These Terms and Conditions of Membership (“Terms & Conditions”) apply to all memberships offered on www.escmid.org (“Website”) by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (Europäische Gesellschaft für klinische Mikrobiologie und Infektionskrankheiten), Aeschenvorstadt 55, 4051 Basel, Switzerland (“ESCMID”) purchased by an applicant (“Applicant”).
The Terms & Conditions can be accessed, saved and printed here.
Any other terms and conditions that differ from or deviate from these Terms & Conditions, including those that the Applicant declares to be applicable upon acceptance of the Terms & Conditions, are only valid if and to the extent that they have been expressly accepted in writing by ESCMID.
The Terms & Conditions shall apply in the version valid at the time of the Application or the renewal of the membership. ESCMID reserves the right to amend these Terms & Conditions at any time.
The subject of these Terms & Conditions is the acquisition of a membership selected by the Applicant on the Website for the duration selected by the Applicant. Depending on the Membership chosen, the Membership is automatically renewed after the Initial Term.
The language of these Terms & Conditions is English.
A number of different membership options are offered on the Website. Each Membership option includes the benefits defined on the Website and depends on the membership option chosen by the Applicant. Other than the benefits defined on the Website for each membership option, no other benefits will be provided. Some membership options are restricted to specific groups of persons that fulfill defined requirements and are able to provide the required proof.
The membership options listed on the Website do not constitute a legally binding offer, but rather an invitation to apply for a membership.
A binding application is only placed once the Applicant has entered all the details required to complete the application, confirmed that he/she has accepted these Terms & Conditions and clicked on the 'Submit' button (“Application”). Before submitting the Application, the Applicant may enter and modify the Application details. Submission of the binding Application shall be deemed to be an offer by the Applicant to ESCMID to enter into a contract for the membership applied and shall be effected by clicking on the button 'Submit'.
Immediately upon receipt of the Application, ESCMID confirms receipt of the Application (“Acknowledgement of Receipt”).
ESCMID reserves the right to accept the Application and is not obliged to enter into a contract on the basis of an Application. An Application may be cancelled or refused if there is a breach or suspected breach of these Terms & Conditions. Such cases include, but are not limited to, failure to pay for a previous membership, failure to cover a previous Application with a credit card, failure to meet the requirements for certain membership options (including failure to submit required documents) or inappropriate, unlawful or unethical behavior at events organized by ESCMID. Cancellations and refusals will be notified to the Applicant by email. If ESCMID accepts the Applicant’s Application to be a member, but it subsequently turns out that any or all of the information provided by the Applicant was misleading or false, ESCMID reserves the right to revoke the membership (by cancelling the contract) or to transfer the membership to a different membership option with immediate effect, without the right of appeal.
The membership contract is only concluded when ESCMID confirms the membership by email (“Confirmation Email”) or activates the Applicants membership in the user account on the Website. Membership and its term commence on the date of contract conclusion (“Commencement Date”).
The fee for membership consists of an annual subscription fee (“Membership Fee”), which must be paid to ESCMID annually or in another agreed interval in advance. The membership fees indicated on the Website for each membership option are exclusive of statutory taxes, if any, and are quoted in Euro (“EUR”).
The Applicant has access to the payment methods offered on the Website. If payment is made by credit card, the Applicant's account will be debited when the contract is concluded.
Payment can be made by bank transfer to a designated bank account of ESCMID. The Applicant acknowledges that payment by bank transfer may take several days to be received and to activate the ordered membership. Contract conclusion occurs according to Section III above.
In the event of late payment, ESCMID is entitled to charge interest on overdue payment of 5% of the invoice amount. ESCMID reserves the right to send the Applicant a payment reminder in advance, with a reminder fee of 20 EUR per reminder.
The Applicant may not set off any counterclaims that are not recognized or have not been finally adjudicated by a competent court.
The Applicant may only exercise a right of retention if the claims are based on the same contractual relationship.
These Terms & Conditions along with other rules and regulations consist of your obligation to ESCMID and to other members.
Whilst the Applicant has an active membership, he/she shall:
comply with these Terms & Conditions as well as any other rules and regulations issued by ESCMID.
not transfer his/her membership to or share his/her access to any membership benefit with, or share his/her personal membership login details with, any other individual (regardless of whether that individual may be based in the same organization).
keep ESCMID informed of any change in personal details or professional status. Current information is available on the Website in the membership area.
Failure to comply with the above conditions may lead to suspension of the Applicant’s membership, expulsion from ESCMID or termination of the Applicant’s membership in accordance with Section X below.
ESCMID may change and/or withdraw any and all membership benefits that apply to a membership option at any time. ESCMID provides the Applicant with thirty (30) days’ notice in advance of any changes to the membership benefits which it considers will materially disadvantage the Applicant, or materially impact on the particular category of membership held by the Applicant.
Updates, notices and membership information will be sent via email. ESCMID will also send a membership renewal reminder before the end of the respective membership. Communications will be sent to the Applicant at the email specified in the Application, as updated by the Applicant in accordance with Section V. ESCMID assumes no responsibility or liability if the Applicant does not update the details specified in his/her Application.
The Applicant may transfer or upgrade his/her membership only to next higher membership option by paying the respective Membership Fee of the higher membership option. A downgrade during the term of the membership is excluded.
ESCMID may at its discretion require the Applicant to transfer its membership to a different membership option if the Applicant no longer meets the eligibility criteria for a particular option of membership.
Where the membership option is changed, the Applicant is not entitled to any refund of the Membership Fee.
If the Applicant has an active and fully paid membership and subject to the compliance with these Terms & Conditions, the Applicant may state that he/she is a member of ESCMID.
Without the prior written consent of ESCMID the Applicant is prohibited to:
use ESCMID logos, trademarks or tradenames.
imply that the Applicant is employed, engaged, endorsed or otherwise representing ESCMID in any form whatsoever.
imply that his/her place of business, correspondence address or registered business address is at any ESCMID address.
claim that he/she represents publicly the views of ESCMID or that ESCMID supports the Applicant.
If ESCMID has given its consent for a specific case to use defined intellectual property rights of ESCMID the Applicant must adhere to reasonable instructions and brand guidelines of ESCMID. ESCMID reserves the right to withdraw any permission given pursuant to this Section IX at any time.
The copyright and all other intellectual property rights in all information, text, imagery, content and other materials made available to the Applicant by ESCMID in connection with his/her membership and/or via the Website (“Materials”) belong to the ESCMID and its licensors. Materials may be used by the Applicant for personal, non-commercial use only. The Applicant agrees to abide by all reasonable instructions and restrictions imposed by ESCMID from time to time in respect of the use of the Materials. Links to third party websites are provided for convenience only. ESCMID is not responsible in any way for, and has no liability in respect of, the content or operation of third-party websites or associated organizations. ESCMID neither represents nor warrants that Materials are accurate, up-to-date, complete, suitable for a specific purpose or error free. The Applicant acknowledges that Materials may contain inaccuracies or errors and ESCMID expressly excludes liability for any such inaccuracies or errors to the fullest extent permitted by law.
A failure to comply with this Section IX constitutes a material breach of these Terms & Conditions. ESCMID reserves the right to terminate the Applicants membership in accordance with Section X. In such cases, the Applicant has no right to a refund of any kind.
The membership is valid as of the Commencement Date. The initial term of membership depends on the chosen membership option and the renewal interval (“Initial Term”). Except as stated otherwise on the Website, the membership is automatically renewed after the Initial Term for one year (“Renewal Term”) and each Renewal Term is automatically renewed for another year unless terminated by a Party. Each Party can terminate the membership by written notice to the other Party thirty (30) days before the end of the Initial Term or each Renewal Term.
At the end of the Initial Term, membership options that are not automatically renewed expire without further notice.
The right of termination for cause is reserved. ESCMID may terminate, revoke or suspend the Applicant's membership with immediate effect if:
the Applicant materially breaches these Terms & Conditions.
the Applicant commits any other breach of these Terms & Conditions that the Applicant has failed to cure within ten (10) days after receipt of written notice by ESCMID.
the Applicant becomes bankrupt or insolvent, or bankruptcy and/or insolvency proceedings are instigated against the Applicant.
the Applicant fails to make any payment to ESCMID on the date on which it is due and payable or within seven (7) days after ESCMID’s payment reminder.
the Applicant becomes ineligible to be a member for any reason.
ESCMID is required by any applicable law or regulation and/or a reasonable request from the Executive Committee (EC).
If ESCMID terminates, revokes or suspends Applicant’s membership the Applicant has no right of a refund of the Membership Fees.
Upon termination of membership for any reason, the Applicant ceases to be entitled to any benefits of membership and any unpaid Membership Fees become immediately due and payable.
ESCMID warrants to the Applicant that the benefits will be provided using reasonable care and skill as far as reasonably possible. Where ESCMID uses the service(s) of any third party (such as speakers at events) ESCMID does not give any warranty, guarantee or indemnity in that respect.
To the extent permitted by law, ESCMID does not give any warranties or representations in relations to the membership, its benefits or any content. ESCMID is not responsible for ensuring that the membership benefits are suitable for Applicant’s purposes.
ESCMID reserves the right to assign or pledge to third parties the Membership Fee claims against the Applicant arising from unpaid fees, including any instalments, default interest and reminder fees that may be due.
ESCMID's liability is excluded to the extent permitted by law. In particular, ESCMID shall not be liable for slight negligence, auxiliary persons and substitutes or indirect damage.
If liability cannot be fully excluded under applicable law, ESCMID's liability is limited to the amount of the Membership Fees paid by the Applicant for the previous year.
The collection and processing of personal data about the Applicant by ESCMID is explained in the privacy notice. The privacy notice is available at https://www.escmid.org/privacy-notice/.
If an event, or a series of related events, that is outside the reasonable control of ESCMID (including failures of the internet or any public telecommunications network, hacker attacks, denial of service attacks, virus or other malicious software attacks or infections, power failures, industrial disputes affecting any third party, changes to the law, pandemics, epidemics, disasters, explosions, fires, floods, riots, terrorist attacks, wars and other acts of God) (“Force Majeure Event”) gives rise to a failure or delay in performing any obligation under these Terms & Conditions, that obligation will be suspended for the duration of the Force Majeure Event.
In case of a Force Majeure Event, ESCMID has the sole discretion to continue, suspend or terminate memberships with immediate effect.
Should one or more provisions of these Terms & Conditions be or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected.
The law of Switzerland shall be exclusively applicable. The application of the conflict of laws rules and the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is excluded. The choice of law applies to consumers only insofar as the Applicant is not deprived of the protection provided by mandatory consumer protection regulations of the state in which the Applicant has his place of residence.
The exclusive place of jurisdiction for disputes arising from or in connection with these Terms & Conditions shall be the competent ordinary courts of the City of Basel/Switzerland. Mandatory places of jurisdiction remain reserved.
Last updated: January 2025