EuroBioBank® - About EuroBioBank

The initial governance structure of the EuroBioBank Network shall comprise the following bodies:

(1) A General Assembly as the decision-making and arbitration body of the EuroBioBank Network, co-chaired by both Coordinators

(2) Two Coordinators in charge of the management, who shall report and be accountable to the General Assembly and who shall make decisions in the day-to-day running of the EuroBioBank Network.

• Composition:

The General Assembly is composed of one authorised representative of each Member institution. All members of the General Assembly are voting Members.

When appropriate, any expert or qualified person may be invited to attend meetings of the General Assembly with a role of advisor, after due approval of both coordinators.

• Role:

The General Assembly is the decision-making and arbitration body of the EuroBioBank Network and shall decide on:

- strategic orientation of the EuroBioBank Network;

- establishment of an annual work plan;

- setting up of working groups according to the work plan; any such working group set by the General Assembly shall report to the Coordinators.

- modifications and amendments to the EuroBioBank Network organisation and the EuroBioBank Network charter;

- the EuroBioBank Network's budget (membership fees, investments, etc.) in collaboration with the Eurordis Finance Manager responsible for the EuroBioBank account;

- terms of use of the EuroBioBank name and logo;

- appointment of the scientific coordinator;

- inclusion of a new member;

- exclusion of a member.

• Meetings:

The General Assembly shall meet once a year possibly around the same time. The date of the next meeting shall be set at each General Assembly. Both coordinators shall co-chair the General Assembly.

The General Assembly may validly meet if 50% of its voting Members are present or represented. Decisions are made by a majority vote of the voting Members present. To be valid, a vote shall represent at least 50% of all Members.

Voting members of the General Assembly may grant power of attorney to other members to represent them as proxies, with a limit of 1 proxy per member.

Any urgent matters, may be decided upon by the Members via a written procedure sent by both coordinators.

• Agenda:

Any decision requiring a vote at the General Assembly must be identified as such on the notice of meeting sent within 15 working days of the meeting.

• Minutes:

The coordinators of the network shall draft the minutes of each General Assembly, to formalise in writing all decisions taken and shall send them to all participants and Members within 30 calendar days of the concerned meeting.

The minutes shall be considered as accepted by the Members if no objection is received by the coordinators within 15 days following the distribution of the minutes.

- an administrative coordinator appointed by Eurordis.

- a scientific coordinator, elected by the General Assembly for 1 year, from the biobanking Members of the EuroBioBank Network, with a renewable mandate.

Both coordinators shall act jointly on all matters under their responsibility, such as:

- day-to-day management of the EuroBioBank Network ;

- convening the General Assembly meetings;

- implementing the decisions taken at the General Assembly;

- producing written minutes of the meetings;

- reporting to the General Assembly on their activities and the work of the working groups;

- processing applications of new members interested in joining the EuroBioBank Network.

In case of disagreement, the opinion of the administrative coordinator shall prevail for administrative matters and the opinion of the scientific coordinator shall prevail for scientific matters.