Setting the bar

摘要

Europe is well on its way to appointing its first chief scientific adviser. European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso set the ball rolling last September, when he pledged to create the position to fill a gaping lack of rigorous, independent scientific input into European policy-making. Europe's newly elected commissioners kept up the momentum by officially creating the position at a meeting on 17 February - remarkably quick action by commission standards, indicating that the issue is being taken seriously.rnAnd last week, Nature has learned, the as-yet-unfilled position dodged a bullet. Some commission officials had been pushing to bury the science adviser's office deep within the bureaucracy, making it all but certain that the future incumbent would lack sufficient power and independence to be successful. But the commission has now rejected that suggestion, making it clear that the chief scientist will report directly to Barroso, and will have a high enough status in the commission to make decisions without interference.