mission and goals. Current tools include the newsletter and the Media Press Room on the website. We have a lot of resources but compared to the AAP we are a long way behind. Several European groups (such as the European Neurology group) have a very active media presence. Delegates were encouraged to join the EAP twitter account @EurAcademyPaeds and the Facebook page.
Elections. The posts of Primary Care and Secondary Chair chairpersons were confirmed as Jernej Zavrsnik (second term) and Karoly Illy respectively. The Secretary-General post was voted (secret ballot) and Adamos was re-elected for a second term. The treasurer post was also voted on and Arunas Valiulis was elected for a second term.
Upcoming meetings. Details of the Spring Meeting (Faro, Portugal) and Mastercourse (Ljubljana, Slovenia) were discussed. Delegates were encouraged to send ideas for the next EAPS conference in Paris through to the EC. Vilnius has offered to host the 2018 Spring Meeting – other applications are encouraged ahead of the Spring Meeting.
Any other business. A replacement for Karoly Illy to act as financial auditor was sought. Ana Neves agreed to take this on.

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