The Transparency of EU Agency Science – Towards a New Proactive Approach Post-Covid19
Amsterdam Law School Research Paper No. 2021-38
Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance Research Paper No. 2021-04
22 Pages Posted: 17 Nov 2021
Date Written: November 12, 2021
Abstract
There is broad agreement about the normative value of transparency when it comes to agency science, i.e. the scientific information that underpins, and often significantly shapes, public regulation. Transparency of agency science is seen as crucial in securing the legitimacy of and trust in EU risk regulation. Yet, how exactly transparent scientific advice for policy should look like in practice and what role law plays in this regard is much more disputed. In this paper, we analyse recent EU legal and regulatory developments concerning access to information held by the three most important risk regulation agencies, the European Medicines Agency, the European Food Safety Authority, and the European Chemicals Agency. Our main finding is that the current EU legal approach to the transparency of agency science is undergoing significant change as a result of both legislative change, agency practice and recent developments of Covid19 pandemic management.
Keywords: EU law, transparency, agency science, risk regulation, access to documents
JEL Classification: K2, K23, K32
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation