Centres of Expertise and European Reference Networks: key issues in the field of rare diseases. The EUCERD Recommendations.

Background: Rare diseases, because of their intrinsic characteristics - large number of disorders and syndromes, low individual prevalence, severity, often limited information, lack of therapies - can benefit from collaboration and sharing of expertise while maximising the limited resources available for these conditions. Therefore, the development of Centres of Expertise (CEs) and European Reference Networks (ERNs) in this field is crucial.The European Union Committee of Experts on Rare Diseases (EUCERD) has been charged to assist the European Commission with the preparation and implementation of activities in the field of rare diseases in Europe.

EUROPLAN: a project to support the development of national plans on rare diseases in Europe.

Background/aims: National Plans for Rare Diseases (RDs) are the common denominator of current public health policy concerns on RDs across the EU. With the aim of a better distribution of the available resources, they conjugate the European objective that aims at ensuring that patients with RDs have access to high-quality care - including diagnostics, treatment and rehabilitation - with the national priorities of selecting specific measures for adoption and implementation.

Methods: The European Project for Rare Diseases National Plans Development (EUROPLAN, www.