European Food Safety Authority: appointment of seven members of the Management Board

The Presidency of the Parliament made an announcement to the plenary about the finalisation of the procedure concerning the appointment of seven members of the Management Board of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

By letter dated 27 February, 2012, the Council of the European Union consulted the European Parliament on a list of 14 candidates to fill seven vacancies on the Management Board of EFSA. This referral was announced in plenary on 13 March 2012.

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the members of the Authority’s Management Board shall be are appointed by the Council, chosen from a list of candidates drawn up by the Commission and after having obtained the views of the European Parliament. Parliament must submit its views to the Council within three months from the referral, i.e. until 27 May, 2012.

The Presidency informed the plenary at its meeting on 19 April, 2012, and on the basis of a recommendation from the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the Conference of Presidents endorsed the appointment of following six candidates (in alphabetic order) from the overall shortlist of candidates for the vacant posts in question: (i) Ms Valérie BADUEL ; (ii) Ms Sue DAVIES; (iii) Mr Piergiuseppe FACELLI; (iv) Ms Jaana HUSU-KALLIO; (v) Mr Radu ROATIŞ-CHEŢAN; (vi) Mr Michael WINTER.

In approving this list of candidates (Parliament endorses deliberately only six candidates, where as the number of vacancies to be filled is seven), the Conference of Presidents also noted that the responsible committee had expressed regret that no potential representative of small and medium-sized enterprises' interests had been put forward and that the shortlist presented only a restricted choice of candidates representing consumers and other interests in the food chain. It was further stressed that, in the interests of transparency, the publication of the Curricula Vitae of the successful candidates would be welcome.

Following the above decision of the Conference of Presidents, the Presidency was informed that the Chair of the Management Board of EFSA, Ms Diána Bánáti, had resigned on 8 May 2012 in order to take up the position of 'Executive and Scientific Director' at the "International Life Sciences Institute Europe" (ILSI Europe). In the light of this, the Coordinators of the Environment Committee asked the Presidency to convey to the Council and to the Commission their concern about this recent and potential future 'revolving door' cases. It should therefore be stressed that, in relation to the ongoing appointments to the Management Board, the Council should avoid appointing candidates which are prone to potential conflicts of interest.

The Presidency stated that it will inform the Council and the Commission of the views of the European Parliament in writing. Those letters will conclude the consultation procedure.