Paris, 19/11/2008 (Agence Europe) - The management board of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) met in Paris on 13-14 November to discuss an independent evaluation of the centre's work since it was established in May 2005. The evaluation found the centre has established a “clear presence on the international stage” and made a “significant contribution” to fighting infectious diseases. (See the special report in our Europe-Document series, No 2501.)
“The conclusion of this evaluation can be summed up in one point: ECDC is working well and being effective,” said Dr. Andrzej Rys, Director of Public Health at the European Commission during the meeting. As to whether the centre's remit, which is currently restricted to infectious diseases, should be widened at sometime in the future, the Commission is to re-assess the situation in the course of next year. “We will ask for our mandate to be extended from 2010,” Head of the ECDC Zsuzsanna Jakab told EUROPE. “But before that, we have to continue to do what we are doing well,” she added, proposing a gradual extension of the centre's sphere of activity.
The European Commission has just adopted a communication which gives a similar report on the ECDC's work to that of the external evaluation and takes stock of the centre's financial requirements in relation to its remit and current financial perspectives. The ECDC management board appointed its new executive. Austrian Hubert Hrabcik was elected Chairman and Belgian Jacques Scheres Deputy Chairman for the period from 2008 to 2010. The next meeting of the ECDC management board is scheduled to take place in the centre's headquarters in Stockholm in March. (L.B.S./transl.rt)