Scientific literature review on group decision‐making models
Meta data
Disclaimer: The present document has been produced and adopted by the bodies identified above as author(s). This task has been carried out exclusively by the author(s) in the context of a contract between the European Food Safety Authority and the author(s), awarded following a tender procedure. The present document is published complying with the transparency principle to which the Authority is subject. It may not be considered as an output adopted by the Authority. The European Food Safety Authority reserves its rights, view and position as regards the issues addressed and the conclusions reached in the present document, without prejudice to the rights of the authors.
Abstract
EFSA commissioned a review of available scientific literature on group decision‐making in regulatory science to inform future recommendations for EFSA's panel system. This final summary report presents the results from the literature review that has been performed based on a list of 30 articles, proposed and validated in the ‘methodological note’ in the kick‐off phase of this work. The review covers the following topics: social science theories and models of group decision‐making; research on group decision‐making in risks assessment, specifically in food safety; research on group decision‐making in regulatory science, and group decision‐making models adopted by national/EU/international organisations. The findings describe the factors that contribute to effective and efficient decision‐making in groups, specific factors to consider for expert panels, some potential shortcomings of group decision‐making to take into account, and some final considerations to inform EFSA's evaluation of its panel system.