1. Home
  2. About ECDC
  3. What we do
  4. Scientific advice

ECDC activities on scientific advice

According to Article 3 of ECDC’s Founding Regulation, one of ECDC’s tasks is to provide scientific opinions and scientific and technical assistance. ECDC may also be asked to issue a scientific opinion at the request of the Commission, European Parliament or a Member State (Article 7).

ECDC’s scientific advice aims at supporting informed decisions and actions at European and country level, by summarising the evidence and describing the strengths and limitations of different public health options to prevent and/or control communicable diseases. 

Examples of previously published scientific advice:

  • Expert opinions: scientific views or comments by a group of designated experts;
  • Systematic reviews: answer a defined question or a set of questions, using pre-specified eligibility criteria and a structured and clearly documented methodology to minimise bias when identifying and collating the evidence;
  • Public health guidance: set out options for prevention and control of communicable diseases, based on a thorough assessment of the most current evidence by an expert panel, using a rigorous and transparent evidence-based approach.