Article 12. The Council for Cardiology Practice is established as a Council of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) according to the Statutes and By-Laws of the ESC.
Article 13. The function of the Council for Cardiology Practice is:
- To promote and organise research in the field of Cardiology Practice.
- To gather and exchange information regarding research and related activities within the Council and with interest to members of the Council.
- To contribute to the organisation and preparation of the annual ESC Congress, and to participate and support other scientific meetings and symposia.
- To establish appropriate recommendations for the ESC regarding the field of Cardiology Practice.
- To organise Teaching Workshops on suitable topics.
- To recommend the establishment of the ESC Task Forces to the Committee for Practice Guidelines and Policy Conferences, to publish appropriate guidelines and recommendations.
- To hold regular meetings of the Councils.
Article 14. Council Organisation.
The Council consists of a Past-Chairman, Chairman, a Vice-Chairman, a Treasurer, a Secretary, a Web Editor and delegates from member countries .
Membership
All members of the Council for Cardiology Practice of the ESC should be either a member of an Association or, outside an organisation, any other person with a distinguished interest in the field of Cardiology Practice.
Any national society - member or not of the ESC - representing private-practicing cardiologists either officially or unofficially may join the Council. The national society will apply to the Council for membership and provide the name(s) of its representative(s)
Potential individual members must apply to the Chairman of the Council submitting a brief (one page) curriculum vitae including relevant references and filling in the Council application form.
Thus persons can become members of the Council who are:
- a country society/association related to cardiology in private practice or
- a group within any National Society working in private practice
- individuals.
The Chairman presents the applications from suitable new members to the Nucleus for ratification. Unsuitable applicants (as far as formal requirements are concerned) may be rejected if the Chairman and Vice-Chairman are in agreement.
If an application is rejected by the Nucleus, there is no obligation to give reasons to the applicant.
The memberships shall be granted for life unless the member is expelled from the respective Society/Association belonging to the ESC in which case his/her membership of the Council will automatically cease to exist.
Nucleus
The Nucleus consists of:
- Past-Chairman
- Chairman
- Vice-Chairman
- Treasurer
- Secretary
- Web Editor
and 1 delegate per country (each country sends a representative per 200 persons with a maximum of 3 delegates by country). The official delegate is he/she who has been appointed by his/her country. The Vice-Chairman will be elected from the Nucleus. Nucleus members are elected by the ordinary members of each country. Suitable nominees for the Nucleus are proposed by members of the Council
The function of the Nucleus is:
- To elect the Chairman and Vice-Chairman (“president elect”) based on the nomination from the Nominating Committee
- To assist the Chairman and Vice-Chairman when appropriate
- To appoint the Treasurer and Secretary
- To provide proposals for the scientific sessions of the Council during the annual congress of the ESC.
Up to three appropriate nominations for the Vice-Chairman are proposed by the Nominating Committee which consists of the Past-Chairman, the Chairman and the Vice-Chairmanand remain in the office for a total of four years. These nominations are then presented to the Nucleus of the Council for voting.
The tenure of membership in the Nucleus is six years. No past members of the Nucleus may be elected until serving as an ordinary member for at least 2 years.
50 % of the nucleus should be renewed every 2 years following proposals by the Nominating Committee. Each member country will vote according to the number of its members. The number of votes is limited to 1000. Voting could be by secret ballot if requested by more than 10% of the voting members.
The Nucleus of the Council for Cardiology Practice will meet at the Annual Congress of the European Society of Cardiology and at least on one other occasion each year.
The Council should have a Nucleus which acts as a steering committee. The size of the Nucleus is determined by the Council. There should be a mechanism within each Council for rotating those members of the Council who are in the Nucleus and who are not officers of the Council.
Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary
The Council is directed by the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman. The Vice-Chairman is proposed by the Nominating Committee and elected by the Nucleus. He/she serves for two years. The Chairman represents the Council at official functions of the European Society of Cardiology. After the end of the tenure of office, the past Chairman remains a Nucleus member for a further two years. In case this should exceed the six years period of the tenure in the Nucleus, he/she will have voting rights only in matters concerning the Nominating Committee. No Chairman may immediately be re-elected to this position.
Each Council is encouraged to appoint a Secretary and Treasurer for a 2-year period. Persons may be re-elected to these posts.
The treasurer shall supervise the financial affairs of the Council. This account is specific for the Council and should for tax reasons be held in the bank of the ESC in France. The book-keeping will be done by the ESC. The accountants of the ESC will supervise the bank accounts and report to the ESC. All the money in such accounts is the property of the Council, and there will be no transfer of funds to other accounts of the ESC without the authorization of the Council. Funds may be drawn from the accounts on the signature of the Chairman and Treasurer of the Council.
The Council should elect officers (Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Web Editor) and those on the nucleus through a democratic process. The method should be confirmed by the Council.
The council should invite all the delegates of the member countries of the ESC to participate in its general assembly.
General Assembly of the Council for Cardiology Practice.
A General Assembly will be held at the Annual Congress of the European Society.