Departing research chief warns against stalling GM innovation

By Tim King

Date: 02/09/04

THE Union would lose out if legislation were passed preventing further innovation on genetically modified (GM) organisms, the departing head of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) declared last week.

Barry McSweeney said as he took his leave of Brussels that the centre must improve its performance in bioinformatics and advanced genetics

But he was confident that the future of the centre is now secure. "I said when I took over that it was a rusty boat, which needed a new engine, or it would sink," he said, reflecting on three years spent salvaging the JRC, which was then being threatened with closure

He cited supportive comments in a recent report from the UK's Department of Trade and Industry on EU research. It referred to past concerns that "the JRC lacked a clear customer focus and did not provide good value for money" but went on: "This has improved in recent years."

McSweeney changed the JRC's role to concentrate on providing scientific advice to the Commission's departments. The advice put forward by the JRC on the Commission's proposals to regulate chemicals, REACH, while not entirely welcome to either of the warring departments, environment or enterprise, was an example, McSweeney said, of the influence the JRC could have.

The centre was now carrying out research for several Commission departments on issues ranging from environment, health, energy, food and agriculture to security matters of interest to justice and home affairs

But restoring the fortunes of the 2,500-strong organization spread across seven research institutes had not been without difficulty, the outgoing boss admitted. "The Commission's early retirement scheme was used extensively

"I said in my opening speech to staff that I would respect everyone's right to work and have a decent job but everyone would have to do a decent job," he recalled.

Ironically, McSweeney himself is now leaving the Commission early. His post is one of the senior jobs earmarked for an official from one of the new EU states. He lost out in part because four Irish citizens had had appointments at director-general level, the others being David O'Sullivan, the Commission secretary-general, Catherine Day, director-general of environment and Tom Cranfield at the Publications Office

"I could have done with another year," McSweeney said. But he is not embarking on a quiet retirement at 52. On Wednesday (1 September) he began a new post as chief science advisor to the Irish government

Among his duties will be to provide advice on any aspect of science, technology and innovation, as well as on the scale and balance of state investment in these sectors

He said he looked forward to informing public debate in Ireland about innovation in life sciences. On genetically modified organisms, McSweeney, a biochemist who worked in plant sciences for many years, said that, at present, the European public did not see clear advantages to GM technology. He believed Europe would lose out if legislation were passed preventing further GM innovation that might bring clear benefits

The centre enjoyed a budget of €1.05 billion over the four years of the 6th Framework Programme for research and can bid for further research contracts.

Deputy Director-General, Roland Schenkel, takes over as acting head of the JRC. The process of appointing a successor will probably wait on confirmation of Janez Potocnik as the new commissioner for research

The departing head of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), Barry McSweeney, discusses the future position of his institution.

Joint Research Centre of the European Commission http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

---