by Detlef Kömpf
The EFNS and ENS will cease to exist at our first EFNS/ENS Joint Meeting in Istanbul in June 2014. Our new joint Society, the European Academy of Neurology, EAN, will be founded at the very same time. Our two successful societies, which we have to amalgamate, were originally organized according to quite different principles. We have been working on the project to bring them together synergetically for several years. One strong unified European neurological society will be better equipped to face the harsh challenges of the future.
The democratic heart of the EAN will be the Assembly of Delegates, consisting of 45 national delegates representing the 45 member nations of the EAN and an equal number of delegates representing the currently 900 individual members of the current ENS.
The election of the 45 delegates of the Individual Society Members is now being organized by Prof. Gustave Moonen, ENS General Secretary. If you are an Individual Member – many EFNS members are at the same time individual ENS members – you are eligible to apply and vote. Take this opportunity and submit your application by uploading your CV before the end of February 2013. Please go to www.ensinfo.org to become a member of the EAN General Assembly.
The EAN delegates of the institutional members (now the EFNS member societies of the 45 European national neurological societies) have to be nominated by the end of February 2013, and the call for nominations will be sent by EFNS President, Prof. Richard Hughes.
The Assembly of Delegates will first meet in Istanbul and elect there directly after the founding ceremony the 7 elected officers of the new EAN Board: President, Vice President, Secretary General, Treasurer, Chairpersons of the Scientific and Liaison Committees and one Member at Large. Another two board officers will be appointed by the EAN board itself afterwards: the chairpersons of the Congress Programme and Education Committees.
The EAN Head Office will be in Vienna, Austria with two subsidiary offices in Basel and Brussels. The EAN will own its own journal: the European Journal of Neurology will become the official publication of the EAN.
The first EAN Congress will be held in Berlin, Germany in June 2015. The second and third EAN Congresses will follow in Copenhagen in 2016 and in Amsterdam in 2017.
The purpose of the EAN will be to promote “Excellence in Neurology in Europe” pursuing the following objectives:
- To increase the availability and standards of neurological services
- To advance the development of Neurology as the major medical specialty caring for patients with neurological disorders
- To encourage collaboration between European national neurological societies
- To strengthen collaboration between clinical neurology and related professional lay organizations
- To support neurological research, encourage research collaboration, and promote dissemination of research results
- To strengthen the standard, availability and equality of neurological education for neurologists and affiliated/related health professionals;
- To raise awareness among the lay public, media, health care providers and other stakeholders, as well as law and policy makers about the burden and cost of neurological disorders and the benefits which clinical neurology can bring;
- To collaborate with international, national and regional neurological associations and related international health organisations.
Members of the EFNS-ENS Transition Task Force are:
Claudio Bassetti, ENS, President elect
Jacques de Reuck, EFNS, Past President
José Ferro, ENS, Past President
Detlef Kömpf, EFNS, Secretary General
Gustave Moonen, ENS, Secretary General
Gunhild Waldemar, EFNS, Chair Liaison Committee
Detlef Kömpf is Professor of Neurology, EFNS Secretary General and member of the Transition Task Force.
