ERS Governance and Transparency

As a not-for-profit organisation, independence and integrity are at the heart of everything ERS does. This vision is achieved through strict governance principles, codes of conduct and transparency regulations.

Governance

The European Respiratory Society (ERS) is a non-profit organisation. Its governance and management are laid down in its statutes comprising:

Amendments to ERS Constitution and By-Laws ratified by the ERS General Assembly

During the 2019 ERS Congress, members in attendance at the General Assembly meeting approved in-depth revisions to the ERS Constitution and By-laws that are now effective (since 1 January, 2020). ERS would like to highlight the key changes to members:

  • Declaration of Conflict of Interest: The rule that prohibits persons with any real or perceived relationship with the tobacco industry from being an ERS member has been expanded upon, and now states that persons with any real or perceived relationship with the tobacco industry and/or alternative nicotine delivery products (such as e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products) are not eligible for ERS membership. Please refer to Article III.3 in the ERS Constitution and article IX in the ERS By-Laws.

  • The ERS membership fee for persons who wish to join via their National Society has increased from €20 annually to €30 annually. This change does not affect the membership invoicing for the 2019 membership year; societies will only be charged €30 for the 2020 invoices that are completed at the end of the membership year. Further, the change in fees do not impact free membership for those over 65 years old who have membership through their national society. Please contact societies@ersnet.org for more information.

Transparency

ERS is committed to being transparent in all its activities. All ERS officers and members of the Society’s committees, working parties and sub - committees complete an annual Declaration of Interest (DoI), which is published on our website or can be requested for consultation.

Visit the leadership page to view conflict of interest forms for the current executive officers.

Codes of conduct

ERS also operates within a number of established codes of conduct

Annual report

The ERS annual report provides an overview of our achievements and a financial report each year.

Additional information: Funding sources

Financial sponsors

A number of companies sponsor ERS or ERS activities throughout the year:

Other policies

Translation of ERS resources

ERS resources may be translated with permission from the Society. Our members and/or contacts can complete our online request form specifying the item(s) they which to translate and for what purpose. The form will then be reviewed and providing those details meet our criteria, translation can proceed. Following that, and for the purpose of quality control, we review the translation and give approval for use. The individual/organisation requesting translation is responsible for full cost of translation of their required items.