German MPs found to have ‘too little time’ for science

Survey shows room for improvement in evidence-based policymaking, as parliamentarians sideline scientific information

German politicians are not doing enough to take into account scientific information when developing policy, according to a survey by the country’s National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

The survey, which covered members of the Bundestag, the German parliament, and their staff, found that less than half of them thought scientific information had an appropriate place in politics. Slightly more than one-third of respondents said there was too little consideration of such information in the development of laws and regulation.