In order to ensure that health personnel teams are ready and can be quickly mobilised to respond to major health emergencies in the future, the European Union has established the European Medical Corps. It was officially unveiled at a high-level event at the European Commission on 15th February 2016. Participation to the event was by invitation only, but included the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Christos Stylianides, as well as representatives from EU Member State emergency management authorities, the World Health Organisation, the European Commission, and the European Parliament.
The European Medical Corps will provide a framework for mobilising medical and public health experts and teams for response and preparedness operations inside or outside the EU. It will be composed of emergency medical teams, public health teams, mobile biosafety laboratories, medical evacuation capacities, public health and medical assessment and coordination experts, as well as technical assessment and support teams and logistics support for medical operations. The success of the European Medical Corps will require a more in-depth cross-sectoral cooperation between civil protection, health, humanitarian aid, development, and research actors at EU, national and regional level.