EHFA Structure

EHFA was a membership association, and its structure started from that. The members held the association; the board they elected ran it; and the technical bodies below the board held authority over the parts of the work that could not be decided commercially.

The general assembly was the association's ultimate decision making body. It met annually, admitted new members, approved the accounts and the annual plan, elected the board, and voted on changes to the statutes. Reports from the general assembly - including the annual accounts and the resolutions taken - appear in the association's news archive.

The board was elected by the general assembly from the membership and carried the association's legal and financial responsibility. It set the annual programme and budget and represented the association externally. Its members served in a personal capacity. The board page lists who held office.

The Standards Council held technical authority over the qualifications framework, the accreditation criteria and the content of the standards themselves. It reported to the board but was not directed by it on technical questions - the reason the framework survived changes of board and of national membership.

The Scientific Advisory Board brought exercise science and public health research into the association's decisions, and advised on the evidence behind the standards and the association's policy positions.

A small secretariat in Brussels ran the programme: servicing the council and the working groups, managing accreditation applications, administering the register, and managing the EU-funded projects. The secretariat was also the association's point of contact for members and for the European institutions; contact details are on the contact page.

Working groups sat between the board and the secretariat, each carrying a defined piece of the programme. The working groups page describes their remit.