Guide for countries undergoing an ECDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness Assessment

Operational support

18 February 2026

This Guide aims to provide relevant information and detail to stakeholders in countries under assessment for them to plan ECDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness Assessments (PHEPAs) on the implementation status of national prevention, preparedness and response plans described under Article 8 of the Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 November 2022 on serious cross-border threats to health, and repealing Decision No 1082/2013/EU, hereafter referred to as the SCBTH Regulation.

Purpose of the Guide

This document includes an overview of the assessment process and a detailed breakdown of the four-phase approach of the assessment process. It also includes practical information that can be used by the assessed country to prepare for the country visit.

The target audience for this Guide are stakeholders in the assessed country who are working with ECDC and are involved in planning or implementing the assessment.

This Guide includes a series of appendices that support its content, a brief overview of which can be found in Annex 1.

Publication file

Guide for countries undergoing an ECDC Public Health Emergency Preparedness Assessment

English (3.65 MB - PDF)

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Related files

Appendix 1 - Terms of Reference for PHEPA mission.docx

English (734.22 KB - DOCX)

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