Introduction
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was established in 2002 by Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 (‘Founding Regulation/General Food Law’). It provides scientific advice and scientific and technical support for EU legislation and policies with a direct or indirect impact on food and feed safety. It provides independent information in all these areas and communicates on risks. It also contributes to protecting human life and health, taking account of animal health and welfare, plant health and the environment.
Prior to 2021, EFSA was required to commission external independent evaluations of its achievements in collaboration with the Commission every 6 years. Accordingly, EFSA published evaluations in 2005, 2012 and 2018 (the latest evaluation, covering the period 2011-2016).
Following the entry into application of the Transparency Regulation in 2021, which amended amongst others EFSA’s Founding Regulation, it is now for the Commission to review EFSA’s performance in relation to its objectives, mandate, tasks, procedures and location in line with Commission guidelines every five years.
Commission’s evaluation of EFSA Performance Evaluation (2017-2024)
The first EFSA performance evaluation to be carried by the Commission is due by 28 March 2026.
In 2024, the Commission initiated the preparatory work for evaluating EFSA’s Performance.
Scope
Pursuant to Article 61 of the General Food Law, and in line with the evaluation criteria set out in the Commission’s Better Regulation guidelines (i.e. effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value) the evaluation will focus on EFSA’s performance in achieving its objectives, mandate, tasks, procedures and location. It will also assess, amongst others,
- The impact of ‘pre-submission advice’ by EFSA staff to applicants or notifiers on the functioning of EFSA;
- the possible need to modify EFSA’s mandate, and the financial implications of any such modification; and,
- whether EFSA’s organisational framework needs to be further updated with regard to decisions on requests for confidentiality and confirmatory applications.
This evaluation will cover the period 2017-2024. It will analyse, among other aspects, how EFSA adapted to and implemented the new requirements set out in the Transparency Regulation, following its entry into application in March 2021, and the impact of those requirements on EFSA’s performance.
Consultation Strategy
To support the evaluation, a number of consultation activities are taking place. The consultation strategy aims to collect evidence, meaningful information and expert opinion from various stakeholders and the wider public to support an in-depth evaluation of EFSA’s performance, in line with the Commission’s standard evaluation criteria. The opportunities for stakeholders and the public to share their data, experiences, and views on how EFSA operates under the applicable legislative frameworks will contribute to the evidence base, transparency, and accountability of the evaluation process.
The main consultation activities include:
- feedback on a Call for evidence published on the Commission's ‘Have your say’ web page, which run from 11 March 2024 until 8 April 2024;
- a 12-week public consultation on the Commission's ‘Have your say’ web page in all EU official languages is launched with a consultation period of 12 weeks, from 07 January 2025 to 01 April 2025 European Food Safety Authority – evaluation of performance 2017-2024;
- a targeted consultation of a wide range of stakeholders, including national competent authorities, national risk assessors and communicators, EFSA staff and experts, EU risk managers, business operators and associations, consumer groups as well as civil society organisations (expected to be launched in Q1 2025).