Media report states that heads of European Union Agencies met with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso to discuss ways to strengthen their partnership with the European Commission and to share their views on the EU’s future approach to the governance of the Agencies. It is told that the 28 EU agencies were established to help implement EU policies more efficiently and to respond to particular needs identified by the EU institutions.
There is a strong demand to recognize the critical role of the Parliament and Council in shaping the renewed institutional framework, members of the European Parliament and representatives of the Spanish Presidency also participated in the meeting in Brussels. Catherine Geslain-Lanéelle, Executive Director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), informed that they work alongside the EU institutions, adding value by helping to implement policy and promote the sharing of information and expertise in diverse areas that impact directly on the lives of Europe’s 500 million people.
In its Communication “European agencies – the way forward” of March 2008, the European Commission called upon the European Parliament and Council to give a new momentum to the development of a clear and coherent vision on the place of agencies in European governance. The discussion is said to feed into the inter-institutional dialogue on the future governance of the EU Agencies, which involves an evaluation of existing Agencies and reflections on changes which could be made to improve the system in the future.
