Abbreviation | EASAC |
---|---|
Type | Regional Association of National Academies of Science |
Area served | The European Union, Norway, Switzerland and the UK |
Membership | 28 National Academies of Science, Academia Europaea, ALLEA |
President | Wim van Saarloos (NL),[1] |
Vice presidents | Brian Norton (IR), Mirko Orlic (HR), Lise Øvreås (NO), Michael Broberg Palmgren (DK), Birgitta Henriques-Normark (SE) |
Website | https://easac.eu |
The European Academies' Science Advisory Council (EASAC) is a regional association of National Academies of science. Its members are 25 National Science Academies of the Member States of the European Union (EU), and the National Science Academies of Norway, Switzerland and the UK.[2] Malta and Luxembourg do not have National Academies of Science.[3] A pan-European Academy (Academia Europaea) and a network of all Academies from across the continent of Europe (ALLEA) also have membership. EASAC was founded in June 2001[4] and was headquartered at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina in Halle (Saale) until 31 December 2022.[4]
EASAC was set up as a mechanism of collaboration for its member Academies, in particular for providing “science-for-policy” advice to the institutions of the EU.[5][6] This means that through EASAC scientific advice is offered jointly by the Academies to the European Commission[7] and the European Parliament[8] EASAC's work also aims to help inform national policy-making across Europe, and engage European media and societies.[5] EASAC aims to provide science-based analysis and recommendations on questions that are of relevance to EU policy thinking and development, e.g. on plastics in the circular economy,[9] genetically modified crops,[10] climate change and health,[11] forest biomass for energy,[12] or decarbonisation of transport.[13]
The association is funded by EASAC member Academies.[14] Since 2012 the IAP - The InterAcademy Partnership has also provided funds to EASAC which functions as IAP’s regional affiliated network for Europe.[15]