The Joint Research Centre is the science and knowledge service of the European Commission, offering scientific expertise in a wide range of scientific disciplines in support of almost all EU policy areas.

Responsibilities

The JRC provides independent, evidence-based knowledge and science, supporting EU policies to positively impact society.

The JRC works closely with research and policy organisations in EU countries, European institutions and agencies, and scientific partners in Europe and worldwide. Its core strengths are anticipation – providing the scientific underpinning for future policy initiatives; integration – linking scientific and policy areas as no single area can provide answers to today’s complex challenges; and impact – assisting policymakers to track and assess the impact of their policies.

The Joint Research Centre, through its Directorate F – Health and Food, in close collaboration with the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, has been developing the European Cancer Information System as the main tool for monitoring the cancer burden at the European Union level, providing harmonised data, indicators, and analyses to support research and public health policy.

As ECIS is primarily based on data from population-based cancer registries, the JRC’s support to the European Network of Cancer Registries (ENCR) —as the key data providers—is essential to ensure the quality, harmonisation, and comparability of cancer data across Europe. In this context, the JRC acts as ENCR secretariat, and also delivers the scientific, technical, and policy-oriented backbone that enables the ENCR to fulfil its mission of coordinating high-quality cancer registration. This strong synergy directly contributes to the EU’s broader objectives of improving cancer prevention, early detection, and patient outcomes.