Guidelines for Country Representatives

Part 1 - Introduction

The European Music Therapy Confederation (EMTC) is a confederation of professional music therapy associations, working actively to promote the further development of professional practice in Europe, and to foster exchange and collaboration between member countries. The overall purpose of the EMTC is to nurture mutual respect, understanding and exchange between music therapists in Europe.

A Country Representative (CR) represents the music therapists of all EMTC member associations of his/her country. He/She takes an active role in the EMTC, both working on issues at a European level, as well as communicating national information to the EMTC and vice versa. This is an important, demanding role, but can be very rewarding, not only on a national and international level, but also for the professional life of the CR.

In this document, we would like to introduce some important information to get to know the duties of a CR, the way we communicate and the structure of the organisation.

Part 2 - CR Job Description

EMTC Bylaws (BL) are regarded as the primary source of the CR (and CR substitute) job description.

– The Country Representative must be a qualified music therapist whose role is to maintain continuous contact between the EMTC and the national music therapy association(s )/ organization(s) in their country (also known as legal entities but in this document, for the sake of clarity, referred to as member associations). This includes the following tasks:

a) To share pertinent national information with their EMTC regional groups and at the EMTC General Assemblies (GA).
b) To ensure that all official EMTC news and any relevant information about music therapy in Europe is transmitted to members at the national level.
c) To ensure that any EMTC papers, questionnaires etc. are distributed to national associations and returned to EMTC.
d) To ensure that the deadlines for paying annual dues are met.
e) To work actively in developing and integrating professional standards at the national and European levels (BL/ 1.3.4).

–  Should the CR resign, or be unable to carry out their duties, the CR substitute may attend all EMTC meetings, including the GA, Action Team, Regional, and other meetings until the new CR is elected by the member organisation(s) in their country. The official EMTC email from the CR should be passed on immediately to the substitute. This procedure maintains the continuous workflow and effectiveness of these EMTC platforms.

–  The CR and the substitute representative are elected for a period of three years, with the possibility for re-election. (BL/ 1.3.2) As it takes some time to get to know the structure and content of CR duties, it is suggested that a CR commits for 2 to 3 periods, i.e. 6 to 9 years.

–  The national member association(s) commit(s) to cover travel costs for the CR to each annual General Assembly, but accommodation is covered by the host country. (BL/ 1.3.3.)

–  The EMTC requires the signature of the Chairs of all the member associations in each country, indicating that they have been part of the voting process regarding the CR and the substitute representative. This is documented in the Country Representative Election Form (download here). (BL/ 1.3.5.)

–  The Country Representative Election Form is returned to the Board (info@emtc-eu.com). (BL/ 1.3.6.)

Ethical aspects of CR activity are laid down in the EMTC Ethical Code (EC, Articles 1 – 10): emtc-eu.com/ethical-code