57th Management Board meeting: EFSA Management Board addresses EFSA’s updated draft Multiannual Plan, boosting scientific cooperation - Audio available
The European Food Safety Authority’s Management Board held further discussions on EFSA’s draft Multiannual Plan for the three years 2014-2016 following an initial exchange of views by Board members at their last meeting, and input from EFSA’s Advisory Forum, Stakeholder Platform and Scientific Committee.
In a presentation on the state of play of EFSA’s Multiannual Plan to the Board, Executive Director Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle said while EFSA has established a proven record of high quality scientific advice and communication, it will need to face an ever high workload, greater public scrutiny and tight resources. To meet these challenges, EFSA aims to focus on further leveraging scientific expertise by boosting scientific cooperation, in particular by promoting the establishment of recognised scientific networks and centres of excellence in Member States, financed though EFSA’s grants and procurement programme.
EFSA also aims to better deploy the capacities and expertise of some of its scientific staff and of Europe’s risk assessment community in order to support more routine preparatory work in the area of regulated products (food ingredients and packaging, feed additives, GMOs and health claims) now carried out to a large extent by Working Group experts.
EFSA expects that additional support provided by EFSA staff and Member State organisations will allow experts to focus more on value-added scientific work. Other cost/benefit considerations include: higher productivity by cutting the length of the risk assessment process and increasing timeliness; increasing the quality of outputs and better addressing the needs of risk managers; better planning of the scientific cooperation programme, exchange of expertise with Member States, training and mentoring.
“This very important presentation picks up many of the points which were raised by the Management Board at its last meeting and there is wide support from Board members for this current approach,” Management Board chair Sue Davies said. ”There is also support for a better exchange of expertise and of training with Member States where appropriate. Though we also need to be aware of the limitations as EFSA is ultimately responsible for its scientific opinions.”
She also emphasised the importance of ensuring the balance between dealing effectively with the assessment of regulated products while making sure that EFSA addresses wider public health issues which have an impact on consumers.
“The Board will be interested to see in more detail what this all means when the revised Multiannual Plan comes back to us in October,” she added.
The Board will re-examine the revised Multiannual Plan for endorsement at its October meeting once there is greater clarity over the EU’s multiannual financial framework.
The Multiannual Plan takes account of recommendations for action which Board members made based on the findings of EFSA’s second independent external evaluation report published in 2012. The recommendations were aimed at directing the development of EFSA in the coming years towards a more sustainable, efficient and trusted organisation.
EFSA foresees over the period 2014-16 a growing demand for risk assessments and scientific advice in such areas as animal health and welfare, pesticides, GMOs, novel foods and enzymes as well as for scientific work to cover issues, including environmental risk assessment, post-market monitoring, risk benefit and efficacy evaluation. Faced with challenges posed by growing international trade in food and other global food safety issues, EFSA must also ensure that it remains ready to respond quickly to any food safety-related crises.
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EFSA Media Relations Office
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E-mail: Press [at] efsa.europa.eu
Audiocast and documents
Welcome by the Chair
Adoption of the draft agenda
Executive Director’s progress report
Accounts 2012 financial statement
Draft Multiannual Plan (2014-2016) and Draft Multiannual Staff Policy Plan – state of play
Amendments to the Art. 36 list of organisations
Revision of the Management Board Rules of Procedure
Update on the activities of the Applications Desk
2013 Budget execution and transfers
Update on the meeting of the Chairs of Management Boards of the European Union
agencies
Feedback from the Audit Committee - AOB