The European Parliament adopted by 542 votes to 43, with 9 abstentions, a legislative resolution on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EC) No 851/2004 establishing a European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
The European Parliament's position at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure amends the Commission proposal as follows:
Expanded mandate
The Regulation aims to expand the mission and tasks of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to enhance the Centre’s capacity to provide the required scientific expertise and to support actions which combat serious cross-border threats to health in the Union. The Centre's actions should be consistent with the ‘One Health’ approach, recognising the interconnections between human and animal health and the environment, as many outbreaks of communicable diseases are of zoonotic origin.
Mission and work of the Centre
The mission of the Centre will be to:
- identify and assess current and emerging threats to human health from communicable diseases and related special health issues, to report thereon and, where appropriate, to ensure that information thereon is presented in an easily accessible way. The Centre will act in collaboration with competent bodies of the Member States or on its own initiative, through a dedicated network;
- provide science-based recommendations and support in coordinating the response at Union and national levels, as well as at cross-border interregional and regional level, to such threats, where appropriate. In providing such recommendations, the Centre shall, where necessary, cooperate with Member States and take into account existing national crisis management plans and the respective circumstances of each Member State.
The Centre will perform the following tasks:
- search for, collect, collate, evaluate and disseminate relevant scientific and technical data and information, using the most effective technologies, such as, where relevant, artificial intelligence, respecting European standards regarding ethical aspects;
- coordinate standardisation of data collection procedures, and validation, analysis and dissemination of data at Union level;
- monitor, in close cooperation with Member States, their health system capacity and support the collection of data on their health system capacity;
- organise on-site visits in Member States, on a case-by-case basis, in close collaboration with the Member States concerned;
- monitor the capacity of Member States' health systems to detect, prevent, respond to and recover from outbreaks of communicable diseases;
- provide scientific and technical assistance to help Member States develop their detection and sequencing capacities, in particular those Member States that do not have sufficient capacities;
- ensure interoperability of automated applications and other digital tools that support cross-border public health activities;
- mitigate the risks, such as those related to biased datasets, flawed system design, lack of quality data and overdependence on automated decision-making.
The Centre will cooperate with the European Commission, national authorities, EU bodies and international organisations, in particular the WHO, to ensure effective coherence and synergies between their respective activities.
Obligations of Member States
Member States should coordinate and collaborate with the Centre in relation to the mission and tasks set out in the Regulation, by:
- reporting regularly to the Centre, in accordance with agreed timetables, data on the surveillance of communicable diseases (such as HIV, viral hepatitis B and C and tuberculosis), specific related health issues (i.e. antimicrobial resistance and health care associated infections) and other serious transboundary health threats;
- preparing national prevention, preparedness and response plans;
- facilitating the digitalisation of the data collection and the data communication process between national and European surveillance systems to provide the necessary information in a timely manner.
Additional resources
The capacity of the Centre to implement new tasks will depend on the level of financial assistance available from the Union, as well as on the internal and external human resources available. To be able to fulfil the new tasks entrusted to it as a result of the COVID‑19 pandemic, the Centre will need sufficient funding and staffing. Project-oriented funds, such as those allocated under the EU4Health Programme are not sufficient to respond to the Centre’s needs in the future.