Sense about Science

“While we aspire to make more and better use of science internally, I am glad that there are initiatives like ‘Sense about Science’ which are fighting for evidence-based policy making from the outside and doing so by facilitating the direct involvement of citizens.” – Frans Timmermans, European commission first vice president

“I’m very happy that you’ve come because you are telling me exactly what I’m fighting everyday, telling my colleagues that they cannot take any decision without that evidence.” – Carlos Moedas, European commissioner for research, science and innovation

“Evidence matters, the scientific method matters and I try to apply those concepts everyday in my work…Everyday I reaffirm the need for complete and comparable data to make weighted decisions.” – Marco Affronte, MEP

“I’m extremely interested in making my decisions based on evidence, but you know, I get given a lot of conflicting evidence and most of the decisions I have to make are not simple; they’re not binary. There is a tendency for people to try and reduce them to binary decisions by being over simplistic and I think that’s when we get bad decisions made. Something is not good or bad, it’s always a grey area. It’s a weight of evidence.” – Julie Girling, MEP

“Indeed it is true that people, citizens want to be informed in the decisions that we make. And I don’t see that as a bad thing. I see it as with digitization, new techniques, we can inform citizens better and that’s an advance. Also I think we can have better tools to collect data and to make the right analyses to make the right decisions. So I think in future, we should not be afraid of new techniques and digitization, I think we should take it as it is and maybe embrace it and enhance it rather than be afraid about it.” – Jan Huitema, MEP

“Turning scientific evidence in good governance will not be successful solely with scientists and politicians. It needs the involvement of well-informed citizens and, now-a-days, the refutation of post-truths as “evidences”.” – Ricardo Serrão Santos, MEP 

“As chair of STOA the scientific force and unit of the parliament, we bring scientists and we pair them with politicians,  so we understand that if you see two different scientists from the same science, you get two different point of views based on evidence and data and scientific data. So it depends how you look at it, which is your point of view and how you measure things. Something that you use too much can be harmful but if you use it properly, can be helpful. So for us what we decided we should do is to create basically  a hub where we can communicate the options that we have. So we get as much, as many options as we can from different scientists and then present it to the politicians to make it easy for them to make the right decisions.” – Eva Kaili, MEP

“This has been one of the best events I’ve been to. Because of the clarity of your presentations, because of the fact as citizens you came here and gave your time and energy to this event, and I hope you understand from our side that we do try, we have very different views, but we do try and look at the evidence, but…we have to open our minds, all of us, to look, with an open mind, at the scientific evidence that exists on particular issues. And listen to one another in debates before we decide on how we’re going to vote.” – Mairead McGuinness, MEP

“This event was so good because it brought citizens and MEPs together in context.” – Sofia Ribeiro, MEP

“We thought we won the battle to base our decisions on evidence. We were wrong. The more policymaking is blurred by alternative facts, the more we need to say that there is no alternative to facts.” – Kathleen Van Brempt, MEP

“I of course support evidence-based policy making and am alarmed at the growing number of politicians, such as climate change deniers, who want to ignore science.” – Richard Corbett, MEP

“I am glad about your initiative and I fully support you in this way forward. I have not stopped since I was elected to the EP to advocate for evidence-based legislation, and I deeply regret that this scientific approach is in decline within political parties.” – Alain Lamassoure, MEP

“It was great to have so many different people from all over Europe in the EP to present their view why evidence matters. In the work of a politician it should be self-evident to rely on facts and to do evidence-based policymaking. That’s what I’m trying to do every day.” – Karoline Graswander-Hainz, MEP

“It was very good to meet the dynamic Dutch farmer Eline Vedder. We had a great talk about improving the European and national policies for manure in agriculture. So much opportunities for farmers and environment should be unlocked!” – Annie Schreijer-Pierik, MEP

“Hearing the testimonies of European citizens has given me hope and confirmed my belief that there is a strong public need for evidence-based politics. In the world of post-truth and alternative facts, we always ask people to fact-check and rely on credible sources. It is just as important to do the same in policymaking. Irreversible damages can be done if politicians ignore scientific evidences, as the example of climate change shows it very clearly.” – Tibor Szanyi, MEP

“The importance of evidence in politics is obvious. When we are shaping policies in the European parliament for 500 million citizens in Europe, we should always ensure that these are based on facts and scientific research, and that their necessity is proven as well. We will always have different political views on how to best deal with certain issues, but there is no such thing as ‘alternative facts’.” – Kati Piri, MEP

“In the course of my political career, I have always been seeking to work for citizens of the Slovak Republic, in the responsible way. After I became a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), this aim started to focus also to other Europeans. I would like to ensure you, that all political decisions created at the European level are taken very seriously and are also checked in detail within my office, as well as within the offices of other MEPs. For every decision, I strive to acquire as much evidence as possible, so I consider this initiative right and will try to promote it among my colleagues in the European parliament.” – Monika Beňová, MEP

This event was hosted by a cross-party group of MEPs: Marco Affronte MEP, Julie Girling MEP, Ricardo Serrão Santos MEP and Jan Huitema MEP.

Thank you to the following organisations for their support of this event:

See the agenda for the event.

Photo credit: Frank Pittoors

Published: 4 May 2017, updated 22 June 2017