ECDC signs Memoranda of Understanding with Albania, Kosovo*, Montenegro and Moldova

During a ceremony held at ECDC’s premises in Stockholm, Sweden, the countries’ signatories gathered alongside ECDC Director Pamela Rendi-Wagner to sign the Memoranda of Understanding. The visit also involved discussions with National ECDC Correspondents regarding the new EU Health Security framework and the future outlook for ECDC’s cooperation with EU candidate and potential candidate countries under ECDC’s amended mandate. Other countries under EU’s Enlargement policy are expected to sign MoUs with ECDC in the future.

Since 2004, ECDC, with financial support from the European Commission under the Instrument of Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), has been working to strengthen the capacities of Western Balkans and Türkiye for their future participation in ECDC networks and activities. This has allowed the national public health authorities of these countries to participate as observers in multiple mutually agreed ECDC networks, activities, meetings and technical discussions on communicable disease surveillance and control, data-sharing on agreed diseases, epidemic intelligence, threat detection, microbiology laboratory capacities, advancing One Health responses against AMR, preparedness and response. 

The Memoranda of Understanding will allow for continued collaboration between ECDC and EU Enlargement countries, ensuring the sustainability of mutually beneficial exchange of information on cross-border threats from infectious diseases, countries’ participation in ECDC networks as observers, and the sharing of best practices with EU Member States. The Memoranda of Understanding also serve as a prerequisite for specific agreements required for the transfer of personal data, including through access to ECDC surveillance platforms.

_{*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.}