European approach to the organisation of scientific advice in the agricultural sector
6.4.2022
Question for written answer E-001383/2022
to the Commission
Rule 138
Tom Vandenkendelaere (PPE)
Research institutions in the European Union carry out excellent work. In the agricultural sector, among others, the large body of research, in some cases pioneering, is crucial to attaining the objectives of the Green Deal and the ‘farm to fork’ strategy. In several institutions there is, however, a feeling that everyone is working in isolation, without any possibility of joint organisation within the European Union as ‘science’. In certain other sectors, such as food safety or chemical substances, this is far more emphatically the case. To further improve the sustainability of the agricultural sector and promote innovation in this sector in particular, there is a need for greater harmonisation and organised coordination by the European Union to ensure that science is able to organise itself, so that it can have a greater impact on policy.
- 1.Does the European Commission share the view that scientific research in the agricultural sector too often still takes place in isolation and on an ad hoc basis, without clear European organisation and coordination?
- 2.What practical options does the Commission see for further streamlining scientific advice in the agricultural sector and for a joint approach at European level?
- 3.What is the Commission’s position on the establishment of a European committee on agricultural research?