EBC held the first Industry board meeting and board meeting of 2017 on the 8 – 9th of February.  On this occasion, delegates from EBC’s member organisations and industry partners discussed the ongoing activities of the organisation and plans for the year ahead.

The main outcomes that can be singled out include:

  • The Board of EBC unanimously approved the candidatures of the Dutch, the Norwegian and the Spanish Brain Councils as observers to EBC. The Board also validated the decision by the EANS to become associate member.
  • The first achievements on the proposed work plan for 2017 were discussed
  • The next milestones towards the closing conference of the « Value of Treatment » research project and the drafting of the white paper were discussed. It was agreed that a work plan would be elaborated in order to set clearly the focus, structure and responsibilities. A new discussion paper was released in order to pave the way to the white paper to be issued.
  • Further ideas were suggested such as EBC contribution in the framework of the World Health Day which shall this year focus on depression. For that purpose, a working group involving volunteering member organisations (including EPA, ECNP, GAMIAN-Europe) will be established in order to develop the message and position statement that EBC should disseminate on that occasion.
  • The report produced in collaboration with STOA (European Parliament’s scientific foresight unit) on the use of new technologies in the management of addiction was presented to the EP in Strasbourg on 19th January and the final version will be disseminated once released officially.
  • Report was given on EBC’s policy workshop on the prevention and early-detection of AF-related strokes. An invitation was launched to members and partners to organise similar events on other topics in the future.
  • The forthcoming launch of #ILoveMyBrain (organised on 14th February) was presented and supported.
  • The Lunch Debate and the Outreach Event (14th and 16th March) that EBC is co-hosting in the context of the Brain Awareness Week were presented. Members and Partners were invited to support EBC in these endeavours by attending, or possibly contributing financially to the organisation of these.
  • A working group on the prevention of suicide was officially established with the participation from representatives and experts from EPA, ECNP, GAMIAN-Europe, EUFAMI. A first meeting was convened after the Board Meeting.
  • A taskforce was set up to look into the revision of the declaration on good off-label use of medicines. Volunteers are kindly invited to express their interest to the EBC Brussels office.
  • Other developments with EBC projects (e.g. Not Myself Today, and project proposals under consideration) and advocacy campaigns (e.g. animal research) were also presented for information.
  • The Joint Statement on Mental Health in Europe, which was initiated by EUFAMI and Mental Health Europe, was officially endorsed by the Board of EBC.
  • The financial audit committee was set up, and will include members Alex Schubert (ECNP) on behalf of the Board, and Christoph von der Goltz (Lundbeck) on behalf of the Industry Board.

We would like to thank each one of you who contributed to these meetings – we look forward to continuing our work. Our thanks and appreciation also extend to our guest speakers: Stéphane Hogan (DG Research & Innovation), Marc Lange (EHTEL), Philippe Cupers (DG Research & Innovation) and Andrea Fiorillo (EPA) who kindly accepted our invitation to come and present at the Board Dinner and lunch.