A European equivalent of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to be established within 2 years. A July 23 proposal by the European Commission (EC) to create a European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) is likely to be approved by the European Parliament and Council by the end of 2003.“In today's Europe, where millions of people cross national borders each day, we need rapid, coordinated action at EU level to protect our citizens. The [new centre] will make this possible”, said Health Commissioner David Byrne.The ECDC will coordinate responses of national public health systems to emerging threats from communicable diseases such as influenza. Since 1999, the EC has managed an ad hoc Communicable Diseases Network, but it “is simply not efficient enough to protect the EU's citizens sufficiently against threats to their health posed by communicable diseases, including the possibility of the deliberate release of infectious agents”. This network proved effective in monitoring the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), but, says the EC, “Faced with a more infectious virus than SARS, delays or inconsistencies in member states' responses could prejudice containment of the outbreak Europe-wide.”The existing network and early warning and response systems will be transferred to the ECDC, but responsibility for action will still rest with member states. The centre will standardise surveillance methods, ensure data compatibility, and provide scientific assessment, technical support, and information to officials and the public.The centre will open in 2005, with a staff of 15 and a budget of US$3·7million, increasing to $33·4 million in 2007. In contrast, the CDC employs 8500 staff and has a budget of $6·5 billion. But Byrne stressed “It will be a hub, an intelligence centre. The core is already in place, and it will strengthen existing links.”Pauli Leinikki (National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland) told The Lancet that “the new centre is expected to provide a vehicle to draft common policies and help member states to coordinate their actions in the best possible way. The new centre should not become an institute resembling the CDC in Atlanta. For that the resources are simply not available, and member states prefer to see that their own systems are adequately resourced before being ready to send their experts to a European centre”.