Since its foundation in 1980, ESRA has sought to associate and affiliate into one organization all anaesthesiologists, physicians and scientists who are engaged in, or interested in, the techniques of regional anaesthesia for surgery, obstetrics, paediatrics and pain control.As in previous years, the focus of the scientific programme will be on state of the art presentations in our field as well as new insights into basic science, clinical research and therapeutic interventions. We are creating a scientific programme in which the interaction between speakers and audience is to be continuous and the basic aim for the scientific programme. The scientific standard at the annual ESRA congress is now recognised as one of the best in Europe and as a result carries a high rating with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, who assign credit hours to all ESRA congresses.The Scientific Committee is developing a programme with topics covering all the fields of interest in the application of regional anaesthesia/analgesia alone or in multimodal approach. Acute and chronic pain management topics of special interest for anaesthesiologists will also be included as an important part of the programme.The type of sessions will be refresher course lectures, symposia, pro/con debates, panel discussions, luncheon sessions, special workshops including cadaver workshops, and of course free paper and poster presentations. Residents are invited to submitt their papers for inclusion in the ESRA Resident Best Free Paper and the ESRA Best Poster Award competitions.