EU confirms chief scientific advisor role will cease to exist
The EU has confirmed that the position of Chief Scientific Advisor to the President of the European Commission, which has been held by Professor Anne Glover since 2012, will not be extended.
The decision has prompted criticism from the scientific community, with Professor Sir Paul Nurse, from the Royal Society, commenting: “Scientific advice must be central to EU policy making, otherwise you run the risk of having important decisions being unduly influenced by those with mixed motives.
“If the Commission has a plausible plan for ensuring that scientific evidence will be taken seriously they need to start sharing it with people soon, otherwise they will encourage those who portray the Commission as out of touch and not willing to listen to informed advice.”
Glover, whose job was to ‘provide independent expert advice on any aspect of science, technology and innovation as requested by the President’, angered green groups with her open support for genetically modified crops, as she argued that opposing the technology was “a form of madness” – which was in direct opposition to the Commission’s official position.
Many have cited her support for GM as the reason why her post will not be extended. However, environmental groups have stressed that the closing of the post wasn’t a victory for them. They argue that the EU already has a formal system in place gathering evidence and assessing risks.
However, earlier this year green groups published a letter to the incoming President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, urging him to scrap the role, claiming that the position was “unaccountable, intransparent and controversial”.
