European Union

It is the role of the European Commission (EC) to promote the general interest of the EU as a whole. The “College of Commissioners” (currently one commissioner from each Member State) defines policy and makes decisions, not defending the specific national interest.

The EC is the EU's executive body: as the “guardian of the treaties”, the EC is responsible for ensuring that EU law is properly implemented and applied in all EU Member States. In the event of infringements or doubts about the interpretation on EU law, the European Court of Justice has the final say.

The EC is the only institution with the right of legislative initiative (or can respond to invitations from the EP, the European Council, the Council of the European Union). In practice, the proposals for legislation (regulations, directives and decisions) are prepared by specific EC departments. The EC Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) prepares draft legislation in the area of food and feed as well as animal and plant health, for example, while the EC Directorate-General for Environment prepares draft legislation in that area.

Through the activities of Directorate F - Health and Food Audits and Analysis (Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004, Articles 45 and 46), which is part of the EC DG SANTE, the EC assesses how EU regulations related to food and feed safety, animal health, animal welfare, plant health and in the area of medical devices are implemented and enforced within the EU and in non-EU countries that export to the EU. This is achieved mainly through inspections of the competent institutions of the Member States and non-EU countries. The Directorate F - Directorate Health and Food Audits and Analysis provides information on the results of its assessments. Where appropriate, it also recommends measures to remedy shortcomings and monitors their implementation. Inspection reports are published on the Internet along with the comments by the countries inspected.

Together with the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union (CEU) is the main decision-making body in the EU. One minister from each national government attends CEU meetings. Which minister attends a meeting depends on the topic to be discussed. The minister represents his/her Member State. Food safety issues, for example, are dealt with at meetings of the “Agriculture and Fisheries” CEU, while food labelling can be addressed in both the “Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs” CEU, and “Agriculture and Fisheries” CEU, depending on the nature of the labelling.

European legislation in the area of consumer health protection and food and feed safety is adopted through the “ordinary legislative procedure”, the most frequently applied legislative procedure in EU law. The “ordinary legislative procedure” means that draft legislation needs to be adopted by both the CEU and the European Parliament (EP).

The European Parliament (EP) is elected by the citizens of the EU. It has 720 members from 27 EU countries and represents the interests of about 450 million people. The fact that the EP is directly elected by the citizens helps guarantee the democratic legitimacy of European law.

The EP exercises democratic supervision over the other EU institutions, especially the EC. The EP has the power to approve or reject the nomination of commissioners and also has the right to censure the EC as a whole. The EP shares authority over the EU budget with the CEU and can therefore influence EU spending. At the end of the process, it either adopts or rejects the budget in its entirety.

The EP also proposes and prepares amendments to the draft legislation in the area of food and feed safety. The EP has 22 standing committees and two subcommittees. The “Standing Committee on Environment, Climate and Food Safety” deals with food safety and drinking water issues among others.

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is an independent European Agency and the keystone of risk assessment regarding food and feed safety in the EU. In close collaboration with national institutions and in open consultation with other stakeholders, EFSA delivers independent scientific advice as well as clear and understandable communication on existing and emerging risks. In its capacity as a risk assessment authority, EFSA prepares scientific opinions and recommendations which form a sound foundation for European policies and legislation to support the EC, EP and EU Member States in taking effective and timely risk management decisions. All risk assessments are published on the EFSA website.

While EFSA receives requests for risk assessments from the EC, EP and Member States, it also undertakes scientific work on its own initiative. EFSA's remit covers risk assessments on food and feed safety, nutrition, animal health and welfare, plant protection and plant health.

European Union Reference Laboratories (EU-RLs) are analytical laboratories designated by EU directives and regulations. Several EU-RLs are part of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), which is a Directorate General of the EC. EU-RLs provide the EC with technical and scientific support in the area of diagnostic and analytical tests. The remit of EU-RLs includes the set up of EU wide test standards, routine procedures and reliable methods, the organisation of comparative tests, training of analysts from national laboratories and networking with National Reference Laboratories. EU-RLs have an overview of international standards and practices, reference substances, reagents and their suppliers.

The EU-RLs for food and feed are listed in Annex VII of Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2004:165:0001:0141:EN:PDF