In first place

“European integration is good for research and, at the same time, research is good for Europe and its citizens”, says ELKE ANKLAM from Germany. She is the director of the Institute for the Health and Safety of Consumers, one of the seven institutes composed by the EU Joint Research Centre. The JRC, in turn, is one of the General Directorates of the Commission, with a workforce of 2,700, two thirds of them researchers; the central directorate is situated in Brussels; other decentralised research centres are located at Geel (Belgium), Karlsruhe (Germany), Ispra (Italy), Petten (Holland) and Seville (Spain). The JRC as a whole is “a technological and scientific point of reference for EU policy makers”: “we conduct applied research – explains Anklam in an interview with SIR – and act as support for the legislative and executive activities of the EU”. Our sectors of interest are wide-ranging: from climate change to anti-fraud measures, from controls on nuclear activities to the safety of the food chain. What does the Institute you direct particularly deal with? “The health and protection of consumers is a field of action that has progressively grown in recent years. It would be enough to cite such questions as biotechnologies and genetically modified organisms: in this case we corroborate methods of analysis for tracing OGM in foods and in animal feed. We also evaluate the composition of food packaging to prevent any food contamination. We verify the genuineness of products (wine, cheese, etc.) and the possible presence in foods of toxins or heavy metals”. So the health of the consumer is in first place? “Yes, indeed. The citizen wants to be sure of the health and safety of what he eats and in this respect expects a lot from the European Union, which has acquired in this field great expertise and a high reputation linked to some recent battles: mad cow disease, avian flu…”. Questions that are hotly debated for a time, with a high degree of alarmism, and then virtually forgotten. “I’m in principle against excessive alarmism; in the case of BSE I think there really were too many exaggerations. It’s true, however, that cases, or scandals, such as those I have just recalled, have contributed to raising the awareness of public opinion about the need for the defence of health, also in relation to consumption, food and the way we dress”. How does the research group of your Institute work? “The Institute is based at Ispra, in Italy. Its staff is composed of 50% women. It’s a group of researchers that has been rejuvenated in recent times; its average age now varies from 30 to 40 years. Our researchers come from all over Europe; they are highly trained and motivated. The international environment, in which the working language is English, is very stimulating; various professional skills and temperaments are here fused together, thus pooling various kinds of know-how and sharing new findings”. The mission of the JRC is to respond to the needs of the Commission and the other EU institutions that seek your expertise before approving a directive or formulating policies in various fields. In what ways could your Institute make a particularly new or original contribution? “I think that in Europe today, with our living standards, what’s most needed is pro-active research, aimed at anticipating developments, grasping the ways in which society is evolving, emerging needs, and the challenges we will have to face in the future. I dream of a research that in some way may predict policy requests, that is able to specify in advance the fields in which human health is placed at risk, and the ways in which our communities are developing… I am thinking of alternative forms of energy, possible threats to our diet, and possible allergies that might be developed”. At times we imagine the scientist as a person remote from everyday life. Is the impression wrong? “I think so, at least as far as the JRC is concerned. Our research is aimed at giving concrete responses to the questions posed by citizens, families, businesses, local or national administrations. We try to understand how life is changing in Europe and in the world and what these changes imply. That’s why the JRC is involved in public information, to explain to citizens – also through the mass media – in what fields we are working, what campaigns we are engaged in, what results we are trying to achieve and how they can bring benefits to people in their daily life. Just one more example: in my Institute I would like to reinforce nutritional studies, because all too often I hear it said that chocolate is bad for one, that green tea has this or that property, that OGM should be banned, and that we should avoid the consumption of fats. To the more common questions we need to furnish well-founded and convincing replies: this could be a new horizon for EU research”.