ABSTRACT
This chapter is devoted to discussing the establishment of EFSA, its independence and current structure, main tasks and the strategy 2020 currently being updated for the period 2021–2027. So far EFSA has been governed by a management board with 15 members and the duty of setting the budget and approving the annual work programme. EFSA’s executive director is responsible for operational and staffing matters. He also draws up the annual work programme together with the Commission, the European Parliament and the EU Member States. The Advisory Forum advises the executive director. EFSA is currently structured into a Scientific Committee and 10 Scientific Panels. The Scientific Committee is composed of the chairs of all Scientific Panels and six other scientific experts. The Scientific Committee has the task of supporting the work of EFSA on scientific matters of a horizontal nature and providing strategic advice to EFSA’s executive director. The Scientific Committee is also responsible for the general scientific coordination of the scientific opinions adopted by the panels. EFSA Scientific Committee activities are many and specific examples deal with the Botanical Compendium and the Open Data Approach and the Open Food Tox. The Scientific Panels are composed of independent scientific experts with a three-year mandate. They develop risk assessment methodologies and carry out scientific assessments applying them to specific cases including applications. As the key role of EFSA as determined by the founding Regulation (EC) 178/2002 is to deal with risk assessment, this chapter analyzes in detail the risk assessment tools and resources and, among the specific features of EFSA risk assessment, cross-cutting guidance documents. Other important roles of EFSA deal with emerging risks and research activity. EFSA is also charged with the duty of risk communication, and, to this end, an EFSA Journal and many other tools are used. An important role for external contacts has been attributed to the EFSA application helpdesk. The EFSA Performance Report and the EFSA Consolidated Annual Activity Report are discussed at the end of the present chapter.
