Executive Committee of the UISPP not to recognize the Southampton meeting was communicated to the CIPSH, and it was confirmed by the General Assembly of the CIPSH and by the UNESCO representative at that General Assembly, emphasizing that the UISPP is the only scientific organization active in the study of prehistory and proto-history that is officially recognized by those bodies. (Recently, the UISPP was recognized by with the Scientific Committee of the Council of Europe, which gave it official status as observer.)

Another political matter that for some months threatened to interfere with the organization of the twelfth congress (which took place in 1991 in Bratislava) was the change in the political structure of what had been Czechoslovakia. Fortunately, thanks to the goodwill of the Czechoslovakian colleagues, all difficulties were overcome in time. During the Bratislava meeting it was decided to hold the thirteenth congress in Forli, Italy, in 1996, and 2001 will be held in Belgium.

The guiding principle of the organization over all the years has been the fervent wish of prehistorians from many countries to meet and discuss prehistory and to collaborate as much as possible in any number of international projects. The administrative organization of the UISPP continues to reflect this wish, as is shown by the most recent revision of the statutes adopted by the Permanent Council in Dublin in 1989. On that occasion, some twenty-five scientific commissions were officially integrated into the organization of the UISPP.

The present-day structure of the UISPP is as follows: First is the General Assembly, which consists of all persons who have paid their participation fee to the international congress of the UISPP; second is the Permanent Council, the main body of the UISPP, which consists of a maximum of four members per country, one delegate per associated international organization, the president of each special committee, and the president of each scientific commission. The members of the Permanent Council are elected in their personal capacity as scientists, and they are elected by a simple majority vote. The council meets during the congresses of the UISPP and once between congresses and archaeologists working in some 100 countries are members of the Permanent Council. The council elects during each congress the president and the organizing secretary of the next congress. This president is automatically the president of the organization and head of the General Assembly, the Permanent Council, and the Executive Committee for five years. The Permanent Council also elects the secretary-general of the council and the Executive Committee; it demands no financial contribution from its members.

The third structural body is the Honorary Committee, which is made up of members of the Permanent Council who for statutory reasons can no longer form a part of that council. The Permanent Council can elect to the Honorary Committee any person it judges to have played an important role in prehistoric research or to have helped the UISPP in any significant way.

Fourth is the Executive Committee, which is elected by the Permanent Council. It meets every year and consists of fifteen voting members, the president of the UISPP being one. The secretary-general has no vote, and a number of scholars who are invited to the meetings of the Executive Committee also do not vote. They are the presidents and organizing secretaries of the previous congresses, the previous secretaries-general of the UISPP, the presidents of the special committees and the scientific commissions, the delegates of the affiliated international organizations, and the organizing secretary of the next congress. Members of the Executive Committee are elected for a term of five years and may serve a second term.

Fifth is the Bureau, which consists of the president and the secretary-general, who meet whenever necessary. Sixth, the secretary-general is elected from the members of the Permanent Council for a period of five years, and this mandate is always renewable. During this mandate, the secretary-general ceases to be a member of the Permanent Council. The secretary-general sends out the invitations to the several meetings of the Permanent Council and the Executive Committee and reports to both bodies. The secretary-general runs the day-to-day business of the UISPP.