About the centre

The European Union Reference Centre for Endangered Animal Breeds (EURC-EAB) is responsible for the scientific and technical contribution to the establishment and harmonisation of methods for the preservation of endangered breeds, and the preservation of the genetic diversity existing within those breeds, in accordance with Article 29(2) of Regulation (EU) 2016/1012 (EU animal breeding legislation).

The scope of the Regulation is limited to breeding animals of bovine, porcine, ovine, caprine and equid species, and therefore the activities of EURC-EAB are related to endangered breeds of those animal species only.

The consortium led by Wageningen Livestock Research (WLR, the Netherlands), which comprises Institut de l’Elevage (IDELE, France) and the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE, Germany) was designated as EURC-EAB (EU 2022/2077) and has started officially operating on January 1st 2023.

One of the first tasks of the EURC-EAB is a mapping process to show the status of implementation of Regulation (EU) 2016/1012, in particular the breeding programmes for endangered breeds.

All National Competent Authorities for Animal Breeding, the National Coordinators for Animal Genetic Resources and all breed societies at national level (including associations of breed societies) for equids, bovines, porcines, ovines and caprines were invited to take part in the survey.