The EU, along with many other countries and international organisations, recognises the threat of AMR and is addressing it at the highest political level, taking action to tackle this urgent global challenge.
International cooperation is a key element of the 2017 AMR Action Plan and the 2023 Council Recommendation on AMR, which outline actions to intensify EU involvement in global initiatives against AMR.
The G7 and G20 statements (2024) show that the problem requires concerted global governance efforts that follow a One Health approach.
The Commission works closely at the global level with quadripartite organisations and the Quadripartite Joint Secretariat on AMR:
- the World Health Organization (WHO) is engaged in implementing the Global Action Plan on AMR
- the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) plays a key role in supporting governments, producers, traders and other stakeholders in adopting measures to minimise the use of antimicrobials and prevent the development of AMR. FAO revised its Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2021-2025. At the 44th FAO Conference, the FAO Conference Resolution on Addressing AMR in Agrifood Systems was adopted
- the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) is engaged in preventing AMR worldwide through different actions:
- the promotion of responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in veterinary medicine to preserve their therapeutic efficacy in both animals and humans
- better knowledge and monitoring of the quantities of antimicrobials used in animal husbandry.
- the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is working to provide science-based evidence to inform strategies on AMR and to ensure that the environmental dimensions are adequately reflected in the One Health response to AMR. In December 2025, at the 7th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), a resolution on the environmental dimensions of AMR was adopted.
The European Commission is supporting and actively engaging in the Quadripartite’s AMR Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform to establish a shared global vision and build more consensus on AMR.
In September 2024, the second United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level meeting on AMR raised global commitments to address AMR, through a new political declaration, endorsed by UN member countries and EU Member States.
This includes concrete actions to address AMR across all sectors through a One Health approach that acknowledges that human, animal and environmental health are intrinsically linked.
In addition, in November 2024, the Jeddah Commitments were adopted at the 4th Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR in Saudi Arabia to translate some elements of the UNGA Political Declaration into concrete actions.
The EU also provides development capacity and supports AMR actions in low-and middle- income countries, through the UN AMR Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF), which supports the implementation of AMR One Health National Action Plans.
The Commission and other European Institutions, including the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), cooperate closely with the governments and agencies of the USA, Canada, Norway and the UK in the Trans-Atlantic Task Force for Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR).
The Commission is also supporting the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its efforts to assess the economic impact of AMR through a One-Health approach.
This includes various policy options for addressing AMR, as well as evaluating AMR costs and the impact of policies on the labour market and broader economy (OECD reports 2023: Embracing a One Health Framework to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance; Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance in EU and EEA countries).
Furthermore, the EU has been a strong advocate for the responsible use of antimicrobials and has promoted measures to reduce antimicrobial resistance in the food chain through the Codex Task Force on AMR (TFAMR) in 2007–2011 and 2017–2021.
These efforts have resulted in two guidelines and a code of practice, now available in a consolidated publication, providing guidance to help governments design and implement effective strategies to manage foodborne AMR.
The examples given above are merely representative and do not constitute an exhaustive list of ongoing or planned actions.
