The EU legislation sets the process and criteria for establishing an ERN and selecting its members.
An ERN must meet the following criteria:
- have at least 10 healthcare providers (network members) from at least 8 different EU countries
- each healthcare provider (network member) must be endorsed by their respective EU country
- all members must have common expertise in a specific field, treatments, diseases or health conditions
- submit a proposal for a network (once the call for ERN is launched)
- meet the criteria for networks and their members, as in the ERNs Commission delegated decision
- gain the approval for membership, which the Board of Member States grants based on the independent technical assessment.
The European Commission ran a first call for proposals (document/Presentation) for members for ERNs in 2016.
The ERN Board of Member States approved the first 23 networks in December 2016 and February 2017 under Implementing Decision 2014/287/EU (press release/Q&A).
The Commission issued the first call for proposal for new members to join the existing 24 ERNs in 2019.
On 26 November 2021, the ERN Board of Member States approved 620 applicants by consensus, in line with Implementing Decision 2014/287/EU Article 10.