Scientific Advice Mechanism
The Scientific Advice Mechanism is a service created by the European Commission which provides independent science advice on request directly to European Commissioners.
The Mechanism consists of three parts: the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, an expert group consisting of up to seven leading scientists; SAPEA, a consortium of five European academy networks collectively representing around 120 academies and learned societies across Europe; and a unit within the European Commission which serves as a secretariat to the Advisors.
Group of Chief Scientific Advisors
The core of the Scientific Advice Mechanism is the European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, an expert group consisting of up to seven leading scientists, selected by the European Commission assisted by an independent identification committee. The Advisors are supported by a dedicated secretariat, Unit RTD.02, informally known as the "SAM Unit", staffed by the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and Joint Research Centre.The Group of Chief Scientific Advisors currently consists of the following seven members:
| Name | Portrait | Role in the Group | Academic position | University or institution |
| Distinguished Professor of Social and Behavioural Sciences | Utrecht University | |||
| Independent Research Group Leader | Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology | |||
| Professor | Central European University and Central European Labour Studies Institute | |||
| Director of Research and Innovation | ||||
| Professor of High-Performance Networks and Director Smart Internet Lab | University of Bristol | |||
| Researcher in environmental health | École normale supérieure (Paris) | |||
| Professor of Cell Biology & Immunology, | Wageningen University and Research |
Previous members of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors include:
- Julia Slingo
- Henrik Wegener
- Cédric Villani
- Janusz Bujnicki
- Pearl Dykstra
- Rolf-Dieter Heuer
- Carina Keskitalo
- Paul Nurse
- Éva Kondorosi
- Maarja Kruusmaa
- Alberto Melloni
- Nicole Grobert
- Eric Lambin
- Eva Zažímalová
- Nebojša Nakićenović
SAPEA
SAPEA brings together around 120 academies, young academies and learned societies. Its role as part of the Scientific Advice Mechanism is to provide high-quality, independent evidence to underpin the Scientific Opinions produced by the Chief Scientific Advisors. SAPEA has the ability to convene experts from some 40 countries across Europe, spanning the disciplines of engineering, humanities, medicine, natural sciences and social sciences.The SAPEA consortium brings together six umbrella networks jointly representing Europe's academies:
- Academia Europaea
- All European Academies
- European Academies Science Advisory Council
- European Council of Applied Sciences and Engineering
- Federation of European Academies of Medicine
- Young Academies Science Advice Structure
Scientific advice
The Scientific Advice Mechanism has issued advice in the form of Scientific Opinions, explanatory notes or statements, supported by evidence review reports, on the following topics:| Topic | Date | Evidence review and scientific opinion |
| Glyphosate | ||
| Light-duty vehicle real-drive CO2 emissions | ||
| Cyber-security in the European Digital Single Market | ||
| New techniques in agricultural biotechnology | ||
| Food from the oceans | ||
| Novel carbon capture and utilisation technologies: research and climate aspects | ||
| Authorisation processes of plant protection products in Europe | ||
| A scientific perspective on microplastics in nature and society | ||
| Transforming the future of ageing | ||
| Making sense of science for policy under conditions of complexity and uncertainty | ||
| Towards a sustainable food system for Europe | ||
| Adaptation to climate change-related health effects | ||
| COVID-19, future pandemics and other crises in the global context | ||
| Biodegradability of plastics in the open environment | ||
| A systemic approach to the energy transition in Europe | June 2021 | |
| Improving cancer screening in the European Union | March 2022 | |
| Strategic crisis management | November 2022 | |
| Sustainable food consumption | June 2023 | |
| AI in science | April 2024 | |
| One Health governance | November 2024 | |
| Solar radiation modification | December 2024 | |
| Advanced materials | January 2026 |
History
Until 2016, science advice in the European Commission was provided by a single Chief Scientific Advisor who reported directly to the President of the European Commission. The last Chief Scientific Advisor, serving from 2012 to 2014, was Dame Anne Glover.On 1 November 2014, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker asked Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science in his mission letter to "make sure that Commission proposals and activities are based on sound scientific evidence and contribute best to our jobs and growth agenda". Following this, on 13 May 2015, Juncker announced the establishment of the Scientific Advice Mechanism. The first seven members of the Advisors were identified, following a European call for nominations, in January 2016.
In December 2016, SAPEA was officially launched to support the Advisors by providing scientific evidence review reports. Its funding was renewed in 2020 and again in 2025.