EC Chief Scientific Adviser position gets strong backing

摘要

Research organisations, charities, and academics, including the Royal institution and the European Academies' Science Advisory Council, have criticised a proposal by Greenpeace and others calling for the abolition of the post of Chief Scientific Adviser to the president of the European Commission (EC). The science institutes wrote that scrapping the position would "undermine the integrity and independence of scientific advice received at the highest level of the European Commission". They commended the current Chief Scientific Adviser, Anne Glover, for her rigour and impartiality and affirmed that her opponents were motivated by discontent with her position on genetically modified crops. "Policy makers or lobbyists who seek to remove scientists because they don't like their findings or advice do so at the peril of their citizens", they concluded. Last month, nine non-governmental organisations (NGOs) issued an open letter arguing that the Chief Scientific Adviser role lacked accountability and "concentrates too much influence in one person". They went on to lambaste Glover, who has held the position since its inception in 2012, for presenting "one-sided, partial opinions in the debate on the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture".