Introduction: contribution of science to European policy-making

Different countries vary in the way that scientific advice is used by public policymakers (Weingart and Lentsch 2006). Governments often constitute and manage their own scientific advisory bodies as a function of the executive arm of government. This internal function has been increasingly complemented by the independent activity of national academies of science helping their national governments access science (Collins and Lindberg 2002). In member states of the EU, many academies have developed an effective relationship with national governments in advising on the scientific dimension in policymaking. Until recently, the development of an analogous relationship at the EU level (with the European Commission, Parliament and Council of Ministers) has been more challenging, although academies recognised that the scope of their advisory functions needed to extend to cover the European level and that their effectiveness could be maximised by collective activity. Several different bodies have now come into being within a relatively short period to offer scientific advice at the EU level (Fayl and Kyriakou 2002) in addition to those actually created by the EU institutions, indicating ‘how widespread is the perception that alongside their official policy-advice structures, the main organs of the European Union need independent advice about science’ (Collins and Lindberg 2002). Rogers in Chapter 7 and Podger in Chapter 12 of the present book provide examples of the challenges faced and the criteria used when EU policymakers take account of scientific advice.