Management Board of EFSA and Mella Frewen: Time for a change

A letter was sent by Testbiotech and Corporate Europe Observatory to the member states regarding Management Board of EFSA. The letter is about the case of Mella Frewen, who was nominated by the European Commission to the EFSA Management Board. Mella Frewen's previous positions include Director for Government Affairs, Europe, Middle East & Africa, for Monsanto, where she dealt with a number of issues including agricultural biotechnology and agro-chemistry. We believe that the appointment of Mella Frewen will create conflicts of interest within the food agency's management board.

The European Parliament has already opposed the choice to nominate Ms Frewen. The decision of the European Parliament on 10 of May to postpone granting discharge of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) budget for the year 2010 shows again that it is high time for change. With this vote, the Parliament adopted a report from its Committee on Budgetary Control criticising EFSA very harshly for conf licts of interest and revolving door cases. Being aware of this decision, the Council should give a very clear signal and not accept Ms Frewen for the EFSA management board.