2022 Work Plan: Preparatory measures for the participation of the Western Balkans and Türkiye in ECDC activities, with a special focus on One Health responses against antimicrobial resistance and severe acute respiratory infection surveillance, 2020-2024
Document outlining the 2022 work plan for Preparatory measures for the participation of the Western Balkans and Turkey in ECDC with special focus on OneHealth against AMR and enhanced SARI surveillance.
Executive summary
Collaboration with countries who have applied to join the EU has been one of the strategic priorities of ECDC since early years of its establishment and endorsed in the ECDC Strategy 2021-2027. It is the sixth ECDC project with external financial assistance by DG NEAR under the Instrument of Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) aimed to prepare national authorities of Western Balkans and Turkey for their future participation in ECDC. The beneficiaries of this ECDC-IPA6 project benefit from a European perspective that was granted to them by the European Parliament and the Council, i.e. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Turkey (IPA beneficiaries).
The work stream dedicated to the Advancement of One-Health responses against AMR primarily targets the Western Balkans as per the EU strategy for A credible enlargement perspective for and enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans. In response to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak the EU approved a substantial support pack-age to the Western Balkans in tackling COVID-19 and the post-pandemic recovery. To complement EU’s response approach of reallocation of financial support to address the immediate effects of COVID-19 related crisis, ECDC has embarked on additional work area under this project on enhanced SARI surveillance in Western Balkans.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
