Brief me

Together with the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (RTD), supported by the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (REFORM), the Joint Research Centre has recently published a Commission Staff Working Document (SWD) on “Supporting and connecting policymaking in the Member States with scientific research”.

The SWD, a type of Commission document to present an analysis of a policy problem and available responses (rather than one to develop policy proposals and initiatives on behalf of the Commission),

• provides a rationale for the need to build capacity for science for policy in the Member States,
• identifies key challenges that interfere with an effective collaboration between scientific and policymaking communities, and
• points to policy frameworks, support instruments, and good practices at EU and national level that can help overcome these challenges.

We see this document as an opening chapter in a pan-European debate on how to create and support a robust science-for-policy ecosystem in Europe that reinforces and connects diverse national and sectoral ecosystems in order to deal with the complex issues today’s societies and policymakers face.

Why we do this

One important reason is that we learned lessons from COVID-19. The policy response showed the value scientific knowledge and experts could bring to address the complex crisis, even under conditions of scientific uncertainty, time pressure, and high political stakes. But it also demonstrated the variable capacity of science-for-policy ecosystems across Europe and the poor coordination among them.

A second reason is that the JRC, together with partners in the Member States and in the broader science-for-policy community, have been analysing challenges and opportunities for strengthening and connecting ecosystems through its “Science for Policy Ecosystems” workshop series and survey. This work in turn has been built upon previous (and ongoing) work on professional competences for science for policy, limits to science for policy, and good practices in science for policy.

A third reason is that science-for-policy (capacity) questions and issues have become ever more salient at EU and national level. As we set out in the SWD, shifts in research policy frameworks, better regulation, and public administration reform debates at EU level point to increased effort to better connect policymaking with science while the proliferation of new advisory networks and bodies in the Member States suggest an increased interest in these questions at national level.

What we do

Following the publication of the document on 25 October, a number of actions were undertaken with the aim of promoting a debate on science for policy in Europe:

• we held a high-level online launch event on the following day, involving the Directors-General of the JRC, Stephen Quest, and of REFORM, Mario Nava, as well as the Deputy Director-General of RTD, Joanna Drake to present the Commission views on science for policy followed by four interventions from the Member States, including the CZ presidency – please read a summary blog here;
• the EU-27 research ministers or their delegates discussed the issue during a policy debate on “science as an instrument to facilitate policy making in the Member States” in the context of the meeting of the Competitiveness Council on 2 December 2022 – please see a summary blog here;
• we presented the SWD at EU-Agencies Network for Scientific Advice, European Science Advisors Forum, Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, and many more fora that are involved in science-for-policy activities in Europe.

Beyond events and debates, we called for contributions from the wider science-for-policy community either directly on the SWD or related topics, with the following outputs:

• Policymaking – a formidable task, by Antonino Puglisi
• GeoPolicy – a new step to build robust science-for-policy ecosystems in Europe, by Chloe Hill

• Promoting a debate on building science-for-policy capacity in Europe – by Sasha Sebastianelli Vieira

• EU-27 ministers debate how to better use science in policymaking – by Kristian Krieger​​​​

What we invite you to do

We would like to invite you to support this debate in two ways.

• Share the document as widely as you can in your networks;
• Take a look and join the debate by writing a blog post about what’s missing (challenges, instruments, policies, good practices), how you or your organisation would like to contribute to supporting and connecting policymaking with scientific research, and what the Commission and Member States can and should do in support of building a robust science-for-ecosystem in Europe.