La Ville Lumière in Paris will be the seat of our next congress planned from 17th to 21st September 2008. The handover from Vienna (Erwin Tschachler) to Paris (Pascal Joly) took place on Sunday, 19th May 2007. We are sure that Paris will react to the success of the Congress in Vienna with a deep commitment by all the local committees and with the cooperation of the society’s committees and we trust that the final result will be absolutely positive. The extremely high percentage of acceptance to the invitations to chair and/or to lecture in the scientific sessions represents a very significative sign of approval of the general programme of our scientific community.

The Palais des Congrès is an extremely happy and proven seat for congresses attended by large numbers of people, with auditoriums and conference rooms for every kind of activities and with very suitable show rooms. The 129 sessions foreseen will cover each field of dermatology and of the relevant specialist branches, so that it is easy to expect interesting and attended debates also in view of the wide space left to the young. Non- European delegations will be present also in Paris, as a reconfirmation of the intercontinental “vocation” of the EADV.

If the process of the membership extension will go on, also through an agreement with the national societies, the presence of colleagues from each country of Europe will be even more numerous and Paris could represent a decisive turning-point in the life of our society. I believe that the fascination of this city will strongly contribute to the success, also at a social level, of the Congress: in Paris we all have a good reason to feel at our ease, as at our homes. In front of the timeless hints left in this city by the history of Europe and of the entire World we cannot but surrender to the fascination of our memories and to its beauty. It is easy to foresee that the city of Enlightenment will light up the 17th Congress in an unforgettable way.

Prof. Alberto Giannetti
EADV President