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Scope
1. This Regulation establishes an independent European agency for disease prevention and control, its mission, tasks and organisation. 2. The Agency shall be named the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Centre’.
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation: (a) ‘competent body’ shall mean any structure, institute, agent or other scientific body recognised by Member States authorities as providing independent scientific and technical advice or capacity for action in the field of the prevention and control of human disease; (b) “prevention and control of human disease” shall mean the range of measures taken by the competent public health authorities in the Member States to prevent and stop the spread of disease; (c) “dedicated surveillance network” shall mean any specific network on diseases or special health issues selected for epidemiological surveillance between accredited structures and authorities of the Member States; (d) “communicable diseases” shall mean the categories of disease listed in the Annex to Decision No 2119/98/EC; (e) “health threat” shall mean a condition, agent or incident which may cause, directly or indirectly, ill health; (f) “epidemiological surveillance” shall have the meaning ascribed to it in Decision No 2119/98/EC. (g) “Community network” shall have the meaning ascribed to it in Decision No 2119/98/EC; (h) “early warning and response system” shall mean the network in accordance with Decision No 2119/98/EC for the prevention and control of communicable diseases, formed by bringing the Commission and the competent public health authorities in each Member State into permanent communication with one another through appropriate means specified in Commission Decision 2000/57/EC of 22 December 1999 on the early warning and response system for the prevention and control of communicable diseases under Decision No 2119/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 5 ) .
Mission and tasks of the Centre
1. In order to enhance the capacity of the Community and the Member States to protect human health through the prevention and control of human disease, the mission of the Centre shall be to identify, assess and communicate current and emerging threats to human health from communicable diseases. In the case of other outbreaks of illness of unknown origin which may spread within or to the Community, the Centre shall act on its own initiative until the source of the outbreak is known. In the case of an outbreak which clearly is not caused by a communicable disease, the Centre shall act only in cooperation with the competent authority upon request from that authority. In pursuing its mission the Centre shall take full account of the responsibilities of the Member States, the Commission and other Community agencies, and of the responsibilities of international organisations active within the field of public health, in order to ensure comprehensiveness, coherence and complementarity of action. 2. Within the field of its mission, the Centre shall: (a) search for, collect, collate, evaluate and disseminate relevant scientific and technical data; (b) provide scientific opinions and scientific and technical assistance including training; (c) provide timely information to the Commission, the Member States, Community agencies and international organisations active within the field of public health; (d) coordinate the European networking of bodies operating in the fields within the Centre’s mission, including networks arising from public health activities supported by the Commission and operating the dedicated surveillance networks; and (e) exchange information, expertise and best practices, and facilitate the development and implementation of joint actions. 3. The Centre, the Commission and the Member States shall cooperate to promote effective coherence between their respective activities.
Obligations of the Member States
Member States shall: (a) provide to the Centre in a timely manner available scientific and technical data relevant to its mission; (b) communicate to the Centre any messages forwarded to the Community network via the early warning and response system; and (c) identify, within the field of operation of the mission of the Centre, recognised competent bodies and public health experts who could be made available to assist in Community responses to health threats, such as field investigations in the event of disease clusters or outbreaks.
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Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.