EFTA
STATUTES
September 2004
New
modifications to the statutes:
English
version French version
STATUTES
"EUROPEAN
FAMILY THERAPY ASSOCIATION"
"E.F.T.A",
International Association
MODIFICATION of the
STATUTES of EFTA
Remark :
the modifications of the statutes are printed in
bold italic
I. Name, Location,
and Purpose
Article 1. Definition
The EUROPEAN FAMILY THERAPY ASSOCIATION
(EFTA)
is an international association dedicated
to scientific purposes.
There must be at least three members.
This association will be subject to the
law of Belgium and international law.
Article 2. Location
The registered office of this association
will be located at 9 rue du Bailli, 1000 Brussels, Belgium, in
the legal limits of the capital city of Brussels. The office
can be transfered to any other location by a decision of
the General Board of the EFTA. However, the different boards
of EFTA may transfer their offices to other European countries
depending on their composition.
Article 3. Aims
The association is strictly non-profit
making; it has the following aims:
- To link and co-ordinate European national
associations, institutes and individuals
in the field of family therapy and systemic practice.
- To promote the highest level of
competence and quality in practice, research, supervision and
teaching in family therapy and allied fields.
- To facilitate European co-operation
and the exchange of ideas and experience among associations,
institutions and individuals concerning medical, legal, social,
psychological, gender, cultural, economic,
spiritual and other aspects of human experiences in
relation to systemic thinking and practice.
- To spread information about family
therapy and the systemic approaches throughout Europe
to individuals, institutions and organisations concerned
with the health and development of families and human
systems.
- To promote research, conferences,
publications, audio-visual tools and other scientific
material in this field through meetings and all
other appropriate communicational methods.
- To enhance the training of systemic
professionals and family therapists at regional,
national and European levels by organising
and facilitating exchanges between individuals, and
professional centres.
- To create links with other organisations
having common or compatible aims in and outside of
Europe.
The activities
for achieving the aims of the association are :
- Regular international meetings
- Conferences and seminars
- International congresses
- The annual publication of
a membership list
- The spreading of information
by all appropriate means
- Professional exchanges between
family therapy centres and therapists in training
and trainers from different european countries
- The establishment
of appropriate different committees (such as
ethics, training criteria,…)
- And all such other activities
as will advance the aims of the association.
II. Membership
Article 4. Membership
The Association is composed of
three chambers each one made up of members :
- The Chamber
of Individual Members (CIM)
- The Chamber
of National Family Therapy Organisations (NFTO)
- The Training Institutes’Chamber
(TIC)
In order to
be accepted, the member must meet the criteria and
formalities required by each respective chamber and
be accepted by the " board " of
the chamber in question. Removal of members is made
by resignation or by suspension for a reason agreed
by the chamber(s) in question. A member who has not
paid his or her annual membership fee will be deemed
to have resigned. The procedure for resignation are
agreed by each respective chamber.
Each Chamber has its autonomous
policy, its own elected Board and its own budget. These
are decided by the members of each respective Chamber.
4.1. The Chamber
of Individual Members
- Ordinary members are
individual professional members having a continuous
practice in the field of human systems and/or family
therapy in European countries and Israel.
- Candidate members are individuals
who are in training and/ or persons lacking the requisite
training and/or experience to become ordinary members.
- Foreign members are ordinary members
connected with the systemic field and/or family therapy
residing in countries outside Europe and Israel, and
other nearby countries.
- Honorary members are members
invited by the association on account of their specific
contribution to the field of family therapy.
All individual members must pay an annual
fee, except for Honorary Members, and any exceptions as
decided by the Board of the Chamber of Individual
Members.
All members, except the candidate
members, who have fully paid their annual fees up to
the year in which the General Assembly takes place
have the right to vote.
4. 2. The Chamber of National Family
Therapy Organisations (NFTO)
Associations representing family therapists
and/or national associations promoting systemic approaches
and family therapy in any country in Europe and Israel may
become a member of the Chamber of National Family Therapy
Organisations.
In order to become an ordinary
member of the NFTO-Chamber the applying National Association
must:
- Show a clear organisational
structure with a Board with elected members, records
of membership, regular General Assemblies and Board
meetings.
- Use clear and public criteria
of admission.
- Serve as a formal representative
for the professionals represented.
- Provide an opportunity for
its members to discuss and vote about European
policies.
- Implement in an effective
manner a national organisation that covers at least
the majority of the national territory declared
and referred to in its statutes.
Each country should be represented
by one National Association or Federation. Each country
has three votes. During a transitional period until
the end of 2005 each country that is represented at
the Chamber of NTFOs may propose to the Board of this
Chamber a maximum of three persons who will represent
this country as designated delegate members with right
to vote in the General Assembly of the Chamber of NFTOs.
A delegate member may be the holder of proxy votes
for the other delegate members of his/her country.
Until the end of the transitional
period the regional associations will have to have
organised themselves into one National Association
or Federation. Until then the Regional Associations
of a same country are responsible for organising themselves
in order to pay the annual fee and to have a transparent
and fair representation in their voting procedures.
NFTO Chamber elects its board from
among the representatives of national associations
or federations.
4.3. The Training
Institutes’Chamber (TIC)
Institutions that carry out training
and research in the systemic domain and/or Family Therapy
may be members of the Chamber of Training and Research
Institutes of EFTA.
For full (ordinary)
membership members must :
- Provide in-depth training.
- Provide a clinical training
program which has a duration of at least three
years.
- Have already completed one
three-year training cycle.
- Meet the criteria as currently
specified by the Chamber
For associate membership institutes
will:
- Have a training program with
a duration of less than three years and/or have
not yet completed at least one three-year training
cycle.
- At the present time choose
not to apply for Full (ordinary) Membership although
they fulfil the relevant criteria.
Each member of EFTA TIC that has
fully paid the fees will designate a representative
to exercise its right to vote at General Assembly of
the EFTA-TIC.
Associate members may participate
and contribute to the EFTA-TIC process, but are not
eligible to vote or be elected to Board positions.
Article 5. Elections to the
Boards
The council of managements is made
up of three boards.
I.The members of the Board of a
Chamber are elected or revoked by the members of the
Chamber in question.
II. Candidatures for a position
in the Boards must be submitted in writing to the secretariat
of the pertaining Board.
III. Each Board will notify all
of its members of the call for nominations, in writing
at least 28 days prior to the closing date for nominations.
IV. Each of the three Chamber Boards
shall normally have no more than two representative
by country. It is possible to co-opt, no more than
two persons, to serve each Board. Co-opted members
do not have voting rights.
V. Each of the three Chamber Boards
elects from among its members a Chair, a Secretary
and a Treasurer by secret ballot and may also elect
a vice chair.
Article 6. Membership fees
I. In order to exercise the right to
vote at the any of the Assemblies, members must have fully
paid the corresponding fees to the Chamber to which it
belongs.
II. The annual fees are determined
and collected by the pertaining Chamber.
III. The exclusive purpose of the fee
is to implement the aims of the Association.
IV. The General Assembly of each
Chamber will vote to approve the accounts and budget
of its respective Chamber annually.
III. The General
Assembly of the EFTA
Article 7. Composition and functions
I. The General Assembly of EFTA is composed
of all members of the European Family Therapy Association,
that is, of the members of all three Chambers.
II. Only those ordinary members
of the Chambers have the right to vote.
III. Decisions of the General Assembly
of EFTA require a simple majority of votes in each
of the three Chambers.
IV. In order to come to a decision
affecting the whole of EFTA each Chamber votes first
on its own. The results within each Chamber are then
listed as three distinct votes and considered together
as the composite vote of the General Assembly. The
voting and counting procedure may take place within
the same location.
The functions of the general assembly
are to:
- modify by-laws;
- annually approve the budget and
accounts of EFTA;
- discuss and develop the future policies
of the Association as a whole;
- consider, discuss and vote on such
proposals as are laid before the General Assembly;
- mandate the General Board to appoint
working parties and committees to undertake specific
tasks on behalf of the Association and report back
to a future General Assembly;
- dissolve the Association.
Article 8. Meetings
I. The General Assembly of EFTA will
meet at least once a year under the chairing of the President
of EFTA at a location that has been indicated in the notice
convening the meeting. This notice is issued by the Board
of EFTA.
II. The notice convening the meeting
will be sent at least 28 days prior to the
meeting.
III. The notice must contain the
date, time and place, and the agenda for the
meeting.
IV. The General Assembly of EFTA must
also be convened if so requested by at least 25% of the
members of at least two Chambers.
V. The decisions and resolutions
of the assembly will be notified to the members by
regular reports and sent to the members. The reports
are available on the internet site and with the secretariats
of the three chambers.
Article 9. Quorum
I. The General Assembly
of EFTA may only proceed with its business if representatives
of all three Chambers are present.
II. Decisions require a simple
majority of votes of the members present or represented
of all three Chambers. If agreement is not reached,
new discussion and voting are required.
III. A member can be represented at the
General Assembly by another member holding a proxy vote.
A voting member cannot hold more than three proxy votes
IV. General Board
of EFTA
Article 10. Composition
The General Board of EFTA is composed
of at least 18 and no more than 24 members who are members
of the Boards of the three Chambers in addition to the
President.
The General Secretary and the General
Treasurer of EFTA will be nominated and voted upon
by the General Board from among its elected membership.
Article 11. Election of the
President
I. The president of EFTA is elected
or revoked by the General Board of EFTA from among
its members.
II. Each Chamber Board votes first
on its own by secret ballot. A candidate for the presidency
is elected if he or she attains 2/3 of the votes of
each Chamber Board.
III. The President of EFTA is then
no longer a member of one of the three Boards. Thus
the Chamber from which the President was elected, will
replace their missing member with the person who received
the next highest number of votes at their own Board
election.
Article 12. Rights and Obligations
I. The General Board of EFTA is empowered
to transact all business and make all decisions concerning
the management and administration of the Association
as a whole.
II. The General Board of EFTA may delegate
the daily management to its President, one of its members,
or a person specially appointed thereto.
III. The General Board of EFTA has ultimate
decision making power on matters submitted for discussion
by the separate Chambers as long as the pertaining
Chamber agrees to this procedure and to these decisions.
Article 13. Decision-making
All decisions of the General Board of
EFTA require a simple majority among the members
of each of the three Chamber Boards.
Article 14. Entitlement
All acts and decisions binding the Association
with the exception of special powers of attorney require
the signature of the President and the Chairs of
the three Chambers or their nominated delegates.
Article 15. Co-ordinating Body
I. The Co-ordinating Body serves
the whole of the Association and prepares proposals
to be discussed and voted by the General Board of EFTA.
II. Each of the three Chamber Boards
designates two of its members as members of the Co-ordinating
Body.
III. The Chair of the Co-ordinating
Body is the President of EFTA.
The Co-ordinating Body has three
tasks:
- the co-ordination of the functioning
of the three Chambers, whilst respecting the autonomy
of each Chamber;
- the organisation of conjoint
meetings of the three Boards at least once a year,
in particular to determine the general policy of
the Association;
- the co ordination of the administrative
tasks of the Association according to the mandates
originated by the General Board of EFTA.
Article 16. Duration
The President and the members of the
Board are elected for a period of three years. The
board remains elected until the first General Assembly
following this period.
The President can only be re-elected
as such for one more term of three years consecutively
but may stand for the re-election after at least one
year of no longer serving on the Board .
Each chamber Board is responsible
to create by-laws that will ensure appropriate continuity
and renewal of its board members.
V. Budget and Expenses
Article 17. Period
The accounting year begins on the 1st
January and ends on the 31st December.
Each Board is duty bound to submit
to the approval of its own Chamber Assembly all accounts
concerning the expired accounting year as well as the
budget for the next accounting year. These
will then be submitted for the approval of the next
General Assembly of EFTA.
In the event of the dissolution
of the association, the funds shall be given to another
international association having similar aims and objectives.
VI. General Provisions
Article 18. Amendments
All items which have not been provided
for in the present statutes will be settled in accordance
with the appropriate regulating legal provisions.
The Statutes may only be modified by
the General Assembly of EFTA. The proposed amendment
(s) must be agreed by the relevant Chamber(s) of those
making the proposed amendment(s), and be notified to all
members at least 28 days prior to the meeting of the General
Assembly of EFTA.
The decision to modify the statutes or
to dissolve the Association requires a majority of votes
of at least two thirds of the members of each Chamber.
Where this is not possible, a second General Assembly of
EFTA may be convened in not less than 28 days where
a decision can be made by a simple majority of those present
or represented.
Modifications of the present statutes
will enter into force immediately following their
decision at the General Assembly in question and in accordance
with the provisions for amending the Statutes as heretofore
described.
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