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The European Parliamentary Technology Assessment (EPTA) is a network of technology assessment (TA) institutions specialising in advising parliamentary bodies in Europe. [1]
The EPTA partners advise parliaments on the possible social, economic and environmental impact of new sciences and technologies. The common aim is to provide impartial and high quality analysis and reports of developments in issues such as for example bioethics and biotechnology, public health, environment and energy, ICTs, and R&D policy. Such work is seen as an aid to the democratic control of scientific and technological innovations, and was pioneered in the 1970s by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of the US Congress. EPTA aims to advance the establishment of technology assessment (TA) as an integral part of policy formation in parliamentary decision-making processes in Europe, and to strengthen the links between TA units in Europe.
The EPTA network was formally established in 1990, on a recommendation by the UK's parliamentary TA office – Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, under the patronage of the President of the European Parliament, [1] Mr Enrique Baron Crespo. The network has a light structure, guided by the EPTA Council and by meetings of the Directors of the EPTA partner organizations. The EPTA Council is the steering committee of the EPTA network, and consists of Members of Parliament or representatives of the advisory boards for the respective EPTA organization. The Council decides on organizational matters such as co-operation within the network and the status of members and associates. The Presidency of EPTA rotates among full members each year. The tasks of the EPTA member organization holding the presidency are to coordinate the EPTA network activities and to host the annual EPTA conference, Council meeting and Directors' meeting.
Parliamentary TA is institutionalized in different ways, ranging from permanent parliamentary committees for TA; separate TA units as part of the parliamentary administration; to independent institutions with a mandate to serve as a permanent consulting institution for the parliament. The members of the EPTA network [2] are European organizations, which carry out TA studies on behalf of parliaments. Full membership can be obtained by a unit that operates in Europe, is devoted to TA or related activities, serves a (supra-national, national or regional) parliament, has its own budget and secretariat and has an active work program including publications on issues with a scientific and technological component. Associate membership can be granted to other TA units that have a TA program and the resources to realize it, but that do not fulfill other criteria for full membership. Associates are involved in all EPTA activities but are not represented in the EPTA Council. Further, other units interested in the work of EPTA can act as observers.
According to the official EPTA homepage, [3] there are currently 12 full members:
According to the official EPTA homepage, [3] there are currently 12 associate members:
EPTA organizes annual conferences targeted at Members of Parliaments and actively promotes collaboration between members and associates, including common projects occasionally. [24] On the EPTA homepage an encompassing database lists and summarizes all TA projects of the member institutions. [25]
Technology assessment is a practical process of determining the value of a new or emerging technology in and of itself or against existing technologies. This is a means of assessing and rating the new technology from the time when it was first developed to the time when it is potentially accepted by the public and authorities for further use. In essence, TA could be defined as "a form of policy research that examines short- and long term consequences of the application of technology."
The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the supreme audit institution of the federal government of the United States. It identifies its core "mission values" as: accountability, integrity, and reliability. It is also known as the "congressional watchdog". The agency is headed by the Comptroller General of the United States. The comptroller general is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. When a vacancy occurs in the office of the comptroller general, Congress establishes a commission to recommend individuals to the president. The commission consists of the following:
The Secretariat of the European Parliament is the administrative body of the European Parliament headed by a Secretary-General. It is based in the Kirchberg district of Luxembourg City and around the Brussels-Luxembourg Station in Brussels and employs around 4,000 officials.
The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) was an office of the United States Congress that operated from 1974 to 1995. OTA's purpose was to provide congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scientific and technical issues of the late 20th century, i.e. technology assessment. It was a leader in practicing and encouraging delivery of public services in innovative and inexpensive ways, including early involvement in the distribution of government documents through electronic publishing. Its model was widely copied around the world.
The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's in-house source of independent, balanced and accessible analysis of public policy issues related to science and technology. POST serves both Houses of Parliament.
Antoine Herth is a French politician who represented the 5th constituency of the Bas-Rhin department in the National Assembly from 2002 to 2022. He is a former member of The Republicans, which he left in 2018 to join Agir.
Geneviève Fioraso is a French politician who served as a member of the National Assembly from 2007 to 2017, representing the first district of Isère. On 16 May 2012 she was appointed Minister for Higher Education and Research in the French government of Jean-Marc Ayrault.
The Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) is a research unit of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna.
The Foundation for Technology Assessment TA-SWISS is a Centre of Competence of the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, based on a mandate in the Swiss federal law on research. It is an advisory body, financed by public money, and devoted to technology assessment.
The European Technology Assessment Group (ETAG) is a cooperative network of scientific institutions that carries out studies in the field of technology assessment on behalf of the European Parliament.
The Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS) is a research facility of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe, Germany. It was founded on 1 July 1995 as successor of different institutions. ITAS came into being after a merger of the University of Karlsruhe (TH) and Research Center Karlsruhe on 1 October 2009. The institute is also a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres (HGF).
Karamba Diaby is a Senegalese-born German chemist and politician of the Social Democratic Party who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since the 2013 elections.
Michael Georg Link is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has served a member of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2013 and again since 2017.
Philippe Bolo is a French politician of the Democratic Movement who has been serving as a member of the French National Assembly since 18 June 2017, representing the department of Maine-et-Loire.
Anne Genetet is a French medical doctor and politician of Renaissance (RE) who has served as the Minister of National Education in the Barnier government since September 2024. She represented the 11th constituency for French residents overseas in the National Assembly from 2017 to 2024.
The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) is the in-house research department and think tank of the European Parliament, providing research and analytical support to the members of the European Parliament, its parliamentary committees and the Parliament as a whole. It was created in November 2013 as a directorate-general within the Parliament's permanent administration. The EPRS philosophy is to provide independent, objective and authoritative analysis of, and research on, policy issues relating to the European Union, in order to assist Members in their parliamentary work.
Bijan Djir-Sarai is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has served as a member of the Bundestag from 2009 until 2013 and since 2017.
Anna Christmann is a German politician of Alliance 90/The Greens who has been a member of the Bundestag, the German parliament, since the 2017 German federal election.
Wiebke Esdar is a German psychologist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). She has been a member of the Bundestag since the 2017 election, when she won the constituency of Bielefeld – Gütersloh II with 33.2% of the votes.
Martin Neumann is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Brandenburg from 2009 until 2013 and again from 2017 until 2021.
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