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European Commission decides it won't have a science advisor after Greenpeace pressure

Glover wasn't institutionalised enough, apparently

Yesterday seemed a great day for science in Europe, with the European Space Agency setting down its Philae lander on comet 67P - but even as this took place the European Commission quietly sent a rather different signal, as it hit "delete" on the role of its Chief Scientific Advisor.

Since 2012 the EC Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA) has been part of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers, but this group will not exist under the new Juncker Commission and the new European Political Strategy Centre which replaces it does not include a CSA role.

Just hours before she told colleagues that her role was being scrapped, CSA Anne Glover tweeted in response to the Philae landing that she loved Europe’s big ambition on science.

The CSA’s job was “to provide independent expert advice on any aspect of science, technology and innovation” to the Commission president.

But according to the Commish, “the mandate of the scientific adviser came automatically to an end with the end of the Barroso II Commission on 31 October”. Glover’s contract will continue until the end of February, but her role will not be continued.

Glover appears to have been forced out by environmental campaigners after she said that there was no scientific consensus regarding harm caused by GM crops.

Greenpeace wrote to the Commission in the summer complaining that the CSA had become “unaccountable, intransparent and controversial” and that the job “concentrates too much influence in one person.”

“President Juncker believes in independent scientific advice, but he has not yet decided how to institutionalise this independent scientific advice,” said Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva.

However, writing on popular free blogging platform The Grauniad, James Wilsdon - chairman of the Campaign for Social Science - said:

“It is hard not to interpret this week’s decision as a serious downgrading of the status of scientific advice at the top of the Commission.”

It's also hard not to see the timing of the announcement as a way to bury bad news. ®

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