Chapter VIII of FEPA Statutes stipulates that the Honours, Medals and Awards which may be awarded by FEPA, are the following:

a)

 Honorary Presidency

Articles 21.2 and 21.3 provide sufficient details as to how this honour may be awarded and, therefore, there is no need for any further elaboration.

b)

FEPA Medal

Article 21.4 provides in general terms the raison d’etre of this distinction. However, it requires clarification as well as the establishment of an appropriate procedure to be followed.

c)

Certificate of Appreciation

Articles 21.5 - 21.7 provide the necessary details but again the appropriate procedure was left to be decided.

By simple reading of this Chapter it is easily recalled the corresponding articles 50 and 51 of FIP Statutes which were adjusted to accommodate the European needs.

In view of the above, paragraphs b and c require the necessary elaboration in order all FEPA Member-Federations be familiar with and at the same time the Board be consistent with the Awards procedure.

FEPA Medal

Article 21.4 provides the following:

FEPA Medal shall be awarded by the Board to candidates who have given exceptional service to organized philately or have demonstrated exceptional philatelic study and research or to persons who have given a significant service or support to philately

The above wording distinguishes between three categories of candidates:

A)

Exceptional service to organized philately

The above qualification applies to philatelists who, from their position as Presidents of International Philatelic Organizations (FIP, FEPA, AEP, AIJP, WADF etc) or National Organizations (Federations or similar institutions/organizations) or individual philatelists, have offered exceptional service to European Philately, either as long-standing or an instant one (ie significant donations focused to the promotion of organized philately at European level).

B)

Exceptional philatelic study and research

The above wording may lead to misunderstandings as philatelic study and research may be shown by the publication of notable handbooks or by forming exceptional collections (that is to say exhibits, otherwise collections not shown do not represent any service).

As the article, in general, does not speak for distinguished philatelists or collectors or notable collections but only of service to philately, the meaning of the phrase is construed as a literary prize to be awarded to a European who has contributed with his study and research in printed form or otherwise to the furtherance of Philately (not necessarily the European one only).

C)

Service or support to Philately

The above qualification applies rather to individuals, outside of the philatelic family, who have given a significant service or support to European Philately (ie Prime Ministers, Ministers, high officials of European Union, Universal Postal Union, United Nations Organization and its branches and the like).

Certificate of Appreciation

Articles 21.5 – 21.7 provide the following:

21.5 FEPA Certificate of Appreciation, may be presented to Philatelic Associations or Clubs for outstanding activities for the promotion of philately on regional or local level.

21.6 The award of the Certificate of Appreciation may be proposed by a member Federation or by the Board six months before the date of presentation.

21.7 The Certificate of Appreciation shall be presented at a suitable occasion to the Association or Club to be honoured, by a Member of the FEPA Board or by the President of the national Federation.

The following Regulations establish the procedure to be followed for the FEPA Medal and the Certificate of Appreciation Award.

FEPA AWARDS REGULATIONS

1.

The National Federations’ members of FEPA or the FEPA Board members may submit nominations of European candidates for the three categories of FEPA Medal and the Certificate of Appreciation. The nominations should be accompanied by an adequate statement of the status and qualifications of the candidate together with a photo and the candidate’s consent.

2.

Nominations should be submitted to the FEPA Director responsible for Literature and Awards, by 1st December latest of each year.

3.

The entire file of candidates together with the Director’s proposals are submitted to the FEPA Board who decide and awards the Medals and Certificates of the year.

4.

The FEPA medals are presented at the FEPA Congress of the next year.

5.

The Certificate of Appreciation in the form of an appropriate Diploma is presented next year at a suitable national occasion by a FEPA Board member or the President of the National Federation.

6.

 No more than one medal per category of FEPA medals or three Certificates of Appreciation may be awarded each given year.

7.

The FEPA Board will be given the appropriate publicity to the awards (FEPA website, FEPA News magazine and press releases) and the responsible FEPA Director is entrusted with the keeping of the Awards records.

8.

 The present Regulations were approved by the FEPA Board on 29 January 2005 in Lisbon and are put immediately in force.