Brussels, 08/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - When it comes to managing conflicts of interest, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) could do better and should recognise its failings, says European Ombudsman P. Nikiforos Diamandouros. In draft recommendations sent by him to EFSA on 7 December, the Authority is invited to strengthen its rules and procedures with regard to negotiations by serving staff members concerning future jobs of the “revolving doors” type in biotechnology companies.
The above recommendation is based on examination of a complaint introduced by Testbiotech, a German NGO (Complaint 775/2020/ANA), which brings into question EFSA's “revolving door” policy. The European Ombudsman concluded that: “EFSA should acknowledge that it failed to observe the relevant procedural rules and to carry out a sufficiently thorough assessment of the potential conflicts of interest arising from the move of a former member of its staff to a biotechnology company”. The complaint concerned the case of a former senior staff member of EFSA, Dr Suzy Renckens, who, after having been head of the unit responsible for the risk assessment of genetically engineered plants, then moved to a job at Syngenta, a company that produces and markets those plants. If similar cases were to occur in the future, the Ombudsman considers that EFSA should obtain sufficient information about the tasks carried out by the staff member concerned, a precise description of the new job proposed, and the potential link between the new post and that previously held, while carrying out a detailed assessment and tracing the results of that assessment.
The European Ombudsman's opinion was immediately hailed by the complainant. “The ruling from the Ombudsman shows in detail that EFSA failed to fulfil its obligations. We are very concerned that both EFSA and the Commission have tried to deny their responsibilities in this case by rejecting our original complaints. The authority and also the European Commission which is backing EFSA are eroding confidence in European institutions. In consequence, they are putting at risk the protection of consumers and the environment”, said Christoph Then of Testbiotech. EFSA has until 31 March 2012 to answer the European Ombudsman, who has the authority to refer the matter to the European Parliament.
A report published on 8 December on the follow-up given by EU administration to the critical and complementary remarks made by the Ombudsman in 2010, notes the positive responses obtained in 78% of the cases. The Ombudsman, however, remains concerned about the high number of unsatisfactory responses (10 out of 33) from the European Commission to his criticism. (AN/transl.jl)