AbstractExpert scientific appraisal is either confidential to the government commissioning it, or open to public debate. At the executive level of the European Community, intergovernmental negotiations substitute for the electorate. This renders expert appraisal incapable of becoming truly public. To overcome this, the conditions under which scientific interventions are implemented must be institutionalised. Time is indispensable if scientists/experts are to make sound judgements regarding complex phenomena: thus ‘emergency’ should be banned.