The EU is not alone in recognising the threat of AMR and is addressing it at the highest political level. Many countries beyond the EU, as well as international organisations, are also 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.
Recent G7 (October 2024) and G20 (October 2024) statements show that the scale of the problem requires concerted global governance efforts, following a One Health approach.
At the global level, the Commission works closely with the Quadripartite organisations and the Quadripartite Joint Secretariat on AMR:
- the World Health Organisation (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 to prevent the development of AMR. FAO also revised its Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2021-2025.
- the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) is engaged in preventing AMR worldwide through different actions, namely the promotion of responsible and prudent use of antimicrobial agents in veterinary medicine to preserve their therapeutic efficacy in both animals and humans and 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 that can inform strategies on AMR and ensure that the environmental dimensions are adequately reflected in the One Health response to AMR.
The European Commission is supporting and actively engaging in the Quadripartite’s AMR Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform to help 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 took place to raise global commitments to address AMR. A new Political Declaration, endorsed by UN member countries—including EU Member States— is committed to 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, particularly 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 relevant specialised agencies of the USA, Canada, Norway and the UK in the Trans-Atlantic Task Force for Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR).
The Commission is also supporting activities by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to assess the economic impact of AMR with 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 actively promoted measures to reduce the emergence and spread of 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 conduct, now available in a consolidated publication, providing guidance to help governments design and implement effective strategies to manage foodborne AMR.
