Minutes of the General Assembly

2nd December 2017, Brussels

1. Tom Stiris introduced the meeting and welcomed delegates
2. The Agenda was accepted
3. Minutes from the Spring meeting were agreed.

4. President’s report, Tom Stiris (TS) welcomed everyone and thanked them for their work. He especially thanked Armando Barillari and David Neubauer who are ending their terms in the EAP. Stefano del Torso is also finishing his term as President, and will be continuing as Executive Director.

He discussed activities over the year

• Review of the ByLaws
• Young EAP
• Liaison with EPA. The meeting voted to approve moves to merge the 2 societies (EPA/EAP).
• It was also agreed (no vote) to continue discussions about developing a European exam.
• Some specialist syllabi are out of date – we agreed to press those societies to start work within 1 year on these or risk losing approval.
• We are employing a lobby group (LOW-Europe), but increasingly need a dedicated secretariat, which needs planning

Action points for 2018 include increasing EU links, and developing allies. We have considerable resources in terms of skills and expertise but we need to be more active (like Young EAP!). We need EAP representation on MJCs – especially infectious disease, immune mediated diseases, Intensive Care, Pain and Sports Medicine.

Future meetings include the EAPS meeting in Paris next year, as well as a Spring meeting in Sofia.

To finish he thanked Jean-Christophe Mercier for all his years of work for the EAP.

5. Report from the General Secretary, Adamos Hadjipanayis reviewed the activity of the society over the year. Over the last year the European Journal of Paediatrics has published 6 statements on behalf of the EAP, and these are available on the website. Three further articles have been published in Acta Paediatrica, two in the Lancet and one in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.

   EMA is moving to Amsterdam. The EAP is officially represented within the EMA, and many members of the EAP have participated. Further members of the EAP are encouraged to take part.

   The membership numbers of the EAP have fallen slightly and sit at 360 members, 104 of whom are young members.

   There was a discussion about how we might improve membership and visibility of the society. There is the possibility of creating a cheaper membership (that might receive a newsletter).

   The Ljubljana meeting was very successful with 721 delegates from 84 countries.

6. Elections

1. Tom Stiris was re-elected unopposed as President for one year
2. Ana Neves was elected as Vice-President.
3. Rob Ross Russell was elected as Chair of the tertiary group
4. Berthold Koletzko will act as deputy chair of the tertiary group prior to formal elections in the Spring

Martin White, Peter Altoraj, Armando Barillari and Artur Mazur acted as independent scrutineers

1. Financial report.

Arunas Valiulis presented a financial review of both the UEMS account, and the separate EAP account. The bank accounts are both in a very healthy position. Formal review of the accounts occurs in the Spring meeting but the current position was set out.

Income for the UEMS account is mostly from national subscriptions and EACCME funds. The EAP income is more variable (relating to the EAPS conference) but overall around a third of our income is from national contributions and a third from the EAPS meeting. 

The winter meeting had been much cheaper this year but we need to know how delegates would like to proceed – a questionnaire will follow.

The possibility of small educational grants was re-emphasised and encouraged.

Our tax liabilities may possibly change if our balance exceeds €500,000 and will need considering. 

8. Report from Groups.
   1. Tertiary Group. The meeting voted to approve the syllabus in Paediatric Infectious Diseases, and also to approve the review of the training centre for metabolic diseases in Hamburg.
   2. Rare diseases. Liesbeth Siderius presented work on rare and undiagnosed diseases. More paediatric presence is needed which may be through EAP (2 delegates), specialist societies or national bodies. A statement on the need for paediatric involvement in drug development was discussed and unanimously approved by the meeting.
   3. David Neubauer reported that 2 articles had been published on health and doping on sports, and the impact of mass media on obesity. It has also been proposed that a statement on the trafficking and abuse of children is needed urgently.
   4. Adolescent medicine. One statement has been published this year on transition to adult services, and a position paper on adolescent medicine. Four further statements are planned.
   5. EAPRASnet and vaccinations. A paper on migrants has been published and a further paper planned. A survey on vaccination attitudes is well into preparation – the study should be launched in February.

9. Liaison Officer. Stefano del Torso reviewed the activity of his team over this year. We have employed LOW Europe to help us to lobby in Brussels. They have been in place for 6 months (of 18) and we need to ensure we get measureable outcomes. The website has been improved to ensure information is up to date. We maintain our formal link with EPHA, and a number of their joint statements have been supported by EAP. EAP was represented at the recent ISSOP (International Society of Social Paediatrics) meeting, and signed the Budapest declaration on the rights of children on the move. MOCHA (with whom 20 reports have been submitted to the EC).

10. Primary Care Curriculum. There had been considerable discussion of the primary care curriculum at the meeting (see minutes). It had been decided at that stage that this should be voted on at the General Assembly. The intention of the group is to further improve the syllabus, but no time frame can be put against that. The syllabus was approved by the General Assembly.

11. The Terms of Reference of YoungEAP were also supported by the General Assembly in a vote.

12. Upcoming meetings. Bulgaria will host the Spring meeting (May 18th and 19th). EAPS 2018 will be in Paris (October 30th to November 3rd). The 2019 Spring meeting will be held in Vilnius.

13. Any other business. There was none