The Scientific Advice Mechanism

The mechanism will support the Commission with high quality, timely and independent scientific advice for its policy-making activities. This will contribute to the quality of EU legislation, in line with the Better Regulation agenda.

The overall objective is to ensure that scientific advice given to the Commission:

• is independent of institutional or political interests;
• brings together evidence and insights from different disciplines and approaches;
• takes into consideration the specificities of EU policy making (e.g. different national perspectives and principles of subsidiarity);
• is transparent.

The Scientific Advice Mechanism will draw on the wide range of scientific expertise in Europe through a close relationship with national academies and other bodies, as well as the expertise of a High-Level Group of Independent Scientists.

SAM will be supported by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation. This will facilitate the access of the High-Level Group to scientific evidence available within the European Commission, including key sources such as the Joint Research Centre and EU research funded under Horizon 2020, as well as some EU agencies, and the scientific community at large.

The Scientific Advice Mechanism will become operational in autumn 2015.

source: EU Commission