EDTCO was established in September 2011 as a dedicated Section of the European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) to represent all professionals working within the field of organ, tissue and cell donation for transplantation. EDTCO incorporates the former European Transplant Coordinators Organization (ETCO), which was founded in 1983 and became internationally renowned for representing European transplant coordinators and promoting organ and tissue donation in all member countries, and the European Donation Committee (EDC), which was newly founded within ESOT in 2005 to enhance best clinical practice in organ donation, transplantation and procurement by promoting national and international shared learning.

In September 2011, ETCO and EDC, sharing common interests and holding complementary activities, agreed to merge their strengths as a better way of serving their members and hence patients and society. Initially, the Section was named ETCO-EDC and held the original logos of both ETCO and EDC.

Article 10 of the ESOT bylaws states that ESOT Sections can formulate their own regulations, which must not conflict with those of the Society. This document describes the regulations of EDTCO, which have been approved by the EDTCO General Assembly.

EDTCO is a Section of ESOT dedicated to the donation and recovery activities of organ, tissues and cells for transplantation as well as the coordination of transplant activities of grafts recovered from deceased and living donors.

EDTCO aims to support health care professionals to provide clinically effective programmes on organ, tissue and cell donation, recovery and transplantation by contributing to:

• Increasing organ, tissue and cell availability;
• Ensuring high quality and safety of organs, tissues and cells intended for transplantation;
• Optimizing the safety of living donors and care for deceased donors and their relatives;
• Optimizing potential recipient care and follow-up from the perspective of clinical coordination.

EDTCO affiliates are ESOT members who specify their affiliation with EDTCO.
EDTCO affiliates have the rights and benefits derived from being ESOT members and must comply with their responsibilities as ESOT members.

EDTCO is composed of the Section Assembly, the Section Board and the secretariat.
The Board may establish specific committees and working groups. The chairpersons of these committees will be additional members of the Section Board (as specified in Section V.2.2).

1. Section assembly

The Section Assembly is composed of all EDTCO affiliates.
The Section Assembly is convened annually by the Board, alternately during the EDTCO and ESOT congresses.
The EDTCO Board informs the Section Assembly and raises to the Section Assembly specific issues for decision upon consensus and voting, when necessary, for example: confirmation of Board elections; changes in the Section regulations. (see also Section VIII for on-line consultation)

2. Board
2.1. Functions
The Section Board leads the Section, designs and implements the Section activities and projects, including educational and training initiatives, creates and maintains the Section communication tools and represents professionals in the field.
The Board may create committees and working groups which will report on their activities to the Board.
The Section Board reports to the ESOT council through its Chair (or the Vice-Chair in the absence of the Chair) twice a year.

2.2. Composition

The Board is democratically elected by the Section affiliates and confirmed at the Assembly. The Board consists of:

• a Chair
• a Vice-Chair
• up to five Board members
• the past Chair (advisory role, but without vote)The minimum composition of the Board is three members, and the maximum is five.
  The past chair is in addition to the maximum number of five Board members. When specific

  committees are created by the Board, the chairpersons of such committees will be included as Board members and invited to meetings, but without vote.

  2.3. Board meetings

  The Board will hold a meeting at least twice a year. Board meetings may be held in person or via teleconference, with at least one face-to-face meeting per year. Additional meetings may be held as often as the Chair or one-third of the Board (2 members or more) request one. The Board meetings are convened by the chair. For a meeting to take place, at least three members of the Board must be present.

  Board meetings are chaired by the Section Chair (or the Vice-Chair in the absence of the Chair).
  Decisions within the Board are taken by a simple majority of all Board members present at the Board meetings.

  3. Strategic and secretarial support

  Secretarial support for the administration of EDTCO and the coordination of Section activities is provided by the ESOT Team.

Only EDTCO affiliates will be eligible to become Section Board members.
In order to facilitate the election process, affiliates will be provided with a description of the positions open for candidacy.

Living and deceased donation are specified categories in the Board and nominations will be invited to represent each of these categories. Representation of different professional groups in the Board is desirable. If a particular professional group is not represented on the Board, the Board may appoint an extra-official advisor, as specified above.

Board positions are renewed every four years, except for the Chair and the Vice-Chair, both renewed every two years. Turnover normally occurs at the ESOT Congress.
Elections will be specifically for Board members. The Vice-Chair is elected by the Board amongst current Board members.

In order to ensure previous experience of the Chair within the Board, the Vice-Chair automatically becomes Chair and accepts appointment as vice-chair on this basis. If the vice- chair cannot take up the chair as intended, the Board will elect the next chair among its members.

Board members, except for the chair and the vice-chair, will be able to apply for re-election on one single occasion either for the same or a different position within the Section Board.

Elections are held by secret ballot every two years and are held on-line, following the scheme below:

EDTCO Certification Committee is a scientific advisory committee established with the main goal to update and define the UEMS transplant coordination curriculum.

The EDTCO Certification Committee shall have a Chair and 4 experts nominated and appointed by the EDTCO Board. The EDTCO Board has an opportunity to renew the composition of EDTCO Certification Committee every two years. Past experts can be re- appointed.

The chair of the EDTCO Certification Committee will be an ordinary member of the BTC without vote and sit on the Executive Committee of BTC (The Board of Transplant Coordination, created within the Division of Transplantation of the UEMS) also without vote.

EDTCO can acquire funds, which will be earmarked within the administration of ESOT for the benefit of EDTCO in collaboration with the ESOT treasurer and Executive Committee. Income and expenses are included in the Section budget periodically presented by the EDTCO chair to the ESOT Council and pursuant to its approval.

A suggested change in the Section regulations is proposed by the EDTCO Board or by at least 10% of the Section affiliates and approved by the Section assembly or by on-line consultation and voting with the affiliates.

Regulations will be reviewed every two years or may be reviewed interim if there is a call for specific amendment.