A report from three European health agencies presents new data on antibiotic consumption and antibiotic resistance and reflects improved surveillance across Europe.
The European Food Safety Authority, the European Medicines Agency and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control are concerned about the impact of use of antibiotics on the increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: "To contain antibiotic resistance we need to fight on three fronts at the same time: human, animal and the environment.
"This is exactly what we are trying to achieve in the EU and globally with our recently launched EU Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance.
"This new report confirms the link between antibiotic consumption and antibiotic resistance in both humans and food-producing animals."
The report is released at a time when a UK antibiotic pressure group has called on the government to make sure the Great Repeal Bill protects EU standards on farm antibiotic use.
A diverse picture
The report highlights that there are still important differences across the EU in the use of antibiotics in animals and humans.
It said that reducing their unnecessary use will have an impact on the occurrence of resistance.
Overall antibiotic use is higher in food-producing animals than in humans, but the situation varies across countries and according to the antibiotics.
In particular, a class of antibiotics called polymyxins, which includes colistin, is used widely in the veterinary sector.
It is also increasingly used in hospitals to treat multidrug-resistant infections.
Other antibiotics are more often used in humans than in animals.
The report notes that resistance to quinolones, used to treat salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis in humans, is associated with use of antibiotics in animals.
