BlueBook 2009.qxd:1 - European Society of Pathology

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INTRODUCTION TO THE 6TH EDITION
I am very proud and honored to have been elected President of our Society and to serve my duties
for the period 2005-2007. The European Society of Pathology is now 44 years old and has been
developing continuously since its foundation in Brussels on March 30th, 1963.
This is the 6th edition of our Blue Book, which was proved to be a real ‘guidance’ and a ‘syllabus’
for our members, independently of the ESP website, and it is issued to be offered to the participants
of the 21st ECP, which will be held in Istanbul from September 8th to September 13th, 2007.
The revised Statutes and Bylaws were finally unanimously approved at the Paris General Assembly
of the 20th ESP Congress and are included in this Blue Book along with other valuable information
concerning the History of ESP, written on a very warm and comprehensive way by Professor
Urbain van Haelst, on the occasion of 40 YEARS JUBILEE (1964-2004). Furthermore, the five
Introductions, since the initiative edition of the Blue Book in 1989, written by the previous ESP
Presidents (A. Llombart-Bosch, J. Heinrich Holzner, M. Sobrinho-Simoes, G. Bussolati and A.
Cardesa) describe the evolution of our Society and include very useful data. Last but not least the
directory of the ESP members, in good standards, is listed alphabetically and all the bodies and
Committees, the Presidents and the Honorary Members as well as the sites and the years of the
previous ESP Congresses and finally the distribution of our members in 63 countries are comprised
in this precious booklet!
During the last two years of my duties I had the privilege to put my signature to the contract for
the buying of our first offices in Brussels! I strongly believe that the foundation of ESP offices will
help the Society in different fields, such as the driving of continuing education in Pathology which
is always our main concern, and will facilitate our collaboration with UEMS, IAP and EAPCP as
well as with other Forensic and Oncological Societies and why not host them within our premises,
in case they wish it.
At the last Executive Committee meeting in Crete Island, Greece, held on April 28th ‘07, it was
unanimously decided to proclaim a position for an Administrator who will run the new offices and
assist mainly the officers as well as the other Executive Committee members in their difficult
task. Furthermore, he or she will contribute to the organisation of future meetings and/or congresses.
Nowadays, all the members of the Executive Committee have a special activity to
accomplish and this fact makes easier and more effective the role of the President.
On the other hand, the Working Groups are consistently increasing in number and scientific activities
and constitute the basis for the formulation of the Scientific Programmes. Additionally, the
ESP Inter-Congresses and Inter-Continental Congresses become more and more popular and this
fact encourages us thinking for the establishment, in the future, of ESP Congresses on an annual
basis.
I recently received the updated Impact Factor of our Official Journal ‘Virchows Archiv’ which is
2.251 and I am inviting all of you to send manuscripts of quality in order not only to maintain but
to further increase its scientific level.
Ending this introduction, I would like to extend my sincere and heartfelt thanks to all the officers,
the members of the Executive Committee, the members of the Nomination Committee, the
President of the Advisory Council, the Presidents of EScoP, of EuroCellPath and of the Working
Groups and each of them separately, for everything they have done to make my Presidency the
most effective possible.
Niki J. Agnantis
Ioannina, July 2007
INTRODUCTION TO THE 5TH EDITION
This fifth edition of the ESP Members Handbook, ‘Blue Book’ 2005, issued on the occasion
of the 20th ESP Congress in Paris, contains as its most significant feature the new Statutes
of the ESP, finally approved in November 2004. It also contains the proposal for new Bylaws,
which have been carefully elaborated (after approval of the New Statutes) by a constitutional
subcommittee of the Executive Committee, and completed in May 2005. With some exceptions,
they essentially represent an adaptation of the previous Bylaws to the new ESP
Statutes. As previously, the updated directories of ESP Members, Committees, Bodies,
Presidents, Honorary Members and Congresses are also included.
The very much needed new Statutes (see introduction by Antonio Llombart-Bosch to
the first edition of this ‘blue book’ in 1989) have finally become a reality, as a the result
of a long process of collective discussion. These Statutes were approved by an
Extraordinary General Assembly held in Paris in February 2004 and, after formal adaptations
to Belgian law, they were accepted by the Belgian Ministry of Justice and published
in the Belgian Official Gazette (‘Belgisch Staatsblad’) in November 2004. Legally,
they replace the original Statutes of the ESP that have been in force since 1964. They
also replace the modified version of the Statutes, that was published in the fourth edition
of this Blue Book, after being approved by the ESP General Assembly in Berlin,
September 2001, and which served as the working basis for the final elaboration of the
current ones.
Statutes, as demonstrated by our experience, are difficult to change, since they are official
legal regulations that need the approval, not only of the General Assembly but also
of the ruling authorities. However, Bylaws, which are internal regulations for functioning,
adapted from the Statutes to the specific needs of the ESP, are easier to change
and require only the approval of the General Assembly. The New Bylaws, as they appear
in this issue, have been approved by the Executive Committee and will be submitted to
the next General Assembly in Paris for final approval.
Even though we are in the 21st century, fully immersed in the era of digital information,
and although all these data are available at our website (www.europathology.org),
the printed version of this Blue Book continues to be a very helpful tool to the ESP
membership, by providing on the spot precise data and unambiguous guidelines.
Therefore we have not hesitated to maintain this printed publication as a handy symbol
of the ESP identity.
Last, but not least, I have to thank all those colleagues who in various ways have contributed
with their invaluable thoughts and comments to the text of the new Statutes and new
Bylaws, particularly to Fred Bosman, Gianni Bussolati, Frédérique Capron, Urbain van
Haelst, Rudi Heimann, Jahn Nesland, our Secretary Roderick Simpson, Manuel Sobrinho-
Simoes, Michael Wells and especially Miriam Marichal for her outstanding dedication and
coordination of the work. Also, I wish to recognise the efforts of our Treasurer, Han van
Krieken, who has made possible this new edition of the Blue Book.
Antonio Cardesa
Barcelona, June 2005
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