The Scientific Advice Mechanism

Briefing 20-09-2016

After abolishing the post of Chief Scientific Officer in November 2014, the President of the European Commission announced the creation of the Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) in March 2015. The main component of the SAM is the High-level Group (HLG) of seven prominent scientists charged with providing the Commission with independent scientific advice on specific policy issues, either at the request of the Commission or pro-actively. The HLG is expected to work effectively with existing advisory bodies such as the Joint Research Centre, national academies and the wider scientific community. The HLG is assisted by a dedicated SAM secretariat located within the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. The members of the HLG were appointed in November 2015 and began work in January 2016, focusing on two topics: the CO2 emissions of light duty vehicles, and cybersecurity. They also issued an exploratory note on glyphosate in June 2016. In July 2016 two additional requests for advice were presented to the HLG: for support for the forthcoming evaluation of pesticides legislation and for an explanatory note on new animal and plant breeding techniques. In order to harvest the full potential of national academies to provide scientific advice at European level, the Commission has supported the establishment of a European platform led by European networks of academies. The Science Advice for Policy by the European Academies (SAPEA) platform is expected to enter into operation in October 2016 with a grant of €6 million provided for four years under the Horizon 2020 framework programme for research.