ANNUAL REPORT

2006

Registered Charity No. 1060134

PresidentJorge B. Cannata-Andía, Spain

Secretary-TreasurerAdrian Covic, Romania

(Editor-in-Chief of “Follow us”)

Chairperson of the Administrative OfficesRosanna Coppo, Italy

(Chairperson of the European Council for Accreditation in CME in Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation)

(Chairperson ERA-EDTA - CME Activities)

Editor-in-Chief of “Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation”Norbert Lameire, Belgium

Chairman of the RegistryCarmine Zoccali, Italy

(Editor-in-Chief of “NDT-Educational”)(Chairman of the Scientific Committee - Barcelona, 2007)

Ordinary Council MembersJoão Frazão, Portugal

David Goldsmith, United Kingdom(Chairman of the Paper Selection Committee)

Iain Macdougall, United KingdomPierre Ronco, France

Goce Spasovski, F.Y.R. of MacedoniaCengiz Utas, Turkey

Christoph Wanner, GermanyAndrzej J. Wiecek, Poland

Congress Presidents Barcelona 2007Jorge B. Cannata-Andía, Spain

Luis Piera, Spain

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1) List of Officers and Council Members page 4 2) Report by the President, Jorge B. Cannata-Andía page 10

3) Report by the Secretary-Treasurer, Adrian Covic page 12

4) Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities (Year ended 31st December 2006) page 14 5) Report by the Chairperson of the Administrative Offices, Rosanna Coppo page 18

6) Minutes of the XLIII General Assembly, Glasgow, 2006 page 25

7) Agenda of the XLIV General Assembly, Barcelona, 2007 page 33

ANNUAL

REPORT

2006

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FORMER AND CURRENT OFFICERS AND COUNCIL MEMBERS

HONORARY MEMBERS

Name Country Year StartedKennedy A.C. United Kingdom 1982 Drukker W. The Netherlands 1982 Migone L. Italy 1984Kolff W.J. U.S.A. 1985Scribner B.H. U.S.A. 1985Kerr D.N.S. United Kingdom 1986Legrain M. France 1987Traeger J. France 1988Boen S.T. The Netherlands 1988McGeown M.G. United Kingdom 1990Watschinger B. Austria 1991Shaldon S. Monaco 1994Cameron J.S. United Kingdom 1998Cambi V. Italy 2002Davison A.M. United Kingdom 2002Ritz E. Germany 2005

PRESIDENTS

Name Country Year StartedForminje B. The Netherlands 1964*Swinney J. United Kingdom 1965*Traeger J. France 1966*Thaysen J.H. Denmark 1967*Walsh A. Ireland 1968*Dutz H. Germany 1969*Rotellar E. Spain 1970*Alwall N. Sweden 1971*Migone L. Italy 1972*Kennedy A.C. United Kingdom 1972Thaysen J.H. Denmark 1975Legrain M. France 1978Andreucci V.E. Italy 1981Cameron J.S. United Kingdom 1984Klinkmann H. Germany 1987Botella J. Spain 1990Bernheim J. Israel 1993Berthoux F. France 1996Davison A.M. United Kingdom 1999Locatelli F. Italy 2002Cannata-Andía J. Spain 2005

* From 1964 to 1972 the President of the Association was also the Congress President and remained in office for one year only instead of three

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SECRETARY-TREASURERS

Name Country Year StartedDrukker W. The Netherlands 1964Carmody M. Ireland 1969Andreucci V.E. Italy 1973Boen S.T. The Netherlands 1979Botella J. Spain 1984Cambi V. Italy 1990Carrera F. Portugal 1996Cannata-Andía J. Spain 2002Covic A. Romania 2005

CHAIRPERSON OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES

Name Country Year StartedCambi V. Italy 1996Piera L. Spain 1999Coppo R. Italy 2005

EDITORES EMERITI

Name Country Year StartedDavison A.M. United Kingdom 1993Ritz E. Germany 1999Drüeke T.B. France 2005

EDITORS

Name Country Year StartedKerr D.N.S. United Kingdom 1964Cameron J.S. United Kingdom 1970Moorhead J. United Kingdom 1973Robinson B.H.B United Kingdom 1976Davison A.M. United Kingdom 1982Ritz E. Germany 1993Drüeke T.B. France 1999Lameire N. Belgium 2005

CHAIRMEN OF THE REGISTRY

Name Country Year StartedDrukker W. The Netherlands 1969Gurland H. Germany 1972Wing A.J. United Kingdom 1976Brunner F. Switzerland 1985Mallick N.B. United Kingdom 1991

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Valderrabano F. Spain 1995Briggs J.D. United Kingdom 1997Zoccali C. Italy 2003

ORDINARY COUNCIL MEMBERS

Name Country Year StartedThaysen J.H. Denmark 1964Giovanetti S. Italy 1964Funk-Bretano J.L. France 1964Shaldon S. United Kingdom 1964Alwall N. Sweden 1964Michielsen P. Belgium 1966Orlowski T. Poland 1966Traeger J. France 1966Alexander G.P.J. Belgium 1966Fritz K.W. Germany 1966Kennedy A.C. United Kingdom 1967Mery J.P. France 1967Migone L. Italy 1967Valek A. Czech Republic 1967Bucht H. Sweden 1969Fries D. France 1969Schackman R. United Kingdom 1969Watschinger B. Austria 1969Berionade V. Romania 1970Shaldon S. France 1970Giordano C. Italy 1970van Ypersele C. Belgium 1970Gurland H. Germany 1971Lindstrom B. Finland 1972Mion C. France 1972Vereerstraeten P. Belgium 1973Pinggera W. Austria 1973Carmody M. Ireland 1973Cattel W. United Kingdom 1973Laurent G. France 1973Hoeltzenbein J. Germany 1974Klinkmann H. Germany 1975Brunner F. Switzerland 1975Boen S.T. The Netherlands 1976Gelin L.E. Sweden 1976Kerr D.N.S. United Kingdom 1976Legrain M. France 1976Schutterle G. Germany 1976Kock B. Finland 1977Bergström J. Sweden 1978Cambi V. Italy 1978Kokot F. Poland 1978Struyvenberg A. The Netherlands 1979

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Parson V. United Kingdom 1979Andreucci V. Italy 1979Mion C. France 1979Valek A. Czech Republic 1980Ringoir S. Belgium 1981Taraba I. Hungary 1981D’Amico G. Italy 1981Sieberth H. Germany 1981Botella J. Spain 1982Cameron J.S. United Kingdom 1982Jacobs C. France 1982Brynger H. Sweden 1983Wing A.J. United Kingdom 1984Klinkmann H. Germany 1984Cambi V. Italy 1984Dal Canton A. Italy 1984van Ypersele C. Belgium 1984Boen S.T. The Netherlands 1985Mery J.P. France 1985Taraba I. Hungary 1986Kokot F. Poland 1987Bergström J. Sweden 1987Grünfeld J.P. France 1987Koch K.M. Germany 1987Maiorca R. Italy 1987Cordonnier D. France 1988Valderrabano F. Spain 1988Brynger H. Sweden 1989Zucchelli P. Italy 1990Stumvoll H.K. Austria 1990Ritz E. Germany 1990Papadimitriou M.G. Greece 1990Bernheim J. Israel 1990Maggiore Q. Italy 1991Druet P. France 1991Pirson Y. Belgium 1992Berthoux F. France 1993Kokot F. Poland 1993Cannata-Andía J. Spain 1993Piccoli G. Italy 1994Carrera F. Portugal 1994Briggs J.D. United Kingdom 1994Fournier A. France 1995Pedersen E.B. Denmark 1995Davison A.M. United Kingdom 1996Schena F.P. Italy 1996Sonkodi S. Hungary 1996Kessler M. France 1997Krediet R.T. The Netherlands 1997Piera L. Spain 1997Locatelli F. Italy 1998

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Morales J.M. Spain 1998De Francisco A.L.M. Spain 1999Hörl W.H. Austria 1999Wiecek A. Poland 1999Nagy J. Hungary 2000Vanholder R. Belgium 2000Zoccali C. Italy 2000Coppo R. Italy 2001Floege J. Germany 2001Basci A. Turkey 2002London G. France 2002Olgaard K. Denmark 2002Covic A. Romania 2003Eckardt K.-U. Germany 2003Tsakiris D. Greece 2003Goldsmith D. United Kingdom 2004Macdougall I. United Kingdom 2004Frazão J. Portugal 2005Ronco P. France 2005Utas C. Turkey 2005Spasovski G. F.Y.R. of Macedonia 2006Wanner C. Germany 2006Wiecek A.J. Poland 2006

CONGRESS PRESIDENTS

Name Country YearForminje B. The Netherlands 1964Swinney J. United Kingdom 1965Traeger J. France 1966Thaysen J.H. Denmark 1967Walsh A. Ireland 1968Dutz H. Germany 1969Rotellar E. Spain 1970Alwall N. Sweden 1971Migone L. Italy 1972Watschinger B. Austria 1973Rosenfeld J. Israel 1974Thaysen J.H. Denmark 1975Schutterle G. Germany 1976Linstrom B. Finland 1977Önen K. Turkey 1978Struyvenberg A. The Netherlands 1979Valek A. Czech Republic 1980Funk-Bretano J.L. France 1981Botella J. Spain 1982Kerr D.N.S. United Kingdom 1983Cambi V. Italy 1984Ringoir S. Belgium 1985Taraba I. Hungary 1986

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Kessel M. Germany 1987Botella J. Spain 1988Brynger H. Sweden 1989Watschinger B. Austria 1990Cambi V. Italy 1991Jacobs C. France 1992Briggs J.D. United Kingdom 1993Stummvoll H.K. Austria 1994Mountokalakis Th. Greece 1995Donker A.J.M. The Netherlands 1996Bernheim J. Switzerland 1997Zucchelli P. Italy 1998Valderrabano F. Spain 1999Berthoux F. France 2000Hörl W.H. Austria 2001Olgaard K. Denmark 2002Ritz E. Germany 2003Carrera F. Portugal 2004Serdengecti K. Turkey 2005Locatelli F. Italy 2005*Fox J.G. United Kingdom 2006Cannata-Andía J. Spain 2006*Piera L. Spain 2007Cannata-Andía J. Spain 2007*Alvestrand A. Sweden 2008Cannata-Andía J. Spain 2008*Locatelli F. Italy 2009

* Co-President

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REPORT OF THE PRESIDENTJORGE B. CANNATA-ANDIA

I would like to start my second report as President by thanking all ERA-EDTA members for their confidence and support, the ERA-EDTA Officers, Adrian Covic, Rosanna Coppo, Norbert Lameire and Carmine Zoccali for their help in running the Association, as well as all the Ordinary Council Members and our Administrative Office for their hard work and dedication.

As I forwarded in my previous report, the ERA-EDTA has started many new initiatives to attract young nephrologists towards the scientific activities of our Society. Among them, I would like to highlight several advantages and grants specifically created with this purpose, such as the special Membership fee for early-career nephrologists; the low Congress Registration fee for students; the travel grants for CME Courses for nephrologists; the grants for the best presentations in National Congresses; the Travel grants for the Best Abstracts submitted to the ERA-EDTA and finally, our recent enterprise, the Fellowship Programme.

We launched the ERA-EDTA Fellowship Program in 2006, with the objective of supporting basic and clinical research in the field of Nephrology in Europe, mainly among young investigators. This programme also aims to facilitate scientific exchange and collaboration between European Research Institutions. There are two modalities of the Programme, the Long-Term Fellowships that are awarded up to 2 years in forefront research, and the Short-Term fellowships, established to visit other institutions to learn about new techniques and also to facilitate research links between institutions. So far, since last July 2006, we have awarded 10 Long-Term Fellowships and 6 Short-Term Fellowships.

In clear connection with the Fellowship Programme is the ERA-EDTA Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). The activities of this Body started in 2006 and they play an important role not only in the selection process of the Fellowship Programme but also in the discussion of future topics for our research meetings. On behalf of the ERA-EDTA, I want to congratulate all our Fellows and to thank the SAB, the grants reviewers and EMBO for their help in this successful programme. The ERA-EDTA is looking forward to receiving new and interesting candidacies for the future editions. I would like to encourage the young scientists to apply for this outstanding ERA-EDTA Programme.

Another important and positive news in 2007 come from the ERA-EDTA Registry. In 2005, the Registry launched the QUEST initiative in Toledo. One year later, in 2006, the European Union approved economical support from 2007 to one of the QUEST Projects. This success has been possible thanks to the efforts of the ERA-EDTA Registry and its Manager, Kitty Jager and the Scientific Committee led by Carmine Zoccali.

Other important news is that the Nephrological community has started to work together in a new challenge, the European Kidney Health Alliance (EKHA), a common project with the International Society of Nephrology (ISN), the European Dialysis & Transplant Nurses Association – European Renal Care Association (EDTNA/ERCA), the European Kidney Patients’ Federation (CEAPIR) and International Federation of Kidney Foundations

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(IFKF) to sensitize the European Union about the importance of establishing European programmes related to kidney disease.

Apart from the EKHA, the ERA-EDTA will soon share other important commitments with the ISN, such as the World Congress of Nephrology, in Milan 2009, under the Presidency of Francesco Locatelli and also, our common Basic and Advanced Courses in Nephrology Programme coordinated by Rosanna Coppo (ERA-EDTA) and Norbert Lameire (ISN).

The ERA-EDTA Courses are one of the most successful and important activities of our Association. These activities, together with the “ERA-EDTA Highlights”, the “ERA-EDTA Lectures” and the meetings with the Presidents of the National Societies of Nephrology are some of the recent initiatives launched to increase the interaction between the ERA-EDTA and the European Societies of Nephrology and also to increase the visibility of our activities throughout Europe. This is not an easy task, and despite the communications have experienced great advances, we still believe that a more personal “face to face” contact between ERA-EDTA Officers and the European National Societies Presidents is necessary. On behalf of ERA-EDTA also this year, as we did in 2006 (Glasgow), it will be my pleasure to invite all the National Presidents to the “National Societies Dinner” that will be held after the Opening Ceremony in the ERA-EDTA Congress in Barcelona 2007.

All these recent ERA-EDTA challenges are growing with the complement and partnership of previous and well established ERA-EDTA projects such as the NDT Journal under the direction of Norbert Lameire and Jürgen Floege and David Wheeler, as co-Editors; NDT-Educational directed by Carmine Zoccali and “Follow us”, under the direction of Adrian Covic with the collaboration of Cengiz Utas and Joao Frazao as co-Editors. My sincere thanks to all of them for making these activities a success, as well as to all the ERA-EDTA administrative staff, working in different countries and regions throughout Europe, helping the progress of our Association.

Finally, I want to warmly encourage all ERA-EDTA members and all the Nephrology Community to attend the XLIV ERA-EDTA Congress in Barcelona the coming month of June. The main representatives of the Meeting, Luis Piera, local President of the Congress, Carmine Zoccali, Chairman of the Scientific Committee, David Goldsmith, Chairman of the Paper Selection Committee, the Scientific Committee, the whole ERA-EDTA Council and myself are looking forward to seeing you all then.

Prof. Jorge B. Cannata-AndíaERA-EDTA President

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REPORT OF THE SECRETARY - TREASURERADRIAN–CONSTANTIN COVIC

At this point of my term as Secretary-Treasurer of the ERA-EDTA, I am happy to inform that during last year several major initiatives have been debated by the Councillors, some of great importance for the future of our Society, for a positive development of European Nephrology and for improving the relationship with our partners.

The Ethics and Governance Committee was created according to the Istanbul General Assembly’s resolution. The numerous ethical challenges of today’s scientific life and treatment of kidney diseases imposed the initiation of this board. Past Presidents, relevant personalities from our Society and experts in ethics will be involved in this

committee. A preliminary meeting took place at the end of April 2006. A second meeting was organized in October 2006. A pragmatic document was proposed and subsequently accepted by the Council, describing good governance of the relationship between ERA-EDTA and (Pharmaceutical and Dialysis) Industry with recommendations for Officers and Council members.

The new rules regarding the organisational aspects of the Congresses are establishing:- Deadlines for submitting applications to organize Industry Symposia and details related to the proposed Symposia program- Responsibilities and evaluation of the scientific programme of the congress, including Industry Symposia- Conditions that have to be accepted by the Councillors when they accept to take part in the Industry Symposia.These changes are applicable starting with the 2007 Congress and are improving the organisational structure and internal democracy. It is a significant step forward towards transparency and it will certainly improve the scientific quality of ERA-EDTA’s Congresses.

The ERA-EDTA website was restructured; the new look is more interactive, more practical and easier to use, it has more modern graphical design. Prof. Cengiz Utas and Prof. Joao Frazao, together with ERA-EDTA Website Editors have been working on this important task. The information is aimed to include more sections that will catch the attention of all potential users. The sitemap section allows the visitors to see and access every section available. The Education part has all the necessary information such as CME courses, fellowships, grants and guidelines. In order to make the site more interactive, a poll is published every month to provide information on our users as well as their thoughts on a number of nephrological issues. Finally, the information provided by the website is monthly completed by the now well-established “Follow-us”. The electronic monthly bulletin is clearly a success and provided a much needed link with all our members.

According with the Constitution and following the General Assembly resolutions, we are proposing a change in ERA-EDTA election system. With the current system, the number of voters is only 6% of those who are entitled to vote. In order to increase this number, it is necessary to adopt an electronic voting system. The proposals regarding changes in the

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Constitution were approved at the Spring Council meeting in 2007 and will be presented at the General Assembly for the first approval in Barcelona. It is necessary to amend two articles of the Constitution – Clauses VI 02 and IV 07. Also, the article V 04 regarding the number of the Council members with the same nationality was changed according with the General Assembly decision. (Please see the Appendix to the Agenda of the General Assembly).

Finally, at the Barcelona Congress, two ordinary Council members, David Goldsmith and Iain Macdougall, are leaving their posts.

Prof. David Goldsmith is currently the Chairman of the Paper Selection Committee and Chair of the Ethics and Governance Committee. The success of any ERA-EDTA Congress depends on its scientific programme and Prof. Goldsmith have placed well thought-out on the various abstracts with the highest quality, incorporating the latest developments in basic and clinical nephrology.

Prof. Iain Macdougall was very active in discussions, particularly in those involving the Scientific Advisory Board and Fellowships. He had an important role in the initiation and development of these projects.

The description of all these initiatives and decisions supports the thoughts that ERA-EDTA continues its development and is shifting gear for the fast lane of European nephrology and science.

Prof. Adrian CovicERA-EDTA Secretary-Treasurer

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ERA-EDTA ACCOUNTS

All the ERA-EDTA final account statements, starting 2002, can be found in the “Restricted Librar-ies” of the “ERA-EDTA Membership” section - www.era-edta.org/membership.htm. Access to this library is restricted to ERA-EDTA members only. Should you wish to receive a hard copy of the 2006 accounts please contact the ERA-EDTA Administration Office (Via I. Spolverini, 2; 43100 Parma; Italy - fax: +39-0521-959242; administration@era-edta.org).

Year ended 31 December 2006Income & Expenditure

Activity 2006 2005 2004€’000 €’000 €’000 €’000 €’000 €’000

Congress Income - Registrations 1.845 2.138 1.923 - Exhibition space 1.761 1.510 1.678

3.606 3.648 3.601 Expenditure - expenses -2.250 -1.905 -1.262Net Income on congress activity 1.356 1.743 2.339

Membership Income - Subscriptions 508 505 539 Expenditure - Mgt charges (Euromeetings) -113 -108 -65Net Income on membership activity 395 397 474

Journal Income - Volumes & supplements (gross) 1.783 1.725 1.614 Expenditure - Volumes & supplements (gross) -1.024 -1.056 -1.026

- Editorial office expenses -200 -329 -198Net Income on Journal activity 559 340 390

Registry (incl AMC) Income - Registry Grants 78 80 45 Expenditure - Registry expenses - General -112 -59 -18

- Registry expenses - AMC -381 -321 -262Net expenditure on Registry activity -415 -300 -235

Guidelines Income - Guideline contributions 0 5 74 Expenditure - Guidelines -6 -31 -253Net expenditure on Guidelines activity -6 -26 -179

Educational Income - Grants 0 357 Expenditure - NDT-Educational

-201 -129

- CME courses - Grants - Fellowships

Net expenditure on Educational activity -201 228 -135

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Activity 2006 2005 2004€’000 €’000 €’000 €’000 €’000 €’000

Grants for Research Income Donations & Grants 0 72 Expenditure 0 0Net income on Grant activity 0 72 0

Investments Income - Investment income 125 74 49 Expenditure - Investment management charges -8 -8 -8Net Income on Investment activity 117 66 41

Fellowships Income - FellowshipExpenditure - Fellowships -49Net Expenditure on Fellowships -49 0 0

1.756 2.520 2.695

Administration Income - Various 14 32 114Expenditure - Salaries -92 -79 -34

- Consultants fees -212 -240 -142 - Council meetings -65 -63 -82 - Various -266 -269 -165

Net expenditure on Administrative activity -621 -619 -309

Net income for the year 1.135 1.901 2.386

Gains on Investment disposals & revaluations 25 58 84Consolidation adjustments 22 3 -478Reserves b/f @ 01.01.06 11.303 9.340 7.348Reserves c/f @ 31.12.06 12.485 11.302 9.340

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Notes to Income & Expenditure - Other Income & Administrative expenses

2006 2005 2004 €’000 €’000 €’000

Income Currency exchange gains 10 23 106 Other 4 9 8

14 32 114

Expenses Promotional activities 26 55 28

Exchanges with Associations 17EKHA 5ARPA 1Travel concerning projects to promote research

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Research 0 43 Mail Printing & Publications 53 59 29 Currency exchange losses 62 20 21 Telecommunications 9 7 3 Stationary 1 0 0 Travel expenses 5 34 8

EKRA fees 1ASB 1

Miscellaneous 1 2 2 Credit card commission and bank

charges43 37 34

Bad debts 40 -27 37 Corporation tax 0 0 Depreciation 2 5 3

266 269 165

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Balance SheetAs at 31 December 2006

2006 2005 2004€’000 €’000 €’000

Fixed assets: Tangible fixed assets 2 1 6Investments 2.670 2.509 2.337

2.672 2.510 2.343Current assets: Debtors 1.796 918 655Cash at bank 8.793 8.615 6.937

10.589 9.533 7.592

Total assets 13.261 12.043 9.935

Creditors -776 -741 -595Net assets 12.485 11.302 9.340

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REPORT OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES

ROSANNA COPPO

MEMBERSHIP

On January 1st, 2006, the number of ERA-EDTA Members was 5,235. The Membership had a slight decrease at the end of 2005, mainly due to the change in the ERA-EDTA Constitution which cancelled all the Members who did not pay their annual membership fees for 2 consecutive years (instead of only cancelling those who had not paid for 3 consecutive years). If compared to the previous years, the membership figures are presently similar to those registered in 2002, but the percentage of “active” members is higher.

Below is the chart regarding the membership figures, starting 1994, at January 1st.

Considering the balance between new members and the drop-out, the final balance, apart from the loss registered at the end of 2005 (due to the above mentioned change in the Constitution), remains only slightly negative if compared to the number of members at January 1, 2007 (- 0,7%). This slightly negative balance is not due to the figures of new members, which is quite constant, around 400 new members/year, but because there is an increased trend of leaving the ERA-EDTA after some years.

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For 2006 the countries with more than 200 members remain the same as in 2005 including Germany, Spain, UK, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Greece, France and Japan.

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If we relate this number to the population of each Country, Greece has the highest ratio followed by Hungary, Spain and Poland. Germany, Italy and Great Britain share the same member /population ratio, slightly lower is the rate for France and Turkey

The ratio between Full and Associate Members and Online Members is shown below.

In the 2005 report of the Administrative Office printed in the Annual Report, we made an analysis of the age of our Members and we noticed that 5% were <35 years old, 28% between 35 and 45, 38% between 45 and 55, 21% between 55 and 65, and 8% >65 years old. Hence, two thirds of the ERA-EDTA members are represented by Nephrologists in the full activity age, between 35 and 55. The 2006 figures are depicted below.

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The present figures updated at January 2007 show some increase in the percentage of young members, but, obviously to see if this is a constant trend we will have to wait a few more years.

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The new initiatives, decided to attract young Nephrologists, were very generous in 2006.

GLASGOW CONGRESS

The figures of Glasgow Congress attendance were satisfying, similar to those in Lisbon and Istanbul, in fact in Glasgow we had 5,823 participants.

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Taking into consideration the participation according to Countries, Italy had the highest number of delegates, though less than in 2005, followed by the UK and Germany. Com-paring the attendance by Countries in Glasgow we had a higher UK participation, as expected, but also an increase in Spanish attendants.

Here instead is an interesting slide regarding the number of participants to the Congress from different Countries vs. the number of accepted abstracts, still according to Coun-try.

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A large number of exhibitors and visitors attended the Glasgow meeting making a total of more than 8.000 people who attended the meeting.

Two thirds of the participants, taking into consideration only the paying delegates, were non-ERA-EDTA members. Most of the delegates were sponsored by Companies (83%).

Prof. Rosanna CoppoChairperson of the Administrative Offices

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Registered Charity No. 1060134

43rd GENERAL ASSEMBLYGlasgow, U.K.

Monday, July 17, 20066.30 pm – 8.00 pm

MINUTES01. Opening.

The President of the Association announced that prior to closing, the voting for three Council vacancies, any full member who had yet to vote could do so before the General Assembly commenced. The voting was closed and the President asked Full Members V. Cambi and V. Tomanoski and Ordinary Council Members C. Utas and J. Frazao to count the votes. The President welcomed everyone to the meeting, thanking the Congress President Prof. J. Fox for organizing the event and congratulated him on the very high number of registrations.

02. Minutes of the 42nd General Assembly, Istanbul, June 6th 2005.

The minutes from Istanbul were approved.

03. Matters arising from the minutes.

There were no others pending issues.

04. Report of the President of the ERA-EDTA, J. Cannata-Andia.

The President began his fist report in his tenure as President by thanking all for support. The general policy was to increase the Association’s visibility and he went to say that the ERA-EDTA’s activities were growing in scope and importance every day. This was due to ceaseless hard work put in by the members of the Council.

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He informed about the growing interest for CME Courses and also about the expansion and homogenization of Basic and Advanced Educational Courses. The Society has developed an interesting and complete Programme of Courses, touching different issues from different and complementary fields. All these Courses were organized by several groups of Scientists at the highest possible level, under the coordination of Prof. R. Coppo.

The ERA-EDTA was continuing to develop new initiatives and the Research Fellowship Exchange Program was one of these. This program helps the mobility and training of young investigators and also facilitates the consolidation of Renal Research Networks in Europe. During the Congress in Glasgow, the first five Fellowship grants were awarded. The President announced the deadlines for Long and Short-Term Fellowship Programmes for the next period: October, 15, 2006 and April 15, 2007 and encouraged the young nephrologists to send new projects.

Recently, two new bodies were created: the Scientific Advisory Board and the Ethics Committee. Both boards had the first meetings and their scope is to support the ERA-EDTA’s growing and expansion. The President congratulated the members of these committees for their contribution.

The need for official economical support from the European Union for the prevention, treatment and research in Renal Diseases is also a priority of the Association. The ERA-EDTA Registry, chaired by Prof. C. Zoccali made the first attempt to involve the European Union in the Society’s projects (QUEST is one of these). The National Societies should also leave an important contribution in the development of this mission. Together with ISN, Nurses and Patients Associations and several other International Associations interested in Renal Diseases, ERA-EDTA created the European Kidney Alliance. This union will work to increase the awareness and importance of Kidney Diseases; a position paper was prepared for the next European Framework Research Programme.

The connection with ISN improved and several new initiatives were started in order to avoid competition. Three important issues were established together: European Kidney Alliance, World Congress in 2009 and several Educational Activities.

All these challenges are growing complementing previous and well established ERA-EDTA’s activities such as the NDT Journal under the direction of Prof. N. Lameire, NDT-Educational directed by Prof. C. Zoccali and the recently created “Follow-us under the direction of Prof. A. Covic and Prof. D. Tsakiris. The President thanked to each of them for making these activities a success.

He closed by saying that he has a very positive outlook for the future and was looking forward to seeing the ERA-EDTA continue to grow.

05. Report of the Secretary-Treasurer of the ERA-EDTA, A. Covic.

The Secretary-Treasurer introduced his report, which was also the first in his mandate, by saying that he is proud to work with a wonderful team and to continue a series of excellent programs.

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He thanked members that are at the end of their mandate as Councillors: Prof. K.U. Eckardt, Prof. G. London and Prof. D. Tsakiris and presented the most important issues regarding their activities. Prof. Kai–Uwe Eckardt from Germany was Council Member during 2003 – 2006 and had an important role in the initiation and development of the Research Exchange Program. The Fellowship Program support basic and clinical research in the field of Nephrology in Europe, facilitate scientific exchange and collaboration between European research institutions and help young investigators to establish their own research. Prof. Gérard London from France performed his mandate between 2002 and 2006. He has been instrumental for the design of the new initiative of the Pan-European Research Project–ARPA (Arrest Renal disease Progression Aim)–a clinical trial, a multifactorial intervention approach designed to calibrate the treatment to the risk profile of the individual patient. Prof. Dimitrios Tsakiris from Greece worked for the Council during 2003-2006. He contributed to the development of the ERA-EDTA Newsletter “Follow us”. This new initiative maintain the members of Association fully informed about all current Society’s activities and future projects.

The Secretary-Treasurer informed that Prof. C. Zoccali ended his first term as Chairman of the Registry and according with the Constitution his second term was voted and approved at the Madrid Council meeting in 2006. Prof. Carmine Zoccali redesigned the mission of the Registry. The QUEST - QUality European STudies - initiative is a new opportunity for starting research programs on the epidemiology of renal diseases, created within the framework of the ERA-EDTA Registry. Also, he is the creator of the NDT-Educational. The number of downloaded pages - 95.374 showed a huge traffic going around this on-line Journal.

Keeping the momentum of developing existing programs and creating exciting new educational initiatives, ERA-EDTA has decided to increase significantly - by 50% - the funding reserved for travel grants to attend the ERA-EDTA Congress. The total sum of 50.000 € was allocated to 89 grants: 23 for Basic Sciences, 23 for Nephrology, 23 for Dialysis and 20 for Transplantation.

The Secretary-Treasurer reminded that according with the resolution of the General Assembly in Istanbul, 2005, an Ethics Committee was organized. The preliminary meeting was held in Zurich at the end of April 2006. He invited Prof. Bernheim and Prof. Davison, who attended that meeting to update the General Assembly.

Prof. Bernheim informed that they had discussions that reflected the proposal from the General Assembly in Istanbul, 2005. The idea was that this working group has to be an Ethics and Governance Committee and members should be independent people.

Prof. Davison remarked that the first meeting was a fruitful one. The Ethics Committee should have two important missions: the governance of the Association related to different activities and ethical issues in clinical practice.

Prof. A. Covic continued his report with 2005’s accounts.

06. Approval of the 2005 accounts.

The Secretary-Treasurer informed that the simplified accounts and the full accounts

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have been forwarded to all ERA-EDTA’s full members. He presented two observations that were discussed with Prof. Shaldon. On page 20, the last item “Research” from the point 8 “Governance cost” should have gone under the chapter for grants “Quest”. The point 7 “Salaries and Offices of Officers” from the same page should split for each office. He mentioned that the accounts were audited and the Association has a good financial balance.

Prof. Bernheim was satisfied with the accounts and asked for details regarding the “Consultant fees”.

Prof. A. Covic informed that the amount represent what was paid by ERA-EDTA to keep the office operative and was divided according to the activities performed, some attributed to the Congress, some to the Membership Office, and the remaining part was considered as administration and recorded in the chapter “Consultants”.

Anna Maria Manara explained that the items reflect the costs with the lawyers, a part represent costs for the congress and other part consultant activities related to the congress. Euromeetings is a small organization that has only one client, ERA-EDTA.

The accounts were unanimously approved.

07. ProposedchangestotheConstitutionoftheERA-EDTA,presentedforthefirsttime – see appendix below.

According with the Constitution, a major change was proposed in the election system. In order to increase the number of voters at the ERA-EDTA elections (with the current system, voters at the ERA-EDTA elections are only 6% of those who are entitled to vote) it is necessary to adopt an electronic voting system. This system is easy and convenient, saves time and money and may be accessed from almost any type of computer. In order to adopt an electronic voting system, it will be necessary to amend two articles of the Constitution - Clauses VI 02 and IV 07. The Secretary-Treasurer presented the content of these two articles and mentioned that election systems, the old one and the new one, may be kept in parallel for one year.

Prof. Bernheim presented his disagreement regarding the proposal for the electronic vote and for the possibility that no more than two of the Council members could be from the same country. In his opinion is not acceptable to have more candidates from the same country and he considered that the Council has the responsibility of this issue. The ERA-EDTa’s members must come at the Annual Congress and must vote using the traditional system, on site.

The President presented the Clause V 04 b) from the Constitution, regarding the number of Council members from the same country: “No more than three members of the Council, of which two Ex-officio members shall be of the same nationality.” He reminded that the Constitution was modified two years ago according with the General Assembly agreement and vote.

Different opinions were voiced regarding these issues. Prof. Cambi informed that the senior members of the Association will write a letter to the Council with their proposals

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for these aspects. Prof. Drueke, Prof. Covic, Prof. Zoccali, Prof. Davison were in favour of the electronic vote. The President informed that the implementation of the electronic vote was discussed many times and the conclusion was that is a positive way forward.

Prof. Covic observed that there were two different issues: the proposal for the electronic vote and an amendment of the Constitution regarding the number of Council members from the same country.

The Council will receive the senior’s letter and will reconsider the article regarding the number of Council members of the same nationality. The President mentioned that the number of the candidates can not be restricted.

The suggestion was to use electronic and traditional system for vote and to have one ordinary Council member plus one Ex-Officio member from the same country. This will be discussed with the lawyers, on the Agenda of the next Council Meeting and will be presented for approval at the next General Assembly. Prof. Covic proposed to publish an article in “Follow-us” with these issues.

The General Assembly approved the last proposals.The President thanked Prof. A. Covic for his report and proposed to move on the report of the Chairperson of the Administrative Offices.

08. ReportoftheChairpersonoftheAdministrativeOfficesoftheERA-EDTA,R.Coppo.

Prof. R. Coppo began her report with the information about the current membership situation. At January 2005, there were 5739 members. Considering members from each European country, Germany has the highest absolute figure, followed by Poland, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Greece and France which have more than 250 members. If this number is related to the population of each country, Poland has the highest ratio, followed by Spain and Germany. Italy and Great Britain share the same member per population ratio. The analysis of the age gives rise to few considerations: 5% of members are less than 35 years old, 28% are between 35–45 years, 38% between 45-55 years, 21% between 55-65 and 8% more than 65 years old. Two thirds of the ERA-EDTA’s members are represented by Nephrologists in the full activity age. These middle aged members are likely to interact with other colleagues to compare their activity at a European level, must have the chance to keep their knowledge up-dated, and are entitled to receive new suggestions.

One of the main ERA-EDTA’s strategies is to attract young Nephrologists. The following proposals followed this strategy:a) Reduced fee for the annual subscription: 50 euro for nephrologists younger than 35 years plus the right to be linked to NDT on line, to receive newsletters, ERA-EDTA mailing list and to receive a reduced Congress fee.b) Minimal Congress fee for students less than 28 years old (50 euro), in order to invite the local students to follow the major ERA-EDTA Congress.c) Two travel grants for each CME Course for nephrologists that are less than 35 years old and early in their career as Nephrologists, plus a one-year subscription to NDT online.d) One grant to National Societies from Europe for the best presentations delivered by young Nephrologists, offering free Registration to the next ERA-EDTA Meeting plus a

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free three-year subscription to NDT.

This concluded the report from the Chairperson of Administrative Office.

The President thanked Prof. R. Coppo and invited Prof. D. Goldsmith to present his report.

09. Report of the Chairman of the Paper Selection Committee, D. Goldsmith.

The Chairman of the Paper Selection Committee began his report by thanking Silvia Menoni, the Parma Office, Prof. P. Ronco, members of the Scientific Committee and the abstract reviewers. 2262 abstracts were submitted, there were 89 free communications, 1522 posters and 651 rejected. 1611 abstracts were accepted, that means 71%. In comparison with the other congresses, in Glasgow were received the highest number of abstracts. When reviewing the countries that submitted, the Chairman of the Paper Selection Committee found that there has been an increase in the number of abstracts submitted from Italy, Poland, U.K., Greece and Japan. A small decrease was found for Turkey, Germany and Spain.

In his quality as Chairman of the Paper Selection Committee, Prof. D. Goldsmith concluded that the number and quality of abstracts was growing. A special attention should be addressed to the number and quality of free communications and this must be a priority for the congress in Barcelona.

10. Report of the Chairman of the Registry, C. Zoccali.

The Chairman of the Registry began his report by stating that it would be very brief and he would like to update the General Assembly on the Registry’s plans.

The Registry tries to promote a special interest in epidemiology by organizing the Epidemiology courses. These courses presented important tasks and were evaluated as a really success. The next course is planned to be in September, in Stockholm.

Also, the Registry marked to standardize data collection and to create an update infrastructure for these data. It is a difficult task but the Registry contacted the European Commission and applied for a new submission for the Quest initiative - NephroQuest. Prof. C. Zoccali ended his report by saying that he was confident that the Registry will gradually meet all expectations.

This brought the Chairman of the Registry’s report to a close.

11. Report of the NDT Editor-in-Chief, N. Lameire.

Prof. N. Lameire started his report by saying that the NDT is successful. There has been an increase in the submission with ratio 18-21%. By type the figures showed 55, 89% original articles, 20, 28% case reports, 3, 17% brief reports, 7, 42% letters to Editor, 5, 04% editorials, comments and reviews and 8, 21% other.

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In 2005 NDT accepted 39% of original articles, 24% brief reports, 27,8% case reports, 82% letters to Editor, 91% editorial comments, 53,3% editorial reviewers, 75% Nephroquiz, 40% teaching points and 46% images in Nephrology. The impact factor increased from 2,84 to 2,97. The fifty NDT papers most cited by other journals are original articles.This concluded the report from the NDT Editor-in-Chief.

12. Venue and date of future ERA-EDTA Congresses, J. Cannata-Andia.

The President announced the dates and the venue for the next two congresses.The 44th Congress is planned to be in Barcelona, during 21st -24th of June 2007.The 45th Congress was established in Stockholm, in May 20 – 24, 2008.

13. Election of the Chairman of Registry for the term 2006-2009 - Nominated Candidate: C. Zoccali (Italy) – second term

Prof. Carmine Zoccali (Italy) was confirmed for the second term as the Chairman of the Registry.

14. Election of Ordinary Council Members (three vacancies).

At the Glasgow General Assembly the following three new Ordinary Council Members were elected: Goce Spasovski (F.Y.R. of Macedonia); Christoph Wanner (Germany) and Andrzej Wiecek (Poland).

15. Correspondence and other business.

There were no correspondences or any other businesses.

16. Date and venue of the next meeting.

The 44th General Assembly will be held in Barcelona, Spain, June 2007. The exact date, time and place of the meeting will be communicated in due time to all members.

17. Closure.

The President thanked all for their contribution.

The General Assembly closed at 8.00 pm.

Prof. Jorge B. Cannata Andía Prof. Adrian CovicPresident Secretary / TreasurerERA - EDTA ERA – EDTA

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APPENDIX TO THE AGENDA OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLYPROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION

(in bold, underlined, italic)

1) Clause IV 07

IV. General Assembly.

07. Resolutions of the General Assembly shall be passed by a show of hands unless a secret ballot is requested by the Constitution or by twenty or more members who are entitled to vote. In this last case, apart from as provided in clause VI 02, the vote will be by ballot box with each voter providing evidence of his or her identity to the satisfaction of the President before voting. The count of votes will be public and under the direction of at least four members of the Association, who are entitled to vote.

2) Clause VI 02

VI. Appointment of the ordinary members of the Council.

02. The list of the candidates will be sent together with the Agenda of the General Assembly to all Full, Associate, Honorary and Senior members of the Association. The election will be made by secret ballot and those eligible to vote shall cast their votes either at the General Assembly or by using the internet voting facility, if any, established for this purpose.

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Registered Charity No. 1060134

ERA-EDTA44th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Saturday, June 23, 20076.15 pm – 7.15 pm

Forum HallCCIB

Barcelona, Spain

AGENDA

1. Opening.

2. Minutes of the 43rd General Assembly, Glasgow, July 17, 2006.

3. Matters arising from the minutes.

4. Report of the President of the ERA-EDTA, J. Cannata-Andía.

5. Report of the Secretary-Treasurer of the ERA-EDTA, A. Covic.

6. Approval of the 2006 accounts.

7. Proposed changes to the Constitution of the ERA-EDTA, presented for the first time – see appendix.

8. Report of the Chairperson of the Administrative Offices of the ERA-EDTA, R. Coppo.

9. Report of the Chairman of the Paper Selection Committee, D. Goldsmith.

10. Report of the Chairman of the Registry, C. Zoccali.

11. Report of the NDT Editor-in-Chief, N. Lameire.

12. Venue and date of future ERA-EDTA Congresses, J. Cannata-Andía.

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13. Election of the President for the term 2008-2011. - Nominated Candidate: G. London (France).

14. Election of the Secretary-Treasurer for the term 2008-2011. - Nomincated Candidate: A. Covic (Romania) - second term

15. Election of the Chairperson of the Administrative Offices for the term 2008-2011.

- Nominated Candidate: R. Coppo (Italy) - second term

16. Election of the NDT Editor-in-Chief for the term 2008-2011. - Nominated Candidate: N. Lameire (Belgium) - second term

17. Election of Ordinary Council Members (two vacancies)*.

18. Correspondence and other business.

19. Date and venue of the next meeting.

20. Closure.

* - The following candidacies have been proposed to the Secretary-Treasurer: - G. Cancarini (Italy); - J. Fox (U.K.); - J. Grinyo Boira (Spain); - L. Rosivall (Hungary); - P. Stenvinkel (Sweden).

All Full members of the ERA-EDTA will be able to vote for a maximum of two (2) candidates: the voting station, located in the Congress Registration Area, will be open from 07:45 – 18:30 on Friday, June 22, 2007 and from 7:45 – 18:00 on Saturday, June 23, 2007. A valid identification document (i.e. passport of national identity card) must be shown in order to vote. A short curriculum for each candidate will be on display at the voting station and also on the ERA-EDTA’s web-site. Full members can also vote immediately before the start of the General Assembly at 18:15 in the Forum Hall.

APPENDIX TO THE AGENDA OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLYPROPOSED CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION

(in bold, underlined, italic)

1) Article IV 07

IV - General Assembly

07. Apart from the election of the ordinary council members, as described in clause VI 02, resolutions of the General Assembly shall be passed by a show of hands unless a secret ballot is requested by the Constitution or by twenty or more members who are entitled to vote. In this last case the vote will be

35

by ballot box with each voter providing evidence of his or her identity to the satisfaction of the President before voting. The count of votes will be public and under the direction of at least four members of the Association, who are entitled to vote.

2) Article V 04

V - The Council

04. The Council will consist of: a) Five ex-officio members namely: The President of the Association The Secretary/Treasurer of the Association The Chairman of Administrative Offices The Chairman of the Registry The Editor-in-Chief of the official Journal of the Association And b) Eight ordinary members. The said Council memberships cannot be cumulative and therefore there must at all times be thirteen members of the Council. Council members of the Association may not remain on the Council for more than nine consecutive years, except for the application of clause VI-03 and VII-03. No more than two members of the Council, of these maximum one ordinary and one ex-officio, shall be of the same nationality.

3) Article VI 02

VI - Appointment of the ordinary members of the Council.

02. The list of the candidates will be sent together with the Agenda of the General Assembly to all Full, Associate, Honorary and Senior members of the Association. The election will be made by secret ballot. All those eligible to vote shall cast their votes either at the General Assembly or before the General Assembly by using the internet voting facility, if any, established for this purpose. If the electronic vote is used security measures must be taken, as described in the ERA-EDTA Council Regulations, to guarantee a safe and anonimous election process

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LASTNAME ________________________________ FIRSTNAME _______________________ ERA-EDTA N° ________

ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE ____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

ZIP CODE _________________ CITY __________________________________ PROVINCE _______________________ COUNTRY _______________________________________ TELEPHONE ________________________________________

FAX ____________________________________ E-MAIL _____________________________________________________

The ERA-EDTA collects and processes personal information to provide you with details regarding the Association and its activities. The above information will be published in the ERA-EDTA Directory of members on our web-site (access to which is restricted to ERA-EDTA members only) and will be used for accounting and commercial purposes by ERA-EDTA and/or Euromeetings s.r.l. in compliance with the Italian Legislative Decree 196/2003. Members can ask that this iformation be changed, corrected or cancelled at any time by contacting the ERA-EDTA Membership Of-fice where also further information can be obtained. Steps have been taken to ensure that consistently high standard of data protection are always in place.The mailing address and/or e-mail address of ERA-EDTA members may be forwarded to third parties whose services might be of interest to you. All requests of mailing addresses and/or e-mail addresses are, in any case, first approved by an Officer of the ERA-EDTA Council. If you would like to receive information from third parties please tick one of these boxes: c YES, I wish to receive only e-mails from third parties; c YES, I wish to receive only post form third parties; c YES, I wish to receive both e-mails and post from third parties.

Registered Charity No. 1060134

Thisinformationwillbeusedtoupdateourfilesas well as the Directory of Members on Internet.

We would appreciate your kind collaboration to help us give you a better service.

ADDRESS CHANGE FORMIf you have a different mailing address for correspondence,

or fax/phone/e-mail, kindly fill in the enclosed formand send it to the ERA-EDTA Membership Office

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ERA-EDTA Membership Officec/o Mrs. Monica Fontana Faughnan, Office ManagerVia Daniele Manin, 20I-35030 Bastia di Rovolon (PD)Italy

PUTSTAMPHERE

AIR MAIL POSTCARD

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