WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2529/97 by José HAPPART to the Commission. Transparency and democracy relating to the provisions governing the operation of the European Union's scientific advisory committees
Date: 1997-07-24
Institutions: European Parliament, HAPPART
Subjects: European Commission, European Parliament, European Union, administrative transparency, animal disease, cattle, cultural organisation, scientific committee (EU)













EUR-Lex - 91997E2529 - EN






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91997E2529

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2529/97 by José HAPPART to the Commission. Transparency and democracy relating to the provisions governing the operation of the European Union's scientific advisory committees  


Official Journal C 082 , 17/03/1998 P. 0102 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-2529/97 by José Happart (PSE) to the Commission (24 July 1997)Subject: Transparency and democracy relating to the provisions governing the operation of the European Union's scientific advisory committeesFollowing the consequences of the BSE crisis, the Commission is endeavouring to set up new structures, which are currently under consideration by the European Parliament's BSE follow-up committee.As an initial step, the scientific advisory committees will be based on new internal rules of procedure.Even at this stage, the discussions reveal distrust on the part of the scientists with regard to transparency of information about the work of these committees.1. What is Mrs Bonino's reaction to the reservations expressed about the European Parliament's participation in the work of the scientific committees?2. What are the criteria determining the confidentiality or transparency of given situations?3. Is the Commission aware that such lack of transparency will continue to engender mistakes, instead of preventing them?Answer given by Mrs Bonino on behalf of the Commission (6 October 1997)As the Commission's members and its Directors-General have already informed the Temporary Committee to follow up the recommendations on bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the Commission has reformed the scientific committees in various respects in the interest of transparency. The agendas and records of the meetings and the opinions adopted are systematically placed on the Internet and transmitted on demand.More generally, the Commission wants to give Parliament wide access to the work of its scientific committees. However, it cannot endorse the request that Parliament participate in the meetings of these committees. This opinion is also shared by the majority of scientists involved.The Commission believes that separation of the respective remits of the two institutions makes for greater clarity. Parliament's participation at committee meetings might create ambiguities as to the proper role of each party.At any rate the Commission will make sure that Parliament has access to the information on which the experts in the Scientific Committee base their work.Besides, to do justice to the principle of transparency and impartiality in selection, a Parliament observer and a Council observer were invited to attend the procedure for selecting the scientific experts most suitable to be appointed to the scientific committees.