EHFA Statutes

EHFA was constituted under Belgian law as an international not-for-profit association, and its statutes were the document that created it. They set out the association's objects, who could be a member, how the general assembly and the board worked, and how the statutes themselves could be changed.

• Objects. The association's purposes, including the setting of standards for the health and fitness sector, the accreditation of training and registration bodies, and the representation of the sector to the European institutions.
• Membership. The categories of member, the conditions for admission, the subscriptions attached to each category, and the grounds for suspension or expulsion.
• The general assembly. Its powers, how it was convened, how members voted, and which decisions required a special majority.
• The board. Its composition and size, the election and terms of directors and officers, its powers, and the arrangements for meetings and for delegation to an executive committee.
• The technical bodies. The basis on which the Standards Council and the Scientific Advisory Board were established and reported.
• Finances. The financial year, the keeping and approval of accounts, and the association's not-for-profit character.
• Amendment and dissolution. The majorities required to change the statutes, and what would happen to the association's assets on dissolution - which, as a not-for-profit, could only pass to another body with comparable objects.

The structure page describes how the document translated into practice, and the board page lists the directors the general assembly elected under it. Amendments to the statutes were put to the general assembly and reported in the association's press releases.

Applicants to the accreditation programme were often asked to show that their own governing documents supported the standards they were applying to deliver; the statutes are the equivalent document for the association itself.