EMCDDAs Scientific Committee Henk Garretsen 14 February 2008

EMCDDA´s Scientific Committee Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 1

Role of the Scientific Committee • SC advises MB and director • May deliver an opinion on any scientific aspect of the EMCDDA activities Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 2

Structural tasks • Formal opinion on three year and annual work programmes • Reviewing Annual report package to check its scientific quality • Risk assessment of new psychoactive substances Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 3

“Voluntary” tasks • Participation in (thematic) expert meetings, working groups • Bilateral advice in his/her field of expertise • Old SC - In some countries SC members advised National Focus Points for example on national reports. Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 4

Personal note: we did all that but, not all members were very active Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 5

Meetings of the Scientific Committee “Obligatory”: • Twice a year regular SC meetings • Ad hoc risk assessment meetings In general a high attendance rate “Voluntary”: • Expert meetings/working groups Just some SC members attended more than one meeting Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 6

The role of the Chair and Vice chair • Also MB meetings, selection-committees senior staff, ad hoc committees (for instance steering group EMCDDA evaluation, Horizontal Drug Group (Chair: Last two years 10 visits to Lisbon and 6 to Brussels) Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 7

Recent external evaluation: • SC is underused by the EMCDDA Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 8

Possible reasons (personal view): • Not all SC members were very active/gave the impression that they want to be used • MB asked for the “formal opinions”, was not active in searching for more • EMCDDA staff are humans too: not all gave the impression that they want to have feedback. For some feedback may be seen as inconvenient Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 9

New composition of the Sc. C, new start Old – New Sc. C • Old situation: 27 members (1 from each member state) • New situation: 15 members independent experts Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 10

Advantages: • Members are independent • EMCDDA appoints the members and can decide on required expertise • EMCDDA may even discharge members if they don’t attend (enough) meetings Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 11

Role SC in the past (and future? ): • Role of “critical friend” • Understanding the evolution of EMCDDA – sense of reality – • don’t always judge EMCDDA activities by comparing them with a golden standard but work towards a situation that it is actually possible to do so in the future Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 12

Informal interactions Old SC: • Sometimes dinner all together (if so on initiative of EMCDDA) • Some interaction in subgroups New SC? Henk Garretsen, 14 February 2008, Palmela 13