6 Amendments of Tilly METZ related to 2020/2162(DEC)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that EFSA's final budget of for 2019 was EUR 79 986 785, representing an increase of 1 % compared to 2018; notes that the entire sum derives from the Union budget; notes with satisfaction that the budget monitoring efforts during 2019 resulted in an implementation rate of 100 % for commitment appropriations and 91 % for payment appropriations; notes with concern that EFSA, as one of the Union regulatory agencies responsible for risk assessment of regulated products, does not receive sufficient resources to carry out its responsibilities effectively; insists that EFSA is granted sufficient resources to carry out its tasks;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Notes with satisfaction that EFSA is actively moving towards cutting edge technologies, incorporating new approach methodologies (NAMs) and artificial intelligence to avoid animal testing methods; welcomes, in particular, the use of in vitro battery testing regarding neurodevelopment disorders in children;
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Welcomes EFSA's efforts to increase the use of new approach methodologies (NAMs) in the agency's human health risk assessment to reduce and replace the need for animal-based verification studies, so that by 2027 the large majority of EFSA requests for additional data will be based on NAMs;
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Highlights that, in 2019, the Parliament adopted 16 objectionsto the import of genetically modified (GM) crops for food and feed; highlights that one reason for these objections are gaps in the risk assessment undertaken by EFSA's Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms; urges EFSA to address and close these gaps as a matter of urgency; whereas these gaps include, inter alia, lack of testing of cocktail effects stemming from herbicide residues, Bacillus thuringiensis ('Bt') toxins and plant constituents, the impact of increased rate of sprayings of the complementary herbicides on the overall safety of the GM plant as well as a lack of adequate toxicity testing of Bt proteins;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Believes that EFSA should pay special attention to public opinion and commit itself to openness and transparency; regrets that EFSA, in relation to the two-year cooling off period, still includes in its independence policy the obligation to screen experts' interests only in relation to the mandate of the scientific group to which the expert is applying; disagrees with the agency’s claims that the current policy is a "robust and sophisticated way to avoid potential conflicts"; calls again for the policy to be updated without delay in order to ensure that experts' interests are viewed within the context of EFSA's overall remit, as repeatedly called for by Parliament; reminds EFSA that, in order to maintain the independence of the EFSA panels, the agency can access any expertise it needs by inviting experts to participate in hearings without giving them the right to participate in the panel’s deliberations and drafting conclusions;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Regrets that the research funding from companies in EFSA's remit is not considered relevant to the cooling off period as long as amounts at stake do not rise above 25 % of the total research budget managed by the expert and/or their research team, and that the threshold is applied to individual sources as opposed to all private sources combined; calls again for the funding threshold to be removed from EFSA's independence policy, in line with the Parliament's repeated requests on the matter; stresses that EFSA’s outright dismissal1a of the European Parliament’s concerns regarding this weakness in EFSA's independence policy is not acceptable; _________________ 1aEFSA Follow-up report on European Parliament’s recommendations concerning 2018 EFSA Discharge - 28 August 2020