What are European Reference Networks?
European Reference Networks (ERNs) are virtual networks involving Reference Centres across the EU and Norway. The aim of the ERNs is to tackle complex or rare diseases and conditions that require highly specialised treatment and concentrated knowledge and resources.

The objectives of the ERNs are to:
Improve clinical care by developing guidelines, training, and sharing knowledge.
Secure involvement of key stakeholders including patients and patient organisations.
Develop research activities as well as clinical trials to improve disease understanding.
Implement new IT systems to enable cross-border clinical collaboration.
Rare patient cases can be discussed by a ‘virtual’ advisory board of medical specialists from across different countries and disciplines in a dedicated and secure IT platform, developed by the EU Commission specifically for ERNs. This approach allows the medical knowledge and expertise that travel, rather than the patients, who have the comfort of staying in their supportive home environments.
ERNs are based on Directive 2011/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2011 on the application of patient’s rights in cross-border healthcare, which provides rules to facilitate access to safe and high-quality cross-border healthcare and promotes cooperation on healthcare between Member States.
Health systems in the European Union aim to provide high-quality, cost-effective care, but this is particularly difficult with rare or low-prevalence complex diseases or conditions. Between 5,000 and 8,000 rare diseases affect the daily lives of around 30 million people in the EU.
European Reference Networks additional information can be found on the website of the European Commission.
Explanatory video for patients
This video explains to patients affected by rare, low prevalence and complex diseases what the European Reference Networks (ERN) are and how they might support them to identify diagnosis or treatment, in the case their health professional considers the support of the ERNs is necessary. It is available in all EU languages and Norwegian, with or without subtitles here: Watch the video on audiovisual.ec.europa.eu
Overview of all networks
You can find factsheets for every single ERN here.
Network Name |
Description |
---|---|
ERN on bone disorders |
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ERN on craniofacial anomalies and ear, nose and throat (ENT) disorders |
|
ERN on endocrine conditions |
|
ERN on epilepsies |
|
ERN on kidney diseases |
|
ERN on neurological diseases |
|
ERN on inherited and congenital anomalies |
|
ERN on respiratory diseases |
|
ERN on skin disorders |
|
ERN on adult cancers (solid tumours) |
|
ERN on haematological diseases |
|
ERN on urogenital diseases and conditions |
|
ERN on neuromuscular diseases |
|
ERN on eye diseases |
|
ERN on diseases of the heart |
|
ERN on congenital malformations and rare intellectual disability |
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ERN on hereditary metabolic disorders |
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ERN on paediatric cancer (haemato-oncology) |
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ERN on hepatological diseases |
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ERN on connective tissue and musculoskeletal diseases |
|
ERN on immunodeficiency, autoinflammatory and autoimmune diseases |
|
ERN on Transplantation in Children |
|
ERN on Rare Multisystemic Vascular Diseases |
Flyers about the ERNs
by the European Commission in different languages:
Cross-border healthcare
ERNs were set up under the 2011 Directive on patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare. This Directive also makes it easier for patients to access information on healthcare and thus increase their treatment options.
To find information points on cross-border healthcare in the country where you want to be treated, click here.