Carlos Moedas is head of research at the European Commission in Brussels. Credit: Julien Warnand/epa/Corbis

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has announced plans to establish a new independent scientific advice system, based around a high-level group of seven researchers who will draw on expertise from around Europe.

At a press conference in Brussels on 13 May, Juncker said that the idea was to make use of scientific expertise in Europe through close relationships with national academies and other bodies. The seven internationally recognized experts, who could come from anywhere in the world, will be part of the commission’s research directorate, supported by a 25-person secretariat, he said. The system would be up and running by the end of the year.

“We’ve been awaiting a scheme for scientific advice and some of us have been nervous it took so long,” says Paul Nurse, a Nobel-prizewinning cell biologist who is head of the UK Royal Society and chief executive of the Francis Crick Institute, a biomedical research centre being built in London. “What we now see — admittedly without details — looks like something that could be constructive and useful for the future. A procedure has been put in place that will engage high-quality scientists and is embedded within the commission more effectively than the previous advisory system, and it reaches out to academies around Europe,” he says.

The announcement comes six months after the commission, under the leadership of newly appointed president Juncker, controversially decided to abolish the high-level position of chief scientific adviser, which had been created by then-president José Manuel Barroso in 2012. Anne Glover, a biologist who was previously chief scientific adviser for Scotland, was the first and last person to hold the post.

Glover’s role never fit neatly into the complex organization of the commission, which already has its own range of internal and external scientific advisory structures, including its large Joint Research Centre. The United Kingdom supported the idea of a single figurehead, but other countries in the 28-member European Union, such as Germany and France, were uncomfortable with it.

Tailored advice

Current research commissioner Carlos Moedas said that he proposed the high-level panel to Juncker after studying the range of other scientific advisory systems around the world and taking into account the particular needs and culture of the commission.

The panel members will be selected by a search committee of three or four people, said Moedas. He compared the selection process to that involved in choosing the board members of the European Research Council, which funds basic research: “The only criterion will be research excellence.” Up to €6 million (US$6.9 million) will be available to national academies to support collaborations with the commission, he added.

In practice, any member of the European Commission who wants scientific advice will be able to approach the high-level group, which will seek input from academies and the wider scientific community as appropriate. Moedas said that it is his job to ensure that advice is actually sought in all relevant areas, and the secretariat will take care of the day-to-day flow of information.

“It is a good thing that the new structure is finally decided,” says science-policy researcher James Wilsdon of the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK. “They’ll need to make sure it is going to work once it is in place — it’ll be a great challenge to connect science advice to decision-making across the commission.”