All member societies of IFCC in Europe may become members of EFLM. Non-IFCC societies may obtain provisional membership for three years, provided that they apply for IFCC membership in the meantime. The General Meeting is the governing body of EFLM and is composed of a nominated representative from each EFLM National Society Member. It convenes at least once every two years. The main decisions reserved for the General Meeting are: admission and exclusion of member associations as full, provisional or affiliate members, election of the Executive Board, adoption of accounts and budgets, amendment of EFLM Articles of Association and approval of Executive Board proposed policies. EFLM is legally registered in Belgium. The Operative Office is located in Milan where the office is also maintained in collaboration with IFCC. 

Current (Full) membership of EFLM comprises the national societies of the following 40 countries: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, Ukraine. EFLM has also 1 Affiliate Member: AEFA (Spain) and 1 Provisional Member: SSLM (Slovak Rep). 

The operational structure of EFLM consists of an Executive Board (EB) and currently five Committees (C) which conduct out their tasks via Working Groups (WG), Task and Finish Groups (TFG) and Task Groups (TG). Officers of the EB (president, past-president, president-elect, secretary, treasurer and two members-at-large) are elected by the General Meeting for 2-year terms. In the current EB the following countries are represented: Germany, Norway, Croatia, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal and Czech Republic. Membership and corresponding membership in Cs, WGs is by application and open to nominations by EFLM national societies. 

The main activities of EFLM relate to education, research, development of the profession, requirements for competence, quality and accreditation of laboratories, organisation of congresses, and publications. EFLM has five Committees:

• Science (C-S)
• Quality and Regulations (C-QR)
• Profession (C-P)
• Education and Training (C-ET)
• Communication (C-C) 

For updates, please visit the EFLM website (www.eflm.eu). 

The Science Committee (C-S) focuses on promotion of research that translates the scientific results of laboratory medicine to clinical applications and improves patient outcomes through the appropriate use and interpretation of laboratory data in clinical practice. The Committee currently has WGs on:

• Biological Variation (WG-BV) which explores the sources of variation in and develops a critical appraisal checklist for papers on biological variation.
• Guidelines (WG-G) for the laboratory investigation and management of various conditions based on best practice.
• Harmonisation of Total Testing Process (WG-H) aims to act as a collector of the harmonization initiatives arising from other WGs or Task and Finish Groups of EFLM and from National Member Societies active in the field and will disseminate them to all the EFLM Member Societies attempting to monitor their application and effects.
• Patient Focused Laboratory Medicine (WG-PFLM) aims to evaluate and study methods for how specialists in laboratory medicine can communicate directly with the patients and how the laboratory can play an active role in patients using self-monitoring for monitoring their disease.
• Personalized Laboratory Medicine (WG-PLM) aims to develop papers on potentials and limits of the most recent laboratory technologies applied in personalized medicine.
• Postanalytical Phase (WG-POST) which carries out international surveys amongst general practitioners and investigates how doctors use and interpret laboratory tests commonly used for managing patients in primary care.
• Preanalytical Phase (WG-PRE) which promotes the perception of the importance of the quality of the preanalytical phase of laboratory medicine by carrying questionnaires for assessing the current practices related to some pre-analytical variables and defining the best practices for some critical activities in the preanalytical phase.
• Test Evaluation (WG-TE) which sets standards and develops practical tools for designing research studies for the evaluation of the clinical value and impact of new biomarkers.

The Quality and Regulations Committee (C-QR) supports the establishment of effective accreditation schemes and quality management systems in all European countries and liaises with ISO, CEN and the European Accreditation body (EA). The Committee currently has one WG on:

• Accreditation and ISO/CEN (WG-A/ISO), which represents EFLM in EA, ISO TC212 and CEN TC140. The WG focuses on influencing ISO/CEN standards and harmonisation of accreditation by international surveys, education and training of assessors related to specific professional standards of ISO 15189 and on setting European procedures for accreditation according to the flexible scope.

The Education and Training Committee (C-ET) has general responsibility for the postgraduate training aspects of the work of EFLM, in liaison with the Congress and Conferences Division and the Education and Management Division of IFCC, and also with UEMS. The Committee organizes regional and sub-regional conferences, workshops and postgraduate continuing education courses in association with relevant national societies. The Committee operates three WGs:

• Congresses and Postgraduate Education (WG-CPE), which is involved in the evaluation of bids for EuroMedLab Congresses, in maintaining the EFLM Speakers Bureau and in developing/ maintain the EFLMLabX project: the EFLM exchange programme. Moreover, the WG is responsible for granting of EFLM auspices..
• Distance education and e-learning (WG-DE), which aims to establish and maintain efficient distance learning channels between EFLM and its member societies in education within the field of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine.
• Laboratory Medicine Credit Points (WG-LMCP), which aims to establish and run an EFLM project to allocate credit points for educational events held in Europe and address to all Specialists of Laboratory Medicine. 

The Professional Committee (C-P) addresses the professional interests of specialists in laboratory medicine across Europe and promotes the contributions of specialists in laboratory medicine to better health and best care. Its aim is to achieve recognition of professional qualifications under European Union legislation based on  the principles of free movement of professionals within Europe. It liaises with CEPLIS (European Council of the Liberal Professions) and the European Commission on professional matters, and takes the lead in developing pan-European professional and ethical standards.

The Committee currently has one WG on:

• Register (WG-R), which manages the Register of European Specialists in Laboratory Medicine (EuSpLM). 

The Communication Committee (C-C) is responsible for efficient communication channels between EFLM and its member societies and other professional institutions, individuals and other targeted audience.via EFLM's website (www.eflm.eu) and EFLM Newsletter “EuroLabNews”. The official scientific journal of EFLM is Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM).

The Committee carry on its activities via its Working Group on Promotion and Publications (WG-P). 

Awards. EFLM has three awards:

• The EFLM Scientific Award for Laboratory Medicine – sponsored by Roche. This award is to honour an individual from an EFLM member country, who has made unique contributions to the promotion and understanding of clinical chemistry throughout Europe or who has made one or more contributions that have had a major impact on clinical chemistry. The award is given bi-annually on the occasion of the EuroMedLab congresses and is financially supported by Roche with an amount of 7,500 Euros.
• The EFLM Award for Excellence in Outcomes Research in Laboratory Medicine – sponsored by Abbott. The award is presented to the author(s) of the best published paper, as judged by an independent panel of experts, which demonstrates the relationship between the application of an in-vitro diagnostic test or testing strategy and clinical and/or economic outcomes. The award is given bi-annually on the occasion of the EuroMedLab congresses and is financially supported by Abbott with an amount of 5,000 Euros.
• The EFLM Walter Guder Preanalytical Award – sponsored by Becton Dickinson. The award is addressed to young scientists under 40 years of age, who have made a significant contribution to the advancement of the preanalytical phase. The award is given to the best study accepted for peer reviewed publication, where the nominee is the first author and a member of an EFLM member society. The award is financially supported by Becton Dickinson with an amount of 5,000 Euros.
• The EFLM Cardiac Marker Award for remarkable scientific work in the field of cardiovascular diseasesis – sponsored by HyTest. This award has been created to achieve wider recognition of the importance of high quality research in the field of cardiac markers among laboratory professionals in Europe. The EFLM-HyTest Cardiac Marker Award is granted to a young scientist under 40y for remarkable scientific work in the field of cardiovascular diseases. The award is given bi-annually on the occasion of the EuroMedLab congresses and is financially supported by HyTest with an amount of 5,000 Euros. 

A memorandum of understanding between EFLM and IFCC has formalized the relationship between the two Federations. EFLM has recently published its Corporate membership policy and is aiming to establish various models of collaboration with corporate partners from the IVD industry by setting up various projects that support the development of the profession in Europe.

Currently EFLM has formalized its collaboration with the following organizations:

AACC (American Association of Clinical Chemistry), AACB (Australasian Association of Clinical Biochemists), CEPLIS (European Council of the Liberal Professions), EC (European Commission),

EA (European co-operation for Accreditation), EAPM (European Alliance for Personalised Medicine), EAS (European Atherosclerosis Society), EASL (European Association for the Study of Liver),  EDMA (European Diagnostic Manufacturers Association), EuPA (European Proteomics Association), EUCOMED (Medical Devices Industry), ISO-CEN, EPMA (European Ass. for Predictive, Preventive & Personalized Medicine), EQALM (External Quality Assurance Programmes in Laboratory Medicine), ESPT (European Society for Pharmacogenomics and Theranostics), UEMS (European Union of Medical Specialists).

EFLM intends to set up even wider collaboration with sister Federations in order to harmonize scientific, educational and professional efforts in a complementary fashion, so that laboratory and health care professionals enjoy the benefits of such a collaboration both in the Euro-region and worldwide.

Prof. Tomris Ozben
Akdeniz University
Medical Faculty
Department of Clinical Biochemistry
07070 Antalya
Turkey
E-mail: presidentEFLM@eflm.eu