Brussels, 15/05/2015 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission gave the go-ahead on Wednesday 13 May to a new mechanism that will allow it to make greater use of the scientific opinions available in Europe.
A recommendation by Research Commissioner Carlos Moedas, approved by Commissioner President Jean-Claude Juncker, describes how the new mechanism, which is hoped to be operational by autumn of this year, will work. It will draw on the wide range of scientific expertise in Europe, establishing a close relationship with universities and national academies which already play an advisory role in the member states. It will be coordinated by a high-level group of independent scientists.
Moedas has been tasked with implementing this new arrangement, working with other commissioners. “In combination with the forthcoming proposals on better regulation, the new model for independent scientific advice will contribute to the Commission's continued pursuit of the best possible evidence-based policy”, he said in a press release.
The announcement was made on the day that Juncker lunched with eminent researchers of the calibre of Sir Paul Nurse (British biochemist, Nobel Prize for Medicine 2001), Jules Hoffmann (French biologist, Nobel Prize for Medicine 2011), Serge Haroche (French physicist, Nobel Prize for Physics 2012), Laszlo Lovasz (Hungarian mathematician), Jean Tirole (French economist, Nobel Prize for Economics 2014) and Edvard Ingjald Moser (Norwegian neuroscientist, Nobel Prize for Medicine 2014). “I am actively working with the co-legislators to make sure that the potential short-term impact on fundamental research - which I know has been a concern in the research community - is minimised”, Juncker pledged (see other article and EUROPE 11313). (Mathieu Bion)