"We believe that in the long term this network will provide the European Community with a major preventive instrument." Main Objectives The final goal is to establish the basis of a sustainable network on Emerging Risks by carrying out preparatory  activities between the national and regional research programming institutions leading to concrete deliverables regarding mutual information and co-operation in joint activities. Which means that the project will result in possibilities to design a future ERA-NET proposal on new effective, pro-active, procedures for risk analysis with the option to prevent risks, showing high levels of transparency with active industrial and public engagement, and improved risk management. This networking will contribute to efforts to restore consumer confidence in a safe and sound food and feed supply as stipulated in the ‘EU General Food Law’. The project’s objective aims to synthesise the basis and strategy for answering two of the generic research questions embedded in the novel EU General Food Law: 1) Can we identify new and or re-emerging chemical or microbial risks in food and feed production chains in an expanding European market? and 2) Where there is any information leading to suspect an emerging (serious) risk, can the competent (inter-) national agencies reply as a matter of urgency and forward any relevant information in their possession to the European Commission i.e. EFSA?  It has been recognised, that there is a need for a systematic approach to identify new and or unforeseen risks associated with food and feed production in a European (global) setting and to identify these risks in the earliest stage as possible. Partly, because adequate and effective procedures to detect and assess them do not exist, and making such systems a reality requires a networking within the European Research Area. A networking that improves the coherence and co-ordination across Europe of required national research programmes. The future ERA-NET on Emerging Risks will also enable national systems to take on tasks collectively that they would not have been able to tackle independently. The implicit in this objective is the need to develop new knowledge intended to understand the implications of a research programming in a European context.

Sub-objectives The main objective will be met by first addressing in working groups five complementary and interacting sub-objectives in order to set up a scientific co-operationships (forum building) between the national programming institutions leading to a concrete, sound and structured deliverable: a sustainable network for mutual information and co-operation in joint activities within this priority area (i.e. Emerging Risks). This will be achieved by working in groups step by step along the following levels of preparatory actions: A. to mutually open national research agendas and resources and developing a credible networking among Ministries and Food Authorities (forum building); B. to determine an overview of the advantages (synergies) and disadvantages (barriers) of a harmonised European strategy, including a strategy to restore consumer confidence by pro-active risk management. Efforts will focus in the first instance on describing a successful action plan for the road to reach a harmonised European strategy on a pro-active identification of emerging risks in food and feed production (draft white paper); C. to assess the effectiveness of possible strategies and transnational programming activities. This will be achieved by seeking feedback on the white paper through a work conference where experts and different stakeholder groups across the EU taking due consideration of the information arising from the white paper. Particular account will be taken of integrating their recommendations, needs and attitudes (peer review – conference proceedings); D. to define programming criteria, taking into account relevant actions and credible systems as will be also recommended by the work conference and correlating them too with the outputs of existing national programmes and those of ongoing FP6-funded research (strategic programme of action); E. to develop a broader platform of programme makers by structuring the possibilities how the networking must be develop and operate in the future within the ERA-NET scheme (white paper – basis of sustainable network).