The duties of the EURLs are established in the Article 94 of the REGULATION (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2017 and, essentially, they are:
1. European Union reference laboratories shall contribute to the improvement and harmonization of methods of analysis, test or diagnosis to be used by official laboratories designated in accordance with Article 37(1) and of the analytical, testing and diagnostic data generated by them.
2. European Union reference laboratories designated in accordance with Article 93(1) shall be responsible for the following tasks insofar as they are included in the reference laboratories’ annual or multiannual work programs that have been established in conformity with the objectives and priorities of the relevant work programs adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 36 of Regulation (EU) Nº 652/2014:
(a) providing national reference laboratories with details and guidance on the methods of laboratory analysis, testing or diagnosis, including reference methods;
(b) providing reference materials to national reference laboratories;
(c) coordinating the application by the national reference laboratories and, if necessary, by other official laboratories of the methods referred to in point (a), in particular, by organizing regular inter-laboratory comparative testing or proficiency tests and by ensuring appropriate follow-up of such comparative testing or proficiency tests in accordance, where available, with internationally accepted protocols, and informing the Commission and the Member States of the results and follow-up to the inter-laboratory comparative testing or proficiency tests;
(d) coordinating practical arrangements necessary to apply new methods of laboratory analysis, testing or diagnosis, and informing national reference laboratories of advances in this field;
(e) conducting training courses for staff from national reference laboratories and, if needed, from other official laboratories, as well as of experts from third countries;
(f) providing scientific and technical assistance to the Commission within the scope of their mission;
(g) providing information on relevant national, Union and international research activities to national reference laboratories;
(h) collaborating within the scope of their mission with laboratories in third countries and with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC);