Parma, 22/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - It was against a backdrop of euphoria and lightheartedness interspersed with the seriousness of its activities that the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) inaugurated its official headquarters at the Palazzo Ducale in Parma on Tuesday. The Palazzo is an historic building, which was particularly well suited to an event which was described as "historic for the EFSA, for Parma, and for the food safety of the citizens of the EU". This sentiment was repeated many times during the inauguration ceremony. The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, EFSA President Stuart Slorach, its executive director Geoffrey Podger, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, accompanied by the Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, Markos Kyprianou, and the Italian local authorities, the Mayor of Parma, Elvio Ubaldi, and the President of the Region Emilia-Romagna, Vasco Errani. Representatives of Bulgaria and Romania were also invited to the ceremony.
The EFSA, which was legally established in January 2002 by the European regulation 178/2002/EC, was created further to a series of food crises including mad cow disease and dioxins. With the new European approach to food safety, enshrined in the general principles and provisions of the regulation which instituted it, the EFSA is the EU's answer to the concerns of the European citizens about the safety of their food and the ability of regulatory bodies to ensure the protection of their health.
Parma, a capital city of culture and gastronomy, has been made the official headquarters of the pivotal body for food safety in the Union, tasked with the evaluation and communication of food risks, from the farm to the table: this was Italy's dream. Silvio Berlusconi did not hang back from emphasising this, pointing out that he had had to "play the playboy" in an enormous amount of diplomatic work opposite his Finnish counterpart (who had defended Helsinki as a potential site for the EFSA), before the European Summit in December 2003 finally chose Parma (in exchange, Helsinki is to host the future European chemicals agency: Ed). But apart from playfully reminding his audience about a little anecdotal fight, all those taking part in the event shared the same joy. Coming in the wake of the historic breakdown of the European Council of Brussels, the day was all the more to be savoured. "I am very pleased to welcome José Manuel Barroso here. His presence underlines the importance of the EFSA, which is a symbol of a Europe which defends its citizens, of a Europe which is concerned by its citizens health, which has been endangered by the mad cow disease crisis, and a Europe which wants to take action to protect food, health, the quality of cultures and animal well-being from the farm to the table. We must focus all our attention on the processing and conservation of food (...). Parma is at the heart of these activities. It needs to be a modern European city, with adequate infrastructure. Parma airport must increase in size. A European school has been set up to educate the children of the European staff. These are all things we can be proud of", Silvio Berlusconi told the press. For his part, José Manuel Barroso spoke of a "great day", on which the headquarters of one of the agencies to which the citizens of Europe and the Commission "attach a huge amount of importance" became official. Congratulating the local authorities on their work, Mr Barroso welcomed the fact that the EFSA is situated "in Parma, rather than in Brussels, because the European Union is not simply Brussels" and that "the European Community was born in Italy", with the Treaty of Rome. "At the moment, we have problems, but we can overcome them. And even when things are at their hardest, we take decisions. With Canada the day before yesterday, with the United States for transatlantic dialogue yesterday, in Brussels tomorrow to host the stabilisation conference in Iraq. Europe is working hard. We are working", said the President of the Commission, congratulating the work of the EFSA at the service of "the concrete life of the citizens, the protection of their lives, their health", in a city which has "a pronounced taste for civilisation and gastronomy". Geoffrey Podger sent out a big thank you to the local authorities for their speed, efficiency and sense of welcome: "we are delighted to establish up permanent residence in Parma and we are genuinely grateful for the Italian authorities for all the efforts they have made (...). our staff is set to double over the next two years to reach 300 staff members by the end of 2006", he said.
The meetings of the EFSA board and all its larger meetings are set to take place in the Palazzo Ducale. The EFSA staff, some of whom are already settled in Parma (50 staff members out of 150), are carrying out their duties in the temporary operational side in the DUS building (Direzione Uffici Sanitari). Discussions are underway to work out the best option for its definitive premises (either in the centre of town or on the outskirts), but the decision is to be taken on the basis of an agreement between the local authorities, the EFSA and the budgetary authority (Council/European Parliament). During a press conference at the operational EFSA site, Dr Herman Koeter, the scientific director, said that a total of 500 external experts, members of national scientific institutions, were working with the EFSA on eight panels and its various working groups, with the support of 65 EFSA internal experts.
The EFSA has four missions: -answering questions from the European Commission, the Parliament or the Member States (at a rate of 170 questions the year); -assessing the risks of regulated substances such as pesticides, GMOs, additives and chemical substances in general (30% of its workload); -monitoring certain risk factors such as BSE (mad cow disease), for example, and drawing up an annual report on zoonoses; -investing in scientific progress in the field of food safety, by holding international colloquiums.
Listing the broad outlines of the EFSA balance sheet for 2004 (including 200 opinions already: see EUROPE 8968), Geoffrey Podger stressed one point: "the EFSA remains a young and involving organisation". Its board has just decided on the creation of a platform for all interested parties, notably to allow them to help to improve the working programme. "All of the EFSA's programs are currently being examined, and the result of the assessment will be forwarded to the Commission and the European Parliament at the end of the year to decide on any possible changes, if any prove necessary", he announced. In 2005, the EFSA's budget was 38 million EUR, and the authority hopes to be able to count on 46 million next year. The only shadow hovering over the highly positive sketch drawn by the executive director is the problem of transport links with Parma, due to a sufficient number of routes to the Parma airport or Milan Malpensa, but Geoffrey Podger said that he had every conference in the local authorities to find a solution. What can we expect from the EFSA in the near future? "Two very important opinions ", one on the risks of BSE in goats (to be published on Tuesday), the other on genotoxic risks and carcinogens, the executive director replied. However, he remained tight lipped as to the contents of the anticipated opinion on the safety of fish available for consumption, "in order not to scoop the European Parliament". Answering a question from a journalist about the criticism made of the Agency for publishing opinions on GMOs on the basis of data supplied by large groups such as Monsanto without carrying out its own assessment of the risks, Geoffrey Podger pointed out that the scientific experts are independent, and said that the information provided by the companies had been complemented by data from research centres. On the question of whether food safety ought to be synonymous with product standardisation or the promotion of diversity, in full respective cultural traditions, Geoffrey Podger replied without hesitation: "food safety by no means requires standardisation, but all food products must be safe, whether or not they are traditionally made. There is no contradiction between safety and the existence of an enormous range of traditional products". And this should be enough to satisfy all European citizens who like good, high-quality food with no risk to their health.