EU rules for surveillance and control of communicable diseases

Since 1999, EU Member States have had a number of obligations in the area of surveillance and control of communicable diseases (Decision 2119/98/EC). Specific technical standards to be applied by Member States are determined by the Commission, following an opinion of the network committee. Those concern among others the list of diseases under surveillance, case definitions, epidemiological and microbiological surveillance methods, and guidelines for emergency situations. Since the founding of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in 2005, capacity at the EU level to support Member States has been extended considerably. At the same time at the international level, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued new Interna- tional Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), which include broader obligations for notification than the old International Health Regulations. In order to address this new situation, the Commission is working on a revision of the network decision and the ECDC regulation. These proposals should be submitted to the Council and Parliament in 2010. Important aims are simplified decision- making procedures, more clarity about the distribution of tasks between Member States, Commission, and ECDC, fewer working groups and committees, as well as an adaptation to the IHR of WHO.