Scientific Advice Mechanism

[1] The Mechanism consists of three parts: the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, an expert group consisting of up to seven leading scientists;[2] SAPEA, a consortium of five European academy networks collectively representing around 120 academies and learned societies across Europe;[3] and a unit within the European Commission (Unit RTD.02 Science Policy, Advice and Ethics) which serves as a secretariat to the Advisors.

[4] The core of the Scientific Advice Mechanism is the European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, an expert group consisting of up to seven leading scientists, selected by the European Commission assisted by an independent identification committee.

The Group of Chief Scientific Advisors currently consists of the following five members, with two vacancies as of January 2025: Previous members of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors include:[10] SAPEA brings together around 120 academies, young academies and learned societies.

On 1 November 2014, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker asked Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science in his mission letter to "make sure that Commission proposals and activities are based on sound scientific evidence and contribute best to our jobs and growth agenda".

In December 2016, SAPEA was officially launched to support the Advisors by providing scientific evidence review reports.