EASAC is the voice of independent science advice, mobilising Europe’s leading scientists to guide EU policy for the benefit of society. It brings together the National Academies of Science of the EU Member States, Norway, Switzerland and UK. EASAC is the association of the National Academies of Science of the EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland. EASAC's governing body is Council, consisting of the representatives of EASAC member academies. The EASAC President works together with four Vice-Presidents in EASAC Bureau. The day-to-day business of EASAC is handled by a professional Secretariat based at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (Halle, Germany). EASAC also has a Brussels Office, hosted by the Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB). Its mission reflects the view of academies that science is central to many aspects of modern life and that an appreciation of the scientific dimension is a pre-requisite to wise policy-making. This view already underpins the work of many academies at national level. With the growing importance of the European Union as an arena for policy, academies recognise that the scope of their advisory functions needs to extend beyond the national to cover also the European level. Here it is often the case that a trans-European grouping can be more effective than a body from a single country.