EFSA answers back
EFSA is mandated to provide independent scientific advice in a wide range of areas concerning the safety of the EU food chain. All of EFSA’s activities are guided by a set of key values: openness and transparency, excellence in science, independence, responsiveness. EFSA, its scientific experts and its staff are all committed to upholding these values in all areas of its work.
In recent years, science has come to play an increasingly important role in informing regulatory decision-making and, thus, has become the focus of greater public attention. Public authorities providing scientific advice, particularly in relation to EU food safety where regulatory decisions are based on scientific risk assessment, have responded to this increase in public scrutiny by making the scientific decision-making process more open and transparent. In EFSA’s case, the Authority welcomes this scrutiny as an opportunity to explain its work as well as the structures and mechanisms it has put in place to uphold its key values and the quality of its scientific advice.
EFSA answers back
In recent years, EFSA has received criticism sometimes through the media that industry influences the Authority’s activities through alleged ties to members of its Scientific Committee, Panels and Management Board. The following series of frequently asked questions (FAQ) reveal how these allegations are often ill-informed or based on factual errors and misunderstandings; at worst, they can be a misrepresentation of the work of a European public authority acting in the interests of EU citizens.
- FAQ on common criticisms of EFSA’s independence
- FAQ on EFSA’s new rules on Declarations of Interest
- FAQ on Threshold of Toxicological Concern
- FAQ on establishment of working groups at EFSA
EFSA explains: independent scientific advice
Independent science
EFSA applies a robust set of internal mechanisms and working processes to safeguard the independence of the scientific work of its Scientific Committee and Panels. These concern a balanced governance structure, clear and precise rules on the selection of experts, good risk assessment practices and collective adoption of scientific opinions, demanding declaration of interests (DOIs) requirements, and clear rules on the role and responsibilities of EFSA staff.
- Topic: Independence
