Brussels, 10/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - After Diana Banati, who chaired the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) management board, resigned on 9 May to return to ILSI-Europe, a major agro-food lobby that she had left to work for EFSA (see EUROPE 10611), the decision taken by Parliament on 10 May to defer its vote on discharge of the budget for three European agencies, including EFSA (see related article), continued to fuel polemic on EFSA independence. All the same, the European Commission is not ready to use its power of initiative to propose new rules guaranteeing the independence of all EU agencies, preferring to first of all reach consensus with member states, the Commission said on Thursday 10 May.
Recalling that EFSA is supposed to be the “independent voice of science” guiding EU institutions, the Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), which has already announced possible forthcoming conflicts of interest, considers that the case is shocking in that it reveals the close links existing between EFSA and ILSI. Although the new rules taken on by EFSA last December “are a considerable improvement, they are not 100% conflict-proof”, states Nina Holland of CEO (see EUROPE 10570). In a few weeks' time, the names of the new experts on the eight EFSA panels will be published. It will take some time before being able to verify whether the new rules have the effect of banning conflicts of interest from the EFSA panels, the CEO states.
At a time when the EU institutions are carrying out a review of the EFSA founding regulation (Regulation No178/2002 on the general principles and prescriptions for food legislation establishing EFSA and fixing procedures relating to the safety of foodstuffs), “it is more clear than ever that industry interests should be banned for EFSA management board members for good. Banati's move back to ILSI should never have been possible, and a 2-year cooling-off period should be applied for management board members”, said Nina Holland.
No legislative proposal without prior EU27 consensus. Speaking to the press which asked the European Commission on Thursday what it thought of this solution, Frédéric Vincent, the spokesman for Commissioner John Dalli, replied: “The Commission regrets that Ms Banati went directly from EFSA, a public body, to ILSI. It is not illegal because, in the European regulation, agencies do not come under the rules relating to conflicts of interest - but this runs counter to the spirit of independence of an agency such as EFSA.” On the subject of whether the Commission is in favour of more control on appointments within the management boards of agencies and what measures it plans to take in future to prevent having to propose candidates from industry, there is considerable circumspection. Antony Gravili, the spokesman for Vice-President Marcos Sefcovic responsible for inter-institutional relations, simply said: “The Commission will be the driving force for potential change. Discussion has been underway for years with the Council and Parliament. It would be necessary to agree on the major principles within the General Affairs Council. The Commission first of all wants to reach consensus and will then make a proposal”. (AN/transl.jl)