Support for the Activities of the European Group on Ethics (EGE) by European Academia and Ethics Bodies (SAEGE)

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The European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) is an independent, multi-disciplinary body appointed by the President of the European Commission that advises on all aspects of Commission policies and legislation where ethical, societal and fundamental rights dimensions intersect with the development of science and new technologies.

Expected outcome of the SAEGE project: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Provide at the request of the Commission targeted scientific evidence in a timely and transparent manner to inform the production of advice by the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (hereafter: the EGE). The evidence should be of the highest scientific quality, developed by complete and independent evidence analysis and synthesis, and respect timelines and policy needs.

• Strengthen the links between European science and ethics organisations, including a diverse range of experts. In carrying out this process, the Beneficiary will ensure wide geographical and gender diversity, coverage of all relevant academic fields, and interdisciplinarity. An open and inclusive approach will be used, involving experts who are early- and mid-career and senior of various, relevant backgrounds. These approaches aim to increase the range of the available scientific evidence to be considered and the excellence of the expertise provided.

• Develop novel and improve existing forms of scientific input to address short-term needs in a timely, reliable, policy-relevant and efficient manner, e.g. fast evidence-gathering tools and literature reviews, short-term evidence reports, and expert consultations on high-priority, short-term policy initiatives.

• Further develop the Beneficiary’s internal database to access an up-to-date pool of top-quality experts in various academic fields, in combination with other networking approaches that can be called upon at short notice.

• In coordination with the European Commission’s Unit in charge, engage with citizens, stakeholders, scientific communities and policy-makers to disseminate and promote the work of the EGE, and to monitor, assess and report on the impact and uptake thereof.

• In coordination with the European Commission's Unit in charge, increase awareness of the significance of ethics advice and ensure outreach to larger audiences, including in the Member States, through targeted communication actions, novel information products, media outreach, and policy monitoring processes, while ensuring consistent internal and external communication.

• Reinforce, by means of the above-mentioned increased awareness and communication activities, the ethics advice network comprising the EGE, the Beneficiary, and the other actors —such as national and international ethics advisory bodies— that make up the EGE Et Alia Advisory Network (hereafter: the EGEAN).

• Include an ‘early alert’ mechanism to signal topics and challenges that may become relevant for the Commission and the EGEAN, identified through techniques such as horizon scanning and consultation, including through the academic networks.

• Formulate in their outputs —mainly the Evidence Review Reports— evidence-based options and conclusions, but not policy recommendations, in response to the requests.

• Develop procedures and quality controls for the use of Artificial Intelligence within the EGEAN.

Expected impact of the project:

• An enhanced capacity for sound evidence-informed policy-making by providing reliable, state-of-the-art, policy-relevant and publicly accessible scientific evidence to the EGE, the EGEAN, and the European Commission’s Unit in charge, in a timely, efficient and transparent manner;

• A demonstrably more open and inclusive dialogue about major societal challenges via a transparently managed, interdisciplinary approach and a wide engagement of the scientific community and ethics advice community;

• An increased societal awareness of the role of policy advice to decision-making, by developing capabilities to accurately communicate ethics and science advice, including the degree of uncertainty of specific scientific knowledge and the nature of value conflicts;

• An improved transparency of the EU policy-making process, including through the possibility of active engagement with the wider public and wide involvement of the scientific community and ethics advice community.

Scope: Better Regulation is a priority for the European Commission, and so is the use of scientific evidence and ethics advice to inform policy-making. Such advice is necessary, and it must be excellent, independent, timely, relevant to European Union (EU) policy-making and as interdisciplinary as required to address all dimensions of the policy issue at stake.

The project duration is up to 4 years.

This grant will be awarded without a call for proposals according to Article 195(e) of the Financial Regulation and Article 24(3)(b) of the Horizon Europe Regulation.

The activities needed by the Commission can only be accomplished by the Beneficiary identified below.

The general conditions, including admissibility conditions, eligibility conditions, award criteria, evaluation and award procedure, legal and financial set-up for grants, financial and operational capacity and exclusion, and procedure are set out in Annexes A to G of the General Annexes to the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2025.[[European Commission Decision C(2024) 2371 of 17 April 2024, available here.]]

Funding rate: 100%.